Party manifestos do not address major education failings
Even though manifestos of both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) mentioned education quality, they outlined few concrete steps to address failings at the school level. (The Bahujan Samaj Party, the third major party in the Uttar Pradesh elections, had not released an election manifesto at the time of publishing.)
Neither the BJP nor the SP manifesto suggested solutions to either improve student attendance, which teachers laid out as one of the main issues, or to make teaching more effective, and motivate teachers on the job, an issue important to parents.
For instance, even though the name of the section on education in the BJP manifesto is improvement in quality of the education sector, it concentrated on inputsfree education, books, uniforms, teacher-student and classroom-student ratios.
The SP manifesto proposed a mission, which would include teacher training (but without details on how this would be different from what happens currently), and teacher evaluations, provision of education through technology, and creation of model schools, among other things. The SP, in its manifesto, provides an alternative to government school: Admission of children from poor families to private schools.
It in unclear whether the SP manifesto is suggesting a provision separate from Indias Right to Education Act, which reserves at least 25 percent of seats in private primary schools for children from economically weaker families in the neighbourhood.
Further, the challenges parents would face in driving improvements in education quality in government schools become apparent as one talks to local education officials.
For instance, children in the government primary school in Bisunpura village received some grade three books for the 2016-17 academic year in 2017, less than three months before the end of the school year, a student told IndiaSpend.
When asked about the delay in giving books, a relatively simple input when compared to, say, pedagogy, the basic education officer of Bahraich district, for about 20 minutes, explained a bureaucratic method of procuring and distributing books to each school and child, involving several different officers at all levels.
He said he could do little about the delay as the books were ordered by the state education department in Lucknow, the tender for which had been delayed this academic year because of legal issues.
Even when officials recognise that the major issue is learning levels, steps to change the status quo fall short. For instance, district officials in Mirzapur district told IndiaSpend that goals this year included teaching students basic reading, math and writing.
For that, officials would conduct random evaluations and check the level of students compared to a pre-decided goal set by the district, officials said. Teacher training would be a focus with more trainings, but there did not appear to be a major redesign of the training itself.
The author is a writer/editor with IndiaSpend.
Editor's Note: One of the most fascinating segments of voters who will be going to the polls over the seven phases of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election is the millenial voter. Parth MN, who is travelling through Uttar Pradesh, will file a series of ground reports on millennial voters in the state, with a special focus on the concerns of young voters. This, the fourth part of the series, will focus on young voters from Amethi.
The youngsters in Amethi, just like the rest of Uttar Pradesh, are expressive, opinionated and politically alive. One does not have to ask obviously intrusive questions to gauge their mood. Once the interaction begins, they decide the flow and most of the questions in your scribbling pad are covered without your asking them. However, during a good 20-minute conversation with dozens of millennial voters, in which they spoke of pertinent election issues and influential leaders, there was one point they had to be reminded to touch upon: Rahul Gandhi.
Almost all of them then responded with a wry smile and said, "The less said about him, the better."
Indicative of the mood in the rest of the country, in his own Lok Sabha Constituency of Amethi, Rahul Gandhi is not even considered important enough to be criticised or mentioned. It is by and large applicable to the Congress too, where the electorate hardly mentions the grand old party as a factor in Uttar Pradesh.
And rightly so. A pocket borough of the Gandhis, Amethi is a dustbowl (to put it leniently), where millennial voters are still facing the problems they have grown up with.
Poonam Vishwakarma, a BA first year student in Shri Sai Shivram Girls Education College in Gauriganj constituency of Amethi, has never had an access to a toilet. We have to go into the farm fields, she rued. It is even more dangerous for girls, because the security situation for women is not great here either. The toilets have been built for the well-off, influential people. But our demands fall on deaf ears.
The complaints regarding lack of sanitation facilities are not limited to the remote villages, but are heard even up to the town. Ranjit Rao, 21, said even in his village of Banvaripur, which is right on the outskirts of the town Amethi, they do not have a toilet.
While there are no two opinions about the fact that Amethi is one the least developed VIP constituencies, and is even worse than Rae Bareli, a report published by Livemint in 2014 showed that it did not fare well even when compared to the rest of Uttar Pradesh, which lags behind in the juxtaposition with the rest of India. The report highlighted 12 socio-economic indicators on which Amethi fared worse than the state, which included important aspects like access to tap water, electricity, toilet, LPG, literacy and so on.
Add to that the crisis of unemployment faced by the youth, and Amethi becomes a perfect recipe for students to think of migration. Hardly anyone expressed the desire to stay put, saying they do not think the place would improve anytime soon. If it had to happen, it would have happened by now, said Ranjit, who is currently teaching primary school students to make a living, while preparing to apply for the job of Uttar Pradesh police. If I do not get it, I will migrate to Delhi, where my father works in a private company.
Ranjit further complained the vacancies in the police force of UP go mostly to the constituencies where SP is strong. They consider Class 12 marks for the job, he said. In Mainpuri, Etawah, Pratapgarh etc, students end up fudging their marksheets and get through, which is why Amethi lags behind.
Whether the allegations are true or not, it conveys the hapless youngsters plight in attempting to make a decent living. The incompetence of Rahul Gandhi as an MP, and the inability of the previous state governments to develop Amethi, has been cashed in by Narendra Modi, who continues to wield his popularity over the electorate. The critics and experts have dissected all the angles of demonetisation to prove it was an ill-thought, poorly executed scheme that only disturbed the lives of millions while achieving little, but it hardly matters to the electorate going to polls. The fact is, an economic disaster has proved to be a political masterstroke.
In Poonams remote village of Ultagadha, where lush green farmlands and fragile huts occupy the periphery of potholed roads, she said every Sunday her family of five gathers to listen to Modis Mann Ki Baat. She belongs to a farming family and the way Modi speaks about farmers in his speeches, she said, appeals to her. He reaches out to the poor, said Poonam. Notebandi attacked the rich who used to misuse honest tax payers money. He has delivered in Gujarat as well and he should be given a chance to govern UP. Not that I have a problem with Akhilesh, just that Modi is better.
Poonam has never stepped out of UP, yet is familiar with the development in Gujarat. My brother showed the videos and images of Gujarat he received on WhatsApp, she divulged.
In spite of not declaring the CM candidate, the BJP seems to be riding, and riding well, on Modis back to displace Akhilesh Yadav, who also remains popular among the youth. In UP, there are close to 25 lakh first-time voters, which has added another dimension to the polls. The parties have gone out of their way to woo the youth, and Modi and Akhilesh are the men to do it for their respective parties. While how the battle culminates in the rest of UP would be known only on March 11, in Amethi at least, the man from Gujarat has the edge, mainly because he has no baggage of anti-incumbency, and, just like Rae Bareli, the alliance has not been able to negotiate successfully.
Out of the five constituencies in Amethi that go to polls on 27 February, Congress had won only two in 2012 assembly elections. But the Lok Sabha constituency is a bastion of Congress party. With both parties claiming the upper hand, they have ended up competing against each other at two of the five constituencies Gauriganj and Amethi Sadar. With votes being split between them, BJP would automatically gain more, as BSP had not made a mark in 2012 in Amethi.
In Amethi Sadar, the battle between maharaja Sanjay Singhs first wife and second wife is most keenly watched. Garima, the first wife, contesting on a BJP ticket, is striking an emotional chord with the electorate while campaigning for justice against the man who wronged her. Sanjay, influential in Amethi, is busy backing Amita, the second wife, who is contesting from Congress, the party that sent him to Rajya Sabha.
With Rahul Gandhi hardly bringing much to the table in his own constituency, another factor drowning out Akhileshs popularity is his candidates. The electorate speaks highly of Akhilesh but say his MLAs indulge in hooliganism. For example, in the Amethi Sadar seat, the candidate Gayatri Prajapati, is a rape accused. After the directives of Supreme Court, UP police charged him with separate cases of gangrape and attempt to rape another woman and her minor daughter. When Akhilesh held a rally in Amethi on Monday, Prajapati was conspicuously absent.
Selling chow mein in the heart of Amethi on bustling narrow lane running parallel to the Ramleela Maidan, Ashish Kumar Agrahi, 24, said people fear walking out of the ATM after withdrawing cash. While he has done some commendable work, law and order has worsened under Akhilesh, said Ashish, who lives with his parents, and has stayed back to help them because his elder brother migrated to Lucknow to work as a property dealer. His father runs a pani puri stall on the same street and the two of them make 500 rupees of profit per day.
Ashish has passed his intermediate exams, but due to lack of employment opportunities, he has been running the chow mein stall for the last eight years. He said some of the people vote for the Congress because of the earlier generation, but the current lot lacks empathy. You must have come here with high expectations from Mumbai, he said, pointing at the Tehesildar House. It was built during Rajiv Gandhis time. My parents tell me it has not even been painted since then.
Also read the other reports in this series:
I. How Lucknow's first-time voters are gearing up for the polls
II. In Sonia Gandhi's adopted Udwa village, millennials are impressed with Modi's 'audaciousness'
III. In VIP constituency of Raebareli, millennial voters vexed with Congress, inclined to vote for Akhilesh
Around seventy seats. Thats the best the Congress can achieve in Uttar Pradesh with everything going in its favour, said a Congress old-timer at a hotel in Meerut which also served as the campaign office of the local party candidate Ramesh Dhingra. We have to be realistic. The partys core voters have moved away, he added. He was responding to a question how, as a Congress member, he saw his partys prospect in the ongoing assembly election.
Isnt it highly optimistic? You ask and get this reply. I didnt mean in this election. A tally of 70 reflects the maximum it can reach. Around 45 seats this time would be a decent result for us. You speak to others and they predict a Congress tally between 35 and 45 seats, a marginal rise from 28 seats it had in 2012.
That brings us to the bigger question: Why did the Samajwadi Party allow it to have 105 seats? In some seats it does not even have good candidates to offer; in some it has little presence. Seventy seats are all what Akhilesh could have offered the Congress, with the stern message to take it or leave it. He seemed in a hurry to seal the deal and left the latter with a bounty which it does not know what to do with.
If Akhilesh loses the election, he might invite criticism for entering a foolish alliance. And it will be entirely justified for several reasons. One, he had given away seats which the party could have won; two, he had displeased party workers in many seats where the Congress is seen as only a marginal player; three, theres no guarantee that Congress votes would get automatically transferred to the SP and vice versa; and four, the arrangement left the Congress with an advantage if it gets around 40 seats it might chose to go with the BSP if it falls marginally short of the majority mark.
The bitter reality of the alliance must have been apparent to Akhilesh thus far. In more than a dozen seats SP rebels are in contest with Congress candidates. In four out of 10 assembly segments in the Gandhi family stronghold Amethi and Raebareli, candidates of both parties are in the fray. This appears to have made Priyanka Gandhi stay off the campaign in these seats. If more than a dozen seats are lost due to such a scenario in a three-cornered contest, then it can land Akhilesh in a precarious situation.
The main idea behind the alliance was to keep the Muslim votes, which got divided between the parties, intact. However, with Mayawatis BSP also wooing the same votes aggressively, the possibility of a reverse consolidation among the Hindus was never anticipated.
The BJPs strategy has been to tackle polarisation of Muslim votes with polarisation of Hindu votes in its favour. To send the message across unsubtly, it has offered not a single candidate from the community. We already have star campaigners of the party - Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah making communally aggressive statements. This strategy had worked for the party 2014.
If the alliance does not bring in the expected Muslim votes for Akhilesh then the very purpose of the tie-up is defeated. The Congress has no other caste grouping which it can claim to be exclusively its own. The upper caste votes have been going in different ways for quite some time now. Most other caste groups are aligned with some party or the other. Thus, in practical terms the Congress is of little electoral value to the Samajwadi Party.
So why did Akhilesh get into it in the first place? Perhaps it had to do with the power struggle in the family close to the elections and paucity of time. Whatever the case, he may have some explaining to do to party men after the results are out.
New Delhi: The people's discontent against the NDA government's policies would have to be channelised to evolve a national coalition to take on the BJP in the 2019 general elections, CPM chief Sitaram Yechury has said.
"We will decide on the basis of policies and programmes... because mere coming together does not mean (Opposition) unity, it's not about arithmetic only. And I think there should be an alternate government, a secular government (in 2019).
"We are not saying that we will join hands with anybody. All that I want to raise is that we will work for forming an alternate government against the government of the communal forces," Yechury said.
The CPM general secretary was replying to a spate of questions on how he saw the emerging national political scenario leading up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, during an interaction with PTI journalists in New Delhi.
Yechury, who recently had a meeting with Bihar chief minister and JD(U) President Nitish Kumar, said though there was a talk on the recent 'Maha Gathbandhan' (Grand Alliance) experiment in Bihar which kept the BJP out of power, "don't look for a pre-designed answers".
"So, we have told him (Nitish) that the answer is also, in the past we have seen, the 1996 situation. That is also an answer. Our history will tell you," he said while stressing that the Left parties, on their own, would have to play a decisive role in this.
After the 1996 elections, Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party, DMK, TDP, AGP, All India Indira Congress (Tiwari), four Left parties, Tamil Maanila Congress, National Conference and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party had established the 13-party United Front, which had formed the government.
"There is already a lot of disgruntlement with the Modi government's policies, including demonetisation. We have to see how this disenchantment is channelised to ensure that an alternative secular combination emerges," the CPM leader said.
He pointed out that the BJP was in power now with "only 31 percent votes. Adding the votes polled by its allies, the tally only goes up to little over 37 percent. That means, 62-63 percent of the people have voted against them."
Asked about forging ties with the Congress or the Trinamool Congress to keep the BJP out, Yechury said there were no "pre-designed" answers available in electoral politics and parties have to respond on the basis of what results the people throw up in the polls.
It also depends on the policies and programmes of the parties and the situation prevailing at a particular time, he said.
"Let us see what sort of a situation comes up... We will take the call depending upon what sort of situation comes up. But lot of water will flow through the Ganga till 2019," he said.
Hitting out at the Modi government for its 'anti-people' policies and the alleged practice to bypass Parliament, the CPM leader questioned the Prime Minister's commitment towards parliamentary democracy, accusing him of "manipulating" the system to avoid Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA is in minority.
To drive home his point, he charged the government with bringing "every other bill as a money bill" so that it does not require approval of the Upper House, a practice, the Left leader felt is "distortion" of parliamentary methods.
"We, the people of India, (the opening words of Constitution)...means what? (That) the government is accountable to Parliament. The Parliament is accountable to the people. That is the linkage. If you break that at the level of Parliament, you break the link," he said.
Yechury said Modi was "not being accountable to and manipulating" parliamentary democracy. "One day, the prime minister came to Parliament and we had a good debate on demonetisation in Rajya Sabha. After that he vanished.
"He used to come for the customary Question Hour in Rajya Sabha on Thursdays. Even that he has stopped now," he said, alleging, "not only that he is not being accountable, he is manipulating the parliamentary system."
Castigating the government over issues concerning Dalits and scheduled castes and tribes, Yechury flagged the issue of abolition of the Planning Commission and the Five Year Plans which meant that the sub-plans for SCs and STs have "virtually ceased to exist".
As a result, he said, huge amounts that were to be sanctioned for the SCs and STs are not sanctioned now.
"The current union budget allocates a meagre 2.44 percent of the total budgetary outlay for the welfare of SCs and a minuscule 1.48 percent for the welfare of STs," he said, adding that earlier, the sub-plans for SCs and STs were to be allocated in terms equivalent to their percentage in the total population.
"What is it that you have allocated in the total budget outlay (for Dalits and STs)? This is far, far short of what should have been spent on their welfare under the sub-plans.
Now, this is going to have far-reaching effect, which is simmering now. This is going to be one big issue to take on which the Dalits and Left forces joining hands will become stronger," the CPM leader said.
He also accused the prime minister of making a "straightforward" appeal aimed at "communal polarisation" of voters during the ongoing Uttar Pradesh assembly poll campaign.
Yechury alleged that Modi was leading BJP's "fork-tongued" campaign for the UP polls, in which, while the prime minister was talking about farmers' debt waivers, other BJP leaders at the same time harp on Ram temple issue.
"You now have these fork-tongued speeches... there is this one angle of economy and debt waiver and, on the other, straightforward appeal for communal polarisation. The BJP has perfected the tactic," he alleged.
President Donald Trump might support an investigation into last month's U.S. raid in Yemen that killed several al Qaeda militants but also left a Navy SEAL and several civilians dead, the White House said on Sunday.
"I haven't had the chance to speak with him directly about that, but I would imagine that he would be supportive of that," White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on ABC's "This Week" television program.
Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens, 36, was killed in the raid on a branch of al Qaeda, also known as AQAP, in al Bayda province on Jan. 29, the first operation authorized by Trump as commander in chief.
The Miami Herald reported on Sunday that Owens's father, Bill, wanted an investigation into the raid.
The Pentagon said the operation in Yemen killed 14 militants but also acknowledged that civilians were likely killed. Medics at the scene said about 30 people, including 10 women and children, were killed.
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Donald Trumps tiff with the media, or rather the enemy media, is turning uglier by the day. The adversarial coverage, or fake news as he likes to call it, seems to weigh so much on the Trump administration that he is blatantly exercising Presidential prerogative for a winning shot in this game of egos.
Repeated attempts to berate unfavourable coverage
On Friday, Trump bad mouthed press, whose coverage he didnt like and berated the members of a federal agency in an unprecedented and most scathing attack ever launched by a sitting US president. Later the same day, he shocked everyone by barring select media organistaions from a white House presser, and on Saturday he announced that he will skip the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) annual dinner, becoming the first US President in decades to do so.
Before him, only Ronald Reagan has missed the traditional event that raises funds for independent journalism, while he was recuperating from an assassination attempt.
Earlier too, Trump had trained his guns on news media, whose coverage he found unpalatable. Addressing a gathering of conservative activists on Friday he criticised news organisations that he said provides "fake news", calling them the "enemy" of the American people.
I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. Its fake, phoney, fake, Trump had said.
But nothing beats the Fridays open show of authoritarianism displayed at the White House as Trump barred CNN, The New York Times, Buzzfeed, Politico and the Los Angeles Times from a news briefing declining to give any clear reasons.
Now, off-camera press conferences are not unusual. Smaller briefings are also not unheard of but gaggles in the White House are usually open to all outlets and they are free to ask anything.
Cherrypicking a bouquet of largely favourable media representatives to brief about the states executive actions is not only highly unusual but sets a dangerous precedent.
Whats behind the Trump-Media animosity?
If a report by CNN is to be believed, the FBI had rejected a White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Trump's associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign.
This is why, when Trump left out the news organisation that usually take on an adversarial role, he set a dangerous precedent. It raises deep concerns, and in the words of his own press secretary means that the Trump administration is tracking towards "dictatorship."
If Spicer, who at present shouts down reporters at Trump press briefings, would recall his own words from a few months ago, it will put Friday's developments in perspective for the Trump administration.
Spicer had said in a 16 December interview that free press is "what makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship," according to Vox.
"We have a respect for the press when it comes to the government, that is something you cant ban an entity from, Spicer had said.
Not just Spicer, but the First Amendment that guarantees a free press is at the very core of the US Constitution, which Trump took an oath to protect when he was sworn-in as the president.
The US Department of State website states "the press is often a target of retaliation by those who feel threatened by freedom of expression and transparency in democratic processes".
So, could it be that the Trump administration was finally finding it too hard to turn down the heat from the media, relentlessly reporting on his alleged links with Russia and financial conflict of interest through his vast business empire?
This unprecedented vitriol spewing and authoritarianism only makes the Trump administration look jittery and uncomfortable.
The fake news narrative is sounding more and more unconvincing by the day and this head-on attack on the media could spur a professional solidarity amid journalists. The AP and Times walked out of the presser the moment they heard that others had been barred from attending the news conference and the White House Correspondents also protested. If a unification of media ranks does happen, it will spell trouble for Trump sooner or later, which will be beyond any PR damage control mechanisms. Earlier in 2009, when under Obama administration the Treasury Department had tried to exclude Fox News (conservative news organisation that was sharply critical of Obamas policies), it drew a lot of flak. The Treasury Department was then forced to state that the omission was made only due to "logistical reasons", as reported in Time.
Therefore, the President of United States cannot go on behaving like a grumpy child, who will bully others into saying what he feels is right.
The start of an unsettling trend
The Trump administrations handling of its differences with the news media shows Trumps autocratic mindset. The difference of opinion between the Conservatives and Liberals goes back in history since the US democracy came into being. However, Trumps style of governance shows that the multimillionaire, who is used to hiring and firing dissidents at whim, has minimal understanding of the subtle art of diplomacy and finding a common ground with ones opponents.
Besides that, it seems like bullying does work in undermining media organisations. Trumps core support base seems to be enjoying the Trump-vs-media narrative. The average Trump supporter has shown in the past too that they trust their president over the media, as reported in The New York Times. Plus, discrediting the media seems to be the best strategy when you have an increasingly adversarial reportage to deal with. It is far easier for Trump to cast doubt on an adversarial media than rebutting each and every allegation levelled by it.
Moreover, discrediting the mainstream media will allow the Trump administration to circumvent a hostile media. Leaders in other democracies too have used talk-in shows, much like Prime Minister Modis Mann ki Baat, where a drab monologue is used to convey the establishments side of the story directly to the people. No uncomfortable questions asked, no explanations sought. Period.
Washington: Donald Trump on Saturday announced that he would skip the glitzy White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) annual dinner, to become the first US President to miss the gala in decades amidst his raging tiff with the media.
"I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!," Trump tweeted.
The black-tie dinner, which raises money for journalism scholarships, takes place every spring and is usually attended by the president, journalists, celebrities and Washington insiders.
The last president to miss the dinner was Ronald Reagan, who sat out because he was he recovering from an assassination attempt in 1981, although he still delivered remarks by phone, CNN reported.
According to NPR, Richard Nixon was the last president to simply skip the event, doing so in 1972.
Trump's announcement came a day after the White House excluded several major broadcasters and newspapers like The New York Times, CNN and BBC from an off-camera press briefing.
He has frequently described negative news coverage as "fake" and accused the media of being the "opposition party" and on Friday delivered his most slashing broadside yet, telling the Conservative Political Action Conference that major news outlets were "the enemy of the people".
The WHCA dinner was held for the first time in Washington DC in 1920. This year's dinner has been scheduled for April 29.
"The level of tension seemed incongruous with a black-tie event that is typically a jocular, if occasionally sharp-edged evening. The dinner, which has attracted A-list celebrities in recent years, features a presidential roast of reporters and a comic routine by a notable entertainer. Presidents are expected to be self-deprecating, which Mr. Trump is decidedly not," The New York Times said.
"The event may also evoke dark memories for Mr. Trump, who was brutally mocked at the 2011 dinner by President Barack Obama and the late-night host Seth Meyers, both of whom skewered the real estate developer for his seemingly far-fetched political aspirations and reality-show gaudiness. Cameras captured Mr. Trump in the audience, stone-faced, and the evening has since been cited as a prime motivator behind his presidential run," the influential American newspaper commented.
Reacting to Trump's decision, The Correspondents' Association, in a measured statement, said that it "takes note" of it. Jeff Mason, its president, wrote that the dinner "has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic."
Tehran: Iran's ex-president Mahmud Ahmadinejad published an open letter to Donald Trump on Sunday, welcoming his criticism of the US political system but taking issue with his visa ban and attitude to women.
Many Iranians see the new US president as cut from the same cloth as Ahmadinejad, who shocked the establishment with his sudden rise to power in 2005, combining hardline rhetoric and populist economic policies to win a powerful following among Iran's lower classes.
At times in the long and rambling letter, published in English and Farsi on his website, he appears to find a kindred spirit in Trump.
"Your Excellency (Trump) has truthfully described the US political system and electoral structure as corrupt and anti-public," he writes. But much of the letter is spent exhorting Trump to end interventions in the Middle East and ditch the "arrogance" of past US administrations.
Ahmadinejad also takes issue with Trump's visa ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.
"The presence and constructive effort of the elite and scientists of different nations, including the million-plus population of my Iranian compatriots has had a major role in the development of the US... the contemporary US belongs to all nations."
He also finishes with a short lecture on respecting women a possible reference to Trump's recorded claims that he has sexually assaulted some.
"The great men of history have paid the highest level of respect to women and recognised their God-given capabilities," Ahmadinejad writes.
Ahmadinejad has a fondness for writing to world leaders, having sent letters to former US president Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the pope as well as an 18-page missive to previous US leader George W Bush.
When Trump was elected in November, many Iranians joked about the similarities to their former president, whose tenure ended in 2013.
"When Ahmadinejad said that he intended to export his method of managing the world, we didn't take him seriously..." wrote one bemused commenter on social media.
Washington: The allies are upset. Bad hombres are scared. Millions of illegal immigrants, over 300,000 desis among them, have slipped into the shadows. And 'fake media' is hopping mad. But there is no stopping the trundling Trump train.
"Now you finally have a President. Finally!" Donald Trump told a raucous crowd of supporters at an annual gathering of conservatives as he ticked off a dizzying list of actions he has taken with his executive pen in the five weeks he has been in office.
He has pulled the US out of a major trade deal, rebooted two major oil pipelines, ordered reduction in regulations and initiated a huge "military operation" to get "really bad dudes out of this country at a rate nobody has ever seen before."
Now, he promised a "brand new action" to ban travel from seven terror prone nations to replace the one derailed by the courts and vowed one of the greatest military build ups in American history" and to "totally obliterate" the Islamic State.
Trump also could not resist the temptation of taking a dig at his Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton for calling his supporters "irredeemable deplorables" amid familiar chants of "Lock her up" and railing against the "dishonest" and "fake news" media.
Even as he vowed afresh to repeal and replace "the disaster known as Obamacare," as he called former President Barack Obama's signature health care law, Republican lawmakers faced tough questions at town halls about this that and all things Trump.
But Trump dismissed "the so-called angry crowds in home districts of some Republicans" as "actually, in numerous cases, planned out by liberal activists. Sad!" His top cabinet picks, however, were singing a slightly different tune abroad.
If days after taking over as President, Trump had again lamented not taking the Iraqi oil as "spoils of war," his Defence Secretary James Mattis assured worried Iraqis, "We're not in Iraq to seize anybody's oil."
And if the President had called Nato "obsolete," his Vice President Mike Pence assured nervous European allies that Washington "strongly supports Nato and will be unwavering in its commitment to our trans-Atlantic alliance." And his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly hopped over to Mexico to assure "there will be no use of military forces in immigration. And there will be no mass deportation."
As Mexico baulked at reported US plans to deport even OTMs Other than Mexicans to Mexico instead of their home countries as previously, they also sought to soothe concerns over Trump's plan to build a wall on the border and make Mexico pay for it.
Is the Trump team playing the "good cop, bad cop" routine as a "maniacally focused" President hits "his agenda every single day" as his reclusive strategic advisor Stephen Bannon asserted in a rare public appearance?
Calling the press as the "opposition party," Steve Bannon, the controversial "brain" behind the President declared an unending battle with "corporatist media and other globalist forces to deconstruct the administration state" a system of taxes, regulations and trade pacts.
And escalating his war with what Trump again called "fake news" media and "the enemy of the people", the White House barred several news outlets, including "Clinton News Network" and the "failing New York Times" from an off-camera press briefing.
The move came as CNN reported that the FBI had rejected a White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Trump's associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign.
"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," Trump fumed in a tweet. Meanwhile, as Trump detractors chanting "Dump Trump" marked the "Presidents Day" as "Not My Presidents Day" across the country, his die-hard supporters voiced frustration that critics unable to digest his success were too quick to protest.
The Office of Special Counsel, an obscure federal watchdog, too has been flooded with inquiries from bureaucrats about what they can and can't do in office.
And some others are taking their politics from the streets to the couch as a 'Post-election stress disorder' sweeps the nation, CNN reported citing mental health professionals "especially those working in Democratic strongholds."
Hyderabad: The killing of Srinivas Kuchibhotla has come as yet another blow to the Telugu community in the US and has focused attention on a series of tragedies that have struck immigrants from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in recent times.
Kuchibhotla of Hyderabad was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani from Warangal district in Telangana was injured in a shooting in a bar in Olathe, Kansas. In what is suspected to be the first incident of its nature after Donald Trump assumed office, a former Navy serviceman opened fire as he reportedly yelled "Middle Easterners, get out of my country" in what is seen as a case of mistaken identity.
The two engineers were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, a MNC. Thirty-two-year-old Kuchibhotla is the second man from Telangana to die in a shootout in the US this month. Software engineer Vamshi Reddy Mamidala was shot dead in Milpitas, California, on February 10, by an offender in the garage of his apartment building.
The 27-year-old, who hailed from Warangal district, died when the assailant opened fire while fleeing after robbing a woman. These are not isolated incidents. More than 30 techies and students from the two Telugu states have died since 2008, victims of crime or accidents.
Young dreams were cut short by the disasters that hit one of the largest groups among the Indian community in the US. In December last year, Chunduri Sai Tejaswi, a 23-year-old student from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, was killed after she was hit by a speeding vehicle while crossing the road in Fremont's Niles District.
Earlier, in July, Sankeerth, 25, of Hyderabad was murdered by his roommate, also an Indian, in Austin, Texas.
In June 2016, Hyderabad's Namboori Sridatta (25), who was working with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Arizona, drowned while picnicking with friends at a waterfall.
Early last year, Shiva Karan, a 23-year-old student from Hyderabad, committed suicide, reportedly due to depression. He was pursuing a master's programme in Raleigh of North Carolina State University. In June 2015, Sai Kiran, 23, of Hyderabad was shot dead by a robber in Florida after he refused to part with his mobile phone.
Sai Kiran was pursuing his MS from Atlantic University and had left India only a month and a half back. In a similar case in 2014, Elaprolu Jayachandra, 22, was shot dead during a robbery at a convenience store in Pasadena, Texas, where he was working.
The spate of killings between in 2008 and 2009 was attributed by some to the economic meltdown and massive job losses in the US. Indian Americans who have spent considerable time in the US point out that among various ethnic communities in the US, the Indians are doing well and among Indians, Telugus have excelled in various fields.
More than 600,000 Telugus are estimated to be living in the US. Many youngsters are pursuing advanced degrees and have become successful software professionals, engineers, doctors and business managers.
There is also a feeling that the youth are not taking enough precautions for their safety and thus becoming victims of crimes. While bodies like the Telugu Association of North America (TANA) have drafted safety guidelines, there have been demands that Indian authorities guide the citizens, especially students, on dos and don'ts.
Students are more vulnerable to attacks as they take up part-time jobs in areas with high crime rates as they are offered more money than in other areas. While the US mission in India issued 60,000 student visas in 2015, the US consulate general in Hyderabad issued the largest number. According to US officials, the Consulate General in Hyderabad issued the fifth largest number of student visas in the world.
Kuala Lumpur: Two women being held over the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam said on Sunday they thought they were taking part in a prank video, with one of them reportedly telling a senior diplomat she was paid just RM400 ($ 90) for her role.
Almost two weeks after the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was killed with a lethal nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur airport, Malaysian teams in hazmat suits sealed off the scene of the assassination today to sweep the site for toxins.
Two women are seen shoving something into Kim's face in leaked CCTV footage from the airport. He later suffered a seizure and was dead before he reached hospital.
Malaysia revealed on Saturday the 45-year-old was assassinated with a lethal nerve agent manufactured for chemical warfare and listed by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, who was arrested soon after the assassination on 13 February, said she believed she was handling a liquid like "baby oil", the country's deputy ambassador to Malaysia Andreano Erwin said according to reports.
Siti, 25, "only said in general that somebody asked her to do this activity", according to Erwin, who was granted access to Siti in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
Another female suspect, Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, is also in custody over the murder, but Erwin said Siti had told Indonesian consular staff she did not know her.
Huong told Vietnam's foreign ministry that she believed she had been tricked into killing Kim and thought she was taking part in a prank for a comedy video. "During contact with embassy staff, Huong said she...had thought she was playing a role in a humorous video clip," a statement from Vietnam's foreign ministry said.
Huong gained notoriety after Malaysian police shared CCTV images of her wearing a top emblazoned with "LOL" shortly after the killing.
Malaysian police have said one of the women arrested after the attack fell ill in custody, adding she had been vomiting. However, Erwin said Siti was physically healthy while Vietnam said Huong was "in stable health".
The news on Saturday that lethal VX nerve agent was used in the attack brought condemnation from South Korea, which has pointed the finger at the North over Kim's death.
Seoul slammed the use of the toxin as a "blatant violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and other international norms".
The fallout from the attack continued after US media reported unofficial talks in New York between North Korean and former American officials had been cancelled.
Peshawar: The Hindu community in Pakistan's Mansehra district cut short its annual three-day Maha Shivaratri festival by a day mainly due to the prevailing security situation in the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
"We normally celebrate this festival for three days every year, but our elders decided to cut it short," Darshan Lal, a Hindu caretaker of the nearly 1,500 years old Shiv Temple in Mansehra, was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune on Sunday.
Members of the Hindu community from across Pakistan gather at the Shiv Temple in Chiti Gati Gandiyan of Mansehra district to celebrate Shivaratri - believed to be the day when Lord Shiva and Parvati got married.
The festival began on Friday amid tight security. Over 700 fasting devotees from as far as Abbottabad, Kohat, Banu, Mardan, Peshawar and Rawalpindi performed puja and traditional rituals such as Ashnan (bathing) of Shiv with milk and honey.
The devotees on Saturday performed the rites of mehendi and Sehra bandi of Shiva. Amid reverberating sounds of bells and chants of religious slogans, devotees circled around the linga, offering their prayers, the paper said.
However, the festivities were cut short a day ahead of schedule as the pundits including Sham Lal, Chaman Lal and Ratan conducted a special puja, it said.
Explaining reasons behind cutting the festival short, Darshan Lal said there's not sufficient space to accommodate all the devotees in the temple and its surrounding village. Secondly, owing to the security situation, the elders had decided to end their celebrations on Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday evening, he added.
The "prolonged power outages and the prevailing security situation across the country too had contributed to the pundits decision to change the schedule in the larger interest of their community," he added.
All visiting devotees had left under tight security provided by the police who had provided adequate security during the festival, he said.
Lahore: Pakistan Rangers have killed four terrorists and detained 600 terror suspects during over 200 search operations in Punjab province under the recently launched nation-wide military operation "Radd-ul-Fasaad".
The army last week launched "Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad" an Arabic word which translates roughly to "elimination of discord" across the country, to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of its counter-terrorism operations, days after a wave of suicide attacks that killed more than 125 people, including 91 at a Sufi shrine in Sindh.
An important part of the operation was the deployment of paramilitary Rangers in Punjab province to counter terrorism.
The Pakistan Army's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said Punjab Rangers conducted over 200 search operations in various areas of Punjab including Karor, Layyah and Rawalpindi and arrested 600 suspects, including Afghan nationals.
Four suspected terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with security personnel, it said in a statement.
During the operation, the paramilitary force searched suspected houses, seminaries and shops, the statement said.
Some suspects belonging to Jamat-u-Ahrar (JuA), believed to be facilitators in the recent terror attacks in the country, are also among the arrested suspects.
JuA had claimed responsibility for the bombing on the Mall Road Lahore and the suicide attack on a shrine in Sehwan Sharif Sindh this month.
Weapons and banned literature have been seized during the operation.
The Nawaz Sharif government has approved the deployment of the Rangers in Punjab province for 60 days after the Mall Road Lahore bombing.
It was a long-standing demand of the opposition parties to deploy Rangers in Punjab for an operation against militants believed to be holed up in the southern part of the province.
The Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab police has also killed 17 terrorists mostly belonging to JuA after the February 17 Lahore bombing.
The Radd-ul-Fasaad operation is aimed at the elimination of the residual and latent threat of terrorism, consolidating gains of operations made so far and ensuring the security of Pakistan's borders.
Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Civil Armed Forces (CAF) and other security and law enforcing agencies (LEAs) are supposed to participate in the operation.
Pakistan is the grip of terror in the wake of a series of suicide bombings and killings. The most devastating of all the attacks was the one at the Sufi shrine of Lal Shabaz Qalandar in Sehwan in southern Pakistan, which killed 88 and injured hundreds of people.
The Pakistani security establishment has been jolted as never before. It is evident that panic has set in, glaringly demonstrated by indiscriminate killing of hundreds of alleged terrorists all over Pakistan and even in Afghanistan through cross-border military actions.
Crucially, this offensive came within 24 hours of the terror attacks. Sindhis, among others, are being targeted, which has led to several human rights groups leveling serious charges against security forces.
More than 100 Sindhi activists have been rounded up. Their whereabouts continue to be shrouded in mystery. Nine family members, including one minor, of Shafi Muhammad Burfat, the exiled leader of Jeay Sindh Mutheda Mahaj (JSMM) have been disappeared. Sindhis in Pakistan are in a perpetual state of fear.
In a separate incident, Sindh's nationalist groups held a protest strike on 19 February against the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as well as the continuous undeclared operations against ethnic Sindhis, their forced abductions and disappearances, torture in illegal detention centres and even extra-judicial killings.
During the strike, security forces unleashed a brutal crackdown on the secular Sindhi nationalist activists. Hundreds of house were raided and women and children were mercilessly beaten up. Meanwhile, the JSMM has further alleged that the Burfat clan was targeted and key members of the community were arrested.
On 20 February, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz ( JSQM) leader Hameed Sindhi and student leader Yawar Meheser were apprehended. Their whereabouts remain unknown. The spate of extra-judicial killings has given rise to suspicion of them being killed in custody.
The atrocities do not end here. Ustad Muhammad Rahimoon, 82, the senior most Sindhi nationalist and intellectual has been missing since 23 November, 2016. Sindhis fear the worst amid numerous cases of encounters exterminating those considered as political adversaries.
Reverting to terrorism in Pakistan, which has resurfaced with immense fury, it appears pertinent to point out that the Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa is being closely watched to determine whether his actions, if any, will reduce terrorism.
Academics and experts have started comparing Bajwa with his predecessor general Raheel Sharif. By default, Sharif is now seen as a kind of hero who made visible attempts to come down heavily on the terrorists through his ambitions and much trumpeted Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Questions are now being asked about Bajwa being unable or unwilling to deal with this problem.
With the election approaching in the not-so-distant future, skeptics feel that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his cohorts may be cautious in taking extreme measures against terrorists as many may be party cadres or enjoy an affiliation with the party. Any action against them may endanger Sharif's electoral prospects.
In this context, the present anti-terror operation Radd-ul-Fasaad has also come under scrutiny for its agenda to "indiscriminately eliminate residual threat of terrorism , consolidate gains of operations made this far and further ensure security of our borders".
It is being questioned if the word " indiscriminately " indicates that in earlier operations, some terrorists were spared, but could now be possible targets. If the basic blueprint and intention of the new anti-terror operation stands challenged at its very inception, its prospects of success do indeed look bleak.
Sharif's actions would augur well if anti-terror steps remain apolitical and fair and not minority specific. The Pakistani public is fraught with fear and insecurity. It is the responsibility of the state to raise their confidence level and comfort. Any failure here would mean sure doom.
Islamic State has already claimed responsibility for the Sehwan terror attacks. Hundreds of Pakistani terrorists must be preparing to wrap-up fighting in Islamic State-controlled areas in Syria and Iraq and return to Pakistan. One must remember they are fully indoctrinated, radicalised and battle-hardened.
Their participation in abetting terror on their home turf is likely to defy any operation. Only a carefully crafted intelligence system and dedicated counter-terror mechanism may work .
The writer is a retired IPS officer, a security analyst and Senior Fellow with the India Police Foundation. Views are personal
By Philip Pullella
| ROME
ROME Pope Francis said on Sunday he wants to make a trip to South Sudan together with the head of the Anglican Church to bring attention to the suffering of people stricken by civil war and famine.Francis made the disclosure in impromptu comments during a visit to Rome's Anglican church, the first to the parish by a pope, to mark the 200th anniversary of its opening."My aides and I are studying the possibility of a trip to South Sudan," the pope said in response to a question about Christian Churches in Africa.He recalled that last October the Catholic, Episcopalian and Presbyterian bishops came to Rome to discuss the situation in their country and invited him to visit.
Francis said they told him "but don't come alone, come with Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury". Welby is spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican communion, which counts about 85 million members and is the world's third-largest Christian denomination."The situation is a bit ugly down there but we have to do it because the three of them (the local bishops from different churches) together want peace and they are working together for peace," Francis said.Oil-producing South Sudan, which became independent in 2011, descended into civil war in December 2013 when a dispute between President Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar ended with fighting, often occurring along ethnic lines. Both sides have targeted civilians, human rights groups say.
Kiir's government declared a famine in some part of the country last week.South Sudan has been hit by the same east African drought that has pushed Somalia back to the brink of famine, six years after 260,000 people starved to death in 2011.
Francis said the trip would likely last just one day, which Vatican sources have said would be for security reasons. Francis gave no indication when it could take place but sources have said it would be this year.The Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches have been split since 1534 when King Henry VIII broke with Rome to start the Church of England. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Dominic Evans)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Islamic State militants are planning "indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians" in Britain on a scale similar to those staged by the Irish Republican Army 40 years ago, the head of the country's new terrorism watchdog said.
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph published on Sunday, Max Hill, the lawyer tasked with overseeing British laws on terrorism, said the militants were targeting cities and posed "an enormous ongoing risk which none of us can ignore".
"In terms of the threat that's represented, I think the intensity and the potential frequency of serious plot planning with a view to indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians of whatever race or colour in metropolitan areas represents an enormous ongoing risk that none of us can ignore," he said.
"So I think that there is undoubtedly significant ongoing risk which is at least as great as the threat to London in the 70s when the IRA were active on the mainland."
The IRA abandoned its armed struggle for an end to British control of Northern Ireland and unification with Ireland in a 1998 peace deal. More than 3,600 people were killed, including more than 1,000 members of the British security forces, during a sectarian conflict that began in the late 1960s.
British security officials have repeatedly said that Islamic State militants, who are losing ground in Iraq and Syria, will target Britain.
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Moscow: Thousands of Russians marched through central Moscow on Sunday in memory of slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, two years after he was shot dead near the Kremlin.
The assassination of the former deputy prime minister on 27 February, 2015 was the highest-profile killing of a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin since the ex-KGB officer took charge in 2000.
Five Chechen men from Russia's volatile North Caucasus are currently on trial for carrying out a contract hit, but those who ordered the killing have not been brought to justice.
"We came to pay tribute to the honesty and bravery of Boris Nemtsov," pensioner Galina Zolina said, clutching a bunch of red carnations. "We want to show the authorities that we haven't forgotten."
Charismatic Nemtsov who went from Kremlin insider under Boris Yeltsin to one of Putin's fiercest foes was hit in the back by four fatal shots as he walked home across a bridge by the Kremlin with his girlfriend.
The march was permitted by the authorities but not allowed to include a makeshift memorial officials have repeatedly sought to dismantle at the spot Nemstov was killed.
Some 15,000 demonstrators, organisers and AFP estimated, surrounded by a heavy police presence waved Russian flags and posters criticising the Kremlin and Moscow's intervention in Ukraine, which Nemtsov had fiercely opposed right up to his death.
"The march can maybe get the attention of the authorities," said biologist Alexei Kuznetsov.
"It might be able to influence the investigation, show that the case resonates in society even if the authorities try to ignore it."
Last October five men including a member of an elite interior ministry unit in Chechnya -- went on trial in a military court in Moscow for carrying out the contract killing for 15 million rubles (currently $250,000, 240,000 euros).
But despite claims from officials that the case has been solved Nemtsov's family and allies insist that the probe into his death has left the masterminds untouched.
They insist he was killed to stop his political activities and the murder trail leads to those close to
Chechnya's Kremlin-loyal strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.
"The investigation stopped at the level of those who carried out the murder but nothing has been done to find those who ordered it," Vadim Prokhorov, the lawyer for Nemtsov's family said.
Details about Sony Xperia XZ Premium, the companys flagship smartphone for 2017 surfaced yesterday, now press shots of the smartphone along with three other mid-range smartphones have surfaced, thanks to @evleaks.
According to the latest rumor, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium will come with a 4K (38402160 pixels) HDR display, will be powered by Snapdragon 835 SoC and come with 20MP camera with 1.22um and support for slow-motion video at 960 fps, thanks to the latest Sony sensor with embedded memory. It has fingerprint sensor embedded into the power button.
As you can see in the images, it has Chrome mirror finish, similar to the Xperia Z5 Premium. There are also rumors of Motion Eye (predictive capture), super low-light performance and an anti-distortion feature.
The second image is expected to the Sony Xperia XA successor that even showed up in a video last month. This could be the Sony G3112 or G3121 or G3221.
Sony Pikachu rumored specifications
5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD display
2.3GHz GHz MediaTek Helio P20 Octa-Core 64-bit 16nm processor with ARM Mali T880 GPU
3GB RAM, 64GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD
Android 7.0 (Nougat)
23MP rear camera with LED flash
8MP front-facing camera
4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, GPS
The other phone has a LED flash on the front and had surfaced in China recently with 4GB of RAM.
One of these could be Sony BlancBright that is rumored to come with a 5.5 QHD display, powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 653 processor, 4GB RAM and upcoming Sony IMX400 camera sensor. The other could be Sony Keyak that is tipped to sport a 1080p display, MediaTek Helio P20 processor with 4GB RAM, 64GB of internal storage, 23MP rear camera and a 16MP front-facing camera.
All the smartphones have May 7th date so all these phones may not roll out until May, 2017. The Sony MWC 2017 conference starts at 8:30 AM CET (1:00 PM IST) on February 27th, Monday. We will be there to attend the event to bring you more details about these upcoming Sony smartphones.
Source 1, 2
The annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) officially starts tomorrow, February 27th, but most companies have scheduled their events today, and BlackBerry already had an event yesterday to introduce its KEYone smartphone. The upcoming week is going to be a cornucopia of smartphone goodness and were on ground already to bring you the latest on the latest! With the tone set, we thought it right to bring you a quick rundown of the latest buzz from Barcelona about what to expect. So without further ado, heres the top announcements we expect from MWC 2017.
BlackBerry
Blackberry yesterday announced KEYone smartphone, which is the last phone that is designed by BlackBerry and is made by TCL Communication Technology (TCT). It has a 4.5-inch (1620 x 1080 pixels) display with 3:2 aspect ratio and has a 4-row QWERTY physical backlit keyboard with keys that respond to touch gestures, support for flick typing, up to 52 customizable shortcuts and the fingerprint sensor is built into the spacebar.
It runs on Android 7.1 (Nougat) with security and productivity suite from BlackBerry. It has an anodized aluminum frame and a soft touch textured back. It is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 625 SoC, packs 3GB of RAM and a 3505mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 that charge up to 50% in just 36 minutes.
It comes in Black color and is priced at US$ 549 (Rs. 36,590 approx.) / 599 Euros / 499 GBP depending on the market. It will be available globally starting from April.
LG
LG will introduce its flagship G6 smartphone in a couple of hours at an event that starts at 12:00 PM CET (4:30 PM IST). It is rumored to come in a glossy and brushed metal variants and in Mystic White, Astro Black, and Ice Platinum colors. It will run Android Nougat with LG UX 6.0.
The company already confirmed 5.7-inch (1440 2880 pixels) QHD+ LCD display with a 18:9 aspect ratio, 13MP dual rear cameras, secondary rear camera with 125-degree lens and a 100-degree wide-angle lens for the front-facing camera. It also confirmed waterproof body. Check out all the rumored specifications here.
Huawei
Huawei will introduce its flagship P10 smartphone along with P10 Plus at the event. Both the phones are expected to come with Dual rear cameras with LEICA SUMMARIT lenses, metal unibody design. These will run Android Nougat-based EMUI 5.1.
The high-end P10 Plus is expected pack a 5.5-inch Quad HD curved glass screen, iris scanner along with ring flash on the back. You can check out details about both the smartphones here.
Along with the P10, Huawei will also unveil its Huawei Watch 2 running Android Wear 2.0. It is expected to come in two variants, one with support for cellular connectivity that will allow users to make and receive phone calls using a built-in e-SIM card will allow the watch to remain connected without a WiFi or Bluetooth connection. It is expected to come in black, orange, and a speckled gray color variants.
The Huawei event is scheduled today February 26th at 2PM CET (6:30 PM IST).
HMD Global (Nokia)
HMD Global will host an event at 4:30 PM CET (9:00 PM) and it already confirmed that it will introduce new Nokia Android smartphones. It is expected to introduce Nokia 5, Nokia 3 and a modern version of the Nokia 3310 with a slimmer body, color display and Series 30+ OS.
The Nokia 5 is expected to be powered by Snapdragon 430 SoC (same as Nokia 6) but it is said to sport a 5.2 inches at 720p display and come with 2GB RAM. It is said to have a 12-megapixel rear camera.
Nokia 3 rumored specifications
5.2 / 5.3-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD display
1.4GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 425 processor with Adreno 308 GPU
2GB LPDDR3 RAM, 16GB internal storage, expandable memory with microSD
Android 7.0 (Nougat)
13MP rear camera with LED Flash
5MP front-facing camera
4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS
The Nokia 3 is rumored to start at 149 ($157 / Rs. 10,550 approx.), the Nokia 5 is rumored to start at 199 ($210 / Rs. 14,090 approx.) and the new Nokia 3310 is said to be priced at 59 (US$ 62 / Rs. 4150) . The Nokia 5, Nokia 3 and new Nokia 3310 are expected to go on sale globally sometime in March or April, including India.
Lenovo / Motorola
Lenovo-owned Motorola will host its event at the same time 4:30 PM CET (9:00 PM) where it is expected to introduce Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus smartphones. We already have complete specifications of the phones. We are just waiting for the price and roll out details.
Moto G5 rumored 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, PDAF, 1080p video recording
5MP front-facing camera with OmniVision OV5693 sensor
Water repellent nano-coating
Front-ported loudspeaker
Dimensions: 144.3x73x9.5 mm; Weight:145g
4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS
2800mAh battery
Moto G5 Plus rumored specifications
5.2-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD display with Corning Gorilla glass 3 protection
2GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 625 processor with Adreno 506 GPU
2GB/4GB RAM, 64GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD
Android 7.0 (Nougat)
Dual SIM (Optional)
12MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, Dual-Pixel Autofocus, Sony IMX362 sensor, f/1.7 aperture, 4K video recording
5MP front-facing camera with OmniVision OV5695 sensor, f/2.2 aperture
Water repellent nano-coating
Fingerprint sensor
Front-ported loudspeaker
Dimensions: 150.2x74x7.9 mm; Weight:155 g
4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, NFC
3000mAh battery with Turbo charging
Samsung
The Samsung event is the final event of the day where the company is expected to introduce its flagship Galaxy Tab S3 tablet. It is also expected to come with a keyboard dock.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 rumored specifications
9.7-inch (20481536 pixel) QXGA Super AMOLED display
2.15GHz quad-core Snapdragon 820 64-bit Quad-Core processor with Adreno 530 GPU
4GB RAM, 32GB / 64GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
Android 7.0 (Nougat)
13MP rear camera
5MP front-facing camera
Fingerprint sensor
Dimensions: 169 x 237.3 x 6mm; Weight: 429g, LTE: 434g
4G LTE (optional), Bluetooth 4.2, WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz/5GHz) MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, GLONASS, USB 3.1 Type-C
6000mAh battery
The Galaxy Tab S3 is expected to come in WiFi and LTE versions with model numbers SM-T820 and SM-T825, respectively and could start at 700,000 won (US$ 605 / Rs. 40950 approx.) We should know all the details at the event 19:00 CET (11:30 PM IST) today.
Sony
Tomorrow, Sony is expected to introduce its flagship Sony Xperia XZ Premium along with three other smartphones. Couple of these is expected to be powered by MediaTek Helio P20 processor. You can check out more details here.
The Sony MWC 2017 conference starts at 8:30 AM CET (1:00 PM IST) tomorrow, February 27th.
Gionee
Gionee already confirmed that it will unveil A1 and A1 Plus smartphones at its event. A recent rumor revealed that the A1 will pack a 5.5-inch 1080p 2.5d curved glass display, 16-megapixel front-facing camera, Android 7.0 (Nougat) a fingerprint sensor on the back. It is is rumored to be priced at 35999 NPR (US$ 336 / Rs. 22,500 INR approx.) and is said to go on sale in Nepal on March 15.
We dont have any details about the Gionee A1 Plus. The Gionee event starts at 11AM CET (3:30 PM IST) tomorrow, February 27th.
OPPO
OPPO already confirmed that it will unveil new camera technology with 5x zoom. It said that this technology will give users unprecedented ability to capture highly detailed images. The OPPO event starts at 2:00 PM CET (6:30 PM) IST tomorrow, February 27th.
Jio and Samsung
Reliance Jio and Samsung will host an event on Tuesday, February 28th at 8:45 AM CET (1:15 PM IST). Samsung already said that the event is to foster engagement and participation among industry leaders, governments and communities by discussing Jios successful 4G LTE business and how it has transformed the everyday lives of Indians, said Samsung.
Meizu
Meizu has scheduled an event on Tuesday, February 28th at 10AM CET (2:30 PM IST) to unveil a cutting edge wireless solution of the company. It is rumored to be mCharge 4.0 that could fully charge a smartphone battery in just 45 minutes using a 9V/4A charger (36W).
Ulefone will showcase flagship Ulefone Gemini Pro, Ulefone Power 2, Ulefone F1 and Ulefone T1 smartphones. The Ulefone F1 will have a bezel-less display. It will be powered by Helio P25 octa-core 2.5GHz 16nm processor and 6GB of RAM similar to Ulefone Armor 2 and Ulefone T1. Both the F1 and T1 will come with 128GB storage.
You can check out all the MWC 2016 news here. Which device are you eagerly waiting for?
President Donald Trump says he won't be attending the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner this spring.
In a tweet on Saturday, the president doesn't give a reason but says he wishes "everyone well and have a great evening!"
The annual fundraiser for college scholarships mixes politicians, journalists and celebrities.
Trump has long had an adversarial relationship with news media. In recent weeks, he has accused some news outlets of publishing "fake news."
Trump has also slammed reporters for using anonymous sources. His frustration includes reports describing contacts between his campaign advisers and Russian intelligence agents, which the White House has disputed. Yet members of his staff regularly demand anonymity when talking to reporters
Ian McShane is throwing some major shade at "Game of Thrones" fans.
**Spoiler alert: If you're not caught up with the latest season, stop reading here.**
The British actor appeared on the HBO series last year, making his debut as Brother Ray in a very crucial episode.
During that episode it was revealed that The Hound, played by Rory McCann, was still alive. But, prior to the episode airing, McShane shared a few too many details about his role, making many "Thrones" fans extremely upset.
"Can you believe it? 'Oh, you're giving it away.' Firstly, you love it," the 74-year-old actor told Empire magazine in an interview published in its April 2017 issue. "Secondly, you'll have forgotten by the time it comes out...and what am I giving away? A character beloved by everybody returns. Get a f**king life."
WATCH: 'Game of Thrones' Star Maisie Williams on Saying Goodbye to Arya: I'm Trying to Do Her 'Justice'
The "Deadwood" actor argues that some "Thrones" fans may put a little too much stake into the show.
"The show is huge but some fans seem to identify with it [too closely]," he continued. "You want to say, 'Have you thought about your lifestyle? Maybe you should get out a little more.'"
As McShane told The Telegraph last year, he has zero apologizes when it comes to spoilers.
"You say the slightest thing and the Internet goes ape," he said. "I was accused of giving the plot away, but I just think, 'Get a f**king life. It's only t*ts and dragons.'"
"Games of Thrones" returns with season 7 this summer.
WATCH: 'Game of Thrones' Star Maisie Williams Teases 'Nothing Will Prepare You' for Season 7
In a field not too far from the famous Batu caves outside of Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, a group of us inspect a verdant and fragrant crop of kesum, a popular herb used in traditional Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese cookery, sometimes as a curry seasoning, and sometimes as an ulam, a green salad vegetable. We are observing about 6 acres of the herb, growing like paddy in shallow water, right up against some of Malaysias remarkable 60 million-year-old rainforest. Our group includes a woman who plants and harvests kesum, a field biologist, a couple of other agricultural specialists, and two men from a botanical extraction company. Rumbling clouds portending a heavy rain warn us of soaking wet weather in minutes.
Kesum, which alternately goes by the botanical names Polygonum Minus or Persicaria minor, grows from seed to maturity in 90 days, and has the fresh flavor of basil and oregano together, with its own unique aroma. The farm we are visiting harvests and bundles a ton of kesum every day for the local fresh markets. In homes and local restaurants, kesum, also known as laksa leaf, finds a way into many regional dishes. Notable among them is a famous Malaysian salad called kerabu, which also contains shrimp, hot chiles, peanuts and lime.
In the United States, kesum has appeared in Thai and Vietnamese cuisine for decades, and youd probably recognize its distinctive fresh aroma. Now, scientific inquiry into kesum has opened a new area of use as a cognitive enhancer, a mental sharpening agent that works without apparent negative effects. The herb is loaded with beneficial antioxidants from carotenes, and vitamins C and E, to a host of flavonoids, catechins and more.
The plant has been used as a traditional remedy for centuries, according to Datin Sharifah Anisah, perhaps Malaysias most knowledgeable expert on the traditional uses of Malaysian plants. It can be eaten as food, drunk as a tea, applied to skin, and employed for a variety of purposes from detoxification to enhancing immunity. Traditionally the plant has earned the name smart weed, for its mind-sharpening effects.
These effects were put to the test in a study of 35 healthy women, half of who were given a concentrated extract of kesum daily, while the other half received a placebo. At the commencement of the study, after three weeks, and after six weeks, the subjects were given a series of psychological and intelligence tests. The kesum extract group scored higher in overall good mood, short-term memory, and IQ. Several parameters of cognitive function improved. This 2015 study, reported in the medical journal Clinical Interventions in Aging, has piqued interest in the popular herb.
Topically, kesum has a future in the cosmetic sector. Recent investigation into the topical use of the extract shows that kesum has a youth-enhancing effect, causing the formation of new healthy collagen, the primary building material of skin tissue. This will make the extract a candidate for inclusion into anti-aging creams and serums.
At Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), the premier botanical research center in that country, one of the centers botanists tells us of ways that FRIM itself is launching both a kesum seasoning and a kesum tea, to make the benefits of the plants even more available to the general public. Specimens of kesum grow in pots under a shed roof, and in the herbarium at the center, voucher samples of kesum are used to ensure proper identity of the plant.
Several of us fly to Kota Bharu, south of Kuala Lumpur in Kelantan state, to visit the legendary Pasar Siti Khadijah, a very large and colorful market run almost entirely by women. The dry market features household goods, knives, brooms, and all manner of general supplies, while the wet market features fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices. We make our way into the wet market, and immediately spot large piles of kesum stacked at almost every stall. As we stand near one stall, a woman approaches the vendor, and purchases a generous armload of kesum. We follow her upstairs to the restaurant area, and watch her finely chop the pile of kesum for the salads that will be served over the next few hours. She laughs at me as I take her photo.
Kesum is also cultivated in the U.S., by farmers who serve Thai restaurant suppliers. And while the primary consumption of kesum is in Southeast Asian cuisine, the new science on kesum suggests that another area of growth for the plant will be in both the nutritional supplement and cosmetic sectors. Kesum, a popular herb and salad vegetable, is making its way into the arena of scientifically-corroborated remedies for the brain and skin, and is now poised to achieve even greater recognition.
Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies, is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide, and is the author of fifteen books. Read more at MedicineHunter.com.
Congressional lawmakers begin returning to Washington on Monday after a tense week-long recess in which Republicans got an earful about ObamaCare and other issues and ahead of President Trumps first speech to a joint session of Congress.
With the GOP controlling both chambers of Congress and now the White House, Republican lawmakers first trip home this session could have been a victory lap. They were instead accused in the media of having done little in roughly their first three weeks. And several were confronted at town hall meetings about plans to replace ObamaCare if and when its dismantled.
The president will have his say Tuesday night. Majority Republicans in the House and Senate will be closely watching the prime-time address for guidance, marching orders or any specifics Trump might embrace on health care or taxes, areas where some of his preferences remain a mystery.
Treasure Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Sunday told Fox News that the speech will include Trumps plan for corporate and individual tax reform. He also suggested that the president is not sold on House Republicans so-called border tax adjustment plan to tax exports to essentially offset proposed tax cuts.
Trump is expected to deliver his fiscal 2018 budget to Congress in mid-March.
Congressional Republicans insist they are working closely with the new administration as they prepare to start taking votes on health legislation, with the moment finally upon them to make good on seven years of promises to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
House Republicans hope to pass their legislation by early April and send it to the Senate, with action there also possible before Easter.
Republicans will be "keeping our promise to the American people," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said as he sent lawmakers home for the Presidents Day recess armed with informational packets to defend planned GOP changes to the health law.
However, the recess was dominated by raucous town halls in which Republicans -- including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Virginia Rep. Dave Brat, a favorite of the Tea Party movement -- faced tough questions about their plans to replace the far-reaching law with a new system built around tax credits, health savings accounts and high-risk pools.
Among the important, unanswered questions are what will be the overall cost and how many people will be covered.
There's also uncertainty about how to resolve divisions among states over Medicaid money, with at least a couple of GOP plans circulating, including one by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford.
The lack of clarity created anxiety among voters who peppered the lawmakers from coast to coast with questions about what would become of their own health coverage and that of their friends and family.
It has forced Republicans to offer assurances that they don't intend to take away the law and leave nothing in its place, even though some House conservatives favor doing just that.
"I think we have a responsibility in Washington to try to make the system better, GOP Rep. Leonard Lance told an overflow crowd last week in his politically divided New Jersey district.
Many Republicans say that how they will handle health legislation will set the stage for the next big battle, over taxes. And the GOP's early plans for major infrastructure bill do not appear on the table.
Senators also will be weighing the nomination of federal appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch, Trump's pick for the Supreme Court. Hearings soon will get under way in the Senate Judiciary Committee; floor action is expected before Easter.
Despite Gorsuch's sterling credentials, Democrats are under pressure from their liberal supporters to oppose him, given voters' disdain for Trump and the GOP's refusal last year to allow even a hearing for Obama's nominee for the high court vacancy, federal appeals Judge Merrick Garland.
Yet some Democrats are already predicting that one way or another, Gorsuch will be confirmed. Even if he doesn't pick up the 60 votes he needs, McConnell could use a procedural gambit to eliminate Democrats' ability to filibuster Gorsuch, an outcome that Trump has endorsed.
The Senate has confirmed 14 Cabinet and Cabinet-level officials, fewer than other presidents at this point.
Next up will be financier Wilbur Ross for Commerce secretary, Rep. Ryan Zinke to lead the Interior Department, retired neurosurgeon and 2016 GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson to be Housing secretary and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the Energy Department.
How Democrats vote will be telling, given the extreme pressures on them to oppose Trump at every turn.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Republicans are increasingly divided over the issue of whether members of Donald Trump's presidential campaign made illegal contact with Russia and if a special prosecutor should be appointed over Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate such allegations.
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told Fox News Sunday that he has confidence in Sessions, a Trump campaign supporter and former Alabama senator, and his judgment.
If he wants to investigate this under the Department of Justice, thats his prerogative, Lewandowski said. I have the utmost confidence in Attorney General Sessions. If he believes there is something there, he will investigate that. I think he is completely capable and competent to do so. and I would leave it in his hands.
Lewandowskis comments follow California Rep. Darrell Issa telling HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday that neither Sessions nor a deputy, who would both be Trump appointees, should handle such a probe.
On Sunday, Issa, a Trump supporter and a former chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, told Fox News that Trump is a president whom I trust but that a special prosecutor should handle the probe so Americans can feel assured.
Openness and transparency are the best way, Issa said.
The U.S. intelligence committee has concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 White House race, in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton, whose campaign was the target of an email hacking.
Trump has denied a connection to Russian President Vladimir Putin. And Lewandowski on Sunday denied never, ever" having had contact with Russian officials or having knowledge of anybody on the campaign doing so.
Former Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn acknowledged talking to a Russian diplomat before becoming Trumps national security adviser. However, he was forced to resign a few weeks ago for not telling Vice President Pence about the call.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that dicussions about Sessions or a special prosecutor wouldn't be appropriate until congressional committees complete their investigations.
Also on Sunday, Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, a Trump supporter and member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, cautioned against immediate calls for a special prosecutor.
"I think that's way, way getting ahead of ourselves, Cotton said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "There are no allegations of any crime occurring. There's not even an indication that there's criminal investigations under way by the FBI.
However, Cotton left open the possibility of deciding in the future about using a special prosecutor into the matter.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a high-profile Democrat and Clinton family supporter, is an outspoken Donald Trump critic but said Sunday that he has no intentions of challenging the Republican president for the White House in 2020.
I am going to finish up strong. I have no intentions of running against Donald Trump, McAuliffe, whose term ends next year, told Fox News Sunday.
McAuliffe made the comment after sparring with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, over key points of Trumps agenda.
Its not good for Virginia, said McAuliffe, a first-time elected official who rose to national prominence as leader of the Democratic National Committee.
McAuliffe argued that Trumps effort to reduce government -- including dismantling ObamaCare and ordering a hiring freeze on many federal jobs -- is hurting his state's economy.
Im not happy about the federal hiring freeze. Im very concerned about health care, said McAuliffe, who argued that an end to the 2010 health care law could cost Virginia millions in reimbursements.
Im very concerned about how we do this going forward, he said. We at the state level have to incur costs.
McAuliffe and Walker were in Washington, D.C., this weekend for the National Governors Association meeting.
Walker said he hoped Republicans in control of Congress and the White House have an ObamaCare plan that goes beyond repeal and gets to replace.
Walker, who spoke about the issue Saturday over lunch with Trump, struck a more universal tone than McAuliffe, saying the future of ObamaCare is a concern we all have.
Still, he suggested, like fellow fiscal conservatives, that the effort to provide health care for all Americans, particularly the most needy, is best done on the state level.
Governors have said give us the tools, Walker said. Now is their chance to do it. All states are unique. We can make it work.
Waiting for childbirth can be a real pain in the neck particularly when your neck is about 7-feet tall.
A livestream of an upstate New York zoos giraffe has captivated watchers since it went up Friday, but theres still no sign 15-year-old April is about to go into labor.
When she does, the cameras positioned by Harpursvilles Animal Adventure Park will show the entire process. Aprils fourth calf is likely to weigh around 150 pounds and measure close to six feet tall, according to the zoo.
The calfs dad is a much younger giraffe Oliver is only five years old and this is set to be his first child.
A giraffe pregnancy lasts 15 months.
Controversy briefly erupted when the live feed was taken down from YouTube because it reportedly violated the sites nudity guidelines, The Associated Press reported. Animal Adventure Park owner Jordan Patch blamed that brief interruption on a handful of extremists and animal rights activists.
The embattled Spokane, Wash., NAACP leader accused by her own parents of falsely portraying herself as black for years quit Monday, saying she remains committed to fighting for "what is right and good in this world."
Rachel Dolezal, whose career as a black civil rights leader began to unravel last week when her parents came forward to say their 37-year-old daughter is not African-American, canceled a chapter meeting Monday where she was expected to speak about the furor sparked over her racial identity. But other members of the organization said they still planned to gather Monday evening, and before the event could take place, Dolezal posted her resignation on Facebook.
"This is not me quitting; this is a continuum," Dolezal wrote. "It's about moving the cause of human rights and the Black Liberation Movement along the continuum from Resistance to Chattel Slavery to Abolition to Defiance of Jim Crow to the building of Black Wall Street to the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement to the #BlackLivesMatter movement and into a future of self-determination and empowerment."
Dolezal complained in her message that, while serious problems plague Spokane's black community, "the dialogue has unexpectedly shifted internationally to my personal identity in the context of defining race and ethnicity."
Nowhere did Dolezal, who appeared in Baltimore with African-American leaders to decry the racially charged death in April of Freddie Gray, deny her apparent racial ruse.
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Members were planning to demand that Dolezal step down. Kitara Johnson, a member of the chapter, organized an online petition calling for Dolezal to take a leave of absence.
"It's not about race, it's about integrity," she said. "If you're a leader, you have to have integrity. She clearly lacks integrity. The other piece is credibility."
Dolezal was elected president of the local NAACP chapter about six months ago.
The NAACP issued a statement Friday supporting Dolezal, who has been a longtime figure in Spokane's human-rights community and teaches African studies to college students.
Ruthanne Dolezal, Rachel Dolezal's mother, said the family's ancestry is Czech, Swedish and German, with a trace of Native American heritage. She produced a copy of her daughter's Montana birth certificate listing herself and Larry Dolezal as Rachel's parents.
The city of Spokane is investigating whether Dolezal lied about her ethnicity when she applied to be on the police board. Police on Friday said they were suspending investigations into racial-harassment complaints filed by Dolezal, including one from earlier this year in which she said she received hate mail at her office.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Rachel Dolezal, the former head of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP, sued Howard University after she received her graduate degree there, claiming the historically black college had discriminated against her because she was white.
Dolezal resigned as president of the Spokane NAACP Monday, just days after her parents told local media outlets that their daughter had misrepresented herself as fully or partially black. In reality, they said, their daughter's ancestry is German, Swedish, and Czech, with some Native American background as well.
WTTG reported that Dolezal filed her lawsuit against Howard in 2002, asking for damages due to "medical and emotional distress."
Dolezal, who then went by her married name, Rachel Moore, claimed the university blocked her appointment as a teaching assistant, failed to hire her as an art teacher upon graduation and removed some of her pieces from a student art exhibition in favor of works by African-American students. In 2005, the D.C. appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling throwing out the lawsuit and Dolezal was ordered to pay the university $2,700 to cover the costs of the lawsuit.
WTTG also reported that Dolezal had received three speeding tickets in Virginia, where she lived while attending school, in 2000, 2001, and 2003. All three court documents listed her race as white.
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David Smedley, an associate professor of sculpture at Howard, told the Washington Post that Dolezal's race was never in question during her time at the school.
"She was a blue-eyed, blonde woman," Smedley told the paper.
In addition to her departure from the NAACP, Dolezal was fired Monday as a weekly columnist for The Pacific Northwest Inlander, Spokane's alternative weekly, and her contract as an instructor at Eastern Washington University was not renewed.
City officials are investigating whether she lied about her ethnicity when she landed an appointment to Spokane's police oversight board. On her application, she said her ethnic origins included white, black and American Indian.
On Friday, police said they were suspending investigations into racial harassment complaints filed by Dolezal before the uproar, including one from earlier this year in which she said she received hate mail at her NAACP office.
Police released files showing that one package did not bear a date stamp or barcode, meaning it was probably not handled through the post office.
Dolezal's parents appeared on NBC's "Today" show Monday and said they hope to reconcile with their daughter.
"We hope that Rachel will get the help that she needs to deal with her identity issues. Of course, we love her," her mother said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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A "highly intoxicated" driver plowed into a crowd of parade-watchers in New Orleans on Saturday night, leaving 28 people injured, police said.
Neilson Rizzuto, 25, was identified Sunday as the suspect in the rampage. Online jail records showed Rizzuto was arrested on a number of charges and was being held at the city's jail.
Police Chief Michael Harrison said in a press conference after the incident that the suspect, who was traveling in the opposite direction of the parade and struck two vehicles, veered off to the other side from the parade, hitting a number of pedestrians before coming to a stop.
Twenty-one people were hospitalized after the crash with five victims in guarded condition. Seven others declined to be hospitalized, city Emergency Services Director, Dr. Jeff Elder said.
The victims ranged in age from as young as 3 or 4-years-old to adults in their 30s and 40s, Elder said.
One police officer was struck by a vehicle, but her injuries did not appear to be life threatening, Harrison said.
"Again, it appears it was a subject who was highly intoxicated who struck a number of vehicles and veered off hitting a number of innocent people," said Harrison, when asked if the incident had any nexus to terror.
A source in the parish government told Fox News earlier Saturday evening the suspect was intoxicated and was shouting "kill me" as he was being taken away.
In a statement to FOX 8, the FBI New Orleans division said it is "currently coordinating with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to determine whether a federal violation has occurred."
Emergency personnel tended to the injured as the parade rolled on nearby.
Twenty-year-old Kourtney McKinnis told the New Orleans Advocate that the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done.
"He was just kind of out of it," she said.
Read more at FOX8Live.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Florida police chief and one of his officers are facing charges in the fatal shooting of a 73-year-old retired librarian during a citizen's academy "shoot/don't shoot" class last summer.
Fox 13 Tampa reports that Punta Gorda Police Chief Tom Lewis and Officer Lee Coel were arrested Wednesday following an investigation by the State Attorneys Office.
Coel, 28, is facing a manslaughter charge that could put him behind bars for up to 30 years. Lewis was charged with culpable negligence, a misdemeanor.
The retired librararian, Mary Knowlton, was a volunteer in a role-playing exercise designed to show citizens what officers face in life-and-death situations, the station reported. Knowlton played a cop and Coel played a bad guy.
The station reports that Knowlton was hit with a live round from Coels gun, which should have been loaded with blanks. She was taken to a hospital where she died.
Defense attorney Jerry Barry said Wednesday that Coel didn't know the gun was loaded with live ammo.
"From the understanding we have of the facts, its a negligent act, he says in a video posted on the Fort Myers News-Press website. But the amount of negligence necessary to make it a criminal act is very high and I dont see how the facts as we know them would amount to criminal negligence as opposed to simple negligence.
Punta Gorda city manager Howard Kunik said Thursday that Lewis was placed on paid administrative leave after his arrest, according to the paper.
Kunik said Coel was told after his arrest that he faces an administrative hearing regarding his employment. He was placed on leave after the shooting.
Punta Gorda agreed in November to pay Knowltons family $2 million to settle a lawsuit against the police department, Fox 13 reported.
An 8-year-old Houston girl survived a car crash Saturday morning only to be shot and killed minutes later.
DeMaree Adkins was in the backseat of her mother Toyia Thomas Black Honda Accord on the Beltway feeder road when two cars traveling south slammed into them, ABC13 reported.
After the impact, a female driver in one of the cars suddenly whipped out a gun, and started blasting away, local police said.
I looked over and thought she was trying to help, Thomas said of the gunwoman. She pulled a gun out of the window and she started shooting. Each one of those bullets hit the back of my car where my baby was.
At first the mom didnt realize her child was struck.
I pulled her out of the car I thought she was still asleep, Thomas said.
Click here for more from the New York Post.
The theft last year of antique guns from the National Civil War Museum in Pennsylvania has sparked another mystery.
The stolen guns once belonged to Simon Cameron, who was Abraham Lincolns secretary of war and were owned by the city of Harrisburg, Pennlive.com reports. The theft has not been solved.
After the burglary city officials found a 1995 letter indicating that the city also owned a pair of pistols that once belonged to Camerons brother, James Cameron, who died on the battlefield after receiving the engraved firearms from gunmaker Samuel Colt, according to Pennlive.
But what has city officials baffled is how those guns wound up being sold for $132,250 at an auction in 2015 after the former Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed had purchased them for the museum two decades ago.
2ND BATTLE OF ATLANTA? GIANT CIVIL WAR PAINTING ON THE MOVE
Reed bought the James Cameron firearms with city funds for $195,000.
Pennlive reports that earlier this year Reed pleaded guilty to charges that he stole historic artifacts from the city.
Reed denied last year ever parting with any artifacts acquired for the museum, according to the website.
I can tell you for a fact, no Civil War artifacts were sold by the city prior to, or after the opening of the museum, Reed told a Pennlive reporter. I can say that with 100 percent certainty.
Nigerian security agents have freed two German archaeologists kidnapped by gunmen from a remote dig, the governor of northern Kaduna state said Sunday.
Governo Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai "commended the security agencies for their efforts in securing the release of the Germans," said a statement. It gave no details of the rescue or where the Germans are now. Nor did it say whether anyone has been arrested.
Gunmen had been demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about $200,000) for the release of Professor Peter Breunig and his assistant, Johannes Behringer. The two were abducted at gunpoint Wednesday and walked into the bush from an archaeological dig near Jenjela village in Kaduna state. Two villagers who tried to help the Germans were shot and killed by the kidnappers, the police said.
Breunig, 65, and Behringer, in his 20s, are part of a four-person team from Frankfurt's Goethe University. The other two members, women, were not touched by the kidnappers. The Germans were collaborating with Nigeria's National Commission for Museum and Monuments to recover relics of the Nok culture. The early Iron Age people, considered the earliest ancient civilization of the West African region that is now Nigeria, are famous for their terracotta sculptures.
Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria, with ordinary residents and even schoolchildren targeted as well as foreigners. Victims usually are freed unharmed after a ransom is paid, though security forces have rescued a few high-profile abductees.
Nigeria's acting President Yemi Osinbajo had summoned the federal police chief on Thursday for a briefing on efforts to find the Germans.
At least 10 police officers and the wife of a police commander were killed in an ambush by Islamic States group militants in northern Zawzjan province, a provincial official said.
Mohammad Reza Ghafori, spokesman for the Zawzjan provincial governor, said Saturday that the police officers were ambushed Friday as they were coming out of a mosque. The wife of the police commander heard about her husband being shot and rushed to the scene, where she was also killed.
ISIS-linked militants have been active in Afghanistan's eastern regions, but have recently begun operating in the north of the country as well.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said in a statement that around 38 militants, including 23 ISIS fighters, were killed in separate operations conducted by Afghan security forces in the eastern and southern regions of the country over the past two days.
Eight other militants were wounded and six arrested in the operations, which were conducted in districts across the Nangarhar and Helmand provinces, the statement added.
In another report form eastern Laghman province, two students were killed when a mortar struck a school's classroom, a news release from the Education ministry said. The statement added that five other students were wounded inside the classroom in Mihterlam, the province's capital.
There were unconfirmed reports the mortar was fired by Afghan security forces and missed its target and hit the school. The report could not immediately be verified by provincial or government officials.
In a separate report form northern Faryab province at least one police officer was killed when a remotely controlled bomb went off inside a bazaar, said Karim Yuresh, the spokesman for the provincial police chief.
He said that 16 others including 15 innocent civilians and a policeman were wounded in the blast. "The blast took place inside a market where innocent civilians were busy with their daily businesses," said Yuresh. He added that the intended target were the two policemen in the market.
No group has claimed responsibility for the Faryab attackn, but Taliban insurgents usually use roadside bombs and suicide attacks to target Afghan security forces as well as government officials across the country.
Egyptian officials say plans to more than double charges for entry visas paid by foreign visitors arriving in the country have been put off until July 1.
The officials say the postponement was made at the request of leaders of the tourism sector who warned that introducing the higher charges now from $25 up to $60 would further hurt the struggling sector as the off-season approaches.
The officials spoke late Saturday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
Egypt's vital tourism industry has been decimated after Islamic militants downed a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015, killing all 226 people on board.
The sector has, however, shown signs of slow recovery since the beginning of the year.
Iranian media published a letter on Sunday sent from Iran's former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President Donald Trump, discussing immigration and the United States wars in the Middle East.
Ahmadinejad decries United States "dominance" over the United Nations, as well as American meddling in the world that has brought "insecurity, war, division, killing and (the) displacement of nations."
This letter comes as criticism of Trump over his travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries including Iran.
A judge blocked Trump's travel ban, and an appeals court refused to reinstate it. Trump has promised to issue a revised order soon.
In the letter Ahmadinejad noted Trump won the election while he "truthfully described the U.S. political system and electoral structure as corrupt."
Irans former president also acknowledged Iranian immigration to America, saying "the contemporary U.S. belongs to all nations." He added that U.S. policies should "value respect toward the diversity of nations and races."
"Four years is a long period, but it ends quickly," Ahmadinejad wrote in the letter. "The opportunity needs to be valued, and all its moments need to be used in the best way."
Ahmadinejad says he gave the letter to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents U.S. interests in Iran.
Ahmadinejad previously wrote former President George W. Bush and former President Barack Obama.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A man who mowed down pedestrians in the German city of Heidelberg, killing one man, is being held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, authorities said Sunday.
Two other people were injured in Saturdays incident, according to police who ruled out extremism or terrorism as a motive. The driver was tracked down by police and shot.
"There are no indications of a terrorist background," a spokesman for German police David Faulhaber said, according to Sky News.
Prosecutors and police said Sunday that they're examining whether the suspect, a 35-year-old German student who lives in the city, can be held criminally responsible.
His motive remains a mystery.
The man who died was a 73-year-old German, police said, according to Sky News. He died at the hospital.
The injured were a 32-year-old Austrian man and a 29-year-old woman from Bosnia. They were not seriously hurt, Sky News reported.
The three were struck outside a bakery on Saturday afternoon.
Sky News reported that the suspect was behind the wheel of a rental car.
He was seen getting out of the car with a knife. Police shot him after a brief stand-off.
The suspect was taken to a hospital, where he underwent surgery and was reported in a serious condition.
Police said he didn't respond in their initial questioning.
Germany has been on high alert since last December, when a truck plowed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people, Sky News reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A senior commander said Iraqi militarized police captured a neighborhood in western Mosul on Sunday morning amid clashes with Islamic State militants.
Maj. Gen. Haider al-Maturi of the Federal Police Commandos Division told The Associated Press that his troops entered the Tayaran neighborhood.
Al-Maturi said it is now "under their full control."
Al-Maturi said at least 10 suicide car bombs were deployed by ISIS militants. Nine of the car bombs were blown up before reaching their targets. The tenth killed two policemen and wounded five.
Al-Maturi also said his forces arrested two militants an Iraqi and a foreigner who speaks Russian.
Further west, Iraqi special forces captured the Mamun neighborhood by early Sunday afternoon, Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil of the special forces said. Fadhil said ISIS militants attacked the advancing troops with more than 15 suicide car bombs, but all were blown up before hitting the troops.
"The neighborhood is fully liberated," he said. "We are clearing it up and beefing up fortifications."
Up to 3,000 people fled from the Mamun neighborhood Sunday morning, according to Iraqi special forces Brig. Gen. Salam Hashed, who oversees a screening center south of Mosul. Hashed said just over 2,500 people fled the previous day.
According to the U.N. figures, about 750,000 civilians are believed to be trapped in their houses in western Mosul, one of several challenges expected to slow the advance of the Iraqi troops.
Another complication is western Mosul's old and narrow streets, which will force Iraqi soldiers to leave the relative safety of their armored vehicles.
Western Mosul is the last significant urban area IS holds in Iraq. The city is split roughly in half by the Tigris River.
Mosul fell to ISIS in the summer of 2014, along with large swaths of northern and western Iraq.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Malaysia's health minister said Sunday that the dose of nerve agent given to North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un's half brother was so high that it killed him "within 15-20 minutes."
Kim Jong Nam died Feb. 13 at Kuala Lumpur's airport in what Malaysian police say was a well-planned hit by two women who wiped a liquid on Kim's face. Police revealed Friday that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim, raising the stakes significantly in the case.
Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said the dose of VX given to Kim was so high that he showed symptoms within minutes. Kim fainted at the airport clinic and subsequently died in the ambulance while en route to a hospital, he said.
Hospital doctors suspected from the start that Kim had been given a form of toxic chemical agent due to the rapid symptoms, Subramaniam said.
"VX only requires 10 milligrams to be absorbed into the system to be lethal, so I presume that the amount of dose that went in is more than that," he told a news conference. "The doses were so high and it did it so fast and all over the body so it would have affected his heart, it would have affected his lungs, it would have affected everything."
Asked how long it took for Kim to die after he was attacked, Subramaniam said, "I would think it was about from the time of onset (of attack) ... within 15-20 minutes."
Experts say the nerve agent used to kill Kim was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory and is banned under an international treaty. But North Korea never signed the treaty, and it has spent decades developing a complex chemical weapons program.
Kim was not an obvious political threat to his estranged half brother, Kim Jong Un. But he may have been seen as a potential rival in North Korea's dynastic dictatorship, even though he had lived in exile for years. North Korea has denied any role in the attack.
Earlier Sunday, Subramaniam said the state chemistry department's finding of the VX toxin confirmed the hospital's autopsy result that suggested a "chemical agent caused very serious paralysis" that led to death "in a very short period of time." The VX agent can lead to death very quickly in high doses, he said.
He said the final autopsy report would be submitted to police soon.
Subramaniam also said there have been no reports of anyone else being sickened by the toxin, but he said medical workers who attended to Kim would be under observation for possible delayed effects.
Tens of thousands of passengers have passed through the airport since the apparent assassination was carried out. No areas were cordoned off and protective measures were not taken.
Early Sunday, more than a dozen officers in protective gear swept the budget terminal where Kim was attacked and said they found no traces of VX.
Abdul Samah Mat, the police official leading the investigations, said the terminal is "free from any form of contamination of hazardous material" and declared it a "safe zone" after a two-hour sweep.
Malaysia hasn't directly accused the North Korean government of being behind the attack, but officials have said four North Korean men provided two women with poison to carry it out. The four men fled Malaysia on the same day as the killing, while the women one from Indonesia and the other Vietnamese were arrested.
Abdul Samah said the Indonesian woman, Siti Aisyah, vomited in a taxi on the way from the airport after the attack but was fine now. He said that more tests were needed to determine if the two arrested suspects were given antidotes so the nerve agent wouldn't kill them.
He also said a condominium on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur that was raided by police last week was rented by the four North Korean suspects who had left the country. He said police were still testing a seized substance for traces of any chemicals.
Police have also said they wanted to question Hyon Kwang Song, a second secretary at the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Abdul Samah said Saturday that authorities would give the diplomat reasonable time to come forward, but would seek an arrest warrant from the court if he failed to do so.
Lawyer Sankara Nair however, noted that diplomats have immunity privileges even in criminal cases.
On Saturday, representatives from the Indonesian and Vietnamese embassies met with the two arrested women, who both said they thought they were part of a prank show.
In grainy surveillance footage from the day of the attack, the women appear to smear something onto Kim's face before walking away in separate directions. Malaysian police said the attackers knew what they were doing and had been trained to go immediately to the bathroom and clean their hands.
An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected.
Julien Calandria took the controls of a strike fighter jet, watching the speed indicator as he headed down the runway and then took flight.
The Margaret Brent Elementary School second-grader ascended smoothly and took a few half rolls as he watched land disappear on a laptop screen.
I almost landed in the water! he said as he watched his maneuvers at the Lockheed Martin booth Saturday at the 6th annual STEM 16 Summit at Massaponax High School. This is cool!
Then Julien pulled up too sharply, and the jet froze on the flight simulator screen. That gave John Martinez, who works for Lockheed Martin and serves on the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce board, a chance to explain the force that air can exert on an airplane. It can provide the lift a jet needs to stay aloft, but it can also cause it to break apart and plummet.
This is way more educational than some video games, said Juliens mother, Kelly Calandria. She said that Martinez gave her the name of a website where she can find similar simulator programs for Julien and his older brother, Jacob, whos in the third grade at Margaret Brent.
Both boys are very much interested in science, she said, and the summit gave them the chance to learn about a wide variety of fields through fun, hands-on activities. They included making and launching paper rockets, operating robots and drones, using Skittles to learn about chemistry, and letting a Madagascar hissing cockroach crawl on their fingers.
Its amazing, all the different companies here, Calandria said.
The event, which is organized by the Chamber, featured 35 booths run by teachers and school groups from Fredericksburg, Stafford and Spotsylvania; as well as Germanna Community College and the University of Mary Washington; and such companies as Lockheed Martin, SimVentions and HDT Global, among others. They were spread out over two large rooms and the gym at Massaponax, and the place was abuzz with more than 500 students, parents and grandparents moving from booth to booth.
This is the first year that we didnt have a keynote speaker, said Sheri Wikert, the chambers member services manager. In the past, we had a speaker in the middle of the day, but we were finding that the students didnt want to stop. Thats why this year almost every booth has an interactive component. Thats what we wanted.
Kate Gebergh, a Colonial Forge High School graduate whos now a mechanical engineer with HDT Global, for example, helped students use one of the robotic arms HDT developed for military use to pick up and stack wooden alphabet blocks using the buttons on an Xbox controller.
Its like the coolest thing we have, she said.
The arm, which is a little under two-feet tall, weighs about four pounds and can lift 25 pounds. Its designed so a soldier can pack it into the field for use in bomb disposal. It can also be equipped with a camera to look around corners, Gebergh said.
Over at the University of Mary Washington chemistry departments booth, Mason Justice, a second-grader at WalkerGrant Middle School, and his brother, Gayle Middle School seventh-grader Donovan Justice, got to find out in a very colorful way that some liquids wont mix. First Mason was asked to shake a plastic bottle containing water, alcohol and a handful of plastic beads. When the solution stopped moving, and the water settled to the bottom. The beads floated to the middle, clearly showing the dividing line between it and the lighter-weight alcohol.
Then both boys got to pick three different colored Skittles and put them into petri dishes containing water. The dyes from the candy coatings began spreading out in the water, but didnt mix until the boys shook the dishes.
Victoria Castro, a Park Ridge Elementary School fifth-grader, learned how to create a rocket launcher, crafted a turtle out of recycled materials and then discovered The Crawling Side of STEM at UMWs biological science departments booth, where she let Venita, a female Madagascar hissing cockroach, crawl over her hand.
It tickles, said Victoria, who wants to be a doctor.
She was there with her parents and her older sister, Mayte Castro, who wants to be an engineer.
I think this opportunity is very important for kids, their mother, Maria Castro said.
George Hughes, SimVentions president and past chair of the Chambers FredTech Council, came up with the idea for the summit after realizing that there was nothing like it between Washington and Richmond.
This is our future workforce, said Wikert. We should be creating the next generation of people who will be working in the region.
She said that she hopes that the event helps students learn something new, and that even those who might not be that interested in STEM discover that its cool and something they can do.
Id be happy with that, Wikert said. That makes it worthwhile to put the whole event on.
UPDATE Sunday 2:30 pm: This is a text list of the storm reports NWS Sterling received from yesterday. Still no mention of a verified tornado anywhere in the area.
==================================================
A one day return to February chill will fade by the beginning of the work week.
A see-saw temperature regime this time of year often leads to severe weather during the transition from warm to cold. Saturday was a classic example as the Storm Prediction Centers convective outlook came to fruition with plenty of wild weather around the Fredericksburg area. And all this occurred just a day after the one year anniversary of the February 24 2016 Virginia tornado outbreak.
The graphic is a section of the SPCs preliminary storm report map centered on the Mid-Atlantic, with blue and green dots respectively representing high wind and hail reports. A tornado warning was issued for Maryland just east of the Potomac River on the same storm that dumped hail in and around Fredericksburg. As of this writing NWS Sterling hasnt verified that a tornado actually occurred so thats why there are no red dots on the graphic.
Today Sunday on the flip side of the cold front chilly Canadian air is making it feel like February once again. Morning low temperatures ranged from 21 at the University of Mary Washingtons weather station to 34 degrees at Shannon Airport. Any warmth from the brilliant sunshine will be tempered by westerly breezes gusting up to 20 mph.
But thats it for this particular cooldown. Monday the high pressure center bringing today's clear skies to Fredericksburg will slide offshore, swapping the winds around from the southwest. That wind direction will bring warmth, clouds, and eventually showers to the area by tomorrow evening. Highs will climb back above the 60 degree mark and remain there until the next cold front sweeps through mid-week.
Speaking of that next cold front the SPC has already issued a heads up for severe weather in the Mid-Atlantic again on Wednesday. A Day 4 outlook showing chances of rough stuff is unusual unless the folks in Norman OK are pretty certain itll occur. So buckle up on Wednesday...we may see another round of storms with high winds, hail, and perhaps tornadoes.
George Johnson learned about the tornados devastation on a call from a friend who is a local law-enforcement officer.
I could tell by the tone of his voice something was wrong, said George Johnson, a 45-year member of St. John Baptist Church in Tappahannock. He said, Mr. J, St. John is gone.
I was silent, speechless, and can you imagine me speechless? Then I had to shed a few tears. I know that doesnt sound very manly of me, but I had to.
St. John Baptist was among the dozens of structures leveled by an EF3 tornado packing 140-mph winds that stampeded for 28 miles through the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck on Feb. 24, 2016.
The worst damage was in Essex County, particularly along Desha Road in Tappahannock. According to James Brann, chief of emergency services for Essex, the storm impacted 89 homes and buildings, 33 of which were destroyed.
There were 25 injuries, but no fatalities.
The county sustained a total of $4.5 million in damage, Brann said, but received no federal aid since all of the damage was to private property and did not meet the $11.5 million infrastructure damage requirement. Essex has paid $350,000 toward clean-up efforts.
Brann said volunteer help from nonprofits such as Team Rubicon, Christ in Action, Virginia United Methodist Disaster Response and othersas well as individualshas saved the county hundreds of thousands of dollars.
ST. JOHN IS GONE
St. John Baptist, a 145-year-old white, wood-frame church, was reduced to a pile of boards, dotted here and there by brand-new bright-blue pews that no one had a chance to sit in.
After the storm, someone found one of the churchs songbooks in neighboring Westmoreland County, across the river from Tappahannock, Deacon William Dockery said.
The storm took down everything in its path, but left trees and houses outside that narrow swath untouched.
It looked like God just swiped his hand across the earth, church member Dale Fortune said.
Virginia Young lives a quarter-mile from the church site, but her home was unaffected. She never even lost electricity. So she didnt believe the news that St. John had been destroyed.
I drove down there the next morning and I just turned into the lane and I saw what had happened and I broke into tears, she said. I had no idea [the tornado] was that close.
The only part of the building left untouched was the Rev. Linwood Joness study, complete with the poster of his beloved Washington Redskins on the wall. Its still there, Dockery said.
The churchs congregation of about 150, many of whom have been members their entire lives, is still without a spiritual home. They hold Sunday services and Wednesday night Bible study at New Hope Seventh-Day Adventist Church and are hoping to break ground on a new church building in April.
Church members say it will cost $1.2 million to rebuild St. John. They are collecting donations and waiting for the insurance claim to be resolved, Johnson said. When they do rebuild, they plan to incorporate elements from the old church: the bell, steeple, communion font and hand-hewn wooden flooring, all of which were saved from the debris.
We are trying to look on the bright side, Johnson said. Were still here, were going strong.
Dockery said the outpouring of community support for the congregation has been uplifting and the experience has brought the St. John family closer together.
Our mission statement was always Christians walking together in unity with Christ, he said. This experience has pulled us together, made us work together. We have all been a part of that togetherness.
COMMUNITY REBUILds
Members of the wider Essex County community are working together to rebuild other private buildings and homes that were uninsured or under-insured. The effort is overseen by the Essex County Long-Term Recovery Group.
After a disaster in the state of Virginia, the state Department of Emergency Management mobilizes the citizens of the disaster area to take care of themselves, said Candine Johnson, an Episcopalian minister and member of the eight-person volunteer group, which also includes two Baptist preachers, the manager of the local Union Bank branch and an employee of the county health department.
The group has coordinated the refurbishment of three homes and has received a Virginia Community Development Block Grant of $875,000 from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to rebuild 10 homes. The grant also covers furnishing and outfitting the homes with appliances.
Volunteers with the Virginia United Methodist Churchs construction ministry will carry out the actual construction of the homes, Johnson said.
She said that families displaced by the storm are currently staying in rental properties that the recovery group pays for.
She hopes that all the homes will be rebuilt by this time next year.
When we formed in April 2016, a representative from the state said it usually takes at least two years to rebuild after something like this, Johnson said. As soon as we get the 10th home finished, we hope to put ourselves out of business.
NAYLORS BEACH
Kathryn Murray had her car inspected at Tallies Auto Service in Tappahannock last week.
Instead of leafing through magazines in the waiting room, she looked at photographs of the devastation wreaked on the property by the tornado.
The owners wife sat there and showed me pictures, Murray said. They had huge outbuildings destroyed, 40-by-60-foot metal buildings. She was telling me, This was moved here and this was moved there.
Theyre still not quite back, Murray said with a sigh.
Murray lives in the Richmond County community of Naylors Beach, a neighborhood of cottages along the Rappahannock River not far from Tappahannock.
Ten houses on her street were damaged. One still stands abandoned, its windows blown out, untouched since the storm ravaged it. Six have been rebuilt or are nearing completion.
She says she still doesnt like to think about that morning last year when she walked down to the end of her road to check on things. While her own home was untouched, she was shocked to find that her neighbors houses were essentially razed.
It was so traumatic for me that I hardly go down to that end of the street at all, she said.
Murray said the community feels different now.
To say 10 houses were damaged doesnt seem like a lot, it seems almost insignificant, Murray said. And yet, my husbands family bought this house around 1960. The houses that had been built over time reflected their own day. Looking back at what the street had been and what it is today, you can see the diversity we lost in that tornado.
I think the place felt younger and more fun and sort of more eclectic before. It just feels sort of serious now.
Every time it rains, 8-year-old Aaliyah Moten is terrified.
Her mother, Melanie Mindy Blue, struggles to get a peaceful nights sleep. The nightmares I deal with on a daily basis are hard to describe, she said.
Daily life has become a struggle for Blue and her family in the year since they survived a tornado that devastated Essex County, destroying dozens of houses, including their home on Desha Road.
While happy to be alive, the Tappahannock woman said her life has been on a downward spiral since the storm hit on Feb. 24, 2016.
Its been a long, hard year and has changed my life forever, said the mother of three. Sometimes I question why my family has to deal with this.
Blue and her family were among the 25 people in Essex who were injured.
She suffered a broken leg, broken pelvis, broken nose, a broken disc at the top of her spine. She has a hard time walking or standing for a long period of time.
Her 13-year-old daughter, Jada, is wearing a brace on one of her legs, which was broken in two places. She had surgery in December to replace some ligaments.
Both are still undergoing physical therapy twice a week to recover from those injuries.
Blues son, DeVontre, who will turn 19 Monday, suffered damage to his left ear, a broken collarbone, a cracked pelvis and a burst bladder. He has fully recovered.
Aaliyah escaped with only scratches, but is now extremely fearful of storms, her mother said.
Blues boyfriend of three years, Jason Burrell, suffered serious injuries to his stomach, a shattered arm and lacerations to his head and face. In November, he had surgery to take bones from his knee to help repair his arm, which was broken in at least 20 places.
Blue said doctors at VCU Medical Center in Richmond told him during a checkup Thursday that his arm is healing well.
Due to physical limitations, neither Blue nor Burrell have been able to work, so they have been depending on family and friends to help them get by. Both had applied to receive short-term disability benefits, but were denied.
We are really struggling, she said.
Just 10 minutes from where the twister struck, they are renting a home on Deshields Street with help from the Tornado Relief Fund, which has offered financial assistance to victims of the 2016 storm in Tappahannock, Waverly and Appomattox County.
Although it has been a year, Blue said she remembers the tornado like it was yesterday.
She and her three children took shelter in a bedroom closet. Just as Burrell entered the closet and closed the door behind him, he was pulled into the air.
As he came to hover over us, it grabbed him and I saw it take him away, she said. The tornado was coming through my house. It took us into the air and I felt my daughters being swept out from underneath my arms. Jason was in the air spinning.
Blue said when she woke up, the rubble from what had been their house was on top of them. For that next 30 minutes, Blue said all she could do was lie there and hope that the tornado didnt come back.
It was pitch black. It was raining. There was lightning.
Eventually, they were rescued by first responders and community members, who helped pull them from what was left of the house.
Blue said the family has gone back to visit the spot where they used to live.
We had to go there, and everything is gone except you can still see the base of the house, which is now pushed back into the woods, she said. Its a whole different feeling now, and I just dont know how to describe it.
BILL HOWELL wasnt known for his fiery oratory skills when he became Speaker of the House of Delegates 15 years ago. No, he established a reputation as a key General Assembly leader who listens before acting. That approach has remained much the same whether hes in the hallowed halls of the state Capitol or at meetings with voters at fire halls in Stafford County.
And as a member of the House for 30 years, hes heard it allfrom governors with agendas as large as their egos to average-Joe residents upset about issues such as teen drinking and driving or hunting dogs running across their property.
After announcing last week that he will not seek re-election this fall, hes in his final months in office. Howell, 73, and his wife, Cessie, plan to spend more time with family (including seven grandchildren) and travel.
Throughout his legislative career, Howell has applied his conservative Republican and faith-based values to situations that have confronted him. He has earned praise from both sides of the aisle for respecting the time-tested legislative processes of the General Assembly.
Politics isnt pretty, especially in these super-partisan times of overbearing winners and angry losers. Yet William J. Howell has managed to maintain a level of civility and openness that has allowed the Virginia legislature to make progress on pressing issues of transportation, economic development and education. Sure, were partisan, he says, but were not Washington.
Indeed, he has worked across party lines on legislation crucial for the commonwealth, while trying to steer the most-conservative elements of the House away from some of the divisive social issues that have embarrassed states such as North Carolina.
In 2013, he rejected a partisan power grab when fellow Republicans in the state Senate attempted to redraw its members districts while a key Democratic senator was away at Barack Obamas inauguration. Yet, Howell has allowed a House subcommittee year after year to kill any attempts to reform Virginias redistricting process, which has faced costly legal challenges in federal court.
He defends that stand by pointing out that when Democrats had the majority from Reconstruction up until 1999, they did all they could to diminish Republican chances at the polls.
In his early days in the legislature, Howell, a lawyer whose office is in a log cabin in Falmouth, did what he could to bolster his party, encouraging young Republicans in Stafford and urging conservatives to get involved in government. All the while, the GOP was picking up steam with Virginia voters.
His quiet, business-like style earned him the attention of his colleagues after Speaker S. Vance Wilkins resignation in a sexual harassment scandal. In 2003, Howell won the leadership post, ushering in a time of professionalism for the House. He took seriously the speakers role of recruiting candidates across Virginia, fundraising and spreading about $25 million among Republican hopefuls and causes. The GOP domination of the House peaked at 68 seats; the party now holds 66 of 100 seats.
Though he never took a no-tax pledge, Howell opposed most efforts to raise state levies over the years. Convinced by GOP Gov. Bob McDonnell in 2013 that new revenue was necessary to make a dent in Virginias transportation woes, Howell sponsored a package that would raise nearly $6 billion in taxes for roads and transit over six years.
Taking that stand prompted a Republican primary challenge in 2015 from Susan Stimpson, a one-time protege and former Stafford supervisor. She ran a combative campaign to the right of the conservative Howell, only to lose in a landslide.
Howell has worked on some innovative initiatives. He and Gov. Terry McAuliffes administration have tried to get the most bang out of transportation dollars through Smart Scale, an objective, data-backed criteria for ranking projects by their impact on congestion, safety and economic development.
However, a partisan line Howell would never cross was supporting Medicaid expansion. Despite McAuliffes efforts, the GOP consistently turned down federal funding offered the state under Obamacare. Given the turmoil over the program and efforts now to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, that appears to be the right call.
Still, the governor had some kind words for Howell. I have tremendous respect for the speaker and the professional and dignified way he led the House throughout his tenure, McAuliffe said.
Howell says the praise that means the most to him involves lasting accomplishments for the commonwealth. Among them: legislation banning smoking in restaurants and establishment of a tax-credit program that has created conservation easements to preserve some 741,000 acres across Virginia. Both were approved during Democrat Tim Kaines term as governor.
A fiscal conservative, Howell didnt use the speakership to steer lots of state projects to the Fredericksburg area. Unlike some past assembly leaders, there are no public buildings or college stadiums named after him. Hes OK with that, adding: I shouldnt get credit for spending the states money for something they were going to do anyway.
Howell, downplaying his influence, says staying open to others makes a difference. I havent had an original idea in my life, but by listening to people, my constituents, I was able to get some things done.
Howells long tenure as speaker and approach to the legislative process are things that Virginians, especially those from our region, can be proud of.
Courts are upsetting the balance of power
I cannot let the remarks of letter-writer Michael Williams pass [Trumps criticisms dont ring true, Feb. 20]. He asks, Was he [President Trump] absent on the day that his civics teacher taught that there are three branches to the federal government, each separate, each tasked with specific responsibilities? Did he miss the part that states that the president is not a king, but rather a servant of the people?
Yes, there are three branches, each with its duties. It looks like President Trump was present and awake when his civics teacher taught that the three branches are each tasked with specific responsibilities. Perhaps he learned that the duty of the judicial branch is to interpret the law, not to make it. The legislature makes laws.
For the judicial branch to block enforcement of the travel ban is usurping the responsibility of the other branches, which upsets the balance of power. This is what the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judges did.
As Trump has said more than once, the relevant law is:
INA 212(f) 8 USC 1182FSuspension of entry or imposition of restrictions by President: 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 non-immigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.
It is worth noting that decisions made by the infamous 9th Circuit, which have been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, have been reversed 80 percent of the time.
Henry Warren
Stafford
The headline on the front page of the newspaper on Feb. 22 was Anti-Trump rally held outside Wittman office.
Upon further reading, it is revealed that about 30 people showed up to protest. Rep. Rob Wittman represents more than 770,000 constituents in Virginias 1st Congressional District. I hardly think that 30 protesters could be responsibly described as an anti-Trump rally. A little sensationalism there, you think?
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Public opinion polls indicate approval ratings for U.S. President Donald Trump are at a record low for a newly inaugurated commander in chief, a reflection on his performance during his first month in office as well as the continuing sharp political divide among American voters.
In the latest survey, NBC News and The Wall Street Journal said Sunday that just 44 percent of Americans approve of his performance, with 48 percent saying they disapprove. About a third of those polled said that Trump's White House performance showed he is not up to the job.
Two other polls in recent days showed similar results, with Gallup saying Trump averaged a 42 percent approval rating during his first four weeks in office, while the Quinnipiac University poll said he had a 38 percent favorable rating and 55 percent negative.
Trump did not immediately respond to the latest poll, but said on his Twitter account in early February that "any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election" that showed him losing to Democrat Hillary Clinton before his stunning upset victory on Nov. 8.
More than 50 parents, many with children, marched Saturday morning through Oregon State Universitys campus to raise awareness of what they see as a growing childcare crisis in Corvallis.
The march was part of a Beavers Have Babies rally, organized through the Presidents Commission on the Status of Women. Organizers said the lack of affordable and quality childcare is a national problem. In Oregon, single parents pay more than half of their income for infant center care, according to Child Care Aware of America. The organization also estimates that the cost of center care is $21,072, and that for two children, it's more than twice the annual cost of college tuition at a four-year college.
The issue of high-quality, affordable child-care is not getting better, its getting worse, said Debbie Colbert, co-chair for PCOSW. Oregon is one of the least-affordable states in the country in terms of income.
Colbert said the group was calling on the university to be a leader in providing more affordable and higher quality childcare options for Corvallis parents.
As part of the rally, marchers held signs saying beavers have babies, dam it and support working families. The group also chanted OSU can be a leader, support our little, baby Beavers and Hey, hey, ho, ho, our children need a place to go as they marched from the Memorial Union to Central Park and back along Jefferson Avenue.
I spend as much on child care every month as I do on our mortgage, said Tiffany Garcia, associate professor of wildlife ecology at OSU. Im a scientist and I love my job. But Im a mom and I love my kids too.
Autumn Benton, family therapist for the university's Counseling Center, said she worries about being able to maintain her job and take care of her children as costs continue to increase.
I got on the wait list for [OSU child-care center] Beaver Beginnings when I was three months pregnant, she said. (My daughter) is nearly three and she just got in.
Jerri Wolfe with Family Connections at Linn-Benton Community College, said Bentons difficulties are not unique.
We have many families that half of their take home pay is going to child-care, she said. People cant afford to stay in the workplace.
Bobbie Weber, faculty research assistant with the Family Policy Center at OSU, agreed.
This is an issue for our entire society, she said. What we need is for everybody to realize the costs of what happens if we dont fix this.
The PCOSW advises OSUs president regarding the status of the campus community women students, staff, faculty and administrators.
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio told the hundreds of people gathered Saturday at a community forum in Corvallis that hes ready to hold the Trump administration accountable, and hes looking for his constituents to join him.
Rather than a typical town hall meeting, the 16-term 4th District congressman spoke to several hundred people Saturday afternoon at Oregon State Universitys LaSells Stewart Center for the second of two community forums aimed at getting people involved in implementing change at the local, state and national level. He also spoke earlier Saturday at a community forum in Eugene. Because the meetings were political in nature, they were sponsored by DeFazios campaign organization, not his office.
This is a campaign to restore American values to our government, DeFazio told the crowd, encouraging his constituents not to be disheartened with what he called the Trump administrations shock and awe plan. They thought we would be discouraged, demoralized, disorganized. Boy were they wrong?
DeFazio said that since Trump was elected Nov. 8, his office has received more calls, emails and written letters than in any other time hes been in office. The message, DeFazio told the crowd, is that people want to get personally involved in effecting government change.
To illustrate his point, DeFazio asked the crowd that filled roughly three-quarters of the 1,200 capacity auditorium, how many were getting involved in local politics for the first time. And after half of the crowds hands shot up, DeFazio smiled.
Thats what they have wrought. They have activated the silent majority, DeFazio said. This is not small. Its not going away. Its getting better every day.
DeFazio encouraged his constituents to recognize the pushback against Trump from people in the Republican Party. DeFazio spoke about Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who have both been critical of Trump since the election, which prompted applause from the audience.
There is a new energy out there we can channel, DeFazio said, adding that many in his district voted for Trump. A large percentage of people who voted for Trump dont believe hes qualified to be president, but they wanted change and they didnt see Hillary as a change candidate. So dont go out and paint everyone who voted for Trump with a broad brush. We need them.
DeFazio also encouraged people to fight against gerrymandering (politically motivated redrawing of election districts) at all levels of government, which also prompted applause.
Its drawn Republicans to the right and Democrats pretty much to the left, he said. We used to have a lot of people who overlapped. We had a lot of Republicans who voted more liberal and we had a lot of Democrats voting more conservative. That doesnt happen anymore. Thats a huge issue.
DeFazio also encouraged his constituents not to be discouraged and to keep looking for more ways to get involved.
Im actually, somehow, strangely despite how depressing this all is, totally energized by this, he said. And Im ready to fight. Are you ready to fight?
During the next 60 minutes, the Oregon Democrat took dozens of questions from the audience on a wide-range of issues such as health care, environmental issues, financial regulation, and marijuana legislation.
On health care, DeFazio said the Medicare is in trouble and the tenor of Republicans has been changing on the Affordable Care Act. While they previously called for repealing and replacing, he said, he is now hearing more about repairing Obamacare. The change has been encouraging, he said, but hes fighting for a national not-for-profit public plan option.
On the environment, DeFazio said he the fight will be waged at the local level.
(Divestment in fossil fuels) has got to be a local movement, he said. Were not going to get the leadership at the national level. But if we build it up at the local level, probably it is going to happen at the national level.
In my mind that will lead us to single-payer, he added, referring back to health care.
On financial regulation, DeFazio said he continues to see income inequality becoming a major issue.
The banking industry used to represent 20 percent of the economy, its now 40 percent. This is not a sustainable economic model, he said. These are things my party has to focus on like a laser and bring back people who say theres not difference. We have to show there is a difference and we havent done a good enough job with that.
On marijuana, DeFazio said he was a strong supporter of recreational marijuana and that he would do what he could to ensure recreational marijuana remained legal in Oregon.
This has been a states rights issue so were going to hold them to that, he said. Funny thing about some of my Republican friends, is theyre all for states rights until states do something they dont like.
DeFazio also answered questions about what could be done specifically about Trump, such as the possibility of impeachment.
I dont want to invest in impeachment, he said. You need evidence and we cant get Republicans to look into his Russia connections or his tax returns, he said. But were going to keep pushing them on that. We can multi-task.
DeFazios campaign organization also encouraged people to become involved with local campaigns, join the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committees March into 18 program and support the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
Jecks take over Bonn : The largest Bonn Rose Monday parade ever
Bonn 3400 Jecks on foot, 820 participants on 89 floats, 28 music groups and a 3.8 kilometre route. The UN will be there for the first time and the General Anzeiger will be livestreaming on kamelle.de.
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25.02.2017 Bonn. Carnival revellers in Bonn can look forward to the biggest parade ever on Rose Monday with 5200 participants. The parade kicks off at 12 noon under the motto Bonn met Hatz.
Participants will include a group from the Carnevale di Venezia with their Venetian masks and costumes, taking part for the twentieth time this year. One of the highlights of the Bonn carnival, the storming of the town hall by the Prince and Bonna, happens today, Sunday.
The parade in numbers: 3400 Jecks will be on foot, 820 will be on the 89 Carnival floats and there will be 28 music groups. The parade route is 3.8 kilometres long from Thomas-Mann-Strae via the Munster-, Markt- and Friedensplatz and then towards Kolnstrae to the Altstadt. There will be 19 commentary positions for those wanting to know more about what is happening.
There is lots of new music. The VIO Marching Band from Holland is taking part for the first time. The choir Bonnsche Panz is another highlight with Joe Tillmann and his team accompanied by 30 children.
The Bonn cathedral construction association will have a float showing the ailing cathedral and bringing attention to the repair works that will probably start this year. The GOP Variety Theatre Bonn, based in the World Conference Center Bonn since last year, is also taking part for the first time. A group with more than 30 revellers will be taking part from the Putchens Markt, which celebrates its 650 anniversary this year.
The UN-Funken Bonn, formed this year, is also a new participant. It represents the 19 UN organisations based in Bonn and was formed on Friday 13 January at 4pm precisely on the 21 floor of Langer Eugen. The festival committee comprises 34 founding members from Cameroon, the Philippines, Ireland, Columbia, Australia and Serbia among other countries. They even have their own princess, UNiversa Nora I (Dineen).
The largest group will again be the Circus Comicus from Bad Honnef which has registered 250 clowns on foot and a further 40 participants on eight floats.
Those not able to see the parade live can watch on the internet at www.kamelle.de where GA reporter Holger Willcke will be presenting a live-stream. A special commentary position will also be set up at the Stifts Church where reporters will commentate on the parade for the blind and visually impaired. The Bonn parade is the only one in NRW that offers this service. There will be a rostrum for wheelchair users with toilets for the disabled for the first time in the Marktplatz. The Carnival committee will also set up a service in the Old Town Hall where parents can collect lost offspring.
Safety is also a priority this year. Entry points will be barred by mobile roadblocks for the first time and there will be a heavy police presence to protect the Rose Monday parade. Police are also asking people not to wear costumes designed to make people feel insecure and frightened and to leave toy weapons, ammunition belts and similar items at home.
Taxi Driver Welcomes 'Chinese' Baby With Wife Who Works As A Maid In A Chinese Company (Photo)
bohlah at 26-02-2017 07:55 AM (5 years ago) (m)
A youthful couple in Lusaka, Zambia has welcomed a beautiful baby boy into their family.. Mr Fabio Phiri a Taxi Driver and his wife Priscilla Phiri a Maid at China Engineering and Construction limited have thanked God for blessing them with a beautiful baby boy .
A youthful couple in Lusaka, Zambia has welcomed a beautiful baby boy into their family.. Mr Fabio Phiri a Taxi Driver and his wife Priscilla Phiri a Maid at China Engineering and Construction limited have thanked God for blessing them with a beautiful baby boy .
I love my son , he is a blessing to me , because of him I have been forced to even work hard in life so that I can always provide for him , he is a big boy now and is 6 months old , I named him after myself because he looks exactly like I do especially when I was a baby like him , his name is Fabio Ji Wu Phiri, the Ji Wu is a name we gave to him after my wife's former boss mr Ji
Wu Young a Chinese engineer who was working at China Engineering and Construction limited , he helped us a lot when my wife was pregnant and has been very supportive to our family and the baby , even after he left Zambia , he still sends money to help us with up keep so the only way we could appreciate him is by giving some of his names to our son " Mr Fabio Phiri narrated.
His wife Priscilla said she was grateful to God for giving her a beautiful and healthy baby boy " am very happy for this gift of a beautiful baby boy , I love him so much and I am thankful to God for giving him to me " she said .
Zambians have been left surprised by the baby's 'Chinese' looks as some said; it looks like the Chinese contractors don't only come and make Roads , They come to make babies too . she said .Zambians have been left surprised by the baby's 'Chinese' looks as some said; it looks like the Chinese contractors don't only come and make Roads , They come to make babies too .
Post Reply I have been reporting on latest news from Nigeria for almost 10 years now. I report on every possible news area I come across, but always ensure my reports are compiled with dignity and fact to uphold my personal values and duty as a journalist Posted: at 26-02-2017 07:55 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero
ignis99 at 26-02-2017 08:02 AM (5 years ago)
(m) This is serious Posted: at 26-02-2017 08:02 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac This is serious Reply
Deltaboy1 at 26-02-2017 08:24 AM (5 years ago)
(m) so funny, black people are funny sometimes Posted: at 26-02-2017 08:24 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac so funny, black people are funny sometimes Reply
Afrogotojail at 26-02-2017 08:52 AM (5 years ago)
(m) LoL. Let all celebrate with him Posted: at 26-02-2017 08:52 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac LoL. Let all celebrate with him Reply
christianity at 26-02-2017 08:59 AM (5 years ago)
(m) OK noted,the Chinese man must have deposited more semen into ur wife's Virginia than u the so called husband. Posted: at 26-02-2017 08:59 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac OK noted,the Chinese man must have deposited more semen into ur wife's Virginia than u the so called husband. Reply
beneno at 26-02-2017 09:10 AM (5 years ago)
(m) This.guy ni the highest mumu ever.but women sabi keep secret o,see as him ugly dirty wife close mouth like say nothing happened,only a foolish man will need a DNA for this.see their face like wetin devil manipulate Posted: at 26-02-2017 09:10 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero This.guy ni the highest mumu ever.but women sabi keep secret o,see as him ugly dirty wife close mouth like say nothing happened,only a foolish man will need a DNA for this.see their face like wetin devil manipulate Reply
Mykie010 at 26-02-2017 09:31 AM (5 years ago)
(m) Wonders shall never end. Posted: at 26-02-2017 09:31 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac Wonders shall never end. Reply
owolaborn at 26-02-2017 09:39 AM (5 years ago)
(m) this guy dey craze Posted: at 26-02-2017 09:39 AM (5 years ago) | Upcoming this guy dey craze Reply
bash77 at 26-02-2017 09:55 AM (5 years ago)
(m) Hmm! Media wahala. Allow the kid to grow first. I can't forget that of Jay Jay Okocha when his wife delivered their first kid. It was claimed then that he gave birth to a french/white baby. They even advised Jay Jay to chase the poor woman out. But thank God, my guy stick to his wife and the family is living together happily ever after till date. Don't rush to judge. Posted: at 26-02-2017 09:55 AM (5 years ago) | Newbie Hmm! Media wahala. Allow the kid to grow first. I can't forget that of Jay Jay Okocha when his wife delivered their first kid. It was claimed then that he gave birth to a french/white baby. They even advised Jay Jay to chase the poor woman out. But thank God, my guy stick to his wife and the family is living together happily ever after till date. Don't rush to judge. Reply
Mykie010 at 26-02-2017 11:36 AM (5 years ago)
(m) I had to come back to look at d child again and saw a jakie chan. Posted: at 26-02-2017 11:36 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac I had to come back to look at d child again and saw a jakie chan. Reply
maizaxx at 26-02-2017 11:42 AM (5 years ago)
(m) Point noted Bash77, but all the same for me I'm having my doubts.
The Chinese man still keeps sending money for the upkeep of the baby! Hmm Posted: at 26-02-2017 11:42 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac Point noted Bash77, but all the same for me I'm having my doubts.The Chinese man still keeps sending money for the upkeep of the baby! Hmm Reply
Otikadinje at 26-02-2017 12:25 PM (5 years ago)
(m) This caretaker of a husband is mad Oscardeejay Posted: at 26-02-2017 12:25 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac This caretaker of a husband is mad Reply
DrSoba at 26-02-2017 01:01 PM (5 years ago)
(m) Why is the guy covering his eyes? I think he is blind. Forget the story of being a taxi driver. Even blind people drives taxis. Posted: at 26-02-2017 01:01 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac Why is the guy covering his eyes? I think he is blind. Forget the story of being a taxi driver. Even blind people drives taxis. Reply
jeroba1 at 26-02-2017 01:16 PM (5 years ago)
(m) this guy na caretaker u be. no be talk am. Posted: at 26-02-2017 01:16 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac this guy na caretaker u be. no be talk am. Reply
tommy70 at 26-02-2017 01:55 PM (5 years ago)
(m) Posted: at 26-02-2017 01:55 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac Reply
Swissnaija at 26-02-2017 02:22 PM (5 years ago)
(m) Mugu raised to the power7. This one na real Aboki.D Chinese man go still come back to claim his child in future. Posted: at 26-02-2017 02:22 PM (5 years ago) | Upcoming Mugu raised to the power7. This one na real Aboki.D Chinese man go still come back to claim his child in future. Reply
Jogobenito at 26-02-2017 02:30 PM (5 years ago)
(m) Wetin this man dey yan self.. Dem no de tell blind man say rain dey fall... Its very obvious that the man's wife was impregnated by the Chinese contractor.
The baby doez not have the traits of the man and woman... And d man dey happy say him wife born oyibo....lol... Posted: at 26-02-2017 02:30 PM (5 years ago) | Newbie Wetin this man dey yan self.. Dem no de tell blind man say rain dey fall... Its very obvious that the man's wife was impregnated by the Chinese contractor.The baby doez not have the traits of the man and woman... And d man dey happy say him wife born oyibo....lol... Reply
Keffejude at 26-02-2017 02:38 PM (5 years ago)
(m) African women of this generation are more promiscuous than the Jesebels of Sodom & Gomorrah Posted: at 26-02-2017 02:38 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac African women of this generation are more promiscuous than the Jesebels of Sodom & Gomorrah Reply
akinmanchy at 26-02-2017 03:03 PM (5 years ago)
(m) This guy na confirmed mugu, I mean he doesn't even need a DNA test to confirm say the baby no be him own Life na jeje so just try to take am softly Posted: at 26-02-2017 03:03 PM (5 years ago) | Hero This guy na confirmed mugu, I mean he doesn't even need a DNA test to confirm say the baby no be him own Reply
Did Nokia plan to launch the Nokia 3310 back in 2014 but couldnt do it? Features oi -Prajith Maybe! Maybe not! Youll find it soon.
Once the go-to phone vendor for the juvenile and grown-ups alike, Nokia had lost its mojo after it put it-selves in the hands of Microsoft. Be it the Windows-run smartphones or be it the Android-based ones, the company couldnt keep up with the necessities of the millennials and was soon buried deep down in the obscure land.
But mind you, thats going to be history in a few hours. At least, we would like to believe so. Thats because Mobile World Congress 2017 event, the worlds largest exhibition as far as smartphone industry is concerned where Nokia (HMD Global) is believed to make a grand comeback of sorts with the launch of multiple smartphones.
Also Read: Nokia 3310 (2017) render leaks; confirms oval design
Earlier, it was rumored that the Finnish company would pull the wraps off a bunch of phones including a flagship handset dubbed the Nokia 8. Now, however, the rumor mill doesnt suggest the same. Word has it that the company will hold a special event to announce its latest flagship handset later. Anyway, thats a discussion for another day.
This post is all about the relaunch of Nokia 3310. Because, nostalgia!
The device in question was first launched back in 2000. It impressed a huge chunk of people with its sturdy design and of course, the swappable faceplates (which were as fancy as it could get back then). Now, the company is said to introduce a Modern version of the same with contemporary specs, of course. Weve already written a dedicated article regarding the expected specs of the Nokia 3310, you can check it here.
Also Read: HMD to announce Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6, & Nokia 3310 at MWC; may skip Nokia 8
But, what if the company had actually planned to relaunch it back in 2014 itself only it couldnt do so? Well, after considering this, you may want to give it a though.
Nearly three years ago, on April 1 (mmm something sounds fishy here), the company had teased a device which was a replica of Nokia 3310 only it was running Windows operating system (Windows 8 to be precise). The standout feature though, was the 41MP PureView camera on the back.
If that wasnt enough, the company had teased that the handset would feature a 3-inch ClearDiamond WXGA display. Other specs include a 1.5GHz dual-core chipset, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage space (via a microSD card), support for 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.
Also Read: Nokia to live stream MWC event on February 26; Where and how to watch it
Whoa! That sounds interesting.
But, before you board the excitement bus, let us break it to you. It was nothing but an April Fools day prank (April 1, you see?). The company was kidding about the revamped Nokia 3310! Or maybe not. Perhaps, it took the company a little more than 2 years to actually bring such phone into existence.
Well, we cant say anything but kill a few hours to hear it straight from the horses mouth.
Via
Best Mobiles in India
Counter-ISIS Strikes Continue in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, Feb. 25, 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.
Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Strikes in Syria
Coalition military forces conducted 12 strikes consisting of 30 engagements against ISIS targets in Syria:
-- Near Shadaddi, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed three fighting positions, two vehicles, an ISIS headquarters, a storage facility and a vehicle-borne bomb.
-- Near Raqqa, five strikes destroyed an artillery system, a mortar system, a rocket system, a watercraft, a weapons storage facility and a chemical weapons facility.
-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed two oil wellheads.
-- Near Palmyra, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle and a tactical vehicle.
Strikes in Iraq
Coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 95 engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:
-- Near Huwayjah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a heavy machine gun and a logistics node.
-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed a homemade explosives cache and a vehicle-bomb factory.
-- Near Beiji, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed five ISIS-held buildings, three vehicles, a fighting position and a front-end loader.
-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and an ISIS sniper unit; destroyed nine fighting positions, eight mortar systems, five ISIS-held buildings, four command-and-control nodes, three vehicle-bomb facilities, three tactical vehicles, two vehicles, two artillery systems, two anti-air artillery systems, a rocket-propelled grenade system, an unmanned-aerial-vehicle storage facility, a front-end loader, a vehicle-bomb staging area and a supply cache; damaged 12 supply routes and four ISIS-held buildings; and suppressed 22 mortars and an artillery system.
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.
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US needs more talks with Russia to avoid conflicts in Syria: Air Force general
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 5:18PM
A top US Air Force general says the United States and Russia need to enhance communication to avoid accidents in the skies over Syria because the country's airspace is shrinking as the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group loses more territory.
General Herbert Carlisle, who leads the Air Combat Command, said Friday he would support more discussions between the US and Russian militaries to avoid accidents as both are involved in the ongoing battle against Daesh in Iraq and Syria.
"To me it makes sense that the deconfliction, the discussions, the more you can do that, the more you can build an understanding between folks that are flying in the same piece of airspace, the better off you're going to be," the general told reporters.
"So, I support that. Obviously, it's a decision above my pay grade, but I think it makes sense when you look at what we're trying to do over there and how complex and challenging that battle space is, and it is incredibly complex and challenging," he added.
The United States and Russia have communicated on a regular basis since September 2015, when Moscow launched its aerial campaign in Syria upon a request by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
On the other hand, the US and some of its allies started conducting airstrikes inside Syria against Daesh terrorists, many of whom were initially trained by the CIA to fight against the Syrian government.
Back then, senior officials from the US Department of Defense and the Russian Ministry of Defense signed a memorandum of understanding to take measures to minimize the risk of inflight incidents between American and Russian aircraft operating in Syrian air space.
Carlisle further said talks between the two sides are becoming more necessary now that Daesh is losing ground in Iraq and Syria. The current situation, according to the general, "creates more conflict potential between us and the other plays in the theater."
A report by The Washington Post said earlier that senior US military officials want to elevate talks with Russia about air operations over Iraq and Syria.
Concerns have already persisted about a potential collision in the Syrian airspace as US, Russian, Syrian and Turkish aircraft increasingly converge on the same areas, like the northern Syrian city of al-Bab in Raqqah Province.
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Eight dead in fresh Saudi airstrikes on Yemen
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 4:35PM
At least seven people have lost their lives and several others sustained injuries when Saudi fighter jets carried out a raft of aerial attacks against residential neighborhoods across Yemen.
On Saturday, Saudi military aircraft struck an area in the Red Sea port city of Mukha, situated 346 kilometers south of the capital, Sana'a, leaving five children dead, Arabic-language al-Masirah television news network reported.
A couple and their son also lost their lives when Saudi fighter jets struck a house in Manjadah village in Yemen's southwestern province of Dhamar.
Later in the day, six aerial attacks hit Khalid military base in the Mawza' district of the southwestern Ta'izz Province. However, there were no immediate reports of casualties and the extent of damage caused.
Saudi military aircraft also bombarded an area in the city of Sirwah, which lies about 120 kilometers east of the capital, with no casualties reported.
Yemeni sniper fire kills 2 Saudi troopers in Jizan
Meanwhile, Yemeni army soldiers, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have shot dead two Saudi troops in the kingdom's southwestern border region of Jizan in response to Riyadh's devastating aerial bombardment campaign against their country.
They killed two Saudi troops in the Khobah area of Jizan, located 969 kilometers south of Riyadh, on Saturday afternoon.
Army troops and Popular Committee fighters also launched an attack on the al-Montazah and Shabakah outposts of the same Saudi region. No reports of casualties among Saudi troops were available in the wake of the attacks.
Saudi war on Yemen inflicts millions of dollars on tourism
Separately, Yemen's Executive Director of the Tourism Promotion Board Abdulrahman al-Na'mi told the official Saba news agency on Saturday that the Saudi military aggression against Yemen has led to the destruction of more than 200 tourist sites, and inflicted a loss of 4.5 billion dollars on the country.
Na'mi added that the Saudi aerial attacks have also left between 80,000 and 90,000 people engaged in the sector of tourism without a job.
He went on to say that the continued Saudi aggression on Yemen threatens the country's historical and cultural sites, which are listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), noting that Saudi Arabia's deliberate targeting of such sites is tantamount to practices of Daesh and other Takfiri terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria.
Na'mi called on human rights groups as well as international organizations to secure the lift of the siege imposed on Yemen, especially the air embargo on Sana'a International Airport, and help alleviate the worsening humanitarian situation in the impoverished Arab country.
The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, says the Saudi campaign has claimed the lives of 10,000 Yemenis and left 40,000 others wounded.
McGoldrick told reporters in Sana'a last month that the figure was based on casualty counts given by health facilities and that the actual number might be higher.
In a report released on Thursday, Yemen's Legal Center for Rights and Development, an independent monitoring group, put the civilian death toll in the war-torn Arab country at 12,041.
The fatalities, it said, comprise 2,568 children and 1,870 women.
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Several Azerbaijani troops killed in Karabakh clashes
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:42AM
Deadly clashes have broken out between Azerbaijani troops and Armenian separatists over the breakaway Karabakh region, authorities on both sides say.
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said in a statement that Armenian forces "attempted an intrusion into Azerbaijani territory along the Karabakh frontline" in the early hours of Saturday.
"Fierce clashes erupted at the frontline's Khojavend-Fizuli sector," the statement said, adding the Azerbaijani military "suffered losses in manpower as they courageously repelled the enemy's attack."
"The enemy continues shelling Azerbaijani positions from heavy artillery," the official statement added.
Armenian officials reported their own version of the clashes, accusing Azerbaijani forces of attacking separatist positions along the south-eastern and eastern sectors of the frontline.
They accused "Azerbaijan's political and military leadership" of increasing tensions at the frontline and spreading disinformation.
"Armenia is committed to the ceasefire and calls on the Azerbaijani side to refrain from steps that would further escalate the situation," a Defense Ministry statement said.
The latest fighting came after three Armenian soldiers were killed in clashes with Azerbaijani forces on December 29, 2016.
The former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a lingering conflict over the disputed region and frequent exchanges of fire nearly spiraled into an all-out war last year.
In April 2016, at least 110 people on both sides were killed as simmering tensions flared into the worst skirmishes in decades over the region.
A Russian-brokered truce ended the four days of fierce clashes in April but attempts to re-launch the stalled peace process since then have not been successful.
Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but it is governed by the self-proclaimed Karabakh republic backed by Armenia.
Baku and Yerevan have quarreled over the region since Armenian separatists captured the territory in a war that claimed nearly 30,000 lives in the early 1990s and ended in a fragile 1994 ceasefire deal. The two sides, however, never signed a solid peace pact.
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Nearly a dozen Afghans shot to death by Daesh in mosque ambush
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 10:56AM
Nearly a dozen people have been shot dead in an ambush by Takfiri Daesh terrorists in northern Afghanistan, a local official says.
The fatalities, including 10 Afghan police officers and the wife of a police commander, occurred in the country's northern Jowzjan Province after the victims came under attack while leaving a mosque.
Mohammad Reza Ghafori, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the commander's wife was gunned down when she rushed to the scene after hearing about her husband being shot.
Afghanistan faces many security challenges years after the US and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington's so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but many areas in the country are still beset with insecurity.
Despite the presence of thousands of foreign boots on the ground, Afghanistan has been rocked by a surge in terrorist attacks, some of them carried out by Daesh.
The rise of Daesh in Afghanistan has raised concerns in the Asian country that has already been torn apart by decades of Taliban-led militancy and the US-led invasion.
Civilian casualties in 2016 were the highest recorded by the United Nations since 2009, with nearly 11,500 non-combatants killed or wounded.
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Armenians, Azerbaijanis Trade Accusations Over Karabakh Fighting
RFE/RL's Armenian Service February 25, 2017
Azerbaijan and the separatists controlling the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region have traded accusations over armed clashes along the heavily militarized line of contact that caused casualties.
The separatist military said on February 25 that its troops repelled attacks by Azerbaijani armed forces in the southeastern and eastern sections of the front line.
The ethnic Armenian military leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh said its troops "timely spotted and repulsed" attacks by Azerbaijani forces and that several Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in the fighting, while the Armenian side suffered no casualties.
"There are several bodies [of Azerbaijani soldiers] in the neutral zone. The Armenian side suffered no dead or wounded," Karabakh's Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry confirmed the overnight clashes, but insisted that they were triggered by the separatist forces.
It also admitted casualties, without specifying a number, and said the Karabakh forces had launched an unsuccessful offensive for the purpose of "improving their positions."
It said the ethnic Armenian forces had been rebuffed but continued to shell Azerbaijani positions with heavy artillery.
Meanwhile, the Karabakh military leadership quoted "reliable data" in reporting movements of Azerbaijani troops and materiel in the eastern direction of the line of contact.
The Armenian Defense Ministry issued a statement warning Azerbaijan's military and political leadership against further escalation of the situation in the conflict zone.
The Armenian military insisted it is "committed to the cease-fire regime."
Armenia-backed separatists seized control of the mainly ethnic-Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh during a war in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000 people. Diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict have brought little progress.
Sporadic Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes have become particularly frequent in recent years. Four days of heavy fighting in April 2016 reportedly killed dozens on both sides.
Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/armenians-azerbaijanis-trade- accusations-over-karabakh-fighting/28331782.html
Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Thousands Protest Duterte's Drug War, Arrest of Senator, in Manila
Sputnik News
22:00 25.02.2017(updated 04:43 26.02.2017)
Following the Friday arrest of perhaps the highest-profile critic of his drug war, Senator Leila de Lima, thousands flooded the streets of Manila Saturday morning to protest Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and his brutal crackdown.
The protests came as the country marked the 31st anniversary of the People Power movement that deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos after a 20-year rule. Duterte, a fan of Marcos, made possible the dictator's burial in the Philippines Heroes' Cemetery after he came to power, angering many.
Among the roughly 3,000 protesters was former Philippines President Benigno Aquino, who defended de Lima, his former justice minister, as well as current Philippines Vice President Leni Robredo, also a de Lima supporter, who resigned from Duterte's cabinet after being blocked from meetings when she disagreed with Duterte.
Aquino dismissed claims that members of former administrations were simply trying to destabilize Duterte's regime, a defense often deployed by the current leader.
"How can we be causing destabilization when we are actually offering to help," Aquino said, the South China Morning Post reported.
De Lima says she is innocent of the charges of drug trafficking and operating a prison drug ring while justice secretary and that her arrest is revenge for her decade-long effort to bring Duterte to justice for his alleged connection to the "Davao Death Squad" while mayor of Davao City.
Earlier this week, de Lima called the president a "sociopathic serial killer." In a statement on her arrest, de Lima called his administration "power-hungry, morally bankrupt and abusive," the Manila Times reported.
Duterte has been accusing De Lima of drugs crimes for months, and has conducted a personal campaign against her, making allegations about her sex life as well as the supposed drug ring. Manila Times opinion columnist Marlen Ronquillo called on the government to "show us the money" in a column the day after her arrest.
"Only a money trail will clear all doubts that she really deserved to be called the 'grandmother of drug lords,'" he wrote.
Father Robert Reyes, who spent the night with de Lima in the Senate before she gave herself up to police, told AFP, "People are afraid. If the government can arrest a powerful person like her, what more the little man? That is the implied message of her arrest."
Several others were arrested along with the senator for alleged involvement in running the prison drug scheme.
Fear did not deter around thousands from protesting her treatment and the war on drugs Duterte launched when he assumed office eight months ago, and which is believed to have killed nearly 8,000 people since then. Fewer than half of those killed were suspected of playing a serious role in the illegal drugs trade. Human Rights Watch has warned repeatedly that the crackdown has emboldened and even sanctioned extra-judicial killings by Philippines police.
"By arresting Senator Leila de Lima on politically motivated drug charges, President Duterte is effectively expanding his 'drug war,'" Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phelim Kine said in a statement reported by Channel News Asia.
"Not only Congress, but other pillars of Philippine democracy should be deeply worried," Kine added.
Now, watchers warn of a People Power uprising like the one that toppled Marcos.
"We are taking the matter seriously. We are warning our people about the threat of rising fascism," protest leader Bonifacio Ilagan told AFP. Ilagan, a playwright, was imprisoned and tortured under Marcos' rule in the 1970s.
Left-wing politician Emmi De Jesus said Duterte's opponents would resist "efforts to revert to dictatorship," the BBC reported.
"The pile of bodies in the Duterte government's war on drugs; arrests and killings of political activists; renewed push for death penalty, and militarization of communities affecting women and children is nothing but a U-turn to full-blown fascism," she said.
Duterte won last year's election on a campaign to end drug violence in the country, and pulled no punches regarding his willingness to allow law enforcement bodies to use lethal force while doing so. He has said he could impose martial law to help him eliminate drug rings.
Sputnik
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Multinational NATO Battalion in Lithuania Ready for Drills
Sputnik News
16:21 25.02.2017(updated 18:12 25.02.2017)
A multinational NATO battalion in Lithuania is prepared for drills after Germany's military equipment arrived in the country on Friday, Lithuania's National Defense Ministry said.
VILNIUS (Sputnik) The equipment will be transferred to the Rukla Garrison of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and the first drills are expected to take place in March, the ministry added.
"After Germany's main military equipment included in the multinational NATO battalion in Lithuania arrived on Friday, the battalion is ready to start training. Among the equipment that arrived there are 20 Marder IFVs [Infantry fighting vehicle], the Dachs engineering tank, the Bergepanzer armored recovery vehicle and five Leopard 2 tanks, as well as the Biber armored bridgelayer," the ministry said in a statement.
In 2017, the NATO battalion stationed in Lithuania will comprise troops from Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, while, in 2018, France and Croatia will contribute their forces. The total number will make up about 1,200 servicemen.
Germany has sent about 200 military vehicles, including 30 tanks along with 450 soldiers to Lithuania, where Belgian and a part of Dutch troops have already been stationed. Another part of Dutch troops will arrive in March, while Norwegian troops are expected to arrive in May.
In 2016, NATO decided to deploy additional troops to the Baltic States and Poland during July's summit in Warsaw, citing the states' vulnerability to the alleged threat of Russian aggression after Crimea rejoined Russia in 2014. Moscow has repeatedly criticized the increased presence of the Alliance's troops and military facilities near Russian borders.
Sputnik
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UN Security Council calls for immediate investigation into recent violence in DR Congo's Kasai region
25 February 2017 The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the recent spate of violence in the south-central Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), calling on the Government to "immediately dispatch a credible and impartial investigation."
In a press statement issued in New York yesterday evening, the Council expressed grave concern at the recent reports of serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by local militia in that region, including unlawful recruitment and use of child soldiers, and of killings of civilians by members of Congolese security forces, known as FARDC, "all of which might constitute war crimes under international law."
Recalling that the DRC Government bears the primary responsibility to protect civilians within its territory, the Security Council urged the authorities to "constantly exercise maximum restraint and proportionate lawful use of force in its efforts to restore order."
The Council also called on the Government to immediately dispatch an investigation and to bring to justice and hold accountable all those responsible. Welcoming the Government's announcement in this regard, the Council encouraged the UN Stabilization Mission in the country, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, "to provide support to the Congolese authorities, if requested, in the conduct of this investigation, developments in which they will follow very closely."
MONUSCO was further urged to monitor and report on violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law and to update its contingency plans in this regard. In the longer-term, the Security Council encouraged the DRC Government to continue its efforts for the extension of State authority throughout the vast central African nation, ensuring credible governance with capable institutions, especially in the security sector, to prevent and deter violence.
As for the political situation in the country, the Security Council reaffirmed its strong support for the 31 December 2016 political agreement, "and its pursuit of peaceful, credible, free, fair and inclusive elections by December 2017, leading to a democratic transfer of power."
In this context, the 15-nation body said it is "increasingly concerned" at the continuing lack of progress in the dialogue among the political stakeholders in DRC related to implementation modalities of the agreement. The Council expressed concern that, two months after the signing of the agreement, the appointment of a Prime Minister presented by the Rassemblement coalition, as well as the installation of a new transitional government and of the Comite National de Suivi de l'Accord (CNSA) have yet to take place.
As such, the Council stressed the need to maintain the political goodwill that led to the signing of the agreement in order to avoid further insecurity in the DRC. Further, the Council called on all stakeholders in the DRC, including President Joseph Kabila, the presidential majority and the opposition, to redouble, in good faith, their efforts towards a speedy conclusion of the ongoing talks on the "arrangements particuliers" of the agreement, in order to urgently nominate a Prime Minister presented by the Rassemblement.
The Security Council reaffirmed the need for all parties to support and participate constructively in the mediation led by the Conference episcopale nationale du Congo (CENCO), and recalled that full and timely implementation of the 31 December agreement, in accordance with the Congolese Constitution and in line with Council resolution 2277 (2016), is critical in upholding the legitimacy of the transitional institutions until elections.
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Report: McMaster Takes Issue With White House 'Islamic Terrorism' Mantra
By VOA News February 25, 2017
The U.S. administration's new national security adviser has reportedly told his staff that Muslims who carry out terrorist acts are corrupting Islam, a departure from an ideological position held by other senior advisers to President Donald Trump.
Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster told members of the National Security Council that the use of the term "radical Islamic terrorism" was counterproductive because the actions of terrorists are "un-Islamic," according to the New York Times newspaper.
McMaster's remarks were reportedly made Thursday at his first "all hands" staff meeting, according to people who attended the meeting.
His comments contradict language frequently used by the president and McMaster's predecessor, Michael Flynn, who stepped down after misleading administration officials about contacts with a Russian diplomat.
The remarks may be an early sign McMaster could distance the council from the ideological views of Flynn.
McMaster's language is more consistent with the positions of former U.S. presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Both were careful to disassociate terrorist acts from the Islamic faith out of concern, in part, that the U.S. needed Muslim allies to help combat terrorism.
The extent of McMaster's influence on this issue remains to be seen in a White House where several top presidential advisers have a different perception of Islam. Chief strategist Stephen Bannon, for example, has warned of an impending battle between the Judeo-Christian world and Islam.
The differences in positions held by White House advisers could be exposed publicly if the Senate Armed Services Committee decides to hold a confirmation hearing for McMaster. The national security adviser does not require Senate confirmation, but it must vote to approve McMaster's three-star rank in a new position.
Committee Chairman John McCain has not said if he will hold a hearing.
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Filipinos Rally Marking Revolt That Toppled Dictator Marcos
By VOA News February 25, 2017
Thousands of protesters gathered Saturday in the Philippines capital of Manila to mark the anniversary of the People Power revolution that unseated dictator Ferdinand Marcos 31 years ago.
Protesters marched through the streets to the People Power democracy shrine in Manila, which marks the spot where millions of Filipinos gathered in 1986 in a mostly peaceful uprising to remove Marcos from power.
The uprising served as a model for later peaceful revolts throughout the world and brought an end to a 20-year rule marked by corruption, scandals and human rights abuses.
The event is celebrated annually in the Philippines, though this year the government commemoration ceremony was relatively modest. President Rodrigo Duterte did not attend the event. He instead chose to spend the weekend at his southern home in Davao.
Duterte, last year, allowed Marcos's body to be buried in a heroes' cemetery, which led to massive outcry among Filipinos who opposed the dictator.
Supporters of Duterte held their own rally in Manila on Saturday, praying for the success of Duterte's war against drugs, which has led to the reported killing of at least 2,555 suspected drug dealers since he took office last year. Another 4,000 people have been killed during the crackdown under unexplained circumstances.
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Indonesian suspect in killing Kim got $90 to play in 'TV prank': Official
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 3:11PM
An Indonesian woman who is currently in Malaysian police custody over the assassination of the half bother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says she was paid only $90 to do the job in what she thought was a "TV prank show."
Indonesia's Deputy Ambassador to Malaysia Andreano Erwin said on Saturday that 25-year-old Siti Aisyah believed she was shoving a liquid like "baby oil" on the face of 46-year-old Kim Jong-nam, allegedly unknown to her at the time, because "somebody asked her to do this activity" in return for just 400 Malaysian ringgit (85).
Erwin, who was granted consular access to Siti in Kuala Lumpur earlier in the day, added that it was too early to say what charges might be leveled against the Indonesian national.
Malaysian police officials announced on February 14 that Kim Jong-nam had been attacked by two female assailants, Aisyah and a Vietnamese national identified as Doan Thi Huong, at the departure hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport a day earlier. The arrested female attackers reportedly wiped some form of toxic agent over Kim's face. He died en route to the hospital.
Jong-nam's corpse underwent at least two autopsy operations by Malaysian forensic experts to determine what exactly caused his death. Pyongyang, however, on February 23 censured Kuala Lumpur for performing an "immoral and illegal" autopsy on the body and playing politics with the case. It, however, did not refer to the deceased by name.
On Friday, Malaysian police authorities announced that the chemical substance that killed Jong-nam had been the extremely toxic VX nerve agent. The United Nations has declared VX, the most lethal nerve agent ever created, a weapon of mass destruction that fatally disrupts the nervous system once absorbed through the skin.
Meanwhile, Malaysia said that it would issue a warrant for the arrest of Hyon Kwang-song, a second secretary at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, in order to question him regarding the assassination if he does not voluntarily cooperate with police after giving him a "reasonable" time.
South Korean police have claimed that Jong-nam was killed by North Korean agents, while the North flatly denied the allegations on Thursday, saying the man died due to a heart attack.
The assassination of Jong-nam not only created a growing rift between Pyongyang and Kuala Lumpur, which had warm and full mutual ties, but also dragged Vietnam and Indonesia to the crime scene.
Jong-nam, 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.
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China rejects US calls to confront North Korea
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 6:42AM
China has turned down calls by the United States to confront North Korea, saying the handling of Pyongyang's nuclear program does not concern Beijing.
The response came after US President Donald Trump said China could intervene in North Korea's affairs and solve what he called the national security challenge posed by the country.
Responding to Trump's remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "We have said many times already that 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 denuclearization."
China's official Xinhua news agency also rejected comments by Washington, saying Beijing's influence on North Korea had been exaggerated.
"The Trump White House needs to make the first move and talk to Pyongyang. The United States stands to lose nothing for trying this," the news agency noted.
The remarks are made while Beijing, which is North Korea's only ally and main trading partner, has so far shown itself reluctant to put too much pressure on Pyongyang over its previous series of ballistic and nuclear missile tests.
China, however, has insisted that it is dedicated to enforcing United Nations sanctions against North Korea.
Last week, China suspended imports of North Korean coal in line with punitive sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council against Pyongyang over its recent missile and nuclear tests.
On February 13, South Korea's Defense Ministry announced that its northern neighbor had launched a new missile test near the western city of Kusong, adding that the missile had flown 500 kilometers eastwards before falling into the Sea of Japan.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed a day later that Pyongyang had "successfully" tested a "surface-to-surface medium long-range ballistic missile."
Pyongyang, already under a raft of sanctions for its missile and nuclear programs, says it is developing arms as deterrence against the United States. It says it will not abandon the missile and nuclear programs unless the US ends its hostility toward Pyongyang.
The US has military forces in South Korea and is planning to deploy an advanced missile system there in response to perceived threats from the North. The US also occasionally deploys nuclear-powered warships and aircraft capable of carrying atomic weapons in the region.
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North Korean Leader's Sister Said to Be the One Who Secretly Rules the Country
Sputnik News
20:45 25.02.2017(updated 03:34 26.02.2017)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un might actually be not as powerful as he seems. Lately, more and more experts from the neighboring South Korea have proclaimed the North Korean leader's half-sister Kim Sol-song could actually be the one who has real power in the country.
Rumors started to emerge in South Korea in 2013, with several experts saying that Kim Sol-song, who is 11 years older than her half-brother, was the one who actually ruled the country when Kim Jong Un came to power.
During his speech at the Koryo University, South Korean political expert Cheong Seong-Chang said that many decisions made by the North Korean leader have usually been approved by his half-sister.
"According to reliable sources, it seems to be true that in the system of the DPRK leadership any decision of the head of state requires the approval of his elder sister," the Director of the Department of Unification Strategy Studies at the Sejong Institute stated.
According to various reports, such distribution of power between the sister and the brother could have been planned by their father, Kim Jong Il.
For instance, in 2013, Korean Sisain weekly reported that "Kim Jong Il highly appreciated the potential of his daughter, who has an education in the field of IT, and even trusted her to manage the entire IT sector of the DPRK."
At the same time, some people believe that the assumptions are nothing more than just rumors. For instance, Kim Jeongbong, former senior official of the National Intelligence Service Korea and professor at the Hanzhong University believes that Kim Sol-song "is an ordinary woman, who is definitely not starving, because of the fact that she is the daughter and sister of the head of the country."
Whether the rumors are based on truth or not, remains to be seen. According to the experts, a book on the issue is expected to be published in the near future.
Kim Jong Un became North Korean leader in 2011 after the death of his father Kim Jong II. Since taking office, Kim Jong Un was believed to have absolute authority in the country. He is notorious for his hard-power policy towards his own party members and is said to have executed over 100 military and government officials who dared to criticize him.
Sputnik
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Malaysia May Arrest NK Diplomat Over Murder; Suspect Says She Got $90 for 'Joke'
Sputnik News
01:33 26.02.2017(updated 04:43 26.02.2017)
Malaysia could arrest a North Korean diplomat if he doesn't voluntarily come forward to discuss the murder of Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of North Korea's leader, soon.
Malaysian officials said February 25 that if 44-year-old Hyon Kwang-song, a second secretary in North Korea's Kuala Lumpur embassy, doesn't come forward soon, police will issue a notice compelling him to do so.
"And if he failed to turn up upon given this notice, then we will go to the next step by getting a warrant of arrest from the court," Police Chief of Selangor State Abdul Samah Mat told the South China Morning Post.
Hyon presumably has diplomatic immunity, so it is unclear if he can be detained by police.
Eight North Koreans are wanted in connection with the case. Four are believed to have fled to North Korea, two are thought to be at large in Malaysia and one has been detained by Malaysian police. The whereabouts of the eighth, Ri Ji U, remain unknown, Samah said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, more details have emerged in the strange killing: an Indonesian woman says she was paid $90 to play what she thought was a prank on the victim and the South Korean press wonders where the murdered man's son is hiding.
Indonesian national Siti Aisyah, 25, one of several suspects arrested in the case, told Indonesian embassy officials that she had been paid 400 Malaysian riggits ($90) to play what she thought was a prank on Kim, a stranger to her, for a reality show.
Andreano Erwin, Indonesia's deputy ambassador, who met with Aisyah on Saturday, told the BBE, "She only said in general that somebody asked her to do this activity. She only said in general she met with some people who looked Japanese or Korean. According to her, that person gave her 400 ringgits to do this activity She only said she was given a kind of oil, like baby oil."
A Vietnamese woman has also been arrested in connection with the crime.
Kim was killed in Kuala Lumpur Airport February 13 by VX poison, a toxic nerve agent. It does not appear to have affected Aisyah, the official said.
South Korea has accused North Korea of masterminding the attack, though Malaysia has not publicly blamed the North Korean government, a Business Insider report points out. North Korea has responded angrily to Malaysia's decision to perform an autopsy on Kim's body and other steps it has taken in the case, the the state denies any involvement in the murder.
The Korea Daily is wondering where Kim Jong-nam's son, Kim Han-sol, and his daughter and wife are hiding out. The Malaysian police are waiting for their assistance with DNA tests, the report says.
The family may remain under Chinese protection in Macau, where they live, though China has not confirmed this. Despite reports that Kim Han-sol traveled to Malaysia last week to see his father, Malaysian police say no family members have visited the hospital where Kim's body is being kept. Other media suggest that Kim's daughter could travel to Malaysia tomorrow.
The assassination has struck fear into the family, Korea Daily writes.
"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 Korean defector told the South Korean media outlet.
Kim Jong-Nam was the eldest son of Kim Jong-Il and was once expected to assume leadership of the isolated nation, though he fell out of favor with his father more than a decade before Kim Jong-Il's death in 2011. His half-brother, Kim Jong-un, took over after their father's death and is thought to be behind his assassination.
Sputnik
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IAEA acknowledges Iran's compliance with JCPOA
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Tehran, Feb 25, IRNA -- International Atomic Energy Agency in its quarterly report on Friday reiterated Iran's compliance with its obligations enshrined in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
IAEA declared in its report that 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 watchdog noted that according to the JCPOA, Iran had been permitted to have a stockpile of 300 kg of enriched uranium.
Iran's Envoy to Vienna Reza Najafi said Friday evening that the first report by Director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano in 2017 has reaffirmed that Iran's nuclear activities are all in line with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Iran and G5+1 countries (US, UK, French, Russia, China plus Germany) reached an agreement in 2015 and inked the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action which imposes some limitations on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for removal of Islamic Republic sanctions.
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Amano releases first 2017 report on JCPOA implementation
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Tehran, Feb 25, IRNA -- Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano released its quarterly report on implementation of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to the IAEA board of directors on Friday.
The full text of the report titled as "Verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 (2015)" follows:
A. Introduction
1. This report of the Director General to the Board of Governors and, in parallel, to the United Nations Security Council (Security Council), is on the Islamic Republic of Iran's (Iran's) implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and on matters related to verification and monitoring in Iran in light of Security Council resolution 2231 (2015). It also provides information on financial matters, and the Agency's consultations and exchanges of information with the Joint Commission, established by the JCPOA.
B. Background
2. On 14 July 2015, China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (E3/EU+3) and Iran agreed on the JCPOA. On 20 July 2015, the Security Council adopted resolution 2231 (2015), in which, inter alia, it requested the Director General to "undertake the necessary verification and monitoring of Iran's nuclear-related commitments for the full duration of those commitments under the JCPOA".
In August 2015, the Board of Governors authorized the Director General to implement the necessary verification and monitoring of Iran's nuclear-related commitments as set out in the JCPOA, and report accordingly, for the full duration of those commitments in light of Security Council resolution 2231 (2015), subject to the availability of funds and consistent with the Agency's standard safeguards practices. The Board of Governors also authorized the Agency to consult and exchange information with the Joint Commission, as set out in GOV/2015/53 and Corr. 1.
3. In letters dated 21 December 2016 and 11 January 2017, the Coordinator of the Joint Commission transmitted to the Agency nine documents, which have been endorsed by all participants of the Joint Commission, providing clarifications for the implementation of Iran's nuclear-related measures as set out in the JCPOA for its duration. The Coordinator requested the Director General to share these documents with Member States for information.
4. The estimated annual cost to the Agency for the implementation of Iran's Additional Protocol and for verifying and monitoring Iran's nuclear-related commitments as set out in the JCPOA is 9.2 million per annum. As implementation of the JCPOA began on 16 January 2016, the funding requirement for 2016 was estimated at 8.8 million. By the end of 2016, 8.5 million had been expended. As of 21 February 2017, 13.7 million had been pledged by Member States as extra budgetary contributions for JCPOA-related activities. The balance of 5.2 million between what has been pledged and what has been spent will contribute towards the 6.2 million of extra budgetary funding required for 2017.
C. JCPOA verification and monitoring activities
5. Since 16 January 2016 (JCPOA Implementation Day), the Agency has verified and monitored Iran's implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA,4,5 and reports the following for the period since the issuance of the Director General's previous quarterly report.
C.1. Activities related to heavy water and reprocessing
6. Iran has not pursued the construction of the existing Arak heavy water research reactor(IR-40 Reactor) based on its original design. Iran has not produced or tested natural uranium pellets,fuel pins or fuel assemblies specifically designed for the support of the IR-40 Reactor as originally designed, and all existing natural uranium pellets and fuel assemblies have remained in storage under continuous Agency monitoring (paras 3 and 10).
7. Iran has continued to inform the Agency about the inventory of heavy water in Iran and the production of heavy water at the Heavy Water Production Plant (HWPP)9 and allowed the Agency to monitor the quantities of Iran's heavy water stocks and the amount of heavy water produced at the HWPP (para. 15). As previously reported on 8 November 2016, the Agency verified that Iran's stock of heavy water had reached 130.1 metric tones (para. 14). As also previously reported, on 21 November 2016, Iran informed the Agency that 11 metric tones of nuclear grade heavy water had been shipped out of Iran on 19 November 2016 and, on 6 December 2016, the Agency verified the quantity of 11 metric tones of the nuclear grade heavy water at its destination outside Iran. Since that shipment was made, Iran's stock of heavy water has been no more than 130 metric tones. On 14 February 2017, the Agency verified that Iran's stock of heavy water was 124.2 metric tones.
8. Iran has not carried out activities related to reprocessing at the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) and the Molybdenum, Iodine and Xenon Radioisotope Production (MIX) Facility or at any of the other facilities it has declared to the Agency (paras 18 and 21).
C.2. Activities related to enrichment and fuel
9. At the Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) at Natanz, there have been no more than 5060 IR-1 centrifuges installed in 30 cascades, which remain in the configurations in the operating units at the time the JCPOA was agreed (para. 27). Iran has withdrawn 124 IR-1 centrifuges from those held in storage14 for the replacement of damaged or failed IR-1 centrifuges installed at FEP (para. 29.1).
10. Iran has continued the enrichment of UF6 at FEP. Iran has not enriched uranium above 3.67% U-235 (para. 28).
11. As previously reported, the Agency, in its letter of 23 August 2016,16 requested Iran to reassess the quantity of enriched uranium in the process lines (hold up) at the Enriched UO2 Powder Plant(EUPP) at Esfahan and to revise its report accordingly. In a letter dated 19 February 2017, Iran provided a report to the Agency containing a revised estimate of this quantity. The revised estimate of 99.9 kg of enriched uranium is consistent with the Agency's assessment of the hold up. On 31 January 2017, following the decision of the Joint Commission of 10 January 2017,17 Iran started feeding depleted uranium through the process lines at EUPP, under Agency verification and monitoring. The estimated amount of enriched uranium in the EUPP equipment and the output material do not count against Iran's enriched uranium stockpile.
12. Throughout the reporting period, Iran's total enriched uranium stockpile has not exceeded 300 kg of UF6 enriched up to 3.67% U-235 (or the equivalent in different chemical forms) (para. 56). The quantity of 300 kg of UF6 corresponds to 202.8 kg of uranium.
13. As of 18 February 2017, the quantity of Iran's uranium enriched up to 3.67% U-235 was 101.7 kg, based on the JCPOA and decisions of the Joint Commission.
14. At the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP), 1044 IR-1 centrifuges have been maintained in one wing (Unit 2) of the facility (para. 46), of which 1042 IR-1 centrifuges have remained installed in six cascades and two IR-1 centrifuges have remained installed separately for the purpose of conducting "initial research and R&D activities related to stable isotope production". Throughout the reporting period, Iran has not conducted any uranium enrichment or related research and development(R&D) activities, and there has not been any nuclear material at the plant (para. 45).
15. As previously stated, on 16 January 2017, the Director General confirmed that on15 January 2017 the Agency verified that Iran had taken the actions specified in para. 15.12 of Annex V of the JCPOA. The actions taken by Iran were: Removal of cascade electrical cabling, individual cascade control cabinets and vacuum pumps from two cascades in one wing of FFEP (Unit 2); and storage of all these excess centrifuges and infrastructure in Hall B of FEP at Natanz under Agency continuous monitoring (para. 47.2); and removal of cascade electrical cabling, individual cascade control cabinets, vacuum pumps and centrifuge mounting blocks from the other wing of FFEP (Unit 1); and storage of all these excess centrifuges and infrastructure in Hall B of FEP at Natanz under Agency continuous monitoring (para. 48.2).
16. All centrifuges and associated infrastructure in storage have remained under continuous Agency monitoring (paras 29, 47, 48 and 70). The Agency has continued to have regular access to relevant buildings at Natanz, including all of FEP and the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), and performed daily access upon Agency request (para. 71).
17. Iran has conducted its enrichment activities in line with its long-term enrichment and R&D enrichment plan, as provided to the Agency on 16 January 2016 (para. 52).
18. On 4 February 2017, the Agency verified the receipt in Iran from another State of the first increment of 5 kg of U3O8 enriched up to 20% U-235 contained in partially fabricated TRR fuel plates.
19. Iran has not operated any of its declared facilities for the purpose of re-converting fuel plates or scrap into UF6, nor has it informed the Agency that it has built any new facilities for such a purpose (para. 58).
C.3. Centrifuge research & development, manufacturing and inventory
20. On 21 January 2017, Iran, under Agency verification and monitoring, began feeding natural UF6 into a single IR-8 centrifuge for the first time (para. 38). No enriched uranium has been accumulated through enrichment R&D activities, and Iran's enrichment R&D with and without uranium has been conducted using centrifuges within the limits defined in the JCPOA (paras 3242).
21. Iran has provided declarations to the Agency of its production and inventory of centrifuge rotor tubes and bellows and permitted the Agency to verify the items in the inventory (para. 80.1). The Agency has conducted continuous monitoring, including through the use of containment and surveillance measures, and verified that the declared equipment has been used for the production of rotor tubes and bellows to manufacture centrifuges only for the activities specified in the JCPOA (para. 80.2). Iran has not produced any IR-1 centrifuges to replace those that have been damaged or failed (para. 62).
22. All declared rotor tubes, bellows and rotor assemblies have been under continuous monitoring by the Agency, including those rotor tubes and bellows manufactured since Implementation Day(para. 70). Iran has manufactured rotor tubes using carbon fibre that has been sampled and tested by the Agency, all of which has been subject to Agency containment and surveillance measures.
D. Transparency Measures
23. Iran has continued to permit the Agency to use on-line enrichment monitors and electronic seals which communicate their status within nuclear sites to Agency inspectors, and to facilitate the automated collection of Agency measurement recordings registered by installed measurement devices(para. 67.1). Iran has issued long-term visas to Agency inspectors designated for Iran as requested by the Agency, provided proper working space for the Agency at nuclear sites and facilitated the use of working space at locations near nuclear sites in Iran (para. 67.2). Iran has accepted additional Agency inspectors designated for Iran (para. 67.3).
24. Iran has continued to permit the Agency to monitor - through measures agreed with Iran, including containment and surveillance measures - that all uranium ore concentrate (UOC) produced in Iran or obtained from any other source is transferred to the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) at Esfahan (para. 68). On 8 February 2017, the Agency verified the receipt in Iran of 125.4 metric tones of natural uranium in the form of UOC, which was then transferred to UCF. Iran also provided the Agency with all information necessary to enable the Agency to verify the production of UOC and the inventory of UOC produced in Iran or obtained from any other source (para. 69).
E. Other Relevant Information
25. Iran continues to provisionally apply the Additional Protocol to its Safeguards Agreement in accordance with Article 17(b) of the Additional Protocol, pending its entry into force. The Agency has continued to evaluate Iran's declarations under the Additional Protocol and to conduct complementary accesses under the Additional Protocol to sites and other locations in Iran.
26. During this reporting period, the Agency has attended one meeting of the Procurement Working Group of the Joint Commission (JCPOA, Annex IV Joint Commission, para. 6.4.6).
F. Summary
27. The Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material at the nuclear facilities and locations outside facilities where nuclear material is customarily used (LOFs) declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement. Evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities for Iran remained ongoing.
28. Since Implementation Day, the Agency has been verifying and monitoring the implementation by Iran of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA.
29. The Director General will continue to report as appropriate.
9191**1771
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Iran's missile might for deterrence: IRGC
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 6:18PM
A commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the Islamic Republic's missile capabilities are aimed at increasing the country's deterrent power.
"We are confident that Iran's missile power has a deterrent effect and if enemies of the [Islamic] Revolution carry out an act of stupidity, the Iranian nation will slap in their face," the IRGC spokesman, Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif, said on Saturday.
He added that Iran would continue to boost its missile power with wisdom.
He emphasized that the country's missile program has nothing to do with the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries.
The IRGC commander said Iran's power had prompted the enemy to hold nuclear negotiations with Tehran.
The United States claims that Iran's recent missile test violated United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the JCPOA.
Resolution 2231 calls on Iran not to undertake any activity related to missiles "designed to be capable of" delivering nuclear weapons.
Iran says it is not involved in any such missile work and has no such warheads.
Sharif further said the enemy is currently in its "weakest" position and is unable to solve many conflicts in the region, including the existing woes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Syria.
The IRGC has been successfully advising Iraqi and Syrian militaries in their operations against the Daesh terrorist group and other such outfits.
However, the administration of US President Donald Trump has been reportedly considering designating the IRGC as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization." The proposal was later stalled following warnings from US defense and intelligence officials against its adverse consequences.
The US has already imposed sanctions on some Iranian individuals and entities that it claims to be linked to the IRGC.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday praised the IRGC for providing the highest support to regional countries in their anti-terror fights.
"The entire world admits that the IRGC has rendered the utmost support to [Iran's] neighboring countries in the face of terrorism," Zarif said.
He pointed to the US efforts to impose sanctions on the IRGC and said such attempts have never benefited Washington.
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Trump proposal for listing Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps a 'terrorist group' in limbo: Report
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 2:16PM
A proposal by the administration of US President Donald Trump to designate Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps a "terrorist organization" has reportedly stalled over warnings from US defense and intelligence officials that the move could "backfire."
The proposal was temporarily halted amid an internal debate arguing that the measure could undermine the fight against the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group and complicate the enforcement of Iran's nuclear deal, Reuters reported Friday, citing US and European officials familiar with the matter.
A possible US presidential order to label the IRGC a terror organization would also draw opposition from key US allies in Europe and torpedo any US-Iran diplomatic prospects, the unnamed sources said.
"That move could potentially backfire," one of the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "If you do that, there is no way to escalate, and you would foreclose any possibility of talking to the Iranians about anything."
The proposal has been in the works for weeks, and was expected to be announced this month. But it is unclear when or even if an announcement might be forthcoming, according to the report.
A European security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his American counterparts told him the order is currently on hold.
The White House has so far refused to comment on the issue.
A decision on the matter was complicated by the resignation of Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn on February 13. Flynn was one of the Trump administration's leading Iran hawks.
But even before Flynn's departure, officials from the US Defense Department as well as American and foreign intelligence agencies had warned about listing the IRGC a terrorist group.
The US has already imposed sanctions on some Iranian individuals and entities that it claims to be linked to the IRGC.
The IRGC has been successfully advising Iraqi and Syrian militaries in their operations against Daesh and other terrorist groups.
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Iran plans to buy 950 tonnes of yellowcake from Kazakhstan: Salehi
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 2:45PM
Iran's nuclear chief says the Islamic Republic has requested to buy 950 tonnes of concentrated uranium, also known as yellowcake, from Kazakhstan over the next three years.
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi told ISNA on Saturday that the request has been made to the joint commission tasked with monitoring the implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the P5+1 group of countries, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
"This agreement will be implemented within three years and some 650 tonnes will enter the country directly in two consignments over two years," he added.
The AEOI chief said the remaining 300 tonnes, which would enter Iran in the third year, would be turned into uranium hexafluoride (UF6) and sold back to Kazakhstan.
He said that five members of the P5+1 group have given their written approval, adding that the Islamic Republic was waiting for final answer from the UK.
Salehi also said that Iran has made requests to buy yellowcake from different countries and noted that the last batch of some 149 tonnes of yellowcake that Iran had bought from Russia entered the country two weeks ago.
That brought Iran's yellowcake reserves imported to the country over the past year to 382 tonnes, he explained.
Asghar Zare'an, special assistant to the AEOI head, said on February 7 that Iran had received the final consignment of a 149-tonne shipment of uranium from Russia as part of the JCPOA.
Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China - plus Germany signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.
Under the nuclear agreement, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.
The deal does not set limits on Iran's supplies of uranium ore.
In its latest quarterly report on Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) once again confirmed that Iran has lived up to its commitments under the landmark nuclear agreement.
The AEOI said on January 28 that Iran had started injecting UF6 into IR-8 centrifuge machines in an important phase of the country's research and development plans.
Iran has successfully conducted all mechanical tests of the machines over the past three years, the AEOI said, adding that the IR-8 machines have the capacity to enrich uranium some 20 times faster than the IR-1 ones.
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World knows Iran's IRGC helping fight terror: Foreign Minister Zarif
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:4AM
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has praised Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) for providing the highest support to regional countries in their anti-terror fights.
"The entire world admits that the IRGC has rendered the utmost support to [Iran's] neighboring countries in the face of terrorism," Zarif said on Saturday on the sidelines of a ceremony held to pay tribute to the Foreign Ministry's martyred officials.
He pointed to the United States' efforts to impose sanctions on the Corps and said such attempts have never benefited Washington.
The IRGC has been successfully advising Iraqi and Syrian militaries in their operations against the Daesh terrorist group and other such outfits.
However, the administration of US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering designating the IRGC as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization." Senior security officials in the US administration, however, have warned against such a designation, drawing attention to its adverse consequences.
The US has already imposed sanctions on some Iranian individuals and entities that it claims to be linked to the IRGC.
Zarif emphasized that all countries in the region had to cooperate to fight terrorism and that fanning the flames of sectarianism benefited no one.
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Iran nuclear deal great feat: President Rouhani
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 10:21AM
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has hailed a nuclear deal between Iran and six other countries as "a great feat," which changed a global atmosphere of hostility toward the Islamic Republic to one of cooperation with the country.
President Rouhani made the remarks at a Saturday conference bringing together personnel responsible for executive work in Iran's 12th presidential election, which is due in May 2017.
The nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), removed a series of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions that had been imposed on Iran under Chapter VII of the UN's Charter.
Rouhani said the JCPOA saw the nullification of those resolutions for a first time in the political history of the world without recourse to war or regime change.
"There has been no country whatsoever whose affairs have been taken up under the UN Charter's Chapter VII... unless they (UNSC members) either toppled that establishment or imposed war on it; say it if you know of one such country," the Iranian president said.
He said Iran had the resolutions lifted by the very countries that had imposed them.
As a result of the accord, Iran has been using IR-8 centrifuges, which have a productivity 20 times higher than the centrifuges used earlier, Rouhani said.
Iran has also been able to engage in global commerce in the field of nuclear technology, he said, adding that the Islamic Republic has sold heavy water, a nuclear byproduct, to the United States and Russia, two permanent members of the UNSC.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president said the JCPOA was a "win-win" outcome for all the parties involved.
Iran negotiated the deal with the US, Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany for some 22 months before it was finalized on July 14, 2015. The agreement took effect on January 16, 2016.
Under the accord, limits were put on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for, inter alia, the removal of all nuclear-related sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The UNSC later unanimously endorsed a resolution that effectively turned the JCPOA into international law.
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Russia, Iran Agree on Joint Production of Nuclear Fuel
Sputnik News
13:01 25.02.2017(updated 13:32 25.02.2017)
Russia and Iran have agreed a roadmap for joint production of nuclear fuel, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) said Saturday in an interview with a local news agency.
MOSCOW, February 25 (Sputnik) It took the countries over two years to work out the agreement, Salehi added.
"Joint fuel production by Russia and Iran was one of the most useful topics that had been discussed during nuclear talks [with Moscow] and eventually finalized. We said we needed Russia's assistance in this sphere," Salehi told ISNA.
The roadmap for cooperation was drafted by AEOI deputy chief Behrouz Kamalvandi during his visit to Moscow last January.
Moreover, Iran wants to buy 950 tonnes of concentrated uranium ore, known as yellow cake, from Kazakhstan in the next three years, Salehi said.
"Near[ly] 650 tons of the yellow cake shipment will arrive in Tehran directly in two batches of shipment during two years. The remaining 300 tons of this shipment will arrive in Tehran over the third year," Salehi said in an interview with ISNA.
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran added that concentrate from the last shipment would be converted to URANIUM hexafluoride, a type of gas used to enrich uranium, and sold back to Kazakhstan.
The request is being reviewed by a committee that oversees the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The deal was agreed by Tehran and six world powers in July 2015 and saw Iran scale down its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Sputnik
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Saudi foreign minister makes rare visit to Iraq amid frosty ties
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 3:46PM
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has made a rare visit to Baghdad as the first by a high-ranking Saudi official since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi received Jubeir and his delegation on Saturday, a statement from Abadi's office said.
The two sides "discussed cooperation in various fields, including the fight against the Daesh gangs," the statement added.
It added that Jubeir "congratulated Iraq on the victories achieved against Daesh and pledged Saudi Arabia's support to Iraq in fighting terrorism."
Jubeir also met with his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
Jaafari has been considered an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia and has issued several strongly-worded statements against the kingdom over what he called Riyadh's "unacceptable interference" in Iraq.
Saudi Arabia is accused of nurturing extremist groups, including Daesh, with material and ideological support. The Daesh terrorist group's hallmark line of thought, namely Wahhabism, is Saudi Arabia's official ideology. Wahhabism is a strand of radical ideology.
Saudi plans to appoint new ambassador to Iraq
Meanwhile, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry official said that Jubeir told Iraqi officials that the kingdom planned to appoint a new ambassador to Baghdad.
In January 2016, Thamer al-Sabhan became the first Saudi Ambassador to Baghdad in a quarter of a century, after the two countries severed ties following former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
In August 2016, senior Iraqi officials requested Riyadh to replace Sabhan. Pro-Riyadh news outlets had earlier alleged that fighters from Popular Mobilization Units, an Iraqi force comprising anti-terror volunteer fighters, had devised plots to murder the Saudi envoy. Back at the time, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry dismissed the reports, saying such claims were only meant to damage relations between Baghdad and Riyadh.
Sabhan had on occasions received warnings from Iraqi officials for interference in the country's internal affairs. In June, Abadi himself strongly advised Sabhan to remain committed to his diplomatic duties only and to avoid meddling in Iraq's domestic affairs.
Riyadh withdrew the ambassador, but instead of naming a new ambassador, Saudi Arabia seconded Abdulaziz al-Shammari as charge d'affaires at its diplomatic mission in the Iraqi capital, in what was regarded as a unilateral downgrading of diplomatic ties with Iraq.
In October, Iraqi Foreign Ministry said a Saudi individual had hacked its website, putting offensive, sectarian-charged content on it.
The cyberattack came only a day after the ministry reacted harshly to earlier remarks by Jubeir, who had said in the run-up to the Mosul offensive that Baghdad should not enlist the Popular Mobilization forces in its push to liberate the northern city from Daesh.
The fighters have proven a pivotal force in extricating the country from the clutches of the terrorists, who have been ravaging it since 2014.
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Iraqi Forces Face Stiff Resistance as Mosul Push Continues
By VOA News February 25, 2017
Iraqi military officials say U.S.-backed forces are facing stiffer resistance as soldiers push deeper into the western half of Mosul, the last stronghold of the Islamic State group in Iraq.
Lieutenant Colonel Abdulamir al-Mohammadawi told the French news agency several elite units that previously recaptured Mosul airport were moving north toward the center of the city, where they planned to retake the Turkish consulate and other government buildings.
He said the troops are facing increasingly heavy resistance as they move further into the IS-held part of the city.
"Daesh [Islamic State] is using houses full of residents as human shields," al-Mohammadawi told AFP.
The jihadists also have started lighting fires in the streets to disguise their positions and stretched fabric over Mosul's narrow streets to prevent aerial surveillance.
The Iraqi Kurdish news channel reported Saturday morning that one of its war correspondents had been killed covering the fighting in Mosul.
"Prominent Rudaw war reporter and journalist Shifa Gardi has been killed in Mosul as she covered clashes," the French news agency reported Saturday on social media.
Retaking the airport
The advances come one day after counterterrorism 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 they 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 roughly in half by the river.
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.
Slow advance
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.
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 Persian's 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," he noted.
Damascus and Moscow have denied targeting civilians in Aleppo.
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.
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 VOA's Persian Service contributed to this report.
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Pakistan, Afghanistan to Hold Counterterror Talks
By Ayaz Gul February 25, 2017
Pakistan disclosed Saturday that it is engaged in negotiations with Afghanistan on developing a joint "mechanism" to address mutual cross-border terrorism concerns, and both sides could formalize a deal next week.
Sartaj Aziz, the prime minister's adviser on foreign policy, told reporters in Islamabad that he will hold further talks on the subject when he meets with Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani on the sidelines of a regional summit opening in Islamabad on Sunday.
He said that Rabbani has confirmed his participation in the 10-nation Economic Cooperation Organization, or ECO, along with other senior Afghan officials.
Aziz went on to say that both sides see terrorism as a "common enemy" and have agreed that there is a need for cooperation.
"For this purpose, we are holding discussions on developing a mechanism at various levels such as ground level, higher military level, intelligence level, political level, foreign office level. We [Pakistan] have already sent them our proposals and if they [Afghanistan] agree to it, I am hopeful it [the agreement] will be formalized during the [ECO] summit," the adviser said.
Mutual accusations
Bilateral relations have plunged to new lows in recent months with Islamabad and Kabul accusing each other of harboring anti-state militant groups and sponsoring terrorist attacks on their respective soils.
Pakistan and Afghanistan share a 2,600 kilometer, largely porous border.
Tensions worsened this month when Pakistani leaders blamed militants sheltering on the Afghan side for a series of suicide bombings and other attacks across the country that killed scores of people.
The military also handed over a list of 76 militant leaders to the Afghan government following the bloodshed and demanded swift action against them and their extradition to Pakistan.
Kabul rejected the charges and instead provided Islamabad with its own list of 85 militant leaders as well as 32 terrorist training centers that the Afghan government alleged are based in Pakistan and plotting violence against Afghanistan.
The Afghan Foreign Ministry, while responding to a Pakistani list of suspected fugitive terrorists, has said that it was ready to look into it and expected Islamabad to also go after militants wanted by Kabul.
Pakistan has also sealed all its border crossings with Afghanistan since the wave of terrorist attacks hit the country two weeks ago. Foreign policy adviser Aziz, while speaking on Saturday, expressed hope the border would be reopened soon.
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S Korea to Get Tough on North's Biochemical Weapons in Talks With US, Japan
Sputnik News
11:24 25.02.2017(updated 11:30 25.02.2017)
South Korea will take a hard line on North Korea for illegally storing biological and chemical weapons, at the upcoming talks with the United States and Japan, South Korean officials told local media Saturday after a highly toxic liquid was confirmed to have killed the half-brother of the North Korean leader.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) Malaysian police said Friday that a nerve agent called VX had been used to kill Kim Jong Nam, known to disapprove Kim Jong Un's policies, raising suspicion of Pyongyang's involvement.
"The government will bring up the issue of North Korea's biochemical weapons programs when top nuclear envoys from South Korea, the United States and Japan meet in Washington on Monday, as well as during various multilateral talks," a Korean official told the Yonhap news agency.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry voiced its dismay on Friday over the use of what it described as a UN-banned chemical weapon in the suspected assassination. Seoul said this was a blatant violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Malaysia has been investigating the case alone after it rejected assistance from North Korea, which also demanded for the body of the deceased 45-year-old to be handed over to it. No evidence has been revealed that would prove Pyongyang's role in his death.
Sputnik
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Russia Upgrading Nuclear Forces to Reach Cap Allowed by New START Treaty
Sputnik News
15:02 25.02.2017(updated 15:04 25.02.2017)
Russia is now upgrading its nuclear arsenal to the number allowed by the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), according to Franz Klintsevich, first deputy chairman of Russia's Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security.
The treaty was signed between Russia and the United States in 2010 and came into effect in 2011. The document limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear carriers to 700 and the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550.
"I'd like to note that according to the treaty there is a limit of 1,550 nuclear warheads for each of the sides. While the US surpasses this limit Russia still falls behind. I guess it is no secret that currently Russia is adjusting its nuclear arsenal to reach those limits," Klintsevich told Sputnik.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump called the New START treaty a "one-sided deal" and vowed to ramp up US nuclear capabilities.
"Just another bad deal that the country made, whether it's START, whether it's the Iran dealwe're going to start making good deals," Trump told Reuters.
Dmitry Novikov, deputy chairman of the Russian parliamentary foreign affairs committee, argued that such statements indicate that President Trump yields to pressure from the US establishment.
According to the lawmaker, those holding the key position in the Trump administration are "ready to adhere to the same foreign policy of the Obama administration."
"Relations between Moscow and Washington will depend on whether Trump will yield or not to pressure from the establishment. Thus far, taking his statements into account, he is yielding to this pressure," Novikov told Sputnik.
He added that Trump never promised to cut military spending in the US and in this context "there should be no illusion about a dramatic change in the US foreign policy agenda."
In 1972, the Soviet Union and the United States signed Strategic Arms Limitation Talks Agreement, or SALT I, which capped the number of ballistic missiles at the existing level.
Both Russia and the United States are also parties to the international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, whose aim is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and relevant technology.
Sputnik
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Homs attacks aim to spoil Syria peace talks: UN envoy
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 7:7PM
The UN special envoy for Syria has warned that the latest deadly attacks in Homs are aimed at sabotaging the ongoing Geneva peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition.
"Every time we are having talks or negotiations there is always someone who tries to spoil. We were expecting that," Staffan de Mistura said on Saturday.
On Saturday, simultaneous bombings targeted separate areas across the western city of Homs, which is largely under government control, claiming the lives of 42 people.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said described the attacks as double bombings hitting "the headquarters of state security and military intelligence in two central districts."
The Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, claimed responsibility for the Saturday attacks.
Syria vows retaliation
Meanwhile, Syria's ambassador to the UN has underscored Damascus' resolve to "retaliate" against the sponsors of terrorists following the Saturday deadly attacks in Homs.
"The terrorist attacks that targeted Homs today were a clear message from the sponsors of terrorism to Geneva," Bashar al-Ja'afari told reporters at the UN office in Geneva on Saturday.
"We want to tell them that this message has been received and we will not allow for it to pass without retaliation," he added.
The attacks came as the Syrian government and opposition delegates are meeting in Geneva in UN -mediated talks to find a solution to the Syrian crisis. The talks resumed for the third day on Saturday.
The UN-brokered talks come shortly after the conclusion of the second round of the Syria peace negotiations, facilitated by Russia, Turkey and Iran, in the Kazakh capital of Astana on February 15 and 16. The negotiations, which were held in a closed-door setting, sought to pave the way for the negotiations in Geneva.
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Russia to veto US resolution on chemicals in Syria
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 25, 2017 7:26AM
Russia says it will veto a UN Security Council resolution drafted by the US, Britain and France to impose sanctions on Syria over allegations of chemical weapons use.
"I just explained our position very clearly to our partners. If it is tabled we will veto it," Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said on Friday following a closed-door council session.
He further rejected the proposed measure as "one-sided," saying it is based on "insufficient proof" and contradicts "the fundamental principle of presumption of innocence until the investigation is over."
The US, France and Britain are pressing to put their proposed resolution to a vote early next week in order impose sanctions on Syrian authorities accused of using chemical weapons.
The Syrian government, however, has repeatedly and fiercely denied using chemical weapons in the foreign-imposed conflict that has so far killed 310,000 people since March 2011.
The draft resolution follows a UN-led probe that accused the Syrian military in October of carrying out at least three chlorine gas attacks on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin in 2014 and 2015.
The joint panel of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) further concluded that Daesh terrorists had used mustard gas in an attack in 2015.
The proposed measure would slap a global travel ban and assets freeze on 11 Syrians, mostly military officials, as well as 10 entities allegedly linked to chemical weapons development.
It would further prohibit the sale, supply or transfer of helicopters and related materiel, including spare parts, to the Syrian government and its armed forces.
The US and its allies have repeatedly used chemical weapons as a pretext to pressure the Syrian government. Damascus volunteered to destroy its chemical stockpile in 2014 following a poisonous attack outside the capital.
The allegations of chemical arms use are still made against Syria even as the dismantling of the country's entire stockpile of chemical weapons as well as relevant production facilities was supervised by the UN.
Foreign-backed militants have repeatedly used chemical weapons against Syrian troops, some of which have been verified by UN officials, but the attacks have often been ignored by Western governments.
In December 2015, a cousin of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi said that chemical weapons used in Ghouta which were blamed on the Syrian government were in fact stolen from Libya and later smuggled into Syria via Turkey.
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Syria Government Demands Opposition Condemns Homs Attack
February 25, 2017
The Syrian government's chief negotiator, Bashar Jaafari, demanded on February 25 that opposition representatives at peace talks in Geneva condemn a suicide attack on security forces in Homs which left dozens dead, saying that otherwise Damascus would consider them terrorists.
"Today, the test is that we expect that the [opposition] platforms [in Geneva] condemn this terrorist attack," Jaafari told reporters after a meeting with UN mediator Staffan de Mistura.
"If anyone refuses to condemn this terrorist attack then he is an accomplice of terrorism and we will deal with them accordingly."
Jaafari added that talks with de Mistura had focused solely on combating terrorism.
De Mistura said before the meeting that the attack aimed to "spoil" the peace peace talks. De Mistura was preparing more separate meetings with Syrian government and opposition negotiators.
Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, known before as the Al-Nusra Front, claimed the attacks on security headquarters in Homs which targeted and killed General Hassan Daabul, a close associate of President Bashar al-Assad.
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 42 people were killed, but provincial Governor Talal Barazi put the toll at 32 people dead and 24 wounded.
Senior opposition delegates in Geneva said that they condemn terrorism but hinted that the Homs attack may have been orchestrated by the Syrian government itself.
Nasr al-Hariri, chief of the main opposition negotiating delegation, condemned terrorism in general, but said the Syrian government in Damascus was the primary "sponsor of terrorism."
Faleh Hassun, another member of the delegation, said only those with security clearance could access such an area.
"What really happened today we can call it liquidation by the regime of those who are wanted by international courts," Hassun told the media.
He said General Daabul was accused in the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the Lebanese premier who was killed in 2005. Many suspect Assad's government was behind Hariri's killing.
At the last UN-sponsored talks, the Syrian government's representatives and the rebels did not meet for face-to-face negotiations, with de Mistura shuttling between them as a mediator.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/mistura-homs-attacks -spoil-peace-talks/28332148.html
Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Al-Qaida Affiliate Claims Deadly Suicide Bombings in Homs, Syria
By VOA News February 25, 2017
Twin suicide attacks Saturday in the western Syrian city of Homs killed at least 42 people, including a senior intelligence officer.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several attackers had blown themselves up near the headquarters of both state security and military intelligence.
An al-Qaida affiliate claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying five of its militants had stormed two heavily guarded districts in the center of Homs.
The city has been under full government control for nearly three years.
Bashar al-Ja'afari, a Syrian government negotiator, told reporters he thought the attack was meant to disrupt peace talks underway in Geneva.
"The terrorist explosions that hit Homs city are a message to Geneva from sponsors of terrorism, and we tell everyone that the message is received and this crime won't pass unnoticed," he said.
Peace talks
Ja'afari met Saturday with U.N. envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura in Geneva. De Mistura told reporters before the meeting that he hoped the attacks would not affect the peace process, calling them "spoilers" to peace.
"Every time we are having talks or negotiations, there is always someone who tries to spoil. We were expecting that," he said.
Following the meeting, Ja'afari demanded that opposition group negotiators denounce the attacks as a testament to their commitment to the peace process.
"Any party who refuses to condemn these attacks today, we will consider that party to be an accomplice of terrorism," he said.
On Friday in northern Syria, two suicide car bombings killed at least 65 people, including many civilians, rebel fighters and at least two Turkish soldiers, according to local media and Turkish officials.
The attacks near al-Bab came one day after Turkish forces and their rebel allies took much of the strategic town from Islamic State (IS) fighters.
The first blast Friday struck an opposition security post in the village of Sousian, killing many civilians along with opposition forces and the two Turkish soldiers.
People had gathered at the security office to seek 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 bomb 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.
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Hero of Mollywood's first musical hit 'Thiramala' shares his Hollywood stint, directing Prem Nazir and more
Master Gage & Tool Co. in Danville bid farewell to the president of one of its first vendors at its facility on Maplewood Street on Wednesday morning.
Mitutoyo America President Shigeyuki Sasaki is transferring to Mitutoyo Europe next month, and Master Gage officials presented him a gift honoring him for his years of service, said Melissa Ghaphery, operations and marketing manager at Master Gage.
Matt Dye will take over as president of Mitutoyo America when Sasaki leaves the branch. Mitutoyo will continue to be a vendor for Master Gage.
Master Gage, started in 1986 in the Windsor Heights home of John and Rosalie Mead, distributes dimensional measurement and specialty tooling products at 112 Maplewood St., beneath the water tower on Piney Forest Road.
The company offers mechanical calibration of thread gages, cylindrical gages, measuring tools and miscellaneous gages; customer site calibration; repair services and integrated metrology services.
For example, a customer may send toothpaste caps to the company for measurement and calibration to make sure they are the right size and proper fit for the tubes.
Master Gage buys measurement equipment from Mitutoyo America.
CEO John Mead said Master Gages relationship with Mitutoyo goes back to the family-owned companys earliest days.
[Mitutoyo] is one of our first vendors, Mead said. Our relationship grew very quickly.
Master Gage a registered woman-owned business with Rosalie Mead as the companys president has 31 employees among its locations Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Danvilles location has about 20 employees, Ghaphery said.
The company has more than 3,000 customers and 150 vendors, said Blain Mead, vice president of sales at Master Gage. It started out at the Meads home, and moved to Ballou Park. It has been at its current location on Maplewood Street since 2000.
Master Gage officials presented Sasaki a Bulova desk clock as a gift for his years of service.
Following the gift presentation, Master Gage and Mitutoyo officials went to the Gene Haas Center for Integrated Machining, where Mitutoyo equipment is used in the centers lab for Danville Community College precision machining students.
Sasaki also received a plaque from DCC while at the Haas Center.
Mitutoyo America Corp. was formed in 1963 and is headquartered in Aurora, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, according to the companys website. Mitutoyo America offers a product line of precision measuring tools, instruments and equipment with a distribution network, training and education classes, software development, and service support to provide a comprehensive metrology organization, according to its website.
Mitutoyo Corp. was started in Japan in 1934.
Spectrum Medical is set to open its new offices and begin taking patients at the former Dan River Research Building now River District Tower at Bridge Street on Monday.
Danville Economic Development Director Telly Tucker said the relocation should increase patronage of downtown businesses.
It can be exposure for businesses people have not seen, Tucker said.
The new River District Tower and Spectrum Medical is exactly the type of project we in economic development would like to continue to see, he added. Its what city officials expected when they embarked on the River District plan, Tucker said.
Orthopedics, pain management, spinal surgery, rheumatology, physical therapy and clinical research facilities will be under one roof instead of spread out in offices on Executive and Memorial drives Spectrums previous locations.
The new facility will include more than 85 employees, said Spectrum Medical Human Resources Manager Cress Gillie.
River District Development LLC with Dr. Mark Hermann of Spectrum Medical as president handled the transformation of the historic building.
Also, Danville Regional Medical Center will move its Family Residency Medical Clinic to the building in April, said LeAnne Roller, DRMC director of physician relations and industry. The clinic is currently located across from the hospital.
DRMCs Piedmont Surgery Clinic on Executive Drive will also follow in April, shortly after the relocation of the Family Residency Medical Clinic, Roller said.
The hospitals School of Radiologic Technology will be the last to move into the River District Tower, she said.
DRMC will occupy about 24,000 square feet of space on the second floor and will have about 75 associates including employees, physicians and students, Roller said.
The moves are an opportunity to better serve the community, Roller said. Volume has increased in the two clinics.
We anticipate more growth in both clinics, Roller said.
The majority of Spectrums employees will park in the 400-space Newtons Landing parking lot below Bridge Street, Tucker said. Parking also will be available in the 160-space parking deck the old Acrees Warehouse building at 312 Bridge St., Tucker said.
City officials expect congestion, but not an unreasonable volume of traffic, Tucker said.
Any potential detriment will be offset by the gain in patronage of downtown businesses, Tucker said.
The River District was once the heartbeat of the city and River District Tower will help make it a vibrant business district for Danville, he said.
Developments like River District Tower are why Newtons Landing a former industrial dumping ground was developed, Tucker said. Newtons Landing became a parking lot in 2008.
Work on River District Tower and Spectrum Medical continued Friday.
We will be working diligently over the weekend to get it [Spectrum Medical] ready, Gillie said.
It will be all hands on deck for the weekend, Gillie added.
Were excited about the move, she said. Everythings brand new brand new equipment, brand new technology.
Spectrum Medical will be operating at reduced volume for the next couple of weeks during the transition to the new facility, Gillie said.
Were working on a reduced schedule to work out all the kinks and make sure everything is running normal, she said.
The office usually sees about 100-150 patients per day, Gillie said.
On the first floor of River District Tower are tenant spaces, including one planned for a pharmacy, and an area to be used by the Danville Historical Society as a small museum space highlighting the citys history. Society member Sonja Ingram said the space will feature exhibits and should be open this year.
The annex on the north side of the building will have restaurant space, with a banquet hall to be called Canal on the first floor.
The first restaurant to open will be Cotton at Riverside Mill on the second floor. It is expected to open in June, with the possibility of a second fine dining restaurant or expansion of Cotton in the future.
Kansas: Injured says gunman asked about visas first
A man injured in the Kansas City shooting has said the alleged gunman asked two of the victims about their visa status before firing.
A 32-year-old Indian engineer was killed in the incident while another Indian was injured.
Witnesses claimed the attack was racially motivated, and the gunman had yelled at the two Indians to get out of his country.
One man, 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla, was killed. Two other men, 32-year-old Alok Madasani and 24-year-old Ian Grillot, were injured.
Madasani told the New York Times on Friday night, Purinton asked us what visa are we currently on and whether we are staying here illegally.
Both men were educated in the US and were working in the country legally.
Madasani told the Times: We didnt react. People do stupid things all the time. This guy took it to the next level.
Madasani said he went to get a manager and by the time he returned to the patio, the man was being escorted out.
Some people have likened the bail system to debtors prison.
Those who can afford to pay bail go free. Those who cant sit in jail, sometimes for months, awaiting trial for a crime they may not have committed.
As the movement for criminal justice reform gathers strength across the nation, a growing number of cities and states are grappling with how the bail system disadvantages the poor.
Your liberty is taken away from you, not because of your culpability or the actions you committed, but merely because you are too poor, said Greensboro City Councilman Justin Outling, who is also an attorney. That shocks my conscience.
As a fiscal conservative, Outling also recognizes that booking and jailing people for misdemeanor crimes uses police time and resources that could be better used fighting serious crime.
Outling and Councilwoman Yvonne Johnson are working on a cite and release proposal to present to the council and the Greensboro Police Department that would encourage officers to release people charged with misdemeanor offenses on a promise to appear instead of taking them to the magistrates office, where charges are recorded and bail set.
Do these people need to be put away? Outling asks. How fair is it treating people differently based on their income or means?
When Outling and Johnson began looking at local data on arrests and detention, they learned that Greensboro police officers already use discretion in deciding whether to release someone on their own recognizance or take them downtown to central booking.
Philosophically, were in the same place, Greensboro Police Chief Wayne Scott said.
He said that use of discretion in handling misdemeanor charges is part of a larger move toward procedural justice that the department has been pursuing on several fronts.
I was pleased by the data I received, because I understand that is certainly not the case in some cities, Outling said.
Cite-and-release only would apply to misdemeanors and only if the person doesnt pose a flight or threat risk. If that person had a history of failure-to-appear charges or multiple infractions were involved, he or she still might be taken downtown for booking.
Police are still enforcing the law, and people still have to face the consequences in court, Outling said.
The difference is that fewer people would sit in the Guilford County Detention Center awaiting their court date simply because they couldnt afford to make bail.
At any given time, 85 to 90 percent of the jail population consists of people awaiting trial, said Major C. J. Williamson, who oversees the court services bureau of the Guilford County Sheriffs Department. The average length of stay in the jail is 16 days, but that includes people who are released within an hour and those who may be there four years awaiting trial.
Only inmates awaiting trial for murder or other serious charges would be incarcerated that long, Williamson said. Generally, the only people arrested for low-level offenses that end up staying in jail are those with multiple say five or more violations for failure to appear.
The courts and the magistrates do a good job of diverting them, Williamson said.
Those with underlying problems, such as drugs or mental-health issues, can be sent to treatment programs. Magistrates also can release people on a promise to appear.
Williamson and his staff are keenly aware that some people can end up in jail solely because they cant pay the bond.
Weve really become cognizant of that over the last 10 years, Williamson said. Recently, we went through the files to see who could appeal for release and only found five.
After a bond appeal, one of those individuals was allowed to sign himself out on a promise to appear.
Ive read stories about places where they do confine low-level offenders, Williamson said. If you dont have $100 for bail, you lose a lot more. If you cant get out, you take the risk of losing a job, and that starts a whole domino effect.
In Cook County, Ill., where the sheriff says a majority of those awaiting trial are there because they cant afford bail, a lawsuit claims the bond system violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. Similar suits have been filed in San Francisco, Sacramento, Calif., and the state of Hawaii.
Reforming the bond system also would save time and money.
If you kept every person charged, you wouldnt have room to hold them, Williamson said. The cost of housing a single inmate at the Guilford County Detention Center is $75 per day.
It takes at least 30 minutes out an officers shift to take someone downtown for booking, time that might be better spent responding to an emergency or apprehending serious criminals, Outling said.
Outling said he sees an opportunity to provide clarity and guidance, making sure officers know they have the discretion to cite and release, and to ensure consistency in how discretion is applied.
He said he isnt sure whether a resolution from council or a policy from within the police department ultimately will emerge, but he said both the chief and his fellow council members have been receptive to this idea.
I think this is a situation where were doing it better than almost everybody else, but we can still make a giant leap forward in terms of using our limited city resources efficiently and providing a more fair and just outcome for members of our community, Outling said.
Wisconsin abolished commercial bail bonds in 1979. Under New Jerseys Bail Reform and Speedy Trial Act, which went into effect in January, only flight risk and threat to the public are used when deciding whether to release a defendant charged with any crime. Maryland, Texas and California are considering bail-reform legislation.
In some cases, the efforts in those states started with cities and counties.
In North Carolina, Mecklenberg County saw a 20 percent drop in its jail population without an increase in crime after it implemented a pretrial risk assessment tool developed by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.
Greensboro should also be a leader in moving North Carolina toward a more fair and equitable system of justice.
PASADENA, Calif. When Mary-Louise Parker came to what is now UNC School of the Arts, she found it to be an eye-opening experience.
It was the first time Id ever studied acting, so you know, it was the beginning of everything, Parker said. Everything was new, and it was also my college experience. It was amazing. It was the first time I was around people like me who liked the same things I liked, and it was the first time I didnt feel like an outsider.
Parker said UNCSA was the only college she applied to.
I had an application for the American College in Paris, but I never finished filling it out, she said.
She graduated from the universitys School of Drama in 1986 and has gone on to a thriving career in screen, stage and television, including her popular lead role in the comedy-drama Weeds and her Emmy Award-winning role in Angels in America.
Parker remains close with her classmates from her school days.
All of those friendships that I had I have to this day, and my class from that school and I are incredibly connected, she said. Its the sweetest sort of bond that Ive had.
She also stays connected with the school, having visited last year with Peter Hedges, a fellow alum, to talk with students.
I talked to every grade, and I did a reading from my book (Dear Mr. You, a memoir published in 2015), she said. It was great. It was really, really fun.
She is a mentor to Lucas Hedges, Peters son, who is up for an Oscar tonight in the supporting actor category for his role in Manchester By the Sea.
This week, she will appear in ABCs When We Rise, an eight-hour miniseries about the gay-rights movement.
The miniseries is set across several decades, with Parker playing activist Roma Guy in the second half; Emily Skeggs plays Roma in her younger years. Guy Pearce, Michael K. Williams and Rachel Griffiths also star.
The first two-hour installment will start at 9 p.m. Monday, with the next three episodes also starting at 9 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Parker said she was drawn to the miniseries because I think that no story is more dramatically interesting than to see someone fight a battle that is seemingly unwinnable.
And though the struggle for equal rights for gays continues, Parker said she is pleased that some progress has been made over the years.
The fact that I have to explain to my children what homophobia is, is a result of the work that these people did, she said.
***
Austin Highsmiths busy month continues. The actress, who is from Winston-Salem, appeared earlier this month in an episode of the television series NCIS and in the short film Tom Clancys Ghost Recon Wildlands: War Within the Cartel, on Amazon Prime Video.
And at 8 tonight, a movie she produced and stars in will air on the Lifetime Movie Network. In Nanny Seduction, which was filmed in Mississippi, Highsmith plays a mother whose new nanny turns out to be fixated with taking her place.
Highsmith said she is excited about the movie, even if its premiere is up against the Academy Awards ceremony.
We air opposite the Oscars, which is a bummer. ... Ive always said I want to work opposite Meryl Streep I just imagined it differently in my mind, she said with a laugh.
The recent blockbuster movie Hidden Figures brought back memories for Greensboros Shirley Foster.
As part of the fledgling AmeriCorps Vista program, Foster and another Greensboro woman were selected for internships at NASAs Cape Kennedy in Florida in 1965.
Their role wasnt as pivotal as Katherine Johnsons contribution to astronaut John Glenns 1962 Friendship 7 launch, depicted in Hidden Figures, but the young women did have a front-row seat to watch the Gemini V launch.
When it was time for the countdown, everyone held his breath, but then the flight was scrubbed for the day, Foster (then Shirley Ballard) told the Greensboro Daily News that summer. On the day of the action, all of us were there to see the astronauts launched.
Foster said shell never forget the morning of Aug. 21, 1965.
I was in awe that I was witnessing the United States continuing its exploration of space, she said. I was one of the few Americans who would ever go inside that room to witness such a history-making event.
She was also one of the few African Americans there.
Except for the one year she attended Page High, Foster lived a segregated life until she was invited to participate in the first class of the AmeriCorps Vista program, a domestic version of the international Peace Corps.
Foster said she remembers recruiters interviewing her in her home when she was 18 and a recent graduate of Dudley High.
The program was very intriguing to me because I wanted to further my education, she said.
The recruiters promised a certification in a trade or vocation or the possibility of college after the completion of the program, as well as a monthly stipend.
I signed a two-year contract that day, Foster said.
Her first assignment was at the Womens Job Corps center in Charleston, W.Va. That August, she and Greensboro resident Marguerite Comer were selected for NASA internships.
Fosters experience with the AmeriCorps was a bigger success than the year she attended the newly integrated Page in 1964, she said.
I believe there were three other blacks that attended Page the academic 1963-1964 year, she said. It was a horrible experience.
The next year, she was back at Dudley. She and her family were also involved in marches to desegregate Greensboro.
We had our clothes packed in one of our childhood suitcases because we knew we were going to be locked up, and sure enough, we were locked up and housed at the Armory on Franklin Boulevard, Foster said.
While she said does not recall ever feeling discriminated against during her AmeriCorps work, Foster did come to realize how segregated her childhood had been.
I had a white roommate from West Virginia who knew very little about blacks, and I knew little about whites, Foster said. I also did not know what I was not privileged to.
She recalled the white students in the program being taken to separate beauty salons in different cities.
Her time in the program also became a time of discovery. She experienced many new things, such as eating in four- and five-star restaurants, staying in the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York and attending a Broadway play.
My experience showed me a vehicle to the American dream, Foster said.
Upon returning to Greensboro in 1967, Foster worked for the AmeriCorps Vista office in Greensboro, as an insurance agent and then at L. Richardson Memorial Hospital, where she had the opportunity to attend N.C. A&T at the age of 28. She received her bachelors degree in business administration in 1981 and a masters degree in public management from the H.J. Heinz School of Urban and Public Policy at Carnegie-Mellon University. She later completed coursework in early childhood development, sociology and nonprofit-organization management.
Her life came full circle in 1990 when she went to work at A&T in its contracts and grants department. She became the accountant and auditor for the NASA initiative through the universitys College of Engineering.
This job afforded me the opportunity to visit other NASA sites, Foster said. I went to Langley in Virginia and Dresden in California, and while at Langley, no one ever mentioned the Hidden Figures or the West Wing where they had worked.
Foster started the non-profit Greensboro Lifeskills Center in 2001, a program she successfully operated until 2010 when she retired.
Now, she travels extensively, works as a substitute teacher for Guilford County Schools and serves on the Say Yes to Education Guilford operating committee.
She also enjoys spending time with her family, reading and baking. For her 70th birthday last month, she invited a group of friends to see Hidden Figures with her.
Foster credits her experience with the AmeriCorps Vista program with broadening her horizons.
It gave me a Yes, I can attitude, she said.
She also is a member of the National Association for Negro Business and Professional Women and has received numerous professional honors, including the North Carolina Governors Excellence Award.
The National Association for Negro Business and Professional Women clearly exists for us to applaud ourselves and never forget the history that has failed to include those Hidden Figures, myself and many other women who have made vast contributions in not only Americas space program but throughout our history, Foster said. It has taken over 50 years for these women, myself and others to become a part of the American legacy.
GREENSBORO With controversies swirling around North Carolinas House Bill 2, a new governors Cabinet appointments and the voter ID law, you would think the General Assembly would have too much on its plate to worry about making big changes to the U.S. Constitution.
But you would be wrong, because there is a fascinating battle of ideas shaping up in the halls of Raleigh that pits conservative Republicans against each other and that goes to the very essence of American governance.
Republicans legislators have submitted four bills that take competing views of whether and how North Carolina should enlist in a nationwide movement to amend the United States most seminal document of federalism through a convention of states, as authorized in Article V.
Such a convention has never been held in the Constitutions 228-year history, but it now ranks as an absolute must to stop Uncle Sam from continuing to morph into Big Brother, said Mike Faulkenberry, the North Carolina state director of the Convention of States advocacy group.
Congress is never going to give up any of its power on its own. Thats not going to happen, said Faulkenberry, a former Charlotte police officer. The states have to do this. ... Its not just time we do this (convention), its past time.
Faulkenberry said he thinks North Carolinas best response is charted by House Joint Resolution 44, now in the early stages of General Assembly review.
Part of a coordinated national effort to weaken Washingtons grip on power, the measure would petition Congress for a convention of states to propose amendments that would put tighter financial controls on the national government, slap term limits on federal office holders and generally clamp down on the power and jurisdiction of the federal government.
Others look aghast at the prospect of fiddling with a document that has served the nation for more than 200 years through war, presidential assassinations and impeachment, civil unrest, sweeping changes in technology and social mores, and booms or busts of every description.
Enter House Joint Resolution 52 to retract every previous, still-active call for a convention of states that the General Assembly has made over the years, a total of at least five that Tar Heel legislators issued between March 1867 and January 1979.
2 centuries of litigation
This rescission bill championed by state Rep. Jonathan Jordan (R-Ashe County) doesnt speak to the other measures seeking new and different conventions, but its preamble suggests that he thinks his fellow legislators would be nuts to crank out any more of them.
There is no need for rather, there is great danger in a new constitution or in opening the Constitution to sweeping changes, the adoption of which would only create chaos in this nation and only begin the process of another two centuries of litigation over its meaning and interpretation, the resolution reads.
Jordan, who sponsored similar legislation unsuccessfully in previous sessions, said that in picking delegates to such a convention North Carolina would be entrusting a handful of men and women with breathtaking amounts of power.
At this day and time, with all the crazy things going on, I cant think of any individual that I would want to give that kind of authority, Jordan said last week.
Two other bills in the General Assemblys hopper this session advocate for a separate convention of states to develop a countermand amendment, which would empower states to repeal and nullify federal actions, such as laws, court rulings and regulatory decisions, upon the vote of at least 30 state legislatures.
The countermand bills also are sponsored by several Republican legislators, including state Sen. Joyce Krawiec of Kernersville, but they did not respond to inquiries from the News & Record.
Changing the law
In Article V, the U.S. Constitution sets out two ways of making changes to this most fundamental of agreements among the states.
Proponents of change can petition Congress to approve their suggested amendment, which, to move forward, then requires votes in favor by two-thirds of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
That doesnt seal the deal but simply sends the wording back to the states for consideration. The proposed amendment can only take effect after votes in favor by three-fourths of the nations state legislatures 38 of 50 in todays world.
Thats the method used to adopt all 27 amendments that have been made to the Constitution since its adoption in 1789.
The path charted by House Joint Resolution 44 and the countermand bills represents the other option, whereby two-thirds of state legislatures nationwide can petition Congress to call a convention of states to consider amendments.
Its essentially a way of bypassing federal office holders to make changes in the basic blueprint of national governance.
Article V gives Congress no wiggle room; it must call a convention once petitioned by two-thirds, or 34, of the states on a particular topic. But the rule book after that is sparse, in fact, the whole article includes just 143 words, and only half of them relate directly or indirectly to the convention.
Every state apparently would get one vote at such a convention. It would take a majority of 26 to approve any amendment proposal that then would go through the usual ratification process requiring approval by the three-fourths margin of 38 states.
202 years in the making
Ratification can be a long process, especially if no time limit for consideration is included in the amendments text.
The most recent change to the Constitution, the 27th Amendment, took more than 200 years to adopt.
That amendment, ratified by the 38th state in 1992, says that members of Congress cant cast votes affecting their current salaries. That prevents any pay raise they approve from taking effect until the beginning of the U.S. Houses next two-year term.
The amendment was first proposed along with the Bill of Rights as one of the Constitutions first amendments in September 1789 and not approved by enough states for 202 years, seven months and 10 days.
North Carolina state legislators voted in favor of the 27th Amendment on Dec. 22, 1789 (back when it had the potential to become the Second Amendment).
In more recent efforts to change the Constitution, 28 states including North Carolina in 1979 have approved petitions calling for a convention of states to require a balanced federal budget.
So the Balanced Budget Amendment needs approval from six more states before possibly becoming the first issue to trigger an Article V convention of states.
In the meantime, this session of North Carolinas General Assembly also will give at least a passing nod to another, so-far unsuccessful proposed change to the Constitution that baby boomers will remember as generating heated debate through much of the 1970s the Equal Rights Amendment.
With womens rights groups pushing to revive the amendment that prohibits gender discrimination, a coalition of Democrats in the N.C. House filed a bill earlier this month to put North Carolina on record in support.
Congress approved the proposal for state consideration of the ERA in 1972, but it set a deadline for ratification that expired 10 years later. North Carolina was among 15 states that never ratified it, an outcome certified in 1982 when the Democrat-controlled N.C. Senate rejected it 27-23.
Room to adapt
Because changes in circumstance and need are constant, governing documents such as the Constitution need a way of changing to meet new challenges, said Ernest Young, a professor at Duke University School of Law in Durham and a leading authority on constitutional law.
The Constitution is going to be amended. Its going to change over time, Young said. No government can afford to remain stagnant over time.
The Constitutions framers included Article V to accommodate change, but they also established the federal courts to play a role interpreting the nations ground rules in the light of new or unanticipated situations, Young added.
So the document has been effectively amended by federal judges over time to encompass such concepts as the Federal Reserve that were not clearly delineated in the original document, he said.
In fact, one of the qualities that has enabled the Constitution to weather the centuries so well is that it leaves a lot unsaid, providing room for adapting to changes of monumental scope, Young said.
The Equal Rights Amendment? Young said its an open question whether adopting it would have much effect these days, given court action in the last few decades to protect gender equity.
Its like having an ERA, and Im not sure what ratifying the ERA could add to it, he said of federal case law as it has evolved in recent decades.
Just sick and tired
But federal judges, or federal officials in general, blazing new trails that arent spelled out in the Constitution is a big part of what riles people like Mooresville resident Faulkenberry of the Convention of States movement.
They see the federal government intruding in overbearing, unwelcome ways into every corner of their lives, said Mark Meckler, the founder of the conservative Citizens for Self-Governance that is behind the convention initiative.
The vast majority of the American public believes that these decisions should be made at the state or local level, said Meckler, a California resident who was an early Tea Party activist. Were just sick and tired of bureaucrats in a far-off city making these decisions.
In the time since Mecklers group first got behind the initiative several years ago to call a convention of states focused on the three topics described in North Carolinas House Joint Resolution 44, eight state legislatures have signed on.
Five other state legislatures are on the brink, Meckler said, pointing to Arizona, Missouri, North Dakota, Texas and Utah.
Four North Carolina legislators filed House Joint Resolution 44 on Feb. 8. Two are from the Piedmont Triad and surrounding area state Reps. Bert Jones (R-Reidsville) and Dennis Riddell (R-Snow Camp).
Jones did not respond to an email from the News & Record last week seeking comment.
Riddell asked the newspaper to put its questions in writing, but he did not respond to the written questions sent in a email Wednesday or to follow-up telephone inquiries Friday.
Locally, state Rep. Jon Hardister (R-Greensboro) said he is inclined to support the bill if it comes to the floor because the convention would only develop proposals that would have to pass muster with 38 state legislatures before becoming the law of the land.
Specifically, I would like to see an amendment that requires the federal government to balance their budget, just like we have to balance our budget in North Carolina, Hardister said.
State Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Greensboro) said her office has been getting a lot of communication from folks around the state on the amendment topic, but not so much from her own constituents.
She has said she is dubious about these initiatives because she is not sure they address real needs and because they come from right of the political center, which makes me nervous.
Uncertain future
The fate of all three bills advocating a convention of states looks uncertain, because they and the measure that Jordan sponsored have created division among conservatives.
Jordans bill, the one that questions the convention of states route, has attracted support from both Democrats and some of the General Assemblys more conservative members, such as state Reps. Larry Pittman (R-Concord) and Michael Speciale (R-New Bern).
At the same time, House Minority Leader Darren Jackson (D-Raleigh) joined Jordan in supporting the bill as a primary sponsor, saying advocates for change should follow the well-worn path of getting congressional approval first.
Its not like these things couldnt be accomplished in the way that every other amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been done, Jackson said.
The far right feels an equal amount of skepticism but for different reasons, suggested Tar Heel Tea Party leader Fremont Brown III of Asheville.
As a friend of mine Publius Huldah stated It is idiotic to assert that you can rein in a federal government which ignores the Constitution by amending the Constitution, Brown said in an email, citing a conservative blogger.
Seventy-two words
Despite supporters protestations to the contrary, some critics fear a convention could devolve into a runaway train that plows into Americas most basic tenets.
Theres only 72 words directing how youre supposed to do this, state Rep. Jordan said of Article V, adding that he doesnt buy assertions by supporters that convention rules would prevent chaos from ensuing.
But supporters are baffled by the criticism.
The Convention of States project is not about destroying the Constitution, only about adding amendments, said Robyn Campbell, a resident of Rutherford County who co-directs the state initiative with Faulkenberry.
Her colleague at the national level, Meckler, insists that a convention would operate just like a state legislature, where debate would stick to the specified topics and delegates who veer off course would be silenced.
If someone tries to debate something thats out of bounds, somebody else raises a point of order and the speaker cant continue, Meckler said of the way a convention would operate.
State legislators would give marching orders to their delegates defining the topics they were to consider ahead of the convention, Meckler said.
They would be duty-bound to comply in the same way as someone who signs a contract to provide a service at a certain price must stay within that price range, Meckler said.
But Young, the constitutional law expert, has doubts. The possibility exists that a convention could turn into a federal creature that you cant control for the same reasons that the states cant impose term limits on members of Congress.
I would say that it could be very difficult to control what they actually did, he said of the delegates.
Critics often scoff at people trying to change the Constitution because it is such a long and laborious process, Young said.
Those on the left think the other sides proposals are draconian.
Those on the right believe that their polar opposites want the government to run every aspect of human life.
But Young said he also sees these efforts to forge change as noble and worthy of praise across the political spectrum.
As a professor of constitutional law, I love to see people who are interpreting and debating these first principles of constitutionalism, he said.
At the same time, he added, it scares the dickens out of him what might emerge from one of those conventions.
Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.
George Santayana
I want you to consider documents that my cousin Danny keeps locked away in his heart and in his safe. It is a set of immigration papers relating to our maternal grandfathers entry into the United States. There in writing is the early history of Grandpas arrival in America. It is a story of time past but also of time present.
Unlike my fathers side of the family who were in the United States before there was a United States, my mothers side of the family arrived relatively late in American history. My mothers father came here in 1910. He was, in the jargon of the moment, straight off the boat. It was a boat that sailed from Naples, Italy, and that docked in New York. Need I invoke the cliche that grandfather traveled steerage?
The first crucial hours of Grandpas Merlyn-like transformation from Neapolitan to New Yorker were fraught with intimate political inquiries on the part of American authorities. These inquiries remain instructive decades later as they were considered a divining rod to draw out enemies of American democracy.
The questioning began benignly enough but soon metastasized into an understandable paranoia given the tenor of the times. Grandfather was asked what of his health, his age, his marital status, his national origin and finally, crucially, perhaps fatally, his feelings toward anarchy.
The ideology of anarchy, itself an oxymoron, remains as unclear today as in my grandfathers time. But although consistently unclear in ideology, the acts committed in its name are horrifyingly clear. Many in America had felt the lash of its whip.
Anarchists were the 9/11 terrorists of my grandfathers time. They struck fear, hate and political revulsion across America and across the world. There was good reason.
Read this roster of anarchist murder and mayhem, all acts committed more or less during my grandfathers youth:
The Haymarket bombing in Chicago that is still part of labor union lore.
The attempted assassination of steel tycoon Henry Frick in Pittsburgh.
The assassination of President William McKinley in Buffalo.
The nearly simultaneous Galleanist bombings in Washington, Boston, New Jersey, New York, Chicago and Pittsburgh meant to provoke nationwide panic.
The Wall Street bombing in Manhattan intended to kill, among others, the famous financier J.P. Morgan.
And, last, the failed attempt to assassinate President-elect Franklin Roosevelt that instead killed the mayor of Chicago.
And that was just the resume of anarchists in America. Their European resume is just as impressive, including the murder of the president of France and mass carnage in Italy, Spain and Russia.
Nearly to the man and in some cases to the woman, anarchists in America were foreign-born. They stepped off the boat in the New World harboring the malice of the Old World in their hearts.
Enlivened by this zeitgeist of terror, my Italian grandfather was asked by his American immigration gatekeepers to swear and sign an oath that he was not an anarchist. The penalty for admitting to any sympathy to that cause was immediate deportation. If he refused, then addio America.
I often wonder if my grandfather had any clear idea of what he was doing when he solemnly swore an oath to the American authorities that he was not an anarchist. He knew very little English at the time.
Modern Americans often forget that we are not the first to fear enemies of democracy landing on our shores. That fear is made clear to me by the details of my grandfathers transformation from an Italian to an American.
All this hubbub surrounding grandpas American arrival is here for you to peruse in black and white. My cousin shared our grandfathers citizenship paperwork with me and I now share snippets of it with you.
Reading it gives me great pause. I hope it does the same for you.
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The three candidates running in Tuesdays special election in the 32nd state Senate District say the chief concern in the 10 towns they would represent is the reduction in municipal aid under Gov. Dannel P. Malloys $40.6 billion proposed budget.
After nine years, Watertown Republican Rob Kane vacated the seat last month and is now one of the two state auditors of public accounts. The outcome of the election could tip control of the deadlocked Connecticut Senate to Democrats should Democrat Greg Cava pull an upset in the long-Republican held district.
Cava, a Roxbury resident and member of the Region 12 Board of Education, Middlebury petitioning candidate Dan Lynch, who is unaffiliated, and Watertown Republican state Rep. Eric Berthel are nearing the end of a six-week dash in a district that runs from Bethlehem to Oxford and includes such metro Danbury towns as Southbury, Roxbury, Washington and Bridgewater.
Cava lost to Kane last November before Kane resigned the seat shortly after winning re-election.
Republicans have held the seat for more than a century. The last Democratic senator was Charles Lymon of Washington - elected in 1891. Currently, 44 percent of the voters are unaffiliated, 29 percent are Republicans and 25 percent are Democrats.
Polls will be open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the results could tip the balance of power in a Senate that has a 17-17 tie between Republicans and Democrats.
That same day, there also will be a special election in the 2nd District, which covers Windsor, Bloomfield and part of Hartford and had been held by Democrat Eric Coleman. The Republicans have not had a majority in the upper chamber since 1996.
Malloys budget is drawing criticism because it eliminates or reduces state education funding in many towns and puts one-third of the teacher pension costs on the municipalities to help erase a projected $1.7 billion budget deficit for the next fiscal year.
People are angry and scared, Berthel said. The 10 towns would collectively lose $11 million in municipal aid. Oxford would go down $4 million, Watertown $2.3 million and Southbury $1.2 million.
If theyre going to change the education funding then you have to ask why it costs $20,000 a year to educate a student in Hartford, which is going to get more money, and only $12,000 in Oxford and Watertown, said the second-term legislator who is the vice president of Strategic Outreach for Hartford Healthcare Federal Credit Union.
Lynch, 54, a marketing and technology consultant, said that there is no question that the tax mill rates would increase under the governors plan. Plus, there is concern about the towns having to pay all of the costs for the resident state troopers.
Cava, 58, an attorney specializing in land development, said he would fight to get the municipal aid increased, since its placing unfair burdens on the towns in the district. It could hurt their bond ratings.
He said long-term, the best remedy would be a boost in economic development, but that doesnt happen at the snap of your fingers
Berthel, 49, said to close part of the budget gap he could support privatization of some state services as long as existing standards are met. Lynch advocates a three-year freeze on state employee wages. Cava said the state employees have made concessions over the recent years to address budget deficits and he would be against further give-backs.
On another topic, Cava said several voters said they want electronic toll stations on some Connecticut highways since our residents pay a lot of tolls in neighboring states.
Lynch said several voters are against a proposed increase in the annual pistol permit fee from $70 to $300.
I think its discriminatory, he said.
Berthel said he expects only a 10 to 12 percent turnout of voters.
State Rep. Steve Harding (R-Brookfield), who won a February special election two years ago, said candidates are mostly targeting the people that are serving on town boards or in civic clubs and others that vote regularly in the budget referendums and November elections. I think the lower turnout between a November election and a February special election is largely due to the absence of the semi-interested voters.
Cava and Berthel each qualified for $72,000 from the Citizens Election Program and each has a headquarters in Watertown. Lynch has a limited campaign committee and has only been able to spend $1,000. He said in about five weeks he drove 1,982 miles across the district to meet voters.
Cava and Berthel said they have gone door to door and utilized phone banks and direct mail.
Berthel said digital advertising has helped him contact likely voters.
Harding said two years ago the state Republican Party assisted him with a very effective digital program.
He said, Since then, the improvement in technology has allowed micro-targeting to grow in leaps and bounds.
Samsung used this year's MWC venue to throw a curve ball in the somewhat docile waters of the tablet market. The Galaxy Tab S3 is sure to stir up some commotion, as it is a true powerhouse offer, tricked-out by the Korean giant with all the bells and whistles, including its coveted S Pen tech and a convenient keyboard attachment.
The 9.7-inch tablet definitely takes after its Tab S2 predecessor, yet clearly pushes further into high-end productivity territory. It appears Samsung has decided to put forth its best foot forward at making an Android 2-in-1 to take on laptop-like productivity tasks. And just like with its Windows-powered TabPro S, it is hard to judge whether the effort will yield results, but it is clear that no effort was spared in making the Tab S3.
Design-wise, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is the very definition of slick and clean. It resembles the Tab A 10.1 (2016) in many aspect and has moved away from chamfering and other distinct details on the older Tab S2. It measures 169x237.3x6 mm and weighs in at 429 grams for the Wi-Fi and 435 grams for the Cat.6 LTE version. A sharp and gorgeous 1,536 x 2,048 pixel Super AMOLED panel on the front, flush glass back with no camera hump on the back and a metal frame - the Tab S3 almost looks utilitarian. It is the perfect chameleon to blend into any setting, business or otherwise.
And whether you intend to use it for business tasks or multimedia and gaming, the Tab S3 has the hardware to back you up. It is the first truly flagship Samsung tablet to come along in a while. Under the hood is a Snapdragon 820 chipset, coupled with 4GB of RAM. Plenty of headroom for multi-tasking on the spacious display. Other notable features include 32GB of on-board storage, easily expandable through a dedicated microSD card slot, dual-band Wi-Fi ac and a large 6,000 mAh battery. Interestingly enough, Samsung has managed to cram a bigger battery than on the Tab S2, while making the unit a tad lighter.
It also has a surprisingly thin profile, measuring only 6mm. There are a total of four speakers on the top and bottom sides of the Tab S3. These are tuned by AKG, which makes for a superb audio experience and puts the unit on the same level playing fields as Apple's iPad Pro. Combine that with the 10-bit HDR support on the display and you get a truly amazing multimedia experience. On that rim are a USB Type-C connector, 3.5mm audio jack, a pair of microphones for audio recording and even a SIM card slot on LTE variants of the Galaxy Tab S3. It resides on the same tray, next to the microSD card.
Besides an almost maxed-out specs sheet, Samsung has also included a few accessories to strengthen the Tab S3's appeal as a productivity offer. The left bezel houses a set of six pogo pins and pair of mounting holes as well as some magnets underneath. Those are meant for attaching a passive keyboard accessory, 2-in-1 style, quite similar to the TabPro S. Only this time around its Android doing the heavy lifting, instead of Windows 10.
While the latter has the clear edge in terms of true business-oriented software and tools, Samsung has done the best it can to fill in the gaps and make its custom Android just as useful. It's based on 7.0 Nougat and its native Multi Window support definitely helps in this respect. However, Samsung has built on top of that in a significant manner. For one, the Tab S3 comes bundled with the company's coveted S Pen stylus and all the software features to back it up.
You can draw, edit, sign. Just like the Apple Pencil and the Surface Pen, Samsung's stylus provides a whole new level of input freedom. Plus, it is good to see the accessory back in the tablet realm. Just like on Galaxy Note devices, it is battery-free and works in the same way. Only this time around, Samsung decide to make it a bit bigger, much more similar to a real pen. The added grip, comfort and control are appreciated, but there is sadly no convenient place to store and carry the S Pen. Unless you get the the keyboard, that is, since it has a lanyard to hold the stylus (but the keyboard is sold separately).
To Top things off, the Tab S3 also has a pair of cameras - 13MP, f/1.9 main camera, with single LED flash on the back and a 5MP, f/2.2 selfie shooter. That should be plenty good enough for video conferencing or a last resort occasional photo.
Samsung unveiled a pair of Windows-powered, 2-in-1 devices at the Barcelona event as well. For a more in-depth look at the two Galaxy Book models, you can check out our hands-on review.
Google Assistant is finally making its way to all Android smartphones running OS version 6.0 and 7.0.
The personal assistant will become available to English users in the US this week, followed by English users in Australia, Canada and the UK. German-speaking users in Germany can expect it around the same time too. Google says it will continue adding more languages this year.
Users will begin seeing Google Assistant as it's gradually being rolled out through a Google Play Services update.
Currently Google Assistant is available on the Pixel and Pixel XL, Google Home, Google's Allo messenger and Android Wear.
Google says we'll see Google Assistant on newly announced partner devices, such as the LG G6, which has it built-in. It's interesting if Google Assistant will come preloaded on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus as they are slated to premiere Samsung's own new Bixby assistant when they are announced on March 29.
The smartphone star of MWC 2017 has been announced - this is the LG G6. A 'Full-vision' display, water and dust protection plus some careful impact resistant design, cameras aplenty, tried and tested internals - the G6 may no longer be the flagship (the V-series will fly that banner from now on), but it sure sounds like flagships should be wary.
A lot of the G6's novelty stems from its display - a 5.7-inch IPS LCD panel that takes up most of the phone's front - it's why LG calls it FullVision. The screen has an odd 18:9 aspect ratio (or, as math would have it - 2:1) and a resolution of 2,880x1,440px for a pixel density of 565ppi. Consumers want a larger display, yet aren't willing to give up single-hand use - the 2:1 ratio gives the best of both worlds.
The rounded corners aren't just for appearances either - such an LCD panel is more durable to drops. Speaking of durability, the back is made of Gorilla Glass 5, while it's GG3 on top of the display. The frame is made of aluminum and special attention has been paid to the location of plastic inserts to make the whole thing less susceptible to shattering.
Oh, and in a first for a G-series phone, the G6 is water and dust resistant and carries an IP68 rating. That also means that the battery is no longer removable, and as promised there will be no Friends - the G5's modularity experiment didn't exactly catch on.
What's proven quite successful, however, is the dual camera concept, first implemented on the V10's selfie shooter, and then promoted to the rear cam on the G5. Here on the G6, LG has gone for a couple of 13MP cameras, one wide-angle (125 FOV), one 'normal' (71 FOV), instead of the 16MP+8MP setup of the G5 and V20. As before, only the 'normal' one has OIS and autofocus. The front-facing camera is a 5MP 100 FOV unit - LG is big on degrees.
The G6 is powered by the Snapdragon 821 chipset - in part because Samsung is keeping early batches of the latest S835 for the Galaxy S8, in part because LG thinks optimization is more important than raw power. An 'Advanced heat pipe' design with a copper plate on top of the chip has been put in place to quickly dissipate heat.
LG G6 in Ice Platinum
There are 4GB of RAM on board the G6 and storage will be either 32GB or 64GB, depending on region. Regardless of region - a microSD slot will allow for expansion.
The G6 runs on Android 7.0 Nougat and is the first non-Pixel phone to come with with Google Assistant on board. There is, of course, a custom LG skin on top called Full-screen UX. It's designed to make the best use of the 18:9 aspect and relies heavily on squares - after all, there are effectively two 1:1 squares in a 2:1 display, right?
LG G6 in Astro Black
Other key selling points of the handset include a Quad-DAC, only it's going to be available solely in South Korea. On the topic of regional features - the phone will have an FM radio receiver, just not in Korea, Canada and the US, but the US versions of the G6 will come with wireless charging capability - just the US ones, though. QuickCharge 3.0 comes standard, however, and it will fill the 3,300mAh battery in 96 minutes, and flat to 50% will take 32 minutes.
The G6 measures 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9mm, meaning its footprint is smaller than the Galaxy S7 edge's. The phone will come in three color schemes - Astro Black, Mystic White and Ice Platinum.
Details on pricing and availability remain to be announced. In the meantime, check out our hands-on article to read about our first impressions of the G6.
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Samsung decided to postpone their Galaxy S8 unveiling for March 29 but what is an MWC in Barcelona without the participation of the Korean company. We will see a Galaxy Tab S3 tablet that was leaked little by little in the last several days. There is also a VR set with a remote control to be launched at the event.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 will have a 9.7 display with 2,048x1,536 resolution and be powered by Snapdragon 820. It will come with an S Pen, have pogo pins for attaching to a keyboard and will cost around $750 when launched on April 7 in Europe.
Samsung might have skipped on smartphone announcements at this year's MWC, but that doesn't mean the Korean giant didn't take the event seriously. On the contrary, the Barcelona venue saw a total of three tablet announcements, all clearly geared towards a more serious, productivity-oriented crowd.
Sure, you could argue that the 10-bit HDR panel and 4-speaker AKG setup on the Tab S3 shout multimedia loud and clear. However, beyond that, Samsung's new lineup is all business, especially its two new Windows-based 2-in-1 offers.
The Galaxy Book 10.6 and Galaxy Book 12 both run Windows 10 on standard PC X86 hardware and employ a 2-in-1 factor. This, as well as the general design, Super AMOLED panels and a few other specs and accessories, make the pair quite similar to the Galaxy Tab S3. However, unlike their Android sibling, these come with both an S Pen and a slightly different keyboard accessory out-of-the-box. Combined with the Windows environment, this does make for solid 2-in-1 offers.
Samsung Galaxy Book 10.6 at a glance
261.2 x 179.1 x 8.9 mm aluminum body; 640g(Wi-Fi) / 650g(LTE)
2-in-1 form factor with a detachable keyboard; S Pen stylus; both included
10.6-inch TFT FHD 1920x1280 pixel display
7th Gen Intel Core m3 processor, Dual Core 2.6GHz
4GB RAM; 64GB/128GB eMMC
microSD up to 256GB
30.4W battery; up to 10hrs, Fast Charging support
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2X2 MIMO; LTE Cat. 6; Bluetooth 4.1 BLE; GPS + GLONASS; USB 3.1(Type-C);
Windows 10 OS
5MP fixed camera
Samsung Galaxy Book 12 at a glance
291.3x199.8x7.4 mm aluminum body; 754g (Wi-Fi and LTE)
2-in-1 form factor with a detachable keyboard; S Pen stylus; both included
12-inch Super AMOLED 2160x1440 pixel display; 10-bit HDR support
7th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, Dual Core 3.1GHz
4GB/8GB RAM; 128GB/256GB eMMC
microSD up to 256GB
39W battery; up to 10.5hrs, Fast Charging support
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2X2 MIMO; LTE Cat. 6; Bluetooth 4.1 BLE; GPS + GLONASS; 2x USB 3.1(Type-C);
Windows 10 OS
13MP Auto focus + 5MP fixed camera
Design
We did get to spend some time with both units, and we are happy to report they mostly share the slick, all-business design of the Tab S3. The glass back is gone, which means fewer fingerprints to worry about. This also means an all-metal unibody chassis and rounded corners.
The units on the show floor all came with a silver finish, but black might be an option as well. In any case, the construction is durable and blends in seamlessly into pretty much any environment, business or otherwise.
At around 650 grams for the 10.6-inch model and 750 grams for the 12-inch one, both Galaxy Book variants are pretty light. Carrying them around should be a breeze - a big motivation to potentially lure in traditional laptop users.
Besides the obvious change in materials and size, there are a few other details that set the Galaxy Books' metal bodies apart from the Tab S3. For one, the camera on the back is now centered horizontally, instead of vertically, since Samsung doesn't really expect you to use the Galaxy Book in portrait mode.
The front of both units is even cleaner. This is mostly due to the lack of a home button and the typical pair of capacitive controls. These aren't necessary for a Windows 10 environment.
Also, the four-speaker AKG setup was dropped, replaced with a simpler stereo one. This means only two speaker grills - one on the top and one on the bottom. The bigger 12-inch model has an extra grille on the top side as well, but that is just a cooling exhaust for the fan. The 10.6-inch tab doesn't need it thanks to its Core m3, which can be passively cooled.
Speaking of the top bezel, you get a power button, a volume rocker, plus a pair of microphones. As expected, the bottom side is occupied by the keyboard attachment mechanism. Just like the Tab S3, it relies on pogo pins for communication. Interestingly enough, there are five pins, instead of six, this time around.
The mechanism itself still relies on magnets. But there is also a bigger attachment groove than on the Tab S3. This is likely in place to account for the extra weight and screen real estate. We have to say, once attached, the whole setup feels really sturdy.
Keyboard and S Pen
While on the topic of keyboard, it checks most boxes when it comes to two in ones, at least in our book. We appreciate that Samsung includes it in the box, along with the S Pen, rather than selling it separately, like with the Tab S3. First, to clear up the obvious points - yes, the keyboard draws power from the tablet. It is also conveniently backlit and comes in white or black.
The keyboard also doubles as a case. Naturally, this entails some size difference between the 10.6-inch and 12-inch variants. Samsung has used this to simply scale up the buttons themselves accordingly. The 12-inch one is a bit easier to type on. But things aren't all that bad on the 10.6 model either. The keys are nicely rounded, with decent travel and a good tactile feedback. We see an improvement over the older Samsung TabPro S Windows convertible device.
The touchpad is a great extra feature that the two Galaxy Book models have over the Tab S3. Granted, it is a lot more essential on Windows, as touch and even the S Pen often seem clunky for some tasks. The touchpad surface feels great and offers plenty of glide. There are no dedicated mouse buttons, though. The scaling factor is applied hire as well - on the smaller unit the pad measures 77 x 43mm, while on the bigger it is 100 x 53mm. We have to say, the difference is noticeable.
Another nifty aspect of the keyboard is the adjustable display angle. When we say adjustable, we mean there are something like three distinct modes. Two of them have the keyboard in its normal position and the display at one of two angles. The third one folds the keys away and provides a slight tilt for using the touchscreen or S Pen accessory more conveniently.
Stand modes
Moving on to said S Pen, it is identical to the one bundled with the Tab S3. Since Samsung has maintained backwards compatibility for the signature tech, this means you can practically use any S Pen on the Galaxy Book, including those from older phablets, like the Note 4 and still get the full functionality.
The stylus is still passive and it has a single button for accessing on-screen controls. Hovering is supported as well. As for the design of this new S Pen iteration, it is now a lot bigger and longer. Since it doesn't have to fit inside the tablets, Samsung apparently decided to go for something closer to a real pen. This makes the new S Pen a lot easier to handle and more precise. Its thinner 0.7mm tip helps in this respect as well.
Using it for longer periods at a time is more convenient now and we do appreciate the extra grip from the soft-touch finish. Making the S Pen bigger did, however, create somewhat of a logistics issue - not losing it. Samsung has mostly solved this with a lanyard on the keyboard.
Keyboard cases
Last, but not least, we will also mention that unlike the Tab S3 variant, the two Galaxy Book keyboards offer NFC as an additional feature. The chip is placed to the right of the touchpad and is primarily intended for easy connection with a smartphone to enable the Samsung Flow feature. But more on that in the next section.
Hardware and Performance
Besides screen size, there are a few other notable differences between the 10.6-inch and 12-inch Galaxy book models, both in terms of hardware specs and I/O. In the PC realm, where advanced performance and productivity are expected, these are arguably a bit more important points than on Android.
Starting off with the display, the one on the Galaxy Book 12 is not only bigger at 12 inches, but also sharper, with a resolution of 2,160x1,440 pixels. Plus, it uses Samsung's own coveted Super AMOLED technology, for exceptional contrast and color reproduction. Speaking of which, the bigger Galaxy Book even offers 10-bit HDR support, just like the Tab S3. With the right content content, this makes for an amazing multimedia experience, with better color reproduction, shadows and highlights.
The smaller Galaxy Book 10.6 has an LCD panel instead, with no HDR support and lower resolution.
Specs-wise, there is a major difference between the two tablets as well. While on the surface, the Core m3 does look only slightly slower, with the same number of physical cores and a small drop in frequency, in reality, the performance gap is huge. The m3 will hold up pretty well with word processing, browsing even some light multimedia workloads. However, for anything beyond that you really need something beefier, like the Core i5 in the Galaxy Book 12.
However, the clear bonus you get from opting for the lower-tier model is portability. It's a somewhat difficult trade-off since it comes at the cost of battery life - the smaller unit is equipped with a smaller 30.4W battery, instead of a 39W one. Combined with the less efficient LCD panel, this equates to around 10 hours of use, by Samsung's estimates. Pretty close to the 10.5 hours on the bigger model. Both units also offer fast charging - around 2.15 hours for a full charge.
Other than that, you do get an additional USB 3.1 Type-C port on the Galaxy Book 12. This could help avoid at least a few carry-on dongles.
There are a couple of software tricks Samsung has included on its Galaxy Book devices as well. Remember that NFC sensor on the keyboard? Its primary purpose is to power the Samsung Flow experience.
The platform saw its debut on the older TabPro S model and is now advancing towards a wider release. It allows for an easy sync between a recent Samsung Galaxy handset and the tablet for convenient data connection and notification sharing. It can also leverage your phone's fingerprint reader to unlock Windows 10.
Another neat little addition to the Windows 10 experience has to do with the S Pen. Samsung now offers support for tilt detection in the Microsoft environment, which has been a thing on Android for a while now. This opens the possibility for more precise pen input.
Conclusions
All things considered, we can't really point out any particular flaw in the new pair of Samsung Galaxy Books. For what they are, they do seem to offer a pretty compelling package. But that's just the thing, we can't really put out finger on the definitive concept and purpose of these units. That, however, is a much broader problem that lies withing the ever-morphing convertible or 2-in-1 market.
If priced correctly, we can definitely see the Galaxy Books sway some on-the-go workers away from traditional laptop machines. Keeping that in mind, if you have already managed to convince yourself into making the switch, then you definitely want to give these Samsung options some thought.
Were sweating with anticipation here - the Nokia brand is back at the Mobile World Congress. Weve seen Nokia phones steal the show many times over the years and today may be no different. This is an event you might want to watch live rather than read about tomorrow, because much like the brand, the legendary Nokia 3310 is about to be reborn.
Were live at the Barcelona grounds so well get some first-hand impressions. For those at home, you can follow along by watching this 360 video (shot on the Nokia Ozo VR camera, of course).
Theres more to it than just an immortal feature phone, Nokia should show off its new Android-powered handsets as well.
Haiti - Cholera : Funding Failure for the $400M UN Funds
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked Member States to inform him by 6 March if they intend to make voluntary financial contributions to the implementation of the new UN plan to counter cholera in Haiti, his spokesman said today.
"Earlier this week the Secretary-General sent a letter to all Member States," in that regard, the Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters at the regular daily briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.
"As you are aware, under the new approach https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19550-haiti-politics-un-adopts-new-strategy-against-cholera-in-haiti.html , the UN is intensifying support to the Haitian government in building sound water, sanitation and health systems the best long-term defence against cholera and other water-borne diseases and also developing a support package to provide material assistance and support to Haitians most directly affected by cholera."
In his letter, the Secretary-General recalled that the UN bears a moral responsibility for ensuring that the new approach, launched in a report to UN Member States on 1 December 2016, is implemented, Mr. Dujarric added.
Costing around $400 million over the next two years, the proposed UN package under the new approach will centre on two different elements, known as "Track One" and "Track Two".
The first is a much strengthened and better funded effort to address and reduce the incidence of cholera, while addressing short- and long-term water, sanitation and health system and improving access to care and treatment.
The second component of the new strategy is to develop a program of material assistance and support to Haitians most directly affected by cholera. This should include consultation with affected individuals and communities in the development of this program.
Out of the 400 million of program intended to fight against cholera in Haiti, only "2% of funding promises have been kept," indicated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his letter "The voluntary contributions we have received are not yet sufficient to cover what is planned," wGuterres, stressing that" if financing does not materialize, another solution of financing will have to be explored."
To date, only South Korea, France, Liechtenstein, India, and Chile have contributed approximately $2 million to the UN fund, with Canada and Japan having separately endowed it with 7 millions.
See also :
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19550-haiti-politics-un-adopts-new-strategy-against-cholera-in-haiti.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19496-haiti-health-eliminating-cholera-in-haiti-a-matter-of-money.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18970-haiti-health-un-creates-a-fund-to-fight-against-cholera-in-haiti.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19030-haiti-cholera-new-un-approach.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18970-haiti-health-un-creates-a-fund-to-fight-against-cholera-in-haiti.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18778-haiti-health-alarming-evolution-of-cholera-in-the-country-2016.html
HL/ S/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - Social : 3 young Haitian children winners of the International Toys Competition
The Consulate General of Haiti in Montreal is proud to announce that as part of the 21th edition of the international competition of toys made from recycled materials, organized by OXFAM Quebec in collaboration with Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium in Montreal, three young Haitian from the orphanage "One Way Children's Home" of Kenscoff, Haiti, were in this competition and came out winners. They are :
Stanley Saintilma (11) ;
Joseph Claudner (12) ;
Jean-Baptiste Marcelin (11).
Let's recall that 7 7 countries: Benin, Bolivia, France, Jordan, Honduras, Peru, Haiti and 30 Quebec schools participated in the competition entitled "The universe, an endless playground." At the Gala of Laureates , held earlier this week at the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, the Consul General of Haiti in Montreal Justin Viard was present to receive the certificates of the 3 winners of the Mention of Excellence awarded to Toy #25 "Banm Kous la", made by the 3 young Haitian participants.
The Consulate of Haiti in Montreal warmly welcomes these distinctions that value the creativity, artistic talents and skill of our young people. Which proves that precariousness, far from being an obstacle, can be the place of the expression of genius. The Consulate warmly congratulates the talented Laureates and invites young people from here and elsewhere to follow in their footsteps.
Note that the toy exhibition "The universe, an endless playground! "Which features hundreds of toys, is held until May 2017 at the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, located at 4801 Pierre-De Coubertin Avenue, Montreal, Quebec H1V 3N4.
HL/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - Justice : Arrest of former Deputy Dumont for assault on minor
Friday, accused of sexual assault on an 11-year-old minor, according to a report from the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH), the former Deputy of Leogane, Jean Baptiste Anthony Dumont, presented himself voluntarily to the public prosecutor's office of Port-au-Prince, before the issuing of a warrant against him, to answer the charges that are brought against him in the report of RNDDH.
It should be remembered that, according to this report, the former Deputy would have for several months a relationship with a single mother of a 11 year old girl. After of confused and disturbing sexuality words of her daughter, the mother would have concealed a camera to really know what was happening in her absence between her daughter and the former deputy.
This very explicit video, that the RDDH claims to have in its possession, would leave no doubt on the acts posed by the former deputy on the young girl.
During his hearing Dumont denied all the facts that are reproached to him, speaking of a blow conspiracy of the mother against him. Commissioner Leger ordered his arrest before placing him in custody.
The RNDDH, who said he spoke with the accused before his arrest, said that he denied his involvement in the sexual assault he was accused and claimed to have been drugged in the house...
TB/ HaitiLibre
By William Schwartz | Published on 2017/02/25
Back in the year 2000, Hyeon-woo (played by Kang Ha-neul) was once a normal idiot kid who rode his motorcycle in an unsafe fashion. One accident later, Hyeon-woo is called to account for evidence found during a questionable search. In the modern day, Joon-yeong (played by Jung Woo) is an attorney who has the bad habit of making enemies pretty much everywhere he goes. Joon-yeong gets the chance to be constructive when he's handed Hyeon-woo's case.
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"New Trial" bears a lot of structural similarities to "The Attorney". The most pressing difference is the change in timeframe. Whereas injustice in "The Attorney" could be easily blamed on the eighties South Korean dictatorship, it's much harder to apply that logic to the case of Hyeon-woo, who was tortured and bullied into a false confession under the auspices of democracy. Worse, Hyeon-woo has languished in jail since then, only finding hope because Joon-yeong is such a rebel.
And that really needs to be emphasized- Joon-yeong is a genuinely unpleasant person to be around. He's not at all likable. What at first seems like slander against the real Joon-yeong actually ends up being a kind of a compliment. An essential moral point made by "New Trial" is that the charming likable people are the ones we need to watch for. They're the ones who will gladly sell out any pretense of justice for the sake of their personal reputations.
Consider detective Cheol-gi (played by Han Jae-young), the obvious villain, even moreso than the actual murderer. Cheol-gi goes after Hyeon-woo as a matter of convenience, since Hyeon-woo is the most conveniently located suspect. Cheol-gi is a thug and a bully who obviously became a detective for the power trip. Yet he's still a cop in the present day. Why? Because admitting that the government collared the wrong guy for a horrible murder could hurt someone's career.
That's the double-edged sword of democracy, and why it's foolhardy to assume that any criminal justice system operating under that form of government is any purer than anyone else's. It's only thanks to men like Joon-yeong, who are willing to ruffle feathers, that a better world can be maintained. Justice is a continuing effort, not a closing statement. This is explicitly outlined in the final text, which notes that the real-life Joon-yeong has made pursuing retrials the benchmark of his entire career.
That's really a lesson in and of itself. What makes Hyeon-woo's story noteworthy is not that he was a victim of government-sponsored injustice. It's that by sheer dumb luck he happened to be the first such case that Joon-yeong ran into, and as it turns out, there's plenty more where Hyeon-woo came from. Beyond all this theming "New Trial" is just a standard boilerplate investigative drama, focus being on the personalities involved rather than action scenes or epic scale. But wow, that theming really is something! The closing shot of "New Trial" is quite literally the beginning of Hyeon-woo's trial. We never actually get to see it. We don't need to either, because that's not the important part of the story.
Review by William Schwartz
"New Trial" is directed by Kim Tae-yoon and features Jung Woo, Kang Ha-neul, Kim Hae-sook and Lee Dong-hwi.
Published on 2017/02/26 | Source
A face-off between auto-translation programs against a professional human interpreter on Tuesday ended in a resounding victory for the human race.
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Proto-artificial intelligence -- essentially computer programs capable of "learning" -- have emerged victorious in contests against humans in chess, current affairs trivia, go and poker. But AI had still not evolved enough to surpass the linguistic and emotional intelligence of humans.
The contest, which was sponsored by Sejong Cyber University and the International Interpretation and Translation Association of Korea, aimed to gauge just how close auto-translate programs that learn from their errors have come to human translation skills.
Four professional translators faced off against Google Translate, Systran's translation program and Naver's papago app.
The challenge was not enormous. The Korean-to-English translation lifted an excerpt from the novel "Mothers and Daughters", and a newspaper column, while the English-to-Korean competition was of a newspaper column on Apple founder Steve Jobs and an article from Fox News.
Kwak Joong-chol at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, who handled the selection and judged the results, said, "We chose pieces of writing that had never been translated before and focused on assessing how smoothly the programs were able to comprehend the feel and metaphoric meaning of sentences".
Translators were given 50 minutes for each piece. Organizers claimed the pieces contained specialized terminology, which perhaps made conditions more favorable for AI.
But the computers flunked the test. While the humans scored on average 24 out of 30 points in the Korean-to-English challenge, the programs scored just eight to 13. And humans scored on average 25 points in English-to-Korean and the machines only nine to 15.
"We noticed a common failure of the computer programs to put the words in the proper order. They just lined them in linear fashion".
However, when it came to business writing, which includes a lot of numbers and stock phrases, these programs occasionally got a sentence perfectly right.
There were also big gaps between different programs. Google Translate was far more accurate than Systran and papago. Kwak said the reason is that vastly more people use Google, so the data input it can learn from is much bigger.
Auto-translation programs have come under the spotlight recently. Shin Suk-hwan, vice president of Saltlux, which produces computer-assisted translation programs, said, "We were able to confirm that it will take more time to develop AI capable of understanding human languages. Words and expressions encompass emotions and feelings, so it's uncertain whether computers will ever reach a level of completely comprehending them".
Published on 2017/02/25 | Source
Updated cast for the upcoming Korean drama "Queen of Mystery" (2017)
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Directed by Kim Jin-woo-II, Yoo Yeong-eun-I
Written by Lee Seong-min-II
Network : KBS
With Choi Kang-hee, Kwon Sang-woo, Lee Won-keun, Shin Hyun-bin, Ahn Kil-kang, Yang Ik-june,...
Wed, Thu 22:00
Synopsis
"Queen of Mystery" tells the story of a prosecutor's wife who's always dreamed of being a detective. After actually solving a case, she ends up in an unlikely crime-fighting duo with a young police captain.
Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2017/04/05
Image: FreeHawaii.Blogspot.com
by Andrew Walden
With President Donald J Trump in the White House, some in Hawaii may think themselves safe from the Fake Indian Tribe.
HB1297 Relating to Hawaiian Sovereignty proves them wrong.
In spite of zero media attention, HB1297 drew 747 pages of opposition testimony before an House Committee on Oceans, Marine Resources & Hawaiian Affairs (OMH) hearing February 14. The one and only written testimony in support came from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs with amendments. OHA has pushed for a Tribe ever since the 1999 ouster of the Broken Trustees of Kamehameha Schools.
UPDATE: OHA Testimony as Prepared for Delivery
HB1297 reads: The State shall support a model of sovereignty and self-governance chosen by the Hawaiian people in a manner that comports with administrative rules and procedures established by the United States Department of the Interior and that complies with federal and state law. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
(T)hat complies with federal and state law obviously refers to both Act 195 of 2011, which authorized creation of the Kanaiolowalu Roll, and DOI Rule 43 CFR Part 50 (RIN 1090-AB05) which remains on the books now even as the Obama Administration recedes into history.
Chosen by the Hawaiian people in a manner that comports with administrative rules and procedures established by the United States Department of the Interior obviously refers to the DoI rules for a vote on Nai Aupuni Constitution.
Any material State support for the effort to turn Hawaiians into a fake Indian tribe could run counter to the US Supreme Court Rice v Cayetano decision which holds that the State cannot conduct racially discriminatory elections. Grassroot Institute President Kelii Akina (now an elected OHA Trustee) and others won a December 2, 2015 US Supreme Court injunction against the use of OHA funds to conduct the Nai Aupuni tribal election.
After Kanaiolowalu insiders absconded with millions of OHA dollars set aside to sign Hawaiians up for a tribal Roll, the Nai Aupuni Tribe has been unable to raise much private money. Nai Aupuni dissolved itself in early 2016.
But who needs material support when the State could simply deem Nai Aupuni constitution approved and establish the Nai Aupuni Constitution as the foundation of a State-recognized Fake Indian Tribewith immunity from State law for criminals--political and otherwisewho wish to dip their beaks and immunity from State environmental, gaming, and land use laws for the favored developers of Tribal leaders.
Verbal testimony from the State Attorney Generals Office and OHA was withheld after OHM Committee Chair Rep Kaniela Inghimself a Nai Aupuni delegate--announced "the Chair's intent to defer.
Opposition testimony included:
Karen Murray: Please oppose this HB1297 at this time. It is inappropriate and would be seen as yet another attempt to "settle" in a bum's rush all Hawaiian land claims and to steal from Hawaiians yet again. Ikaika Hussey: In Hawaiis history we know that the 2.2 million acres of Crown and Government lands are roughly coterminous with the lands utilized by the State of Hawaii. The State of Hawaii thus has an interest in subsuming a Hawaiian entity beneath it, so that it can extinguish native claims to those lands. This bill is a precursor to a massive land grab and settlement. Clifford Kapono, Sr.: Hawaiians are demanding our valuation of lands in trust(s) and those questionably ceded be clarified by a Native Hawaiian Tribunal and not an extension of any western cognitive process....
Under legislative rules, deferral effectively kills HB1297 for the session. The content could be scooped into a 'Frankenbill or the entire bill could theoretically be revived in 2018.
HB1297: Text, Status
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....
Tennessee Ernie Ford, as he came to be known, was an ordinary man but his overwhelming success later led to his downfall.
He was a Bristol, Tennessee, native who had a 40-year career as a music superstar and TV icon. But his success ultimately affected his personal life, including the downward spiral of his marriage to the love of his life, Betty, especially after the release of his most popular song Sixteen Tons, according to his son, Jeffrey Bucker Buck Ford.
Sixteen Tons gave everything to Dad and Mom and my brother and I we could have ever, ever wanted in our life, Buck recently told the Herald Courier.
It took away everything that Ernie Ford needed in his life. It was the Occams razor of the career and life of Ernie Ford. Every single thing after that that Capitol [Records] put out until he [recorded] hymns everything they tried to fit back into the Sixteen Tons slot. Nothing worked.
Eventually, Buck told the story of his dad behind the fame because, as he believes, who wants to hear another biographical story about Ol Ern? It wasnt until nearly 20 years after his fathers death that River of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved came out in 2008. The 67-year-old told the Herald Courier that the book was hard to write, but he eventually just had to sit down at the keyboard and bleed.
It was important to him to tell the truth, Buck said, but it was also important to not only write Ernies story but to write a memoir about the life of his parents since they were so symbiotic.
Everything that occurred to make the celebrity ... of Tennessee Ernie Ford happened as a result of and during the course of his marriage to Betty Ford, he told the Herald Courier. None of the changes that occurred in their lives occurred only to them individually it occurred to both of them together.
Ford tried with all his might to protect his family from Hollywood; to do what he could for them to live a normal life, Buck said. And his parents were strict Buck and his brother, Brion, knew they were supposed to mind their manners or theyd get the belt from one of their parents.
My brother, Brion, and I did not know any different, Buck said. Dad lived rigidly by a dogma within the house that show business would not spoil my brother or myself. We grew up knowing the intrinsic value of chores. ...He refused to allow the Hollywood machine to come into the house. It was inevitable. It eventually did and it was one of the eventual things that drove a wedge between he and Mom.
Alcohol was the liquid bond that held them together, though they loved each other deeply, Buck said. Alcohol was the glue of show business, he said.
Alcohol was his fathers vice and it gripped him, turning him into an alcoholic, for the 30 years that preceded his death, his son said. Ultimately, thats what killed him and Betty, according to Bucks book.
The downfall
Ford died of acute liver failure as a result of his alcoholism. Betty committed suicide in 1989 after being an alcoholic and abusing prescription drugs. She had become bitter she changed and so had he, and they didnt know how to understand what the other was going through during those changes, Buck told the Herald Courier. But, he added, when Betty died, Ernie lost the love of his life.
The driver checked the baggage curbside, they made their way into the terminal, and just outside the doorway to the Admirals Club, he fell to his knees, bathing the marble tiles gracing the entry with nearly a quart of blood, Buck wrote in his book. Critically weakened, he was rushed to HCA Hospital in Reston, Virginia, just a few miles from the airport.
Thats the description of the day Ford lived just three weeks before his death on Oct. 17, 1991. Hed complained of stomach pains on the way to the airport with his second wife, Beverly, from a hotel after dining with then-President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. Hed suffered two nearly identical attacks three years before.
Buck Ford said in his book that his father was kept away from his sons by the woman he married less than four months after Betty died. It wasnt until two days after his death that Fords sons found out where his body was because of a well-laid plan, long in preparation, aimed at isolating an ailing father from his only sons before and now after his death, Buck writes in his book.
The social life of Hollywood, Buck said, is what created the first wedge between Ernie and Betty, and began their addictions.
Brenda Otis, with the Bristol Historical Association, said she appreciates the honesty in Bucks book.
Thats [alcoholism] not something that we broadcast, but Buck was very honest and I loved his book, she said. He didnt hold back on anything. He made Ernie and his mother real; just like anybody else.
In the social circles that he was in he was expected to drink and to be a part of that scene and it just took hold of he and Betty both and took them both down, but I think sincerely in his heart he was a good daddy, Otis said.
Before stardom
Ford was a man who rose to stardom after a meager childhood. The ordinary and small white house he lived the first two years of his life in still stands at 1223 Anderson St. in Bristol, Tennessee, in an average neighborhood. The Bristol Historical Association discovered the significance of the house in 1991 and decided to buy it.
Ford was thrilled when he learned the Bristol Historical Association intended to buy and renovate the home, according to a publication about the house by the association. When in town for the last time before his death, he met with members of the organization and after returning to his home in California he called many times to check on the progress of the restoration.
When he stopped by the house that April he asked Otis if it was going to be made into a museum.
I just kind of smiled at him and thought, Yeah we are when we get the money, she said. I think he wouldve been pleased to know that we have kept his memory alive like this.
Fords son, Brion, who died in 2008, donated enough of his Dads memorabilia to fill a room of the house, so it did become a museum. Restoration was completed in 2007 and it was named a historic landmark by the Tennessee Historical Commission in 2012.
Before the association bought the house, Ford was known to visit those living there.
He [was] known to just drop in and say, Hi, I was born here, and just startle whoever was living here, Otis said during a recent tour of the house with the Herald Courier.
Fords parents rented the Anderson Street house. It was built in the early 1900s but underwent aggressive repairs after a fire, according to the Historical Associations publication. The house is decorated to look like it would have in 1919, when Ford was born, but the only furniture that was actually the Fords is a small table and chair.
He and his family lived in other houses along Anderson Street, but the house that Ford grew up in has been torn down, she said. It was on Windsor Avenue.
The association also named a piece of Volunteer Parkway coming out of Blountville, Tennessee, into Bristol, Tennessee, the Tennessee Ernie Ford Historical Parkway.
Freedom of speech is a privilege. We need to treat it that way.
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HICKORY Two local women headed to North Dakota on Friday to help deliver supplies to people protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Myfawny Sierra Ruiz, who had been following news related to the pipeline, said she was moved to take action after President Donald Trump signed an executive order resuming construction of the pipeline.
President Barack Obama issued an executive order in December blocking the pipeline.
Ruiz said she asked Paul Hume, a friend of hers who had previously delivered supplies to the camps, if he was going to deliver supplies again.
Hume said he would and Ruiz decided she would head out to help.
Ruiz set up a GoFundme page to help raise money for the supply run to North Dakota.
Brandi Geddings, Ruizs long-time friend, decided to accompany Ruiz both out of concern for the situation of the camp as well as a desire to support her friend.
They left on Friday for North Dakota, carrying only hats that had been donated by Jo Boone on the flight with them, Ruiz said.
While Hume would be bringing foods like meats and vegetables to the camps, Ruiz had placed an order for foods like oatmeal and mashed potatoes at the Wal-Mart in Bismarck, ND.
Both women are concerned about the water supply, specifically the possibility that a break or a leak would harm Lake Oahe on the Missouri River, a major water source for the Sioux tribe.
While the pipeline itself does not cross through the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, it does cross under Lake Oahe.
In addition to bringing supplies, they also plan to help with clean-up efforts, Ruiz said.
Ruiz and Geddings, who are both of Cherokee descent, also are concerned about the effects on tribal culture and the mental health of the Sioux.
Geddings, who works as a counselor, says the history of mistreatment of Native Americans has left enduring psychological scars.
The recent activity surrounding the pipeline, with one president halting the construction and another resuming it, has contributed to the psychological harm.
Were re-traumatizing our Native Americans, and weve done this over and over, Geddings said.
Another issue is the effect of the pipeline on land the Sioux considers sacred that lies outside of the Standing Rock Reservation.
Imagine one morning you wake up and Arlington Cemetery is going to get bulldozed, Ruiz said.
Well, that is what the Standing Rock sacred site is to the people who live there.
Southerners in particular, who have a historical attachment to their own heritage through the land, should identify with the concerns of the Sioux, Geddings said.
If Southerners could look at, put ourselves in that situation, they could really understand and empathize because the Southerners, we as Southerners kind of feel the same way, Geddings said.
The women, who were interviewed Monday, said they did not entirely know what to expect when they arrived.
They had heard that raids of the camps were planned, Geddings said.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that a camp had been cleared by authorities, with several arrests being made.
In organizing the trip, there was a great deal of community support, with more than 50 sponsors contributing, Ruiz said.
Boone said in a phone interview that she donated the hats because of her friendship with Ruiz and her belief that the Sioux are being treated unfairly.
In addition, several hundred dollars had been raised from members of Exodus Church, Ruiz said.
Rev. Reggie Longcrier of Exodus Church said in a phone interview he had been following news related to the pipeline and was personally interested in the situation.
Im just empathetic to that cause, and it seems that nobody is hearing, especially the powers-that-be, Longcrier said.
Seeing the outpouring of support has been an important motivating factor, Ruiz said.
Its just really inspired us, Ruiz said. This will not be our last project.
The Election Commission on Sunday termed invoking of religious sentiments to seek votes as an unhealthy trend, and asked politicians to desist from making communally volatile remarks while campaigning.
In a letter sent to the leaders of all political parties, the poll panel advised them to observe self-imposed restraint while campaigning. The commission has noted with dismay that (past) advisories are not having the desired result. It has witnessed a disturbing tendency of inflammatory statements being made by political leaders with the underlying object of mixing religion with electoral campaigning, it read.
The poll watchdog said that while some of the statements were made from places where the model code of conduct is not in force, it was easy in this electronic age for them to reach areas where elections are being contested and disturb the level playing field for other candidates.
Citing a Supreme Court verdict passed earlier this year, the commission also asked politicians to refrain from making statements that can be misconstrued as attacks on other religious communities. The honble apex court of the country has also expressed its deep concern in the matter of mixing religion with election campaigning, vide its order dated 02.01.2017 in civil appeal no. 37 of 1992 (Abhiram Singh vs CD Commachen) and with civil appeal no. 8339 of 1995, the letter read.
This letter follows a probe by the commission against Uttar Pradeshs BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya for wearing the party symbol while casting his vote at a booth in Allahabad.
Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav has punctured the cycle, while Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadavs feuding uncle Shivpal has broken its chain, Union home minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday.
I really wonder how Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh will reach Lucknow riding the damaged cycle, he said at an election rally, making fun of the ruling partys election symbol.
Singh, however, claimed that the atmosphere in Uttar Pradesh was conducive to blooming of the lotus -- the BJPs poll symbol.
Parties like SP, BSP and Congress have created muddy pools throughout the state, and in these very pools lotus will bloom, he said.
He said the SP realised it has gone weak and that was why it forged an alliance with the Congress.
In a dig at the BSP, he said even the elephant has become weak, as it is not getting the right fodder. Elephant is the BSPs symbol.
Singh also attacked the Congress for first holding a meeting to raise voice against the state government, but later embracing the SP.
The SP-Congress tie-up is an alliance between two youngsters, which would change the course of politics both at the national and state levels, SP chief and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said on Sunday.
The SP chiefs retort at an election rally in Maharajganj came against the backdrop of BJP president Amit Shah calling the pre-poll alliance as one between two corrupt families - one from Delhi and the other from Lucknow.
This is not an alliance between two families, it is an alliance between two youngsters, who would change the course of politics both at the national and state levels, Akhilesh said.
The UP CM also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to swear by Ganga Maiyya (river Ganga) and clarify if the latters constituency Kashi (Varanasi) was getting electricity for 24 hours or not.
Whenever truth has to be confirmed from any person, he or she is asked to swear by Ganga Maiyya.
The amount of electricity supplied during Diwali is more than that given during Ramzan in Uttar Pradesh. Steady supply of electricity was ensured during Christmas as well, he said on Modis Diwali-Ramzan power supply remark.
The Prime Minister had said during an election rally: Agar Ramzan mein bijli aati hai, to Diwali me bhi aani chahiye, bhedbhav nahi hona chahiye (If there is electricity during Ramzan, it must also be available during Diwali, there should be no discrimination).
On the alliance with Congress for the state Assembly polls, Akhilesh said, Samajwadi people generally ride their cycles by pedalling them. And in enthusiasm, they also tend to ride the bicycles without using their hands. Now with the hand of Congress giving a support to the handle, can you tell what would be the speed of the cycle?
Cycle is SPs party symbol, while hand is that of Congress.
Twenty-four-year-old Vimal Varun is a busy man during the UP poll season.
The political science student from western UPs Hapur tours the state on his motorcycle, buses and even trains to cover each of BSP chief Mayawatis rallies.
He takes behenjis pictures on a DSLR, video records her speeches on his mobile phone, and broadcasts it live on the Facebook page Mayawati, which has more than two lakh followers. As soon as the rally ends, Varun puts excerpts from the former CMs speech on the Facebook page.
If you see my work, you would find it equally good, in fact, better, than what is done by social media teams of other parties. But they dont judge me based on my work. They see my caste, said Varun, packing his luggage, for an early morning train to Lucknow where Mayawati was to address a rally.
Compared to the massive professional digital war rooms of other parties, it is volunteers like Varun who form BSPs social media team.
Scattered across the state and working without any official mandate, the volunteers constantly feed social media with information that they believe the mainstream media deliberately ignores. They are conscious that they will lose the perception war if they rely on the mainstream media. They want to make their presence felt and social media platforms allow that, said JNU professor Vivek Kumar.
The way BSPs digital volunteers operate may appear odd to their detractors but it is in sync with the evolution of the party.
It is wrong to look at the BSP as a party with a formal organisational structure. It is still in the movement phase. Volunteers continue to form the backbone of the party, said Kumar.
How do you expect a digital war room from a party that does not even release its manifesto? We follow a bottom-up approach, said Devendra Pratap Singh, who tweets from the handle BSP4UP.
While running multiple Facebook pages, Devendra and his brother Yogendra observed that many BSP sympathisers left their contact numbers in the comment section. They made a database of around 2,000 such numbers and added them on multiple WhatsApp groups on which they send at least two messages every day.
While volunteers are making BSPs presence felt on the social media, Mayawati continues to be wary of the medium. Behenji is apprehensive because it is easy to manipulate information on social media, said Satish Ambedkar, who runs the page Behen G Ko Aane Do. But if our efforts show results, the party might change its mindset.
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The Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections reach a crescendo on Monday as the battle for Indias most-populous state moves to the eastern part which may prove to be the decider in an election no-one is willing to call.
As many as 141 constituencies across 25 districts have still to be decided. These electoral segments are across the region that contributed handsomely to the ruling Samajwadi Partys massive victory in the last assembly elections.
This time around, political opponents are seeking a caste coalition and rising disenchantment with sitting SP legislators to topple incumbent chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in eastern UP.
The high-stakes battle has seen the most-bitter phase of campaigning with tempers fraying and new lows in political barbs.
On Monday in the fifth phase, voting will be held for 51 seats in 12 districts as 18.4 million voters decide the fate of 607 candidates. These districts include Amethi, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar (considered in central UP), and Bahraich and Shravasti in Terai region.
In the last election, the Samajwadi Party had won 37 seats, the BJP and Congress won five each while the Bahujan Samaj Party could only manage three.
The Election Commission has pulled out all stops to ensure fair polling; central forces conducted a flag march in sensitive areas close to the Terai region in Nepals foothills which go to polls on Monday.
Amethi will perhaps be the most watched constituency. The Supreme Court recently ordered the filing of gang-rape charges against sitting MLA Gayatri Prasad Prajapati of the ruling SP.
Akhilesh had dropped Prajapati from his cabinet on corruption charges but had to take him back allegedly under pressure from party patriarch and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Prajapati is up against Garima Sinh of the BJP and Congress Amita Sinh, who is the wife of senior Congress leader Sanjay Sinh. Garima is his estranged wife.
Though the SP and Congress have joined hands to contest the UP election, in Amethi they are locked in a friendly contest, which is being repeated in Gauriganj seat of the district.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi represents Amethi in the Lok Sabha. There are five assembly segments in it and the poll outcome will be closely watched.
With just two phases remaining, top leaders criss-crossed the eastern region on Monday, addressing several rallies to hit out at opponents.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh mocked a feud within SPs Yadav family, saying Mulayam Singh Yadavhas punctured the cycle the SPs poll symbol while his brother Shivpal broke its chain, I really wonder how Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh will reach Lucknow riding the damaged cycle, he said at an election rally in Ballia.
In Maharajganj, Akhilesh said the SP-Congress coalition was an alliance of youngsters that would change the course of national politics and reiterated his claim that the combine would win 300 seats.
His wife Dimple Yadav told a rally in Jaunpur that BJP chief Amit Shah was mistaken when he coined an abbreviation for Kasab the 2008 Mumbai attacks convict.
BJP says Ka stands for Congress. Your Akhilesh bhaiyya says Ka (in Hindi) stands for Computer, Sa stands for smartphone, through which you can get all the information about the policies of the government and B stands for bachche (children), she said to loud applause.
The abbreviation by Shah last week Ka for Congress, Sa for SP and B for BSP triggered a high-decibel response from his opponents.
Akhilesh had responded to Shah by asking Gujarat brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan to not advertise Gujarat ke gadhe (donkeys of Gujarat). BSP chief Mayawati had dubbed Shah the biggest terrorist.
On Monday in Gorakhpur, she repeated an old promise of dividing UP and carving out a separate state for Purvanchal, a huge but impoverished region that the BSP is looking to make inroads into.
This election, you need to punish the Congress, the BJP and the SP, which have been opposing creation of Purvanchal, she said.
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A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped in a toilet of a school in Jabalpur district on Saturday.
Jabalpur police said the minor was raped by another minor a student of Class 8 or 7 who hasnt been identified yet. The incident occurred in the government middle school in Jabalpur town, 360 kms east of Bhopal.
The girl is an orphan living at a shelter home in Jabalpur.
According to police, the crime came to light when the superintendent of the shelter informed the Vijay Nagar police station about the incident. The superintendent had noticed the child in a terrified state when she returned back.
Rajesh Malviya, the Vijay Nagar town inspector, told HT, The girl informed that she was raped by a school student. It is a middle school, so we are suspecting that a student of class 7th or 8th has raped her.
We didnt find any concrete evidence in this regard, so we are interrogating both the staff members and schools students, he added.
Police have registered a case and an investigation is on. They also admitted the girl at a government hospital.
Ayesha Takia, who is getting trolled on social media for her new look in which she appeared to have fuller lips and cheeks, has made a statement on the matter. According to her, some vicious people and gossip columns have distorted the pictures.
Takia told Indian Express that because she is constantly in touch with her fans through Instagram, they believe her and still support her. Online trolling and bullying has reached a new level I guess. A handful of vicious people and gossip columns have decided to totally morph and distort my pics but the truth will prevail as Im on social media every day and shooting out and about people can see what I really look like and luckily I have amazing followers on Instagram who I interact with daily, so they have not believed these lies and supported me all the way, she said.
Ayesha Takias new look didnt go down well with the internet. (Instagram)
The actors pictures from a recent event went viral a few days ago. While it is still not clear whether it was bad make up or if she had gone under the knife, Twitteratti seemed to have made up its mind on being nasty to the actor. She was trolled for trying to look like Kim Kardashian and ruining her beautiful face.
Takia also reacted on the controversy with a picture on Instagram on Friday.
A post shared by Ayesha Takia Azmi (@ayeshatakia) on Feb 23, 2017 at 9:11pm PST
She shared a motivational quote from famous American burlesque dancer and model Dita Von Teese. You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world and theres still going to be someone in the world who hates peaches, it reads.
In another pic shared on Sunday, she wrote that she doesnt care about false rumours.
Hey all you fabulous ppl, lets be super proud of who we are right now coz its freakin 2017 and we aint letting no bullies bring us down. I love myself and you should love yourself too. Be who u wanna be n do what u wanna do, dont allow insecure souls to try n calm down ur confidence. Be fabulous n #StopSelfieShaming , stop picking on ppl for who they wanna be its lame AF. Opinions are like a******s, everyone has one, so screw what others think and OWN it baby #ILoveMyself #dontCareAboutFalseRumours, she wrote with the picture.
Her Instagram account, which is not verified, has 1.8 lakh followers.
The 30-year-old was last seen opposite Shahid Kapoor, in 2010 film Paathshala, a year after her wedding with Farhan Azmi, son of Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi.
Follow @htshowbiz for more
Individuals in a society have views, interests, concerns and priorities. How do we combine their preferences for a society to make decisions? How do we assess and judge the outcome of those decisions? Philosophers, social scientists and thought leaders have sought to answer these questions from the time of Kautilya and Aristotle. In the 18th century, French revolutionary and theorist Nicolas de Condorcet offered an answer in a precise mathematical form, which marked the beginning of the evolution of the social choice theory a subject that has been at the core of economics Nobel Laureate Amartya Sens body of work. In 1970, Sen wrote Collective Choice and Social Welfare, a seminal book that inspired generations of economists. On Tuesday, he released a revised version of the book that significantly expands on the application of the social choice theory to find answers to real-life challenges. Excerpts from the interview:
Rajesh Mahapatra: What has influenced your decision to expand upon your work of 1970? And how does it find a reflection in your new book?
Amartya Sen: If we take our own country, in India, the distinction between the State and the government is not clearly understood. The government often has to take decisions. It doesnt own the money, but it has control over the money. But that has often been used to bring about something that the government wants. As if its the governments own money, rather than the government acting on behalf of the State. This has had a ruinous effect on public discussion. It has terrorised some people. Sometimes, it has also led to a kind of decline of independent research and work in universities. Universities have borne the burden of it a lot because the universities are financed by the government. And they are not supposed to do the bidding of the government. They are supposed to do what is good for the nation.
The other thing is that complexities of voting procedure are less understood. I mean, most governments today are minority governments. The BJP got 31 per cent of the vote. With the coalition, they got 39 per cent. Its a minority. Now even with a majority, its very difficult for a government to say, We wont let you express your views because its anti-national. But with a minority, its particularly ridiculous and with this comes the question as to why we need to make a distinction between majority and plurality getting more than the others when there are a whole lot of candidates in the field. Whether thats a good way of proceeding, thats another thing we needed to examine.
There are issues of this kind and we needed a deeper analysis than what I was able to provide in the 1960s. This book is a result of that need.
RM: Prime Minister Narendra Modis election in 2014 was a massive victory in terms of seats, not in terms of votes. You make that point to illustrate the difference between plurality rule and majority wins. What will it take to address the shortcomings of plurality rule?
AS: There are two ways of thinking about it. It is an ambitious thing which I pursue, namely, how we can change the voting system. My colleague Eric Maskin, an economist who also won the Nobel prize, has written about how Donald Trump lost in 17 Republican primaries and several of the other candidates would have defeated Trump in a head-to-head contest. There is something wrong with the way these elections are held. We have suggested different ways of doing it for the primaries and the US Congress. Whether that will be done or not, we do not know. But there is, at least, a discussion now.
In India too, we can do it. We follow the colonial model, the British system, whereby whoever gets the highest number of votes in a constituency is declared a winner. Thats not a majority winner, thats a plurality winner. We have to change that.
RM: As you speak, there is a lot of talk about electoral reforms. Also, in a few months we will be completing 70 years of independence. Isnt this an opportune moment to ask for the change you are talking about?
AS: I am glad you remind us that this is the 70th year of Indias independence. As we became independent, there was a Constituent Assembly where we had wonderful discussions with an open mind. There were lots of things that were thought about, but we didnt do. We had Ambedkar, possibly the most important voice on the making of the Constitution, saying we are leaving a lot of contradictions here, that we are getting political equality in society with deep social and economic inequality which we have to re-examine as we go along. These issues remain. Looking back at the 70 years that have gone by, we need to revisit these issues.
Its not just the present government. There have been minority governments in the past too, and they have pretended as if they were a majority, assuming that the State is the government. Its not the case. The State includes the courts, the media, the public opinion, public reasoning, which you cannot stifle.
RM: What strikes you the most about the present government when you think of some of these issues that you are raising?
AS: Well, the main thing is of allowing and encouraging dissent. A government is not the State and the government is not the authority to decide what can be discussed and what cannot be discussed. Even Kashmir is a subject for discussion. After all, we are a democracy. We have been fortunate to have not been run by the military as our unfortunate neighbour Pakistan has been. So what do we use the democracy for? To discuss these things. Secondly, as it happened with Kanhaiya Kumar, they were not discussing Kashmir. They were discussing something else. Sadly, there is a distortion. A video is produced where theres an absolute deliberate distortion. But the people who did that distortion have still not been brought to book. Then this chap is arrested a mere kid and son of an anganwadi worker and is assaulted under custody. Underlying all of this is this complete determination not to allow certain expression of opinion. That is totally undemocratic. I think what has taken the biggest knock in India is the idea of individual liberty, also the idea of seeing the government as a government by discussion and seeing people as more than voters who come and go.
RM: Other institutions in India today see a threat to their autonomy, their independence. How do we view that?
AS: Yes, that is a serious issue. Why is it that unlike China, unlike Korea and unlike many other countries, India doesnt have world-class universities? One reason is that universities in India do not have the academic autonomy that encourages them to do what they can. My little effort to do that in Nalanda has come to a sad end.
RM: But our prime minister wants to build world-class universities with all kinds of autonomy.
AS: Dont say autonomy. Because they dont understand autonomy. I happen to be the head of a college, namely Trinity, which has done a lot, more than any college in the world. It was not run by the government. It was run autonomously. In fact, as master, the persons who could remove me were my colleagues, who could get together and, with a majority vote of no-confidence, they could sack me. Thats autonomy. It is not the ministry or the minister who has looked into it and has decided to remove you. We want autonomy, you are doing right with autonomy and there you go, snap! Thats not autonomy. Thats not the way to run a university.
RM: Its very easy to blame the government or its leader, but the university systems in India have failed to evolve.
AS: Ill have to disagree. It is not that easy to criticise the government. People are genuinely afraid. I have seen it among people. After what happened in Hyderabad, JNU and Jodhpur, they have reasons to be afraid. So, its not so easy.
RM: Also, the reality is that Indias elite is no longer invested in Indias education system. All their children go abroad.
AS: They want their children to have the best education they can get. And they dont get it here but that doesnt solve the problem. If you have to reconstruct it, and that was my hope in Nalanda (university), which didnt happen and obviously, it will not happen in my lifetime. Hopefully, it will happen under some other leadership, some other time. (My hope) was to build something, which has the autonomy that ancient Nalanda had. So that people would choose to go there. We have to think about what makes the parents decide what is best for their kid and what is best for the advancement of education. And that requires giving the universities autonomy.
RM: How can a more informed discussion about the things you talk about in your book help overcome the issues you are highlighting?
AS: We could draw attention to these questions and have a discussion. The public discussion was very big in the 18th century, with Adam Smith, David Hume, Mary Wollstonecraft the pioneering feminist and probably the most underestimated of the Enlightenment thinkers. They were all keen on public discussion and then came John Stuart Mill. All that requires to be integrated into our thinking of democracy. If there are analytical and mathematical complexities, solve them, rather than stare at them and put your foot down and contemplate your navel. That is what the book is about.
RM: You write about the lively debates in universities and colleges like Harvard, Trinity and how they also shape policy decisions. We dont see that happening much in India.
AS: Well, if you give an opportunity it will happen. I was teaching in the Delhi School of Economics and we had a lot of discussion among students, among the faculty we had differences. We were lucky to have CD Deshmukh as vice chancellor and he was lucky to have a tolerant government. We made so many departures, including people taking attendance all that went. We were the first to stop it in India. We made a number of departures, many of them led by students. Some of those students are (now) academics, big figures in the political economy discussions today. But they were not being silent. There are lively discussions when the opportunity is there.
RM: And that opportunity is no longer there. What would be your message to the current leader of the country?
AS: When I have things to say I dont address the current leader, I address the people. If democracy means anything, it is that in order to bring about a change it has to be through talking to the people. And that is why dissidence being allowed is so important; people not being arrested for being anti-national is important. That is the heart and soul not only of democracy, but of successful living in the modern world. (For full interview go to
rajesh.mahapatra@hindustantimes.com
EXTRACT
Important matters must not be decided by one person
Collective Choice and Social Welfare - Expanded edition, Amartya Sen, Penguin, Rs418; 591 pages
Ashoka, the Indian emperor, who hosted the third and the largest Buddhist Council in the third century BC in Patna (then called Pataliputra), the capital city of the Indian empire, also tried to codify and propagate what were among the earliest formulations of rules for public discussion (some kind of early version of the nineteenth-century Roberts Rules of Order ). To consider another historical example, in early seventh-century Japan, the Buddhist Prince Shotoku produced the so-called constitution of seventeen articles, in AD 604. The constitution insisted, much in the spirit of the Magna Carta (to be signed six centuries later in 1215), that: Decisions on important matters should not be made by one person alone. They should be discussed with many. Indeed, the importance of public discussion was a recurrent theme in the history of many countries in the non-Western world, and the understanding of democracy went well beyond the perspective of ballots and elections.
From acknowledging the relevance of global history we must not, however, move to the presumption that we cannot break from the past to initiate a radical political departure. Indeed, new political initiatives have always been needed in different ways across the world. We do not have to be born into a tradition of democratic history to be able to choose that way today. The significance of history in this respect lies rather in the more general understanding that established traditions continue to exert some influence on peoples ideas and imagination, that they can inspire or deter, and that they have to be taken into account, whether we are moved by them, or wish to resist or transcend them.
It is not, therefore, surprising though it does deserve clearer recognition today that in the fight for democracy led by visionary and fearless political leaders across the world (such as Sun Yat-sen, Jawaharlal Nehru, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King or Aung San Suu Kyi), an awareness of local as well as world history has played an important constructive part. In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela describes how impressed and influenced he was, as a young boy, by seeing the democratic nature of the proceedings of the local meetings that were held in the regents house in Mqhekezweni:
Everyone who wanted to speak did so. It was democracy in its purest form. There may have been a hierarchy of importance among the speakers, but everyone was heard, chief and subject, warrior and medicine man, shopkeeper and farmer, landowner and laborer.
Mandelas understanding of democracy was hardly aided by the political practice that he saw around him in apartheid-based South Africa, run by people of European origin, who, it may be recalled, used to call themselves by the cultural term European rather than just white. In fact, the European culture of Pretoria had little to offer to Mandelas comprehension of democracy. His discernment of democracy came, as is abundantly clear from his autobiography, from his knowledge and understanding of global ideas as well as local African practice.
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What is wrong with the Congress? For one last time, I thought of asking that question just as the party had to bite the dust in yet another election the panchayat polls in Odisha. According of the unofficial results, the Congress won just 66 of the 849 zilla parishad seats where elections were held, while the BJP saw its tally grow nearly 9-fold from 36 in the last elections to 306, riding on the growing dissatisfaction against chief minister Naveen Patnaiks Biju Janata Dal.
The BJD still won the majority of seats, but with a narrower margin compared to 2012 when it had won 651 seats.
Last week, I wrote about how the BJP catapulted itself from a marginal player in Odishas politics to taking the effective space of principal opposition. In this edition of Deep Cut, I look at why and how the Congress not only missed the opportunity, but also precipitated its decline in the state that it once ruled for decades.
There can be no better example than Odisha to demonstrate the 3D syndrome denial, delusion and degeneration that has been ailing Indias grand old party.
The first signs of the Congress losing ground in Odisha came ironically with its winning the state elections in 1995 with a slender majority and a vote share less than 40% in a mostly bipolar contest. Janaki Ballabh Patnaik became the chief minister, but he never enjoyed the confidence of the partys central leadership, which wanted to promote a tribal leader.
The intent was noble, but no politician from western Odisha had evolved enough to provide effective leadership at the state level. Patnaik was replaced by Giridhar Gamang, a nine-time MP from Koraput, but he failed to administer the state as also to counter the formidable opposition that was building up through an alliance of the BJP and BJD. The latter would then go on to deliver a humiliating defeat to the Congress in the elections held a year later, 2000, marking the beginning of a downhill journey that got worse with each passing election in the state.
Sample this: Between 2000 and 2014, the partys vote share in the Odisha assembly elections has steadily fallen from 35% to 25%, its local leadership has changed as many as seven times and not one leader has emerged to be considered a potential chief minister. Its strength in the 147-seat assembly has dwindled to just 16 and it couldnt get a single MP elected from any of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. The number of assembly seats in which its candidates forfeited their deposits increased from seven in 2000 to 40 in 2014, meaning in one out four assembly seats the party couldnt win one-sixth of the votes polled.
And all this while, the party has been in a state of denial and delusion, letting degeneration set in. Its leaders neither understand the politics of the state nor have they cared to fix the issues flagged by local party workers. The outcome of the panchayat polls showed that the rot has set in at every level. If Naveen Patnaik took advantage to expand his partys footprint in the past one-and-a-half decades, it is now the BJPs chance to make the most of it.
As a disillusioned Congress worker from the state told this writer, people in Odisha are ready to vote against Naveen, but you need to ask them to vote for you and there is no one from the Congress to ask for votes. That is a story that holds true for the Congress not just in Odisha but in many parts of the country.
The author is Chief Content Officer, Hindustan Times.
Follow the author @rajeshmahapatra
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Elderly parents can now throw out their abusive and greedy children from a self-acquired home by simply complaining to the deputy commissioner, rather than going to police or filing a lawsuit which is a time-sapping process.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government amended the Delhi maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens rules, 2009, allowing senior citizens to approach the area deputy commissioner with complaints against children.
If the DC finds that the son, daughter or legal heir of a senior citizen is not caring for him or ill-treating him, and yet occupying his self-acquired property, a notice will be issued to the accused party. The son or heir will get a chance to explain which, if found unsatisfactory, will lead to an eviction notice, an official said.
Before the Delhi government amended the rules, aggrieved parents could approach police to file a criminal complaint against any torture or ill-treatment by their children, or go to a civil court for justice.
But the judicial process is painfully slow as Indian courts are saddled with a backlog of millions of cases, officials said. It takes a court five to 10 years to reach judgment.
Read | Till property tear us apart: Why children are taking their old parents to court
The amended rules put the responsibility on deputy commissioners to verify an elderly parents complaint and evict a son or daughter within 21 days.
Reports of cruelty by children towards their ageing parents abound in this city of more than 16 million people, out of which about 1.15 million were above 60, according to the 2011 census. Most of the abuses are related to property and savings.
The governments move is in line with the Delhi high courts ruling last November that a son, irrespective of his marital status, has no legal rights to live in his parents self-acquired house, but can do so only at their mercy.
The judgment is for a parents self-acquired house, not to be confused with a Hindu persons birthright to ancestral property.
The high court upheld a trial court order, which has ordered a man and his wife to vacate a house after their parents sought their removal. The son and daughter-in-law claimed they were co-owners of the property, but couldnt prove it in court.
The new rules, notified by the Delhi governments social welfare department, clearly define the procedure for registration of a complaint with a deputy commissioner, and the process of eviction as well as the appeal against the action.
The deputy commissioner shall forward a complaint to sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) for verification of the propertys title deeds within a fortnight.
Read | Old and alone: Why do senior citizens have to retire hurt?
If the SDM finds the complaint genuine, establishing the authenticity through hard evidence such as official documents about a self-acquired home, the deputy commissioner will issue an order within another week. The divisional commissioner will hear an appeal against the eviction order.
The entire process, from receiving a complaint to execution of the order, must be completed within 21 days, an official said.
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In the wake the recent clashes at DUs Ramjas College, Ambedkar University in the national capital has postponed an event to mark the 26th anniversary of the alleged Kunan-Poshpora mass rape in Kashmir, stating times are bad for university as a place for free speech.
On February 23, Ambedkar University and an NGO Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) were to organise an event to observe the Kashmiri Womens Day of Resistance on the 26th anniversary of the alleged mass sexual violence unleashed by the army against the villagers of Kunan and Poshpora in Kashmir.
Less than 24 hours before the event, the speakers were sent an email informing them that the seminar has been postponed.
The AUD administration want some changes in the shape of the event from the faculty and we will do that and reschedule a date and place sometime in March as you can see the times are bad for the university as a place for free speech and free discussions and critical engagements in our society, the university said in an email to the speakers of the seminar.
Gowhar Fazili, a scholar who was supposed to present a paper entitled Familial Grief, Resistance and the Political Imaginary in Kashmir, confirmed receiving the email.
The institutions, academicians and activists buckle before the Right-wing threats with such ease, he told PTI.
Other speakers of the seminar were Bhavneet Kaur from Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, who was slated to speak on The politics of emotion: womens narratives of memory, resistance and the Everyday in Kashmir, Vanessa Chishti, OP Jindal University-the womans question in Kashmir, Iffat Fatima, director of documentary Khoon Div Baarav and Essar Batool, co-author of Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora.
Delhi Universitys Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP workers. 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.
Soldiers of Armys 4-Rajputana Rifles had allegedly raped over 40 women in Kunan and Poshpora villages during the intervening night of February 23-24 in 1991
A large section of students and teachers in Delhi University are already out protesting against the governments move to give autonomy status to colleges. Their main contention is that this is a step towards privatisation, in the light of University Grants Commission (UGC) fund cuts by the Union ministry for human resource development.
Explaining how the move will lead to privatisation, Rajesh Jha, a teacher at Rajdhani College, said, Once colleges become autonomous, the trusts running the colleges will have the right to set up similar institutions anywhere in the country with self-financing courses. Using the brand names of these DU colleges that have a long legacy and history, the government is trying to push privatisation, with trusts being the owners of the colleges, and the university no longer being a part of the administration.
In DU, it is mostly the trust-run colleges that have been asked to apply for the autonomous colleges. There are 24 trust-run colleges under DU.
Teachers also added that this will destroy public-funded institutions, as after the autonomy the UGC will not provide continuous funds. The UGCs 12th plan says that the fund given by commission as autonomous grant cannot be used for creation of posts, payment of salary to any of the college staff, payment of honorarium, or to meet normal college contingency requirement or to subsidies.
It also adds that the examination fee should be fixed so that income from fee can meet the expenditure on examinations and other staff appointed in examination cell.
At present, UGC gives 95% of funds for trust-run colleges, only 5% is contributed by the trusts themselves. If the UGC fund is withdrawn, then the trust will have to levy exorbitant fee on students. We are not at all in favour of this, said Nandita Narain, president of Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA).
A principal of a renowned college said that the DU colleges have been flourishing under the brand name of the university.
There is no need for the colleges to go forward with this system. What will happen to poor students who can presently think about studying in any DU college if they perform well? asked a principal, on condition of anonymity.
Teachers representatives have said they will oppose this move in the executive council meet scheduled for Tuesday.
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The birth of twin boys, Laksh and Neeshu, in December 2013 had brought immediate good luck to their grandfather, Mohan Singh. The 68-year-old former employee of an airline had been battling cancer for over five years, but within weeks of the twins birth, doctors told him that the cancer was in remission.
While Singh struggles to cope with the news of his grandsons drowning in a washing machine at their home in Avantika in Rohini on Saturday, he wants his loss to be a lesson for others.
Who would have thought that a harmless thing like a washing machine could be unsafe? My grandsons brought me luck with their birth. In death, they have taught people to always remain alert, even with the most harmless of appliances, he told HT on Sunday.
A sense of shock and disbelief prevailed in the locality on Sunday, over 24 hours after the three-year-old boys were found dead inside their semi-automatic washing machine. Neighbours and relatives lined up to the visit the boys parents who have been falling unconscious on and off after learning of the accident.
Neighbours remembered the boys as friendly, curious and intelligent. There is not one person in the neighbourhood who has not played with the boys. They were intelligent enough to realise who was a friend and who was a stranger. Neither of them would ever accept food from a stranger, said Devender, the boys uncle.
Suresh Jain, a neighbour, said he remembered a recent incident when the boys came out of their home with Rs10 in each of their hands. I tried to jokingly trick them into parting with their money, but they would not open their fists. We still cant believe such intelligent boys could have drowned in such a situation, said Jain.
Their mother, Rakhi, had taken off the boys clothes on Saturday afternoon and was preparing them for a bath. She had already filled the washing machine with water to wash clothes, when she realised there was no detergent. She went down to buy it. When she returned, she did not find her children. Fearing that the boys were kidnapped, she called up her relatives and husband, Ravinder, who works in Punjabi Bagh as a manager with Kotak Mahindra. The family launched a search in and around the neighbourhood, as they were sure that the boys were not in the house.
Ravinder took almost 30 minutes to get back home and headed straight to the house. He took a quick look in the house before heading to his neighbours home to check the CCTV footage. Once he was sure that the boys had not walked out, he ran back to his home to take a quick look inside, said the boys uncle, Raj Kumar.
It was while he was casually peeping in the bathroom that he noticed his sons legs popping out of the washing machine kept in the bathroom. He pulled them out before rushing them to a hospital where doctors declared them brought dead.
The children came to this world naked. It is our misfortune that they did not have clothes on them even while leaving this world, rued their grandfather.
Two men who had kidnapped a child for ransom killed the 7-year-old by throwing him into the Yamuna river when they feared that he would raise an alarm.
The two men Vikas and Arya, both residents of Karawal Nagar in north east Delhi were arrested Saturday morning after the father of the child informed police about receiving a ransom call. The two accused are employed and did odd jobs.
Police said that on the afternoon of February 20, when the child was playing outside his house, one of the kidnappers Arya, a neighbour lured the child away with the promise of chocolates and a ten-rupee note. Arya confessed that after kidnapping the child, he contacted his associate Vikas. The two then took the child to a room they had taken on rent in Mori Gate.
Explaining why the two killed the child an officer said that the boy had started crying and asked them to take him home. They confessed that the child was crying incessantly. They managed to get the child to sleep but the following morning they took him to the Old Yamuna Bridge in ISBT promising to show him fish in the river. At the bridge, they pushed the child into the river and returned home, said an officer.
The kidnappers then made a ransom call to the boys father who works at a pharmacy. The two demanded a ransom of Rs 2 Lakh for the childs safe return and instructed the boys father to keep the money in an open field near their home. Our team was alert and we had laid a trap. We did not know then that they had already murdered the kid. They did not come to the open fields but we managed to arrest them using technical surveillance, the officer said.
During interrogation, Vikash and Arya confessed that since the boy lived in a joint family, they thought paying a ransom of Rs 2 Lakh would not be difficult for the family. Vikas reportedly confessed that they had not anticipated that kidnapping a 7-year-old would be a problem.
On Sunday afternoon, more than 24 hours after police launched a search, the childs body was recovered from the river bank near Geeta Colony. Police said at least five motorboats were used to find the childs body.
Finding the body was important evidence to nail these men. Without a body, the case would have been weak. We will build a strong case and ensure that justice is done, the officer said.
Two years ago, 32-year-old Prahlad (name changed) and his wife had come to Delhi from Bihars Samastipur in search of livelihood and a better future for their two children a daughter aged two and a one-year-old son.
Prahlad and his wife had no proper education, hence the job they could find was that of daily-wage labourers at construction sites of Delhi Development Authoritys (DDA) housing project in outer Delhis Narela. Though their income was less, it did not deter them from planning the education of their children.
On Thursday, all their dreams were however shattered after their four-year-old daughter was kidnapped, raped and murdered by their 16-year-old neighbour inside an under-construction building in the area.
Read: Delhi: One girl raped every 12 hours, one crime against kids every hour
To cover his tracks and the girls identity after, the accused also smashed the face and head of his victim with a heavy concrete block.
Locals said the boy was allegedly trying to bury the girls body with concrete blocks when the girls three-year-old friend saw him and raised an alarm.
Though the teenager was caught, thrashed and later handed over to the police, the gruesome crime has left the girls parents shocked, enraged and distressed. So much so that they do not even want to pursue the case or seek justice for their dead daughter.
The parents of the girls said they had no faith on the police or the judicial system.
Justice, they said, is delivered only to the rich and poor people like them would never get it.
We poor people will get nothing out of this fight for justice. My daughter is dead. She will not come back. I am a simple daily wage labourer who has to work day and night to feed my family. Nobody will fight for us. And even if they do, she will not come back, said the father.
The police said they were probing the case, but I have no hopes from them. We wanted to send our children to school but God had something else in store for my daughter. We are tragedy-stricken and do not want to stay in this city anymore, the father said.
Workers at the construction site told HT that Prahlad had not turned up at work ever since the incident. They said he was finding it difficult to cope with the loss.
The girls mother fell ill because she had been constantly crying and mourning her daughters death. Seeing her condition brought tears in our eyes as well. She was inconsolable. We later called her brother who took her to a hospital, said Rajesh Kumar, a neighbour.
The family lives in a single room makeshift accommodation allotted to them by the construction company.
On Saturday, when HT visited, the room was found locked from outside. Some clothes worn by the girl were found dangling on a plastic rope outside. Locked in a cage right outside the main door was a parrot that looked hungry and agitated.
While others in the neighbourhood seemed to be in a state of shock, the girls three-year-old brother was spotted playing with his friends, clueless about his sisters death. He is too young to understand the tragedy his family is going through, said Riyaz, another labourer.
In a road rage incident, three assailants attacked a 29-year-old Delhi businessman, who is to be married soon, and bit his nose off, for allegedly riding on the wrong side of the road in north Delhis Lahori Gate area.
Vijay Kumar, owns a food colouring unit behind Novelty Cinema in the area, was returning home at around 9 pm after making some purchases for his March 4 wedding.
Near Novelty Cinema, Kumar had taken a U-turn on his Innova car to escape a traffic jam when the three assailants, Vishal, Dhiraj and Vipin took him on.
Accusing him of driving on the wrong side of the road, the trio pulled him out of his car and allegedly beat him up before Dhiraj allegedly bit off the left side of his nose, police said.
A cart-puller who tried to intervene also had his hand bitten off by the accused.
Kumar was taken to a nearby hospital from where he was rushed to Fortis Hospital for treatment.
Attempts to retrieve the lost part of his nose have failed and doctors have suggested that he undergo a maxo-facial surgery for the reconstruction of his nose.
The accused have been arrested and charged under relevant sections.
Delhi University associate professor Prasanta Chakravarty, who was allegedly beaten up by students during clashes at Ramjas College last week, was rushed to a hospital after he passed out with a shooting abdominal pain on Sunday.
In a post on a social networking site, Chakravarty said he was taken to the emergency department of the Fortis in Noida and diagnosed with contusion and concealed spasms on the right abdomen and on spinal extensor muscles.
This means the abdominal region and spinal muscles had bruised due to rupturing of the thin blood vessels and had involuntary muscular contraction, doctors said.
Effected by heavy boot kicks perhaps. a couple of ribs also impaired--will require protracted treatment. pain needs to abate first now. intravenous meds and drips on. if that does not work, other possibilities will be explored. MLC report of Feb 22 followed up by the hospital authorities (sic), the professor posted.
Injuries he sustained to the ribs would need prolonged treatment, sources said.
Chakravarty was injured when a clash between two groups of students, one led by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and another by the All India Students Association (AISA), turned violent on Wednesday.
When contacted for his reaction, Chakravarty said he was not in a physical condition to hold conversation.
Sources said he was brought to the hospital at 6.30am and he left at 8.15am.
His x-rays and ultrasound were normal and he was in stable condition. The injuries are not serious, but he has muscular sprain, which can be very painful. All we need to do is pain management, said a hospital spokesperson.
Chakravarty was taken to Bara Hindu Rao hospital earlier on Wednesday after being roughed up by suspected ABVP members.
He had then told HT, I was beaten up by 15 people, possibly ABVP members... I was at the site to express my solidarity with the protesting students.
The ABVP refuted the allegations of attacking teachers and students. These are false allegations. No one among us indulged in any violent activity. Our opposition was to people who had raised slogans for freedom of Kashmir, said Satinder Awana, former Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) president.
Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) member Abha Dev Habib said Chakravarty, who was planning to join classes from Monday, might have to defer the joining.
Four contract killers, who allegedly committed three triple murders in Haryana in less than three years, were arrested late on Saturday night after a brief gun battle with the police near Pacific Mall in west Delhi.
Vijay Kumar, DCP (west), said the accused have revealed their involvement in 8-10 other murders, some of them for a price as high as 2 crore.
Their latest contract killing of alleged Haryana gangster Sandeep Badwasaniya and his two associates on February 11 in Sonipat, had fetched them 3-4 crore, the DCP said. Two of these four men were carrying rewards of R 50,000 each on their arrests.
The arrested men have been identified as Sushil, Amit, Sunil and Ramesh, all residents of Sonipat in Haryana. They were found carrying two pistols and 32 mobile phones at the time of their arrest.
These contract killers carried out high value killings. We are verifying their past records and the details of their involvement in the three triple murders and 8-10 other contract killings, said the DCP.
The four men were allegedly planning a crime in the national capital when the west Delhi police received a tip-off about their presence in the district. They had come to Delhi to kill someone with connections in Haryana, said Dependra Pathak, special CP.
A team was immediately formed and a trap laid near Pacific Mall in Subhash Nagar. At 11.55 pm, a white Fortuner car of the description provided by the informer was seen heading towards Gauri Shankar Temple in Khyala from the traffic signal in Subhash Nagar. There were six persons inside.
When the policemen tried to stop the car, the occupants of the SUV allegedly fired at least thrice and rammed the police barricades. The police returned the fire and nabbed the suspects after a brief chase, but the alleged gang leader, Vicky, and one other person managed to escape. No one was hurt in the brief gun battle.
During their interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to their involvement in three triple murders, one each in the last three years. The Haryana Police have been informed about the arrests.
Two men who had kidnapped a child for ransom, allegedly killed the seven-year-old by throwing him into the Yamuna river. The kidnappers were reportedly scared that the child would raise an alarm.
The two men Vikas and Arya,both residents of Karawal Nagar in north east Delhi, were arrested after the childs informed police about receiving a ransom call.
Police said that on the afternoon of February 20, when the child was playing outside his house, Arya, who is their neighbour, lured the child into following him for chocolates and a Rs 10 note. Arya confessed that after kidnapping the child, he contacted his associate Vikas. The two then took the child to a room they had taken on rent in Mori Gate.
Explaining why the two killed the child an officer said that the child had started crying and asked them to take him home. They confessed that the child was crying a lot. They managed to get the child to sleep but the following morning they took him to the Old Yamuna Bridge in ISBT promising to show him fish in the river. At the bridge, they pushed the child into the river and returned home, said an officer.
The two returned home and made a ransom call to the boys father who works at a pharmacy store. The two demanded a ransom of Rs 2 Lakh for their childs safety and demanded that the money be kept in an open field near their home. Our team was alert and we had laid a trap. We did not know then that they had already murdered the kid. They did not come to the open fields but we managed to arrest them using technical surveillance, said a senior officer.
During interrogation, Vikash and Arya confessed that since the boy lived in a joint family, they thought paying a ransom of Rs 2 lakh would not be difficult for the family. Vikas reportedly confessed that they had not anticipated that kidnapping a seven-year-old would be a problem.
On Sunday afternoon, more than 24 hours after police launched a search, the childs body was recovered from the Yamuna banks near Geeta Colony. Police said at least five motorboats were used to find the childs body. Finding the body was important evidence to nail the men. Without a body, the case would have been weak. We will build a strong case and ensure that justice is done.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar will address two rallies in the national capital ahead of the municipal polls, where his party, the Janata Dal (United), will contest all the 272 seats, taking on the Aam Aadmi Party on its home turf.
The partys Delhi in-charge Sanjay Jha announced it at an event where a few district-level AAP workers, mainly from east Delhi, joined the JD(U), accusing the AAP of neglecting Poorvanchalis in ticket distribution for election to the three units of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
Jha said the JD(U) aims to tap the discontent among the AAPs Poorvanchali voters base.
He said the Poorvanchalis in Delhi have been let down by the Arvind Kejriwal government despite having extended every possible backing to it over the last two years.
Nitish Kumar will address two rallies, one each in north and south Delhi after Holi. The first list of our candidates will be out within a week, he said.
The BJPs decision to appoint Bhojpuri artiste Manoj Tiwari as its Delhi unit chief is also being seen as an attempt to woo the Poorvanchali community, comprising people from the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The Delhi unit of JD(U) was constituted during Kumars visit here on December 3 last year.
Jha brushed aside Kumars perceived closeness with Kejriwal, saying the JD(U) will work for expanding its base and work towards ensuring fair representation of the Poorvanchali population.
The AAP had supported the JD(U) in the 2015 Bihar assembly polls and the two parties often cooperate in Parliament.
The AAP has already released its first list of 109 candidates, which includes 49 women. The party is eyeing to wrest power of the civic bodies from the BJP.
Vinod Jha, who was among the ones who joined the JD(U), claimed that the AAP will lose support of the Poorvanchalis owing to its denial of tickets to people of the region.
They had committed that they will provide at least one ticket to a Poorvanchali in each of the assembly constituencies, he said.
A team of Gurgaon police will conduct searches in Patna, Bihar, in a bid to nab the mastermind of the fake call centre racket that allegedly duped hundreds of people in Gurgaon. Police suspect that the prime accused is hiding in Bihar.
Gurgaon crime branch is following a lead an address at which a laptop purchased by the accused from an e-retailer was delivered. An account in which they parked the money siphoned from people was used for the purchase. The laptop was purchased from e-retailer Amazon and delivered to an address near Patna, police said. Police have collected additional details from the online portal.
Anand Kumar, in-charge, cyber crime cell, Gurgaon, said the accused had bought the laptop from Amazon, and got it delivered to an address in Bihar. The account used to buy the laptop was also used for transferring money. There is a strong reason to suspect that this address could be of the prime accused or someone related to the mastermind, Kumar said.
The fake call centre allegedly operated by the accused from Delhi managed to dupe more than 500 persons in Gurgaon and Delhi.
On Sunday, one of the accused, Amit, was produced in the court after his three-day remand period was over.
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From a whimsical Hollywood musical to a lyrical, coming-of-age tale about a black man growing up in Miami and a blood-soaked war movie, the contenders for best picture at this years Oscars offer an array of stories.
Here is a brief summary of the nine films vying for the top prize at Sundays Oscars ceremony:
La La Land
This image released by Lionsgate shows Ryan Gosling, right, and Emma Stone in a scene from, La La Land. (AP)
Damien Chazelles romantic musical La La Land is a love letter to old Hollywood that has racked up a record-tying 14 nominations.
The blockbuster stars Ryan Gosling as a struggling jazz musician and Emma Stone as an aspiring actress. It tracks the couples romantic and professional ups and downs against the backdrop of a dreamy, technicolor Los Angeles.
The movie is currently the favourite for the coveted Best Picture award. It is expected to win in several other categories, including best original song, best director and best score. Stone and Gosling are also nominated.
Moonlight
This image released by A24 Films shows Alex Hibbert in a scene from the film, Moonlight. The film is nominated for an Oscar for best picture. (AP)
Barry Jenkinss poetic drama Moonlight is a sweeping tale of human self-discovery that covers three chapters in a young black mans life in Miami.
Based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, the film racked up eight nominations including for Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris in the supporting actor categories, writing, directing and cinematography.
Hidden Figures
Theodore Melfis biographical comedy-drama Hidden Figures is the little-known story of three female African-American mathematicians who played a key role in NASAs early space program.
The film, which stars Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae, is up for three Oscars including best picture and best adapted screenplay.
Lion
Garth Daviss moving real-life drama Lion tells the extraordinary true story of a boy called Saroo who gets lost at a railway station in India, is adopted by a couple in Tasmania -- and then heads home two decades later to find his long-lost family.
The movie has earned six Oscar nominations, including two for best supporting actors -- Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman -- and for best adapted screenplay and cinematography.
Manchester by the Sea
Kenneth Lonergans visceral family drama Manchester by the Sea tells the story of a handyman in Boston who heads back to his hometown to take care of his nephew after the boys father dies.
There, he is forced to reckon with a past tragedy and try to move forward.
The movie, starring Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, is up for six Academy Awards including best actor (Affleck), best original score and best supporting actor (Lucas Hedges).
Hacksaw Ridge
Mel Gibsons searing World War II drama Hacksaw Ridge marks the filmmakers return into Hollywoods good graces after a decade in the wilderness over accusations of anti-Semitism and homophobic slurs.
The film, which has received six Oscar nods, tells the true story of Desmond Doss, played by Andrew Garfield, who enlists and is determined to save lives on the frontline, but refuses to carry a gun on moral grounds.
Hell or High Water
British filmmaker David Mackenzies neo-Western crime thriller Hell or High Water tells the story of two brothers who come up with a desperate scheme to save their familys ranch in Texas.
Jeff Bridges plays crotchety Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton, who is looking for one last big scalp before retiring and figures out there is more to the bank heists than meets the eye.
The movie earned six nominations including for best supporting actor (Bridges) and best original screenplay.
Fences
Actor Denzel Washington arrives at the 89th Oscars Nominee Luncheon in Beverly Hills. (REUTERS)
Denzel Washingtons Fences tells the story of an African American father trying to raise his family in the 1950s while struggling with his own past failures.
The film, a screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama by August Wilson, has earned four Oscar nods including for best supporting actress (Viola Davis) and best actor (Washington).
Both Washington and Davis are reprising their roles from the award-winning play in New York.
Arrival
Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuves alien visitation movie Arrival tells the story of a linguistics professor -- played by Amy Adams -- chosen to communicate with alien beings.
The sci-fi movie earned eight Oscar nods but surprisingly not one for Adams, who was widely expected to get a sixth nomination for her performance.
I was very disappointed, because she is the soul of the movie. She was my biggest ally. She gave everything, she gave a tremendous, very complex performance, Villeneuve, 49, told AFP at the Producers Guild Awards in January.
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Its no secret that La La Land is the big favourite to earn major Oscars glory on Sunday. But there are other stories sure to unfold on Hollywoods biggest night.
Here are five things to watch for:
Clean sweep for La La Land?
This image released by Lionsgate shows a dance scene from the Oscar-nominated film, La La Land. It's not easy to stage a successful dance scene for the cameras, especially on a highway interchange, but when such a scene works, it can be memorable. (AP)
La La Land, Hollywoods love letter to itself, heads into the Oscars with a record-tying 14 nominations.
The whimsical musical romance is favoured to win the most coveted best picture prize, beating out fellow frontrunners Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea, as well as six other nominees.
The film has already nabbed many of the top honours -- Golden Globes, BAFTAs, guild prizes -- leading up to the Academy Awards.
Should 32-year-old Damien Chazelle walk away with a statuette, he would be the youngest director ever to win an Oscar.
Will Oscars be Trumped?
Hosts John Mulaney (L) and Nick Kroll sing at the 2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica. (REUTERS)
Given the tension roiling the country since Donald Trump was elected president, it is all but sure that Sundays ceremony will have a tinge of politics.
The gala already took a political turn after Iranian director Asghar Farhadi -- nominated for best foreign language film for The Salesman, after his A Separation won in 2012 -- said he would not attend the ceremony following Trumps controversial travel ban targeting seven mainly-Muslim countries.
The films lead actress has also said she would snub the event, even though the travel order is currently on ice.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump likely would not watch the Academy Awards as he will be hosting the annual governors ball in Washington.
That does not necessarily mean, however, that the president wont take to Twitter to react to any Meryl Streep moment -- she hit out at Trump in a speech at the Golden Gloves that won praise and criticism.
A miffed Trump reacted by calling her overrated -- and Sunday might just be Streeps chance to respond.
Streep: another win on the cards?
Actress Meryl Streep arrives at the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California.
Streep received her 20th Academy Award nod this year for her starring role in Florence Foster Jenkins, besting her own record for the most acting nominations in Oscars history.
Should she win on Sunday, the 67-year-old actress will earn her fourth Oscar, tying her with Katharine Hepburn for the most Academy Awards in the best actress -- leading and supporting -- categories.
Oscars not so white
This image released by A24 Films shows Alex Hibbert in a scene from the film, Moonlight. (AP)
It has been a landmark year for diversity at the Oscars with African-American actors nominated in all the top categories.
The diverse slate of nominees will help the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences put to rest the #OscarsSoWhite controversy that has dogged the awards gala for the past two years.
However, a new Oscars hashtag -- #OscarsSoMale -- appears to be gaining steam, over the fact that a majority of speaking roles in films go to men.
Ultimate hosting test for Kimmel
A Jimmy Kimmel poster is seen outside the Dolby Theatre as preparations continue for the 89th Academy Awards in Hollywood. (REUTERS)
Comedian and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel will preside over the Oscars for the first time, and critics will be watching to see how he pulls it off in front of a television audience of tens of millions.
Kimmel, 49, faces the stiff challenge of keeping the more than three-hour show -- usually the most-watched non-sports telecast in the United States -- upbeat in a year where no major surprises are expected and where the Oscars So White controversy seems to be a thing of the past.
Ive come to terms with the fact that someone is going to be disappointed in me at the end, the emcee, who recently hosted the Emmys, told The New York Times in an interview published this week.
I just dont know who it will be yet.
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A young man was hacked to death for confronting a group that was hurling sexual abuses at some women performers in West Bengal, the state police said on Sunday.
Md. Mustakin, a resident of South 24-Paragana district, was attacked by a group of men on his way back home on Saturday night, a senior police official said.
According to Mustakins family, he was attacked because he confronted a group of men hurling obscene comments at female performers on Friday evening during a cultural programme on the occasion of Mahashivratri.
The police said they have already detained four people.
According to police records, the deceased (Mustakin) also had a criminal record. We are investigating the motive behind the murder, the official added.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to make a state visit to India later this year, Indias High Commissioner-designate to Canada Vikas Swarup said here on Saturday.
We expect the Canadian Prime Minister to visit India sometime later this year, Swarup, who served as the spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry, said on the occasion of his farewell party.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Canada in April 2015 during which India inked a multi-million-dollar deal for uranium to power its civilian nuclear programme for five years and also inked 13 agreements, including on skill development, following talks with then Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Modis was the first Indian prime ministerial visit to Canada in 42 years.
Justin Trudeau, the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, assumed office in November 2015.
Of Canadas population of over 35 million, around 1.3 million people are of Indian origin.
The Central Zoo Authority has fully backed a proposal to ban the use of elephants in circuses, a fading remnant of pre-liberalisation India.
The CZA has written to the chief wildlife wardens of the states to ensure the rehabilitation of the elephants which were in their possession.
The Central Zoo Authority fully supports proposal to stop use of elephants to perform in circuses, member secretary of the CZA D N Singh has written to the Environment Ministry.
He was referring to a communication between senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan and the ministry in this regard.
The CZA, which has been monitoring circuses that houses elephants in captivity since 2003, has de-recognised all but one circus previously recognised by it due to extreme cruelty and owing to violation of rules under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Prashanth V, a senior functionary of the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), said apart from those under the CZA, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has another 35 circuses under it while the total number, including the illegal ones, will be higher.
The CZA has also made it clear that it supports a ban on other performing animals and it has already urged the AWBI to initiate steps in this regard, he said.
The CZA letter states that since the circus owners have individual ownership certificate for elephants in their possession, these can be cancelled by the chief wildlife warden concerned, to facilitate their rehabilitation.
The ownership certificate of each elephant is issued by the chief wildlife wardens of the states under the provisions of the wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Indian elephants are listed in Schedule-I of the wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The performance of animals and their use in circuses is regulated by the AWBI.
A jawan of the elite CoBRA squad of the CRPF was injured in an encounter with Maoist rebels in Jharkhands Singhbhum district on Sunday morning.
At least five Maoist guerilla fighters also believed to have sustained bullet injuries in the gun battle with the joint forces of paramilitary forces, Jharkhand and West Bengal police in Ghatsila area.
The encounter ensued when the joint forces launched a massive manhunt in the area to capture secretary of the CPI Maoists Bengal committee Akash, who is carrying a reward of Rs 1 crore on his head.
Akash and his team of 10-12 fighters opened fire on the joint team near the Dharagiri waterfall, Singhbhum rural police superintendent Shailendra Burnwal told HT.
Akash is the last top Maoist leader holding the ground firmly in the Bengal-Jharkhand bordering areas, the police official said.
Wanted by both Jharkhand and West Bengal police, Akash, in his fifties, took over the control of the bordering areas of the two states after the death of the outfits politburo member Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji in an encounter in Jhargram in neighboring West Bengal in 2012.
Tents and utensils, apparently used by the Maoists, were recovered from the encounter site. Forces said they also found blood stains at the spot, which indicated that Maoists too suffered some casualties in the encounter.
The injured jawan was airlifted to Ranchi, where doctors at a private hospital were operating on his bullet injuries at the time of filing this report.
More than 200 Maoist cadres and leaders laid down arms before the Bengal police in the last four years. A similar number of rebels have also surrendered in Jharkhand. Five top leaders of the outfit were also killed in the past few months.
In the last one month alone, 16 Maoists laid down arms in Bengal while seven, including secretary of Bengal-Jharkhand-Odisha border area regional committee secretary Kanhu Ram Munda surrendered in Jharkhand.
Security Forces (BSF) were recently shocked to find that Bangladesh stamp paper -- printed only in government presses -- was used for counterfeiting Indian notes that were smuggled in bulk into the country through Bengal after demonetisation. The fake Indian currency notes (FICN) printed on stamp paper were of good quality and these copied most security features of the bonafide currency.
Earlier, it was believed that fake Indian currency was printed in Pakistan and most of which was routed into India through the Bangladesh-Bengal border.
BSF has already sent a report from Bengal to its headquarters in Delhi alerting them of the discovery.
If the seizure of fake currency within a few weeks of demonetisation shocked agencies such as BSF and police, the discovery that it was printed on stamp paper has come as a double whammy.
Experts have told us the fake notes were made using Bangladeshi stamp paper. The texture of the paper is good. Many of the security features have been successfully copied. The FICN seized is of good quality and difficult to tell from the bonafide ones, P S R Anjaneyulu, inspector general of BSF (South Bengal) told HT.
Shariful Shah, 32, who was arrested on February 19 in Malda with 48 fake notes of Rs 2,000 have admitted that he got the notes from Chapai Nawabganj in Bangladesh which is just across the border in Malda.
It seems that Bangladesh soil is used to manufacture counterfeit notes that is sneaked into India, mostly through Malda. However, we are also aware that a section of the notes are still being made in Pakistan, which is of the best quality and almost similar to real notes, said a senior BSF officer.
In the Rs 2,000 notes seized from Malda (printed in Bangladesh) about 10 of the 17 security features have been copied in the notes including the design, colour pattern, number pattern, see through water mark, portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, Swachh Bharat logo and slogan, motif of Magalayan (reflecting Indias first venture into interplanetary space).
There are deeper implications -- it is impossible to procure stamp paper in bulk except without active cooperation of a section of government employees.
If one has to buy a stamp paper in Bangladesh, one has to reveal identity similar to the process in India. So if the counterfeiters have to ensure a regular and bulk supply of the stamp paper, it is not possible without the collusion with a section of the government employees, remarked a source.
Earlier it was believed that FICN was manufactured in different parts of Pakistan. With the help of its intelligence agency ISI, the consignments used to reach Nepal and Bangladesh, from where a bulk was smuggled into Indian through the porous border of Malda district in north Bengal before spreading throughout India.
The stamp paper is of better quality, though a little bit thicker than the paper used earlier. It prevents the ink on one side to create an impression on the other.
Since the paper is of good quality it is easy to apply the water mark of Mahatma Gandhi on it. The colour print is also better and lasts long. Since the stamp paper increases the like of the notes, it remains fresh and does not trigger suspicion when it is eventually distributed in the markets in India, said a BSF source.
We are receiving full co-operation from Bangladesh government and its security forces to curb the menace, Anjaneyulu added.
BSF alone has seized counterfeit notes with face value of Rs 2.96 lakh in Malda district since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation on November 8 2016 culling 86% of the currency in circulation on November 8 last year.
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A major fire broke out near the Sree Padmanabha Swami temple here, one of the richest shrines in the country, early on Sunday.
According to fire department sources, the fire broke out at the western entrance of the temple and two offices of the archaeology department and a post office were completely gutted.
However, the temple is safe.
According to initial reports, the fire originated from a waste dump. Two fire force personnel were injured while controlling the inferno.
Officials said the fire was brought under control in one hour and the exact damage would be gauged later.
#SpotVisuals: Fire, which broke out near Padmanabhaswamy Temple (Kerala) damaging a godown & post office, under control; Enquiry ordered. pic.twitter.com/cVGM1rg1io ANI (@ANI_news) February 26, 2017
State temple affairs minister Kadakampally Surendran, who rushed to the spot, ordered an inquiry.
The incident has raised some questions about the safety of the ancient temple that is being controlled by an apex body named by the Supreme Court.
The 16th century temple, situated in the heart of the state capital, hit the headlines six years ago when one of the six secret vaults (later coded as A vault) was opened, unearthing vast amounts of wealth, roughly estimated at Rs one lakh crore, earning the shrine the richest tag. Since then, the temple security had been tightened.
Alleging pilferage, a retired IPS officer T P Sundararajan, who died three years ago, had fought many legal battles to inventory the temple assets.
In 2010, the Supreme Court had ordered inventorying and later divested the royal family from managing the temple affairs.
The SC-appointed expert team, which was required to assess the wealth, had classified the six chambers of the sanctum sanctorum as A to F.
Of these, two cellars are usually opened for pooja daily and two twice a year and the remaining two (A&B) are secret vaults.
Besides the expert panel, the temple audit authority head and former CAG, Vinod Rai had favoured the opening of the B vault to complete the task. Since the court had ordered strict confidentiality, none other than expert committee members have any definite idea about the recovered items.
Sources close to the temple claimed antique coins found in the chambers alone weighed more than 600 kg. Around 2 lakh items were documented and out of these 600 were embedded with precious gems.
One single locket alone is believed to contain 997 gems. Besides jewels, precious stones, necklaces, golden crowns and pots were also included in the list of inventory, sources said. A purity-testing machine was used to chart all metals according to its period and tested for purity.
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After 40 years, Gumara village in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh will witness the marriage of a girl born there.
The long wait is due to the cruel fact that the villagers did not allow a girl child to survive as they either killed it in the womb or soon after the birth.
A conspiracy of silence ensured no one complained to the authorities.The scenario started to change after 2003.
That is when the government effectively started implementing the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, enacted by Parliament in 1994.
According to the data provided by the women and child development department, the child sex ratio was 10:0 in 1995, 10:2 in 2001 and jumped to 10: 7 in 2011.
The lucky bride, Arti Gurjar, 18, is getting married in December this year. She was supposed marry in March, but the ceremony was postponed due to her Class 12 exams.
Another girl from the village Rachna Gurjar will also get married this year. I dont have many friends. There are just a few girls of my age in the village. So, I dedicate my whole time to my studies. I want to be a doctor and will continue my studies after the marriage, Arti said.
More than being excited about the impending celebration, the elderly men in the village are more interested in hiding it in a bid to gloss over the ugly truth most families in the village are guilty of killing at least one girl child. When HT team visited the village, Ramsaran Gurjar, a local resident, said it was a conspiracy hatched by some people to give the village a bad name.
But when asked about the last marriage being solemnised there, Ramsaran asked the team to leave the village.
However, the women and youngsters are excited to be a part of the celebrations. I have never seen any marriage of a girl in my village. I am very excited, said 16-year-old Akash Gurjar.
Womenfolk are obviously the happiest of the lot. For them freedom has come almost 70 years after India attained freedom.
Earlier, women in this village were scared of chuna (lime), milk and tobacco while delivering a baby, because if a girl child was born, these items were used to kill her. But now things have changed. The fear of the law and women in the village played an important role to bring about the positive change, said Rajeshwari Gurjar, 48.
Another village woman said, The girl child was treated not only as a burden but also inauspicious for the family. The villagers didnt allow any pregnant lady to come in contact with a woman who had given birth to a girl child. I gave birth to a girl child 20 years ago, the family members didnt dare to kill the girl child, but they forced me not to provide any food and care to her. My daughter died of starvation.
Women child and development department joint director Suresh Tomar said, After the enactment of the PCPNDT Act, things have changed. The catalyst was the arrest of a former sarpanch for killing his newborn baby-girl. Bhind is the only district in MP which has shown growth of 20 points in the sex ratio in the last census. But still it is the third worst district in the state in terms of poor child sex ratio, he said.
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Indias top diplomat will visit Washington this week for talks with the new US administration, an Indian foreign ministry official said on Sunday.
Foreign secretary S Jaishankar is expected to discuss with American officials Indias concerns over proposed US legislation that could make it harder for companies to replace American workers with those from India and other countries. Also expected to be on the agenda during Jaishankars four-day visit, which begins Tuesday, is safety for foreigners following a Kansas bar shooting that killed an Indian engineer and wounded another.
External affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said only that Jaishankar would be going to the US for talks, without offering details. News reports said Jaishankar would meet with Acting Deputy Secretary of State Tom Shannon and other US officials.
President Donald Trump has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the United States later this year.
US-India relations generally prospered under the Obama administration, but New Delhi will be hoping that Trump takes a tougher line on Pakistan, which receives substantial US aid. India and Pakistan are neighbours and have fought three wars.
However, Trumps strong stand against exporting US jobs has raised concerns in India, which has a thriving industry for American companies that offshore customer service call centres.
Shares of top Indian IT companies sank 2% to 4% on the Bombay Stock Exchange early this month in response to news of proposed US legislation that could make it harder for companies to replace American workers with those from countries like India.
Former Kerala Director General of Police T P Senkumar on Saturday moved the Supreme Court accusing the states Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of victimising him for carrying out impartial investigation in political killings in Kannur.
Soon after the LDF came to power in last May, Senkumar was removed from the top police post citing inaction in a case of brutal rape and murder of a law student, Jisha, in Kochi last year.
Senkumar was known in the police circle for his tough and no-nonsense approach, particularly in tackling political violence in Kannur, the north Kerala district notorious for clashes between left and right wing organisations that claimed many lives in the last one year.
In his plea, Senkumar said the CPI (M) was annoyed with him as he took prompt action in many cases related to political murders, including that of T P Chandrasekharan, Shukoor and Kadirur Manoj.
In Manoj and Shukoor murder cases police made CPI(M) district secretary P Jayarajan an accused. Both the cases are now being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Senkumar, a 1983-batch IPS officer, was replaced by Loknath Behra, a 1985 batch.
He said during his tenure as the police chief, only one political murder took place in the trouble-torn Kannur, but nine killings took place in the district after he left.
Earlier, Senkumar had moved the high court questioning the governments decision, saying he was transferred violating the guidelines of the apex court.
However, the HC refused to interfere saying it was an administrative matter.
The government then argued that he was shifted due to his failure to handle Puttingal fire tragedy and Jisha murder case.
The high court while hearing a political murder case had observed that in most of the cases poor workers always suffer while leaders remain safe and secure.
Rama Shankar Tiwari is chewing paan in the Kanhaipur kasba of Lambuha assembly constituency in Sultanpur.
He does not hesitate to offer an opinion about the elections, as Sultanpur prepares to vote on Monday. There is no alternative to Modiji. The country is secure. We are all getting food. He has sent cylinders to villages. What else do we want?
Lalit Mishra, a driver who works in Delhi but has returned home to his village, nods. The central and state government should be the same. And so we need BJP in Lucknow also.
Hundreds of kilometres away, in the Khatena bazaar of Bahraich district, Mahesh Kumar Dubey runs a small electronics shop, where he repairs laptops and downloads videos and songs on phones.
Modiji is committed to equality. He treats all of us alike. Look at Akhilesh. He abused such an international leader like Modiji and called him gadhe (donkey). Is this the way to talk?
Prabhat Awasthi, standing by the side, jumps in to say he was a part of a survey team for a Hindi news channel and travelled to 25 districts. Modiji ka chunaav hai. (This is Modijis election.) He is sweeping.
If the initial phases the UP assembly election were a completely seat-by-seat contest driven by local arithmetic so far, it is now turning into a larger competition driven by the Modi factor. Upper castes, particularly Brahmins, are playing a key role in constructing the Modi hawa.
But is this enough?
The SP-Congress alliance acknowledges the shift in dynamics, has a counter-strategy for the next three phases, and believes its advantage in the first two phases will still make it the single largest formation.
The Surge
The fact that upper castes would be BJPs core constituency in this election was well known.
But as we have moved eastwards, and as the election has progressed, they have become far more vocal in articulating this support. This is important because Brahmins in particular wield influence disproportionate to their numbersthey control the public square, and can shape opinion and media narratives.
Besides them, BJP also has the support of a multitude of non-Yadav OBC groups, making it a formidable bloc.
The BJPs own calculation, a top strategist says, is that 83% upper castes are voting for the party, and there is unprecedented consolidation.
A Brahmin journalist in Allahabad explains the surge. The natural preference of the Brahmin voter is BJP. It is only when the BJP does not have a winning combination that they look elsewhere. In this election, BJP is in the race. They seem to be winning, and so the Brahmin consolidation is behind it.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav pass under foliage as they take part in a joint roadshow in Allahabad last week. (AFP)
Acknowledgment of Shift
Top strategists of the SP-Congress alliance led by Prashant Kishor have closely been monitoring the shifts in preferences on a daily basis, and acknowledge there is indeed an increase in support.
But their figures are different.
A top strategist closely involved in the alliance campaign, drawing out data on his smartphone, says, The BJP had the support of about 65% upper castes on February 11. This shot up to about 73% by February 25. What you are catching on the ground is this spike. The BJP has also increased its support among non-Yadav OBCs by a couple of percentage points, from 56 to 58% or so.
The reasons for this shift are not very clear, though one explanation offered by the alliance camp is that it could be due to an anti-Yadav polarisation, more than any anti-Muslim polarisation.
But this, the alliance believes, is manageable. And for that, they have deployed all their resources in the next three phases.
The Counter
For one, in the next three phases, the alliance is putting up 45 upper caste candidates in 141 seats.
33 of these candidates are from the SP, 12 from Congress. Add another 5 Bania candidates, 4 from SP, one from Congress. So, over one-third of our candidates in the next three phases are upper caste. This cohort will play a major role in stopping the upper caste consolidation behind BJP. In those seats, the vote is sure to fragment, reveals the strategist.
He points out that as long as the upper caste vote for BJP remains around 65-70%, the alliance is still comfortable because this means it is getting one third of the upper caste votes, which added with Muslims and Yadavs is enough to see them through. It is when the consolidation increases beyond 70-72% that BJP ends up getting a decisive edge. The alliance upper caste candidates are meant to stop this.
Second, the alliance has deployed 300 non-Yadav OBC leaders of the SP and Congress in Purvanchal, for door-to-door campaigning in their caste pockets.
Kurmi, Kashyap, Rajbhar, Saini, Shakya leaders of both our parties are on the ground in the villages trying to stop the shift to BJP. We know a dominant share is with them. We have to ensure it does not increase, the strategist says. 22 of the 141 candidates from the alliance are non-Yadav OBCs.
The Early Edge
But even if the BJP does very well in the next three phases, alliance strategists claim it will still not be enough for them to make up for their losses in the initial phases.
For one, they say that Muslims and Yadavs have consolidated and this means that the alliance has close to 110 seats.
They live in concentrated areas. Dont underestimate this formidable combination. Without doing anything, over a hundred seats are in the bag, the strategist says.
In the next three phases, the alliance has put up 24 Yadav and 25 Muslim candidates.
But their other reason for confidence is the belief that they have a cushion, while the BJP does not.
They did very poorly in the first phase because of Jats, and in the second phase where polarisation benefited us in Muslim-concentrated areas. They are not sweeping any district with a large number of seats. Our performance in the third phase has also been underestimated, he said.
And so, the argument offered by the alliance is that even with a surge, BJP will get stuck at 120 seats or so, leaving the SP-Congress alliance close to the majority mark.
As the minds behind the campaign grapple with the maths in Lucknow, the ground is churning, ready for the final lap of UP elections.
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With the Uttar Pradesh election entering the final phase, the battle for votes in the countrys largest state has turned ugly.
Barbs, accusations are in free flow, so are acronyms even a quizmaster will struggle to keep up with them.
Addressing a poll rally in Meerut early this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took on rival parties, accusing them of corruption.
The war on SCAM
He asked the people to rid the state of SCAM Samajwadi (party), Congress, Akhilesh (Yadav) and Mayawati.
Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav hit back. SCAM, the SP chief said, meant Save Country from Amit Shah and Modi. For his alliance partner and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi SCAM was Service, Courage, Ability and Modesty.
Campaigning for the fifth phase of voting ended Saturday. Fifty-one constituencies, spread over 11 districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, will go to the polls on February 27.
Enters Kasab
The alphabet soup, in the meantime, gets thicker.
BJP chief Amit Shah, who is keen to replicate the partys Lok Sabha success in the state election, hit out at rivals with a Kasab jibe.
Ajmal Kasab was the lone Pakistani terrorist taken alive during the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He was hanged in Pune on November 21, 2012.
Until Uttar Pradesh gets rid of K-A-S-A-B, there will be no development in the state. Ka (in Hindi) is for Congress, Sa for Samajwadi Party and Ba for BSP, he said at a poll rally.
KASAB stood for Computers (Kamputer in Hindi), Smartphone And Behno ke liye dher saari yojnaye (plenty of schemes for sisters), said Kannauj MP Dimple Yadav, the wife of CM Akhilesh.
In Ka, the chief minister foretold BJPs defeat. Ka stood for kabootar (pigeon) and the people of the state would set your pigeons free, he said.
BSP leader and former chief minister Mayawati, too, joined the Kasab war, saying, There cannot be a bigger Kasab than him (Amit Shah).
She also had her take on the Prime Ministers name.
Narendra Damodardas Modi stood for Negative Dalit Man, she said at an election rally.
Modi had earlier said the BSP had come to mean Behenji Sampatti Party, raking up charges of corruption against Behenji, as Mayawati is popularly known.
Not taking kindly to its leaders throwing up with new acronyms, Mayawati said the BJP had turned into the Bharatiya Jumla Party.
Missing in action: The 3 Gandhis
The 2017 polls will also be remembered for three Gandhis staying away from Uttar Pradesh.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi didnt address any poll meeting in the state but released a video message for the voters in the Gandhi pocket boroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli on February 23, seeking support for her party. A day earlier, she wrote to the voters to defeat the forces that deprived them of the benefits of welfare schemes and snatched away everything from them.
Her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, also kept away from rallies though she joined her brother Rahul for a days campaign in Rae Bareli, Sonia Gandhis Lok Sabha constituency. She also addressed a meeting briefly.
The third Gandhi missing in action is from the same family but the other side of the fence.
BJPs Sultanpur MP Varun Gandhi, a cousin of Rahul and Priyanaka, has not campaigned, so far. He didnt figure in the list of partys star campaigners for the first two phases.
He was named in the third but chose to stay away. Varuns ties with party leadership are strained and the gulf seems to be widening though his mother, Maneka, is part of the Modi cabinet.
Other BJP leaders missing from the campaign include veterans Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.
Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan, too, has also not been to Uttar Pradesh, so far.
The most conspicuous of the absentees, however, is SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Mulayam was dislodged as the party chief by son Akhilesh ahead of the election, putting an end to months of bitter family feud.
Mulayam, who led the partys charge in 2012, has addressed a handful of meetings and that, too, in favour of his brother, Shivpal, who unsuccessfully battled Akhilesh for control of SP, and daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav.
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Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday condemned the killing of an Indian engineer in Kansas, saying the US government should respond to such incidents and take the strongest action.
USA should respond to this incident. American President and people of America, they should come out openly to condemn such actions...and then take strongest action. Also send a message that it is not acceptable, Naidu told reporters here.
These kind of incidents involving racial discrimination are shameful. They will dent the image of USA. So the US President, administration and civil societies should unequivocally respond and condemn such incidents. I as a central minister condemn such incidents, he said.
According to reports, the shooter who has been arrested, yelled get out of my country before opening fire on 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla and his Indian colleague Alok Madasani on Wednesday night.
Srinivas was killed while his friend was injured. 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 US state of Missouri.
Naidu said he spoke regarding the incident to his Cabinet colleague and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who gave appropriate directions to the Indian High Commission.
It is shocking that Kuchibhotla was shot dead in an alleged (case of) racial discrimination. It caused mental agony to all Indians. I express my sympathies to the bereaved family. The moment I came to know about the incident I spoke to Sushma Swaraj. She accordingly gave instructions to the Indian High Commission in USA, he said.
An Indian doctor recently freed from the clutches of the Islamic State has said that the dreaded terror group is very much interested in India, and wants to spread its ideology in the country.
Dr K Ramamurthy, who was captured by the Islamic State in Libya two years ago, told ANI in an exclusive interview that his captors were aware of India as well as its recent progress in the fields of education and economic growth. These ISIS people are well-educated youngsters who know about India and its development They are interested in India. They want to spread their ideology to other parts of the world, including India, he said.
The doctor said that though he was abused verbally by his captors, they refrained from doing him physical harm. They forced us to watch videos of what they did in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria and other places. The videos were a bit difficult to watch, Dr Ramamurthy said.
The doctor said he was asked to conduct surgeries in Islamic State hospitals. But I told them that as I was a 61-year-old man suffering from backache and nerve pain in my right leg, it was difficult to stand for more than 15 minutes at a stretch. I also informed them that I had no training in surgery. So they pulled me out of Mahakama jail and put in another. I saw all kinds of attacks there, Dr Ramamurthy said.
He claimed Islamic State cadre were a dedicated lot who strictly followed every rule prescribed for them. Most of them are youngsters. I saw suicide bombers as young as 10 years old. There were members above the age of 65 too, he said.
The doctor went on to thank the Centre, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, for getting him released. I am so thankful to our Prime Minister, his team, and other officials from the Indian Embassy. Ill never ever forget them. They helped me get to the embassy. These people worked so hard to pull me out of there, he added.
The doctor from Andhra Pradesh had been employed in Libya for the last 18 years. After embassy officials caught wind of his detention, he was whisked out of Libya to Istanbul on February 14 and later flown to India.
Keeping up with their plan to hold a big protest in Delhi on March 2 followed by gherao of the Parliament, Jats here at Jassia have started registrations for tractor-trolleys that will be used to march towards the national capital.
Jat leader Yashpal Malik had earlier said they will use only tractors or bullock carts to seal Delhi and make history to pressurise Centre for their demands.
The protesting committee said over 1,000 tractors have registered till now from across Haryana and will ferry the protesters to Delhi. Only a handful people from Haryana will go to Delhi on March 2, when we will announce date for Parliament gherao in the capital. We are yet to decide the final date, but it will be two-three days after Holi, Malik said.
All highways will be ours. GT Road, NH-10 will be taken care of by Haryana, while all other sides will be taken care of by protesters from UP and Rajasthan. Only our tractors will be visible on national highways of Delhi on that day. We will seal Delhi, AIJASS general secretary Ashok Balhara said.
Malik, taking the announcements further, said, Wherever the government tries to stop us, we will claim the road there and then.
Earlier on Sunday, all speakers coming on stage to address the large gathering came out in support of Sombir, who was slapped with a sedition case over his beheading remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The organisers also announced from the stage that they have received a collective donation of 10,000 from Jat soldiers in the Indian Army.
The body of an Indian engineer gunned down in an apparent race attack in the United States will arrive at his home in Hyderabad on Monday evening, a state minister in Telangana has confirmed.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani wounded on Wednesday evening by a white man. The killer allegedly thought the duo was from west Asia and reportedly yelled, Get out of my country before shooting them at a bar in Olathe, Kansas.
Srinivas body will arrive at Hyderabad by an Air India flight at 9.45pm, accompanied by his wife Sunayana Damala and other relatives, Telangana minister for non-resident Indian affairs KT Rama Rao told IANS.
Damala has said she plans to return to the United States to fulfill her husbands wishes of becoming successful in any field she chose.
The shooting has sent shockwaves among the Indian immigrant community with many saying they lived in apprehension of a repeat, especially in light of the divisiveness sweeping the US after the presidential election.
Authorities are investigating whether the killing was a hate crime.
(With inputs from IANS)
A Kerala man, among the 21 people who allegedly joined Islamic State in Afghanistan, has been killed in a drone attack, family sources said on Sunday.
The mother of Hafeezuiddin, a 24-year-old man from Kasargod in north Kerala, received a text message on Saturday night that her son was dead, sources said.
Alhamdulliah. Kabar adakki (Praise be to God, he has attained martyrdom). We are waiting for our turn in Sha Allah (Inshallah), read the Telegram message sent by Aqmajeed, one of the people who went missing from north Kerala in June 2016.
Read more: Kerala ISIS accused used farming to disguise groups activities, says NIA
Telegram, an internet-based communication app like WhatsApp, is a preferred mode of communication of Islamic State. Messages sent on Telegram self-destruct after 24 hours.
Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties: for the price theirs shall be the paradise. They fight in Allahs cause so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him I th Turrat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) and the Quran. And who is truer to his convenient than alla (Allah) rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. That is the supreme success. Tauba 11, the message read.
Read more: Is Kerala fertile ground for terror groups like Islamic State?
The disappearance of the group, which included six women and three children, sent shockwaves across the country. Most of these people were educated and came from upper middle class families.
Some of them later called up their relatives and told them they had joined Islamic State.
Intelligence agencies believe the messages originated in Afghanistan and recent media reports seem to back the claim. There were reports that the group was living in a remote area of Afghanistan and had no plans to return.
Read more: Has Kerala, Gods Own Country, become a hub for terror-related activities?
The father of the two missing youth from Palakkad had said his sons were in touch with controversial Muslim preacher from Mumbai Zakir Naik. Later police arrested two persons from Mumbai including an aide of Naik.
Five months back, the National Investigation Agency, which is looking into the missing case, busted an Islamic State module in Kerala. The cell was planning a series of strikes across south India, the NIA said.
Read more: Police claim Kerala cleric Haneef sent messages to Middle East
IS announced its Khorasan branch -- an old name for Afghanistan and surrounding areas including parts of India -- in January 2015.
It has claimed several terror strikes as it tries to expand outside the Arab world but has met with resistance and has lost several men in air raids.
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Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan rejected the Oppositions accusations that he has denied the conspiracy angle in the recent abduction and assault on a Malayalam actress.
I have not said that there was no conspiracy behind the incident, Vijayan told reporters a day after his reported remark on the issue triggered a row with the Congress and BJP.
I only mentioned about a media report on the matter. Let the police probe all aspects, Vijayan said.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, Chennithala alleged that chief minister was trying to sabotage the investigation into the case.
When the chief minister, who is also holding the Home portfolio, is saying there was no conspiracy behind the incident... is there any need for further evidence to prove that he was trying to sabotage the investigation into the case, Chennithala said.
Chennithala was speaking at a function organised in Kochi to conclude a 24-hour fast by PT Thomas, Congress MLA from Thrikkakara, to protest against the rise in crimes against women in Kerala.
KPCC president VM Sudheeran demanded a CBI probe into the incident that evoked protests and condemnation from many.
BJP state president Kummanom Rajasekharan alleged the CMs statement was to influence the investigation.
The chief minister should reveal the source of his information as police are yet to complete collecting evidence, he said, adding police should be given a free hand in the probe.
Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team probing the case took the key accused Pulsar Suni and his accomplice VP Vigeesh to Coimbatore on Sunday, where they had allegedly fled to after committing the crime, as part of its probe.
Police are looking for more evidence, including the mobile phone used for allegedly clicking the pictures of the actress and the SIM cards used by the accused.
The Aluva Judicial First Class magistrate court had on Saturday remanded the accused to police custody till March 5.
Seeking the custody of the key accused, police had said, it wanted to conduct further probe into the conspiracy angle in the abduction and harassment of the actress.
An identification parade of the four other accused Manikandan, Martin, Salim and Pradeep, was held at the Aluva sub-jail on Saturday.
The actress, who has starred in Tamil and Telugu films, was allegedly abducted and molested inside her car for two hours by the accused.
The accused had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17 and later escaped in a busy area in Kochi.
An Indian citizen who returned home rich on a Bangladesh passport has been arrested on suspicion of being linked to a terror group in the subcontinent.
The police in southern Assams Karimganj district arrested Alamgir Hussain last Thursday on suspicion that the wealth he has acquired not matching his known sources of income could have been funded by jihadist groups such as Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
Karimganj district borders Bangladesh.
Hussain, 38, had left his hometown Badarpur in 1998 and returned ten years later on a Bangladesh passport and left soon after marrying a local woman. He came back to Badarpur in 2013 to live permanently.
Inputs from local intelligence made the police suspicious about Hussain. The suspicion grew stronger after the man purchased a house and several other properties in the area worth more than Rs 40 million in the last few months.
He confessed that he slipped into Bangladesh almost 20 years ago and acquired a Bangladesh passport to go to Singapore. We are trying to find out how he managed to make so much money in a short span of time, Karimganj district superintendent of police Pradip Ranjan Kar said.
Hussain was arrested for alleged anti-national activities after the police found he had come with an Indian tourist visa on a Bangladeshi passport.
We have informed the Bangladesh high commission about Hussain and sought information about his activities in that country, Kar said, not ruling out the mans possible link with JMB and other terror groups.
Several suspected JMB members both Bangladeshi and their Indian associates have been arrested in Karimganj district during the past five years.
The police feel Hussain might have obtained the Bangladesh passport illegally, similar to what Bangladeshi infiltrators have been doing in India.
There have been several cases of Bangladeshis crossing over to acquire Indian passports in a bid to migrate to west Asia and southeast Asia for work.
In September last year, police in Karimganj district arrested 13 people four residents of Sylhet in Bangladeshi and nine locals including a Congress leader named Manowara Begum on charges of running a fake passport racket.
Investigations revealed such rackets were flourishing in Nagaon, Hailakandi and Silchar districts of Assam besides Karimganj, and that a section of police officers were selling verification reports for up to Rs 2 lakh per person.
On February 12, two Bangladeshi nationals were arrested in Odishas Balasore for allegedly faking Indian nationality to obtain passports. Two others managed to flee before police could catch them.
The foreign nationals, identified as Sheikh Mofijul and Sheikh Riyajuddin, claimed they belonged to Kadarayan village in Balasore district. But officials found they could neither tell their address nor speak Odia.
The apparent ease with which Bangladeshis cross over into India was underlined when a Bangladeshi national, wanted in a triple murder in his home district Comilla, was caught in southern Assams Cachar district in January this year.
The man, Sohail Ahmed alias Omar Nasir alias Saju, was lying low as a construction worker after making his way to Cachar via Tripura.
We initially suspected Sohail was one of the several JMB members suspected to have been involved in the Dhaka cafe attack. But interrogation revealed he had run away to India after being involved in a triple murder case in Bangladesh, Assam director general of police Mukesh Sahay said.
In May 2013, the Cachar district police had arrested Moibul Haque, a 39-year-old Bangladeshi national wanted for a double murder in London in 2006. Acting on an alert from the British High Commission in mid-2012, Haque was booked under section 14 of the Foreigners Act for illegally entering India.
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A group of Muslim leaders in Bhopal on Saturday passed a resolution advocating the boycott of Alankrita Shrivastavas Lipstick Under My Burkha, and asked the central government to ban the controversial movie for hurting the communitys religious sentiments.
The All India Muslim Tehwar Committee, which met here under the chairmanship of Ausaf Shahmeeri Khurram, also disclosed plans to take legal action against the movie.
The movie, directed by Alankrita Shrivastava and produced by Prakash Jha, revolves around four women a burkha-clad college student, a young beautician, a mother of three and a 55-year-old widow who rediscovers her sexuality.
Khurram told HT that nobody has the right to comment on a sensitive issue like the burkha, which is worn out of choice by Muslim women. If somebody peeps into the burkha worn by our sisters and daughters, we wont remain silent. Burkha is an Islamic tradition, and nobody has the right to talk about it in a negative way, he said.
He said the tradition of burkha was not limited solely to Muslims. Even Hindu women in various parts of the country including Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh opt for parda dhari (using a veil to cover the face). In such circumstances, why should they focus only on us with regard to such a sensitive, personal matter? Khurram argued.
The committees state unit chairman said the resolution passed in the majilis-e-shura urges the countrys 24-crore Muslim population to boycott the movie. We also plan to take legal action against the filmmakers. We are talking to lawyers and collecting documents related to the movie, he added.
Khurram sought to thank the Central Board of Film Certification for stalling the films release. They have done the right thing. They should not allow public viewing of this film at any cost, he said.
Lipstick Under My Burkha ran into trouble last month, when the Central Board of Film Certification refused to certify the film because it was lady oriented, their fantasy above life. It went on to add that the cinematic venture contains sexual scenes, abusive words, audio pornography and (is) a bit sensitive about one particular section of society.
The movie, which was shot in Bhopal, has 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 features Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak, Aahana Kumra and Plabita Borthaku in leading roles.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to give a clean chit to the two Pakistani boys who were arrested on charges of guiding the Uri Army camp attackers across the Line of Control (LoC) as they had just strayed across the border.
But the agency has not filed a closure report in the court so far. We have not filed any closure report in the case. We will file a report soon, the NIA spokesman said.
The boys, Faisal Husain Awan and his school friend Ahsan Khursheed, will get a formal reprieve only after the court is told about the findings of the probe and the court accepts the findings of the agency. Only then, the process of sending them back to Pakistan will be initiated.
The duo was first picked up by villagers in Uri who found their movements suspicious and beat them up before handing them to the BSF and the Army on September 21, three days after the suicide attack on 12 Infantry Brigades headquarters in which 19 soldiers were killed.
Contrary to initial suspicion of the boys being guides for Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the NIA didnt find any evidence of their links with the Pakistan-based terror outfit.
In fact, the agency is yet to find evidence suggesting that JeM carried out the Uri attack. After comparing the food items and arms and ammunition recovered from the Uri attackers with the recoveries made during the previous attacks in the Valley, the agency believes that the attack was carried out by operatives of another Pakistani terrorist outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
NIA investigators found that the villages of the boys, Pitha Jandgran and Khiyana Khurd in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), are very close to the LoC.
Details of their family members and the school in PoK, given by the boys, have been found to be correct, sources said.
Awan and Khursheed were very initially scared of being beaten up in custody if they didnt confess their crime and had even identified one of the dead attackers. But once their apprehension of being beaten up in custody was proved wrong, the boys told the investigators that they have no links with the JeM and had strayed across the LoC while taking a short cut to their villages.
The NIA had in October last year said that they had confessed to their crime. Based on their preliminary statement, India had even lodged a diplomatic protest with Pakistan.
A BJP MP has alleged that the UPA government tried to influence judiciary in the snoopgate probe which allegedly involved BJP chief Amit Shah,days before the 2014 poll results were declared, and sought a CBI inquiry.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey has said the then home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had asked the Delhi high court chief justice to name a sitting high court judge as early as possible to head the probe, just 13 days before the results were to be announced.
He alleged that a deep-rooted conspiracy of the Congress top brass was behind Shindes push for it as the UPA Cabinet had taken a decision to appoint a commission of inquiry to look into incidents of surveillance in several states in December 2013.
Shinde wrote the letter to the then Delhi high court Chief Justice G Rohini on May 3, 2014, he said.
This was a deep-rooted conspiracy of the then Congress high command, president Sonia Gandhi then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the rest of the Cabinet to create a destabilising situation..., adding a commission of inquiry was sought to be set up just 13 days before the result of General Election of 2014 and that too for a decision of the Cabinet taken months earlier.
Dubey was referring to investigation in allegations against Gujarat government for allegedly snooping on a woman at a time when Modi was the state chief minister. Shah was then a minister in the state government. The BJP had dismissed the allegations.
I would request you to order a CBI-led inquiry into various aspects of this entire matter and the role of the Congress leadership, Dubey wrote to the Prime Minister.
To substantiate his claim, Dubey has also submitted a copy of the purported letter written by Shinde to Justice Rohini.
However, the last minute move of the Congress party did not succeed as the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court did not consider the matter, Dubey said.
The probe never started as the government could not find anyone to conduct the inquiry.
This move reveals anti-democratic behaviour of the Congress party and its attempt to subvert democracy by creating an environment of fear and misuse/influence the judiciary for the same, the BJP MP said.
There was no immediate response from the Congress to the charges.
A 30-year-old city resident was nabbed on Sunday by BSF from near the Indo-Pak border at Ferozepur while trying to sneak out of the country to meet his Facebook girl friend at Lahore.
Sikandar Khan, a resident of Sector 49 in Chandigarh, was caught while moving under suspicious circumstances near Lakho Ke Behram border in Ferozepur district, police said.
A patrolling team of Border Security Force (BSF) caught Sikandar Khan who wanted to go to Pakistan to meet a woman whom he loved, said Ferozepur DSP Balwinder Singh.
DSP said Sikandar came into contact with the woman on the social networking site over two years ago and claimed that both of them were in love.
Sikandar, who works at a marriage bureau in Chandigarh, was not carrying his passport, DSP said.
BSF handed him over to the local police, which has booked him under section 12 of the Passport Act, 1967.
Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami left for New Delhi on Sunday to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Senior AIADMK MPs and government officials also accompanied Palaniswami, who is on his maiden visit to Delhi after assuming the office of chief minister, sources said.
During his meeting with Modi, Palaniswami is likely to take up various issues, including exempting Tamil Nadu from NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and seeking funds to address damage caused by cyclone Vardah, among others.
Palaniswami had a brief interaction with Modi at Coimbatore on February 24 when he had arrived in the city to inaugurate the bust of Adiyogi.
Palaniswami was sworn in as chief minister on February 16.
Anti-corruption crusader Vijay Singhs protest, which entered 22nd year on Sunday, has earned him a place in different record books. But his goal remains as elusive as ever.
The teacher-turned activist sat on a dharna on the premises of Muzaffarnagar collectorate office on this day in 1996, to free 4,000 bighas of gram sabha land from the clutches of land grabbers in his native village Chausana in Uttar Pradesh.
For doggedly pursuing the cause for the last two decades, he got a place in the Limca Book of Records, the India Book of Records, the Asia Book of Records, and the Unique World Records.
His long-protest, however, failed to push into action successive state governments.
In 1996, the then commissioner of Meerut zone, HL Virdi, was convinced about the veracity of my claim. But he did not initiate any action against the land grabbers, Singh recalled.
Again in 2002, the then ADM, CP Singh, initiated a probe, but nothing came out of it. Five years later in 2007, the then ADM, Ajay Deep Singh too found my claims to be true, he added.
Failing to convince the district administration to act against the alleged land grabbers, Singh undertook a 610km march from Muzaffarnagar to Lucknow in 2012 to meet the newly elected young chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav.
On his part the CM assured to form a high-level committee to look into the matter. Nothing happened even after the CMs promise, he said.
The experience has left him disillusioned with the politicians and administration.
In this election season, all prominent political parties are promising a corruption-free society and good governance. But I dont believe in any of their promises anymore, he said.
So, how long will he continue with his protest? The former school teacher has no answer to this.
The donkeys of Gujarat are the latest double entendre in Uttar Pradesh, part of an increasingly loaded political rhetoric intended to bray down opponents in the heat of a month-long and staggered assembly election.
But the political verbal duel has aroused curiosity towards the endangered beige and chestnut, horse-like animal found only in Gujarats Little Rann of Kutch more than the states commercial on the species, featuring Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.
The Indian Wild Ass, or ghudkhar in local Gujarati, attracts tourists from across the globe, bringing about Rs 30 lakh every year to the Gujarat tourism department.
This year the tourist footfall in the Little Rann is nearly 15,000 so far, a forest official said.
The red list of International Union for Conservation of Nature moved this Indian wild donkey from the vulnerable to endangered category a couple of years ago.
But the tag belies a rare Indian conservation success story as the population of the species has gone up steadily from 3,997 in 2010 to 4,451 five years later.
The initiative to protect this Schedule-I animal started decades ago when an area spread over 5,000 square km in the Little Rann, about 150km from Ahmedabad, was declared a wild ass sanctuary in 1973.
The wild donkeys popularity spiked after Gujarat tourism took out an advertisement campaign that 74-year-old Bachchan has anchored.
The next time someone calls you a donkey, dont mind it. Just thank them I tell you why, the actor says in his opening comments in the commercial, which starts with him entering the sanctuary in an open vehicle.
He goes on to describe the unique characteristics of the animal, calling them handsome, highly talented and agile sprinters. The wild ass is quick on the canter, clocking 70kmph.
He concludes: Gadha koi gaali nahi, tareef ki thaali hai (Donkey is not a cuss word, its a platter full of praises).
Forest officials said the species was found in west Asia and southern India before the turn of the century, but it is currently restricted to Little Rann.
UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav stirred quite a poll hee-haw when he advised Bachchan not to promote Gujarats gadhe or asses viewed as a nuanced attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is from that state.
Gadha is an oft-heard insult for being stupid attached to the animals perceived low mental faculty.
Modis response was quick. He said he was proud to work like the loyal beast of burden for the countrys 1.25 billion people.
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Two men who allegedly raped a widow were hacked to death by her relatives in a village in Telangana in the intervening night of Saturday- Sunday.
Police said they received a complaint on February 22 from one Raju, brother-in-law of 30-year old widow Lakshmi of Kamalapur village of Mangampet block in Jayashankar Bhupalpalli district against Narva Srinu (28), a local goon and his friend Jarsula Kalyan alias Bittu (25) of the same village, alleging that they raped her the previous night.
The police did not register the FIR immediately as the station house officer Mahender was out of town. On Friday night, Srinu and Kalyan went to Lakshmis residence and allegedly attempted to rape her again. With the police failing to take action against the accused, Raju decided to take revenge against them. He, along with another relative Shyamlal, called Srinu and Kalyan to his residence on the pretext of settling the issue without approaching the police.
When the duo went to Rajus residence late on Saturday, he and Shyamlal beat them up, threw chilli powder in their eyes and hacked them to death with axes.
On Sunday morning, the relatives of Srinu and Kalyan retaliated and attacked the houses of Lakshmi, Raju and Shyamlal. They even set ablaze Shyamlals house.
Independent inquiries with the villagers revealed that Srinu and Kalyan had illicit relationship with Lakshmi for the last few months. Her relatives who came to know about it, pulled them up several times.
Four days ago, Raju caught Srinu red-handed when he was in a compromising position with the woman. He immediately lodged a complaint with the police that Srinu and Kalyan had raped his sister-in-law, but with the police not taking any action against them, he took the law into his own hands, a villager said.
Mangampet additional superintendent of police Rahul Hegde told reporters that it needed a thorough investigation into whether the duo had actually raped the woman or had any relationship with her. All details would be known after investigation, he said.
The police have arrested Shyamlal and are looking for Raju.
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Police have clamped down on shops selling raw and cooked eggs in Vidhyadhar Nagar in their drive against anti-social elements who consume alcohol at the stalls.
The result: In the last few months, its easier to find live chickens in shops than eggs.
In the last three months, police have driven out vendors who used to set up stalls selling fried eggs or omelettes. Police told us that anti-social elements come to egg shops and consume alcohol. Around 15-20 vendors have left Vidhyadhar Nagar, said Zakir Ali, a vendor.
When HT contacted Chiranji Lal Meena, Vidhyadhar Nagar police station house officer, he disconnected the phone saying he was busy.
We received information that there are some shops in the interior of Vidhyadhar Nagar where people consume alcohol with eggs; often liquor is served by shops, said deputy commissioner of police (north) Anshuman Bhomia. We received complaints that many of these people were involved in anti-social activities and thats why we targeted those shops that aided them.
Ali now earns his livelihood by selling boiled chicken. Police often come to my shop to see whether I am selling eggs. Surprisingly, they dont have any problem with chicken but has this bizarre logic that selling of eggs encourages alcoholism and anti-social activities, he said.
Dairy owners have also been told not to sell raw eggs. The police come to check whether we are selling raw eggs. They ask us Doodh ki dairy mein ando ka kya kaam? (What business do eggs have in a dairy where milk is sold?) Thats why we arent able to sell eggs regularly and when we do, we hide them somewhere in the shop and dont display over open racks, a dairy owner told HT on condition of anonymity.
All shops and stalls have been issued orders to close sharp at 10pm. One day, I was five minutes late, when policemen came to my shop and broke the light bulb. If they find vehicles lying unattended in the road, cops start deflating the tyres, said Salim Khan, another shopkeeper.
Curbs on egg sale have caused inconvenience to residents. I mostly come to Jaipur on weekends and its my habit to apply eggs on hair for nourishment, said Shruti Jain.
I belong to a vegetarian family and bringing eggs home is a difficult task, but I manage it in the name of hair care. But when my father told me about the ban on eggs in Vidhyadhar Nagar, I thought he was making an excuse so that I avoid using eggs, but it turned out to be true. I had to go to Jhotwara (around 7km away) to buy eggs.
Bhomia said police told the vendors association that there were no restrictions on egg sale in central areas of the locality. When HT told him that egg stalls have disappeared from Vidhyadhar Nagar, he said, I will look into the matter if such is the case.
Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly, Rameshwar Dudi strongly criticised the ban, saying the way it has been implemented is unjustified.
Governments at both the state and Centre are promoting egg consumption... spending crores of funds on advertisement to encourage egg consumption. On the contrary, a police official in the city is putting a ban on its sale. The move is unjustified, he said and demanded action against the guilty after a probe.
State home minister Gulab Chand Kataria said he was not aware of any such ban and promised to get it checked.
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Two leopards killed two dogs and 20 goats in separate attacks over the weekend in Jodhpur and Udaipur districts, days after a big cat killed four people in villages adjoining the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar.
Forest department officials on Sunday caught the leopard that killed two dogs on Friday and Saturday at Ghana Magra village in Jodhpur. The six-year-old male leopard has been sent to the Machia Biological Park for observation and will be later released in forests.
The other big cat entered the barn of a shepherd on Friday night in Udaipurs Dedro Ki Dhani village, and killed 20 of his 22 goats. On February 15, another leopard had attacked two people in Udaipurs Bhanor village.
Forest officials caught four leopards in areas near the Sariska reserve after the four killings between February 5 and 12. The officials claimed that the last animal caught on February 21 was behind the human killings.
A pet dog in a farmhouse at Ghana Magra was killed by a leopard on Friday, said Bhanwar Lal, sub-inspector at the Bilara police station. The farmhouse owner saw the animal while it was jumping out, and told us that it was a big cat. On Saturday morning, a street dog was found missing from the village; its half-eaten body was found in the fields later in the afternoon, Lal said.
Forest officials put a cage on Saturday evening with the dogs carcass inside as a trap. Around 3.30am on Sunday, the leopard was caught in the cage, said Shravan Singh Rathore, who was part of the team tracking the animal.
The leopard must have come from the forests in the Aravali foothills the Todgarh-Rawali Wildlife Sanctuary or the Sendra village area, added Rathore. This was the first incident of a leopard attack in Jodhpur district this year, he said.
Last year, forest officials had caught a leopard each in Pali, Jodhpur and Barmer districts in July, May and February, respectively.
Forest officials confirmed that a leopard attacked goats at Dedro Ki Dhani village. It must have come from the Bhaisda Khurd forest block. Panthers sometimes come towards human settlements and hunt dogs, which they find an easy prey, said Om Prakash Sharma, deputy conservator of forests, Udaipur (north).
They (leopards) are afraid of humans and only in very rare cases attack them. With summers approaching, we are going to fill water holes in forests so that leopards and other wild animals do not veer towards human settlements.
An elderly man died on Sunday inside a police station in Kolkata while he was being questioned over his alleged involvement in molesting a woman.
Snehamoy Dey (62) died inside Sinthee police station while he was being questioned in a case of molesting a woman, a beauty parlour worker, near his residence, police said.
Following a complaint lodged by the woman, policemen went to Deys house on Sunday morning and took him to the police station for interrogation.
Family members of the deceased alleged that Dey, a cardiac patient, could not withstand the rigour of questioning.
Claiming that Dey had not molested the woman, they alleged that police did not show any paper when they visited their residence and took away Dey to grill him.
He was a cardiac patient and doctors had prescribed him that he should not go through any mental stress. But we believe police asked him questions and pressurised him to answer them following which he fell ill and died, a family member of Dey said.
According to a senior official at the Kolkata Police headquarters, a probe has been ordered into the incident as well as the role of the investigative officer in the alleged molestation.
Four persons including the owner and staffs of the private Nursing Home was arrested by police after man killed self allegedly unable to pay daughters inflated medical. The incident took place in Burdwan town about 100 kms from Kolkata.
Recently chief minister Mamata Banerjee cracked whip on private hospital and nursing homes and proposed to bring in state health regulatory commission.
Owners and a staff of G D nursing home in Burdwan town was arrested by police on Sunday. Sheikh Joynal, Munshi Muhammed Hasibul Kabir, Abul Khatib and Souvik santra was arrested by police. Seikh Joynal is the owner of the nursing home, while Kabir and Munshi are his partners. Santra is a staff of the nursing home.
Those arrested have been booked under various sections including abetment to suicide< said a senior police officer of Burdwan.
Chumki Lete of Katti village in Birbhum district was admitted to the Nursing Home in Burdwan town on February 20. Chumkis father Tapan, a farmer, allegedly committed suicide as he was unable to pay the hospital bill of Rs 44,000, sources said.
Following the incident police registered a suo moto case and initiated investigation.
The villagers complained to the Burdwan district administration about the alleged over charging by the nursing home authorities which prompted Tapan to commit suicide. Based on the complaint the police detained the four persons for questioning in regard to the alleged over-charging and lack of basic infrastructure in the nursing home on Saturday. Later they were arrested.
Top private hospital in Kolkata courted controversy for allegedly refusing to release a patient without settling of dues. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had on Wednesday at a meeting with representatives of different private hospitals warned them against over-charging patients and negligence in treatment, apart from announcing setting up of a regulatory commission to monitor their functioning.
The carcass of a four-foot-long finless porpoise washed ashore at Bhuigaon beach, Vasai on Saturday morning.
This was the third mammal death in 2017, after the carcass of a three-foot-long finless porpoise washed ashore opposite Taj Hotel, Nariman Point on January 15 and a five-foot-long dolphin carcass washed ashore at Nariman Point on January 1.
Porpoises have smaller mouths and spade-shaped teeth, as opposed to dolphins that have prominent, elongated beaks and cone-shaped teeth. A dolphin has a curved dorsal fin, while a porpoise has a triangular dorsal fin.
Locals spotted the mammal on Saturday around 10.30 am and informed local fishermen.
After deep-sea oil companies started surveying the ocean floor for oil. The impact of the firms machines have made it difficult for mammals to navigate the ocean and this is probably what caused their deaths, said Dileep Mathak, a fisherman from Vasai.
Mathak added that before the fishing community could inform the forest department, the high tide pulled the mammals carcass back to sea.
Over the past two years, close to 30 dolphin carcasses, six whale carcasses and a few finless porpoises have washed ashore along the Mumbai and Maharashtra coast. The cause of their deaths have not yet been ascertained.
Read
Mumbai: Carcass of dolphin-like mammal washes ashore near Gateway of India
India to get its first marine mammal museum by end of 2017
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A fliers body has asked the government to set up a separate regulator to monitor seasonal spikes in airfares. The Air Passengers Association of India (APAI), a body formed by frequent air travellers, said it has seen a spike complaints against surge pricing. The trend was mainly observed around long weekends or during emergencies such as weather-induced flight disruptions, its office bearers said.
A recent complainant said a domestic airline charged Rs37,000 for an economy class one-way trip from Goa to Mumbai. This kind of obscene price hikes are not acceptable. The government must set up a separate body to look into such issues, said Sudhakar Reddy, national president with the APAI.
But industry experts said capping airfares is unlikely in any free market. Such demands have surfaced earlier but the civil aviation ministry was unable to bring any relief for passengers, said a senior executive with an aviation think tank requesting anonymity.
But Reddy argued that surge pricing is harsh on people forced to travel during rush periods. A person forced to travel around a long weekend to see his or her ill relative is asked to pay five to six times the normal fare. Is that fair?
A fare study by travel operator Cox and Kings Ltd last month showed a sharp rise in airfares around long weekends. According to the study, two days ahead of the Republic Day weekend airfares had nearly doubled.
For instance, the price of an economy class Mumbai-Goa return trip, one of the shortest domestic routes in India, was Rs29,000.The same journey a week later would cost you Rs16,800, the report stated. On some routes the fare difference was more than 100%.
A Delhi-Udaipur return flight was priced at Rs18,200 as opposed Rs8,100 over the February 3-5 weekend.
The most expensive domestic flight over the Republic Day weekend until Monday was one from Delhi to Port Blair. The flight scheduled to leave from the capital on January 25 afternoon was priced at Rs55,200 almost the cost of a return trip from the US.
At least two governments had promised capping airfares, particularly during holidays but failed. The Ashok Gajapathi Raju-led ministry , however, made it compulsory for airlines to submit a break-up of the steepest air tickets on a flight and the portion of the revenue earned through them. Experts added that while that move could give an indication of fare hikes during peak season it does not help distressed fliers trapped in a long weekend.
READ MORE
New levy on domestic flights. How does this impact your air fare?
Making last-minute travel plans for Republic Day weekend? Be ready to pay double the airfare
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INS Viraat, the oldest serving aircraft carrier, will be decommissioned on March 6, marking the day as a feat of sorts in naval history.
She has served the Indian Navy for 29 years. She is the last of the Britist-built ship serving them. She has served a combined 56 years for the navy in two countries.
Commissioned into the Royal Navy in November, 1959, as HMS Hermes, she served the British for 27 years before being decommissioned in 1984. India then bought the vessel and rechristened it INS Viraat, to be commissioned into the Indian Navy on May 12, 1987.
INS Viraat sailed under her own power for the last time from Mumbai to Kochi in July 2016. In October 2016, she was towed out of Kochi and returned to Mumbai, where she will be formally decommissioned on March 6.
Soon after commissioning, it saw active operations when it became part of Operation Jupiter in July 1989 as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka, after the Indo-Sri Lankan accord broke down. But it was not the first time that she had seen active operations. While with the Royal Navy, she had played a major role in the Falkland wars.
The last of operational duties for the ageing INS Viraat came when she was deployed in the International Fleet Review in Viskhakapatnam in February 2016. But then, the Navy had to decide on its fate, primarily due to the ever increasing operational costs involved to keep her battle ready.
READ MORE
Indian Navy says goodbye to worlds oldest aircraft carrier INS Viraat
That sinking feeling: Navy struggles to bridge its capability gaps
Shiv Sena, which is identified with the Hindutva ideology, has managed to make inroads in Mumbais two Muslim pockets with the winning candidates calling the saffron party as their true well wisher.
Two Sena candidates Haji Halim Khan (35) and Sahida Khan won the in BMC polls from ward no. 96 in Behrampada in Bandra (East) and ward no. 64 to represent suburban Amboli and Jogeshwari, respectively.
The party put up a decent show by winning on 84 seats in the fiercely contested Mumbai civic body polls. The party had fielded five Muslim candidates, out of which two have won from Behrampada in Bandra locality and a ward representing suburban Amboli and Jogeshwari.
Sena candidate Haji Halim Khan (35), who won from ward no. 96 in Behrampada in Bandra (East) alleged that the projection that the party is anti-Muslim is the handiwork of certain sections of people.
Saying that Sena is anti-Muslim is nothing but crap and Senas projection of Muslims in a bad light is a handiwork of certain sections of the society. Rather, Sena has always been helpful in sorting out our problems. They are our true well-wisher, he said.
I can recollect that one of our prominent mosques came up only when Balasaheb Thackerayji helped, he said.
A tour operator by profession, Khans win has facilitated Shiv Sena register its first victory in the Muslim-dominated ward, which has been a Congress bastion.
He charged Congress of treating the community as vote bank.
Congress considers Muslim merely a vote-bank and nothing more than that, while Shiv Sena encourage every Muslim to be faithful towards the country. Balasaheb always praised to sachche musalman (true Muslims), added Khan.
Sahida Khan (52), who has won from ward no. 64 to represent suburban Amboli and Jogeshwari, also echoed the views of Khan and said Sena has always helped people from the community whosoever has approached with a genuine problem.
Hindutva a shadow, no one can deny and we need to live under it. There is nothing wrong when our party head says so. Most importantly, my party has always helped always been helpful to those from the community who have approached with a genuine problem, Shahida said.
The Bhojpur police on Sunday arrested four persons for their alleged involvement in the slaughter of a bull late Friday night. The incident came to light on Saturday morning, following which locals staged a protest, damaged vehicles and blocked roads.
The police identified the four accused as Chotan Shabbir, Badal Nasimuddin, Nawab and Riyazuddin, of Nahali village. The accused were booked and an FIR lodged at Bhojpur police station under sections of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
Our informers told us that these men were roaming the area on Friday night, around the time the incident took place. On questioning, they told us that they had slaughtered the animal, SP Singh, station house officer, Bhojpur police station, said.
Circle officer (Modi Nagar) Devendra Mishra said that the slaughtered bull was roaming the area earlier on Friday.
Villagers found the cattle remains in a field at Abalpur, after which they blocked the Bhojpur-Pikhuwa road. They also damaged several motorbikes, a bus and a light commercial vehicle. They ended the protest after the intervention of the police and village pradhans.
Besides the protest in Bhojpur, officials lodged an FIR into an incident at Khindora in Modi Nagar, in which the bike of a man, who was suspected to be involved in cattle trading, was torched by locals. The police said they are on the lookout for those involved in the incident.
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Four clinics, under the National Health Mission (NHM), will be set up in the city in March to improve health care support in the city, officials said. At present, there are 11 clinics in Gautam Budh Nagar district.
The funds were already sanctioned. Four clinics will be set up in Noida in March as we have received all clearances from Lucknow, Dr Anurag Bhargav, chief medical officer, district health department, said.
One of the four clinics will be set in Sarfabad village of Noida, which was in the news last year due to alleged mysterious deaths. The other clinics are also likely to be set up in Noidas villages.
Read more: Mystery fever kills 12 in a fortnight in Noidas Sarfabad village
Twelve people of Sarfabad had died in a span of 15 days in August 2016. Villagers had alleged that the deaths took place due to a mysterious fever. At the time, many in the district were suffering from dengue and thousands had flocked the district hospital complaining of dengue and chikungunya fever.
However, a health department probe had ascertained that the deaths were not due to fever but due to individual health problems.The deaths had caused an outrage among residents of Sarfabad, who blamed the health department for ignoring them.
Read more: Noida village deaths not due to mysterious fever, says probe panel
Villagers welcomed the move of setting up a clinic in the village. They said they do not have to travel to the district hospital for treatment and tests. They said that the officials must also conduct fogging drives in their area.
We are happy to know that a clinic will be set up. However, prevention is better than cure, therefore, the government should also conduct fogging at regular intervals so that we dont have a repeat of the 2016 deaths, Mukesh Yadav, a resident, said.
Besides the four clinics in Noida, there is a proposal to set up more clinics in Greater Noida as well. However, the number is yet to be decided. The funds for Greater Noida have not been sanctioned yet. Once the clinics are set up in Noida, we can gradually move towards Greater Noida, Dr Bhargav said.
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The Ghaziabad police on Sunday arrested a 30-year-old man and two women, aged 19 and 24, for allegedly murdering a 35-year-old man and dumping the body in Upper Ganga Canal in Murad Nagar.
The police said they are investigating the victims alleged habit of blackmailing women with their intimate and personal videos, which could have been the motive for the murder.
The police on Sunday arrested Chetanraj Tyagi, an MBA graduate, and his two accomplices, a 24-year-old woman, his girlfriend, and a 19-year-old PGDBM student. Another woman, aged around 25, who was also allegedly involved in the murder, is absconding.
The victim, of Raispur, was allegedly involved in betting. On the day of the incident on February 21, Tyagi called the two women to his office at Raj Nagar and planned the murder.In the evening, the accused invited the man and the women to his Sanjay Nagar residence for a party. The student was called on the pretext of undertaking a sting operation of the victim, which was to be submitted to investigating agencies, as per the plan shared with her, Manish Mishra, circle officer (city), said.
The 24-year-old woman claimed to be from a local TV channel. In the night, when the victim was asleep after consuming several drinks, he was strangulated by the accused. Later, they drove in the victims Santro and dumped his body, mobile phone and other belongings into the canal. The car was later left at an isolated location. During the party, one more woman had arrived at the location. However, she is absconding and a hunt is on to nab her, Mishra said.
The victims body was found near Masuri on February 22. The police then traced the victims through electronic surveillance records. Following the arrest, the 19-year-old woman said that she was lured by them on a promise of payment for filming the sting operation.
During the incident, we both were sitting inside a room. The third woman arrived and went to the room of the victim at night and the sting operation could not be completed. After he fell asleep, he was strangulated, she said.
Tyagi had taken a loan of 70,000 from the victim and said that he had returned 50,000. The police said the delay in repayment of the loan could also be one of the reasons behind the murder.
Tyagi, however, denied that the pending loan was the reason for the murder. He claimed that the victim habitually blackmailed women after getting into physical relationships and filming their acts.
We are still investigating if any videos were made and also the motive behind the murder. The three accused persons have not revealed much but we will take them in police custody on remand and question them further. We are also trying to trace the missing woman, Mishra said.
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A few days ago, we were standing at the origin of the Mandakini river near Chitrakoot. The scene before us was enchanting. A stream of water was emerging from the foothills of the Vindhyas and going down a naturally formed slope. For thousands of years this stream has kept this sacred river in Bundelkhand full of water. For the devout, it is a symbol of Goddess Anusuiya and for the locals, their lifeline.
But now the Mandakini is getting depleted. You get evidence of this as soon as you reach Chitrakoot. The monks here tell you it is a meeting point for the river Payaswini and the lost river Saraswati. When we ask where Payaswini is, we are directed to a small drain. The Payaswini turning into a sad drain is not a good sign for the Mandakini because traditionally it is the tributaries that have strengthened the larger rivers. The question is, will these two rivers meet the same fate as the Saraswati? Popular folklore in Allahabad describes the lost Saraswati as an integral part of the iconic Triveni. For hundreds of years, the Saraswati has been revered in Hindu faith. Why dont all those people who claim to be religious think about the reasons that led to the disappearance of the Saraswati? Today, the Payaswini is on its last legs. More than 10 rivers in Uttar Pradeshs Bundelkhand region have vanished into the folds of history mainly owing to illegal mining.
Will the Ganga and the Yamuna meet the same fate?
Read: Saving the Ganga is not an election issue in UP
I was born in Benares and grew up in Mirzapur and Allahabad. Like Jawaharlal Nehru, I too, have seen the Ganga and the Yamuna in their diverse avatars. Today, whenever I cross the Yamuna bridge in Mathura and look below, I let out a sigh. The Yamuna, which inspired Krishnas Braj, has now become a thin stream of polluted water. The Chambal in Etawah and the Betwa in Hamirpur merge with it leading to its reincarnation. Similarly, if you look at the Ganga before the Sangam in Allahabad, you will experience similar despair. Thats the reason during a field trip to cover the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand elections I met people lamenting the shortage of drinking water. Entire villages are emptying out owing to the shortage of drinking water and crops drying up. On top of it no avenues for employment are being created.
The conditions are so distressing that in response to a question in 2016, the then minister of state for drinking water and sanitation Ram Kripal Yadav said as many as 308 districts in the country are grappling with the shortage of drinking water. This includes 50 districts in Uttar Pradesh alone. Replying to an RTI application, the Uttar Pradesh government had admitted four years ago that 4,020 sources of water have dried up over one decade. In the Banda district itself, 35% of the 33,000 hand-pumps have gone dry.
Read: Parched Bundelkhand lives on muddy water
A folk song in Bundelkhands Patha area captures this despair well: Gagari na phoote chahe khasam mar jaye (The pitcher of water shouldnt break even if the husband dies).
Similarly, in Uttarakhand, according a report by an NGO in June 2016, 12,000 of the 60,000 sources of water have dried up. A former chief secretary of the state says lack of drinking water is the biggest reason behind the mass migration from the state.
Now let us shift focus to Manipur, another state located in the lap of the Himalayas. It receives an annual rainfall of 1,500 mm but there is no infrastructure that has been created for its conservation or distribution. Most people here depend on the water mafia. As a result, they have to shell out Rs 200 for 1,000 litres of water. Punjab is a little better on this count. Thanks to the Satluj-Yamuna canal, there was no needless debate over water during the election campaign. None of the political parties addressed the issue with any seriousness in the other four states.
You can witness this poignant situation everywhere, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Is it a sign of the downfall of our civilisation? At one time, the Sumeru and Indus Valley civilisations ruled the roost. Now that is a distant memory. In these high-tech days, shouldnt the governing classes be paying attention to this? As soon as he assumed power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken about interlinking of rivers but no effective steps have been taken in that direction.
These elections were an opportunity for every political party to present their agenda on water, which is so essential to everybodys life. Instead slogans that threw mud in the already muddy waters of our politics were flung around. An old Indian adage goes: pani pila-pila kar mara (Killing you after making you drink water). Our leaders are killing us without even giving us water.
Shashi Shekhar is editor in chief, Hindustan
letters@hindustantimes.com
RECORDER REPORT
ISLAMABAD: Manufactu-rers from various sectors including pharma, cement, textile, chemicals, home appliances, and textile met Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday.
Minister for Industries, Advisor Commerce, Advisor Institutional Reforms, Advisor Finance, Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), and senior officials were also present. The meeting discussed issues faced by various sectors and the measures taken by the government to resolve them.
They also presented various suggestions to the prime minister for the promotion of industrial sector.
The prime minister said that increase in exports was priority of his government to stabilie the economy. The government is committed to provide incentives to the industrial sector for its development. Later on, investors investing in new Blue Area project also met with the prime minister.PR
The polling for the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) on Sunday witnessed low turnout of 45.7%, but it was better than 42% recorded in the previous elections in 2013. Of the 3.8-lakh registered voters in 46 wards, only 1.75 lakh cast their vote this time. The percentage of Sikh men and women who voted on Sunday was near similar 46% females and 45.5% males.
The polling to elect the body to manage the shrines, educational and medical institutions remained largely peaceful. The results will be out on March 1.
The DSGMC has an annual budget of Rs 100 crore, a major portion of which is generated from donations at historical gurdwaras Bangla Sahib, Sisganj Sahib and Rakabganj Sahib. Eighteen public schools run by the committee also add to its income.
Of all the 46 wards where polling took place, Trinagar witnessed the highest voting of 66%, followed by Punjabi Bagh at 58%. Santgarh witnessed the lowest turnout of 28%.
A fierce contest is on the cards in Punjabi Bagh between former DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna and outgoing general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa. Sarna who remained DSGMC president for 10 years till 2013 was defeated by Sirsa in the previous elections.
Also Read | Sikh radicals, former terrorists camping in Delhi for DSGMC polls
Outgoing president Manjit Singh GK contested from Greater Kailash, where turnout was 47.6%. Pundits have already predicted him an unchallenged winner from the ward.
With Aam admi party (AAP) withdrawing active support to its Panthic Sewa Dal that contested in 40 wards, the elections became a two-cornered contest between Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and SAD (Delhi).
Barring an incident of casting of 11 bogus votes in Sarupnagar, the polling remained peaceful. The said votes were cancelled.
About 8,000 Delhi Police personnel were deployed on poll duty at 560 polling stations, of which 63 were declared as hypersensitive and 116 as sensitive, mostly in West Delhi. Director gurdwara election Shurbir Singh expressed satisfaction at the peaceful polls and the turnout.
What next
As per the Delhi Gurdwara Act-1971, functioning of the new DSGMC will begin immediately after declaration of results.
The 46 elected members will co-opt two members from Singh Sabha gurdwaras of Delhi, two eminent Sikhs and one representative of the Amritsar-headquartered Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Four of five Sikh head priests are also the de facto members of the gurdwara committee, but they have no major role in the day-to-day functioning.
Director, gurdwara elections, chairs the first meeting of the 46-member house to start the process of co-option. The process takes about a month. After the house completes the process, it is handed over to the office-bearers to run the show, said Shurbir Singh.
The court of judicial magistrate on Saturday (first class) Karanbir Singh remanded air force sergeant Sulesh Kumar and his wife Anuradha in two-day police custody for allegedly murdering air force corporal Vipin Shukla, 27, at the Bhisiana air force station.
The police are yet to nab third accused, Shashi Bhushan, brother-in-law of Sulesh.
Also read | IAF corporal murdered by colleague over affair with wife, chopped-up body hidden in polythene bags
On Tuesday, the police recovered the chopped body of Shukla, a resident of Gonda in Uttar Pradesh, who was missing since February 8, from Suleshs official accommodation on Tuesday. The pieces of Shuklas body were found stuffed in 16 polythene bags. A case under Section 302 (murder) had been registered against the accused.
Also read | Make killers feel same pain: Kin of IAF corporal murdered over illicit affair in Bathinda
Sulesh confessed to his crime on interrogation and claimed that the victim had illicit relations with his wife Anuradha. After discovering she was pregnant, Anuradha asked Shukla to marry her but he refused. He had also been spreading details of their relationship among other employees. Thus, Anuradha, with her husband and brother, hatched a conspiracy to kill Shukla , the police said.
On February 8 , Sulesh called Shukla to help him pack as he was to change his residence, then attacked him with an axe, killing him. He then packed his body in a box and took it to his new accomodation , the police said.
On February 19, Sulesh cut the body into pieces and packed it in 16 polythene bags. He put some in the wardrobe and the others in the refrigerator.
Dera Sacha Sauda followers on Sunday refused to cremate bodies of Satpal Kumar, 65, and his son Ramesh Kumar, 35, who were gunned down by motorcycle-borne assailants at the Sirsa-headquartered sects congregation centre in Jagera village near Malaudh, 40 km from Khanna, on Saturday evening.
Bodies of the father-son duo, who belonged to the nearby town of Ahmedgarh, have been preserved in freezers at the centre (naam charcha ghar), after post-mortem examination conducted at Lord Mahavira Civil Hospital in Ludhiana.
Heavy police force has been deployed in the village and surrounding areas owing to mounting tension. The district administration and police officers are in talks with the dera committee to agree upon the compensation amount for the family of the deceased.
Also Read | Two Dera Sacha Sauda followers shot dead in Khanna village, cops suspect Sikh radicals
With around 500 followers of the dera, including women, present at the congregation centre, cops have sealed the canteen where the duo was gunned down.
Followers divided over further action
The dera followers, meanwhile, are divided on the issue of further course of action. While one of the groups has been awaiting instructions from headquarters in Sirsa, another group wants instant action, warning to avenge the killings on their own if cops fail to arrest the assailants. Around 200 members of this group blocked traffic on the Malerkotla road outside the congregation centre for 20 minutes, giving no heed to the other factions appeal of maintaining peace.
When tributes were being paid to the deceased at the centre, some dera followers lost their temper and shouted slogans against the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Other followers had to intervene and ask them to refrain from blaming any political party.
Calling the victims martyrs, Sarvan Kumar, member of the Dera Sacha Sauda state political committee, told the followers that they are preparing a strategy, after which no one will dare to touch any dera premi. He said a meeting of the deras national committee, under its head Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh, is on to take a decision on the further course of action and cremation of the bodies.
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The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a notice of motion to the ministry of defence (MoD) on a petition by a serving army officer, Lt Col P Katal, for failure to effect the orders of the defence minister on rationalising grant of alimony to the wives of serving defence personnel.
The Army Act authorises penal deductions for payment of maintenance to wives of personnel on their applications. The stipulation was not repealed even after inception of maintenance provisions in the Hindu Marriage Act since pay and allowances of defence personnel were immune from attachment by courts, thereby necessitating an enabling provision to give effect to maintenance orders by the civil courts.
However, over the years, the army started releasing maintenance to wives in matrimonial disputes on its own without court verdicts and through nonspeaking orders without any opportunity of hearing.
A committee of experts appointed by the defence minister, however, recorded that matrimonial disputes were essentially private civil disputes where the army should not get involved.
The panel noted that the services do not have the wherewithal, capacity or ability to examine the veracity of allegations and counter-allegations made by both parties, which is basically a matter of evidence, observing that such disputes must be dealt with by the civil courts. The committee added that such provisions could only be invoked in extraordinary circumstances where the individual was not complying with orders of a civil court for paying maintenance under the garb of immunity from attachment under the Army Act.
It was recommended that maintenance orders must be preceded by some kind of inquiry related to the averments of the parties, and executed by way of a proper speaking order discussing all issues raised by both parties.
The recommendation of the panel was accepted by the defence minister, who issued orders in August 2016 for promulgation of implementation of instructions within 45 days.
Lt Col Katal who has been saddled with maintenance allowance through a non-speaking order, has averred in his writ petition that despite lapse of 6 months, lower functionaries of the ministry have failed to effect the directions of the highest political executive, thereby not only jeopardising his rights and property, but also undermining the authority of the minister.
Former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal on Sunday said the first half of the Narendra Modi governments five-year tenure at the Centre only witnessed drum beating and chest-thumping.
Manpreet said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had failed to fulfil the promises made to the people of this country before the 2014 general elections. The achievement of Modi is that he had made jumla a household term, and the fact is that the nation is suffering, he said in a statement.
He said demonetisation sucked cash like a vacuum cleaner and people are still bearing its brunt as businesses are hit and rural wages and agricultural incomes are down.
Citing a survey, Manpreet said Indias economy slowed sharply to a near three-year low in the final three months of 2016. The gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 6.4% annually in the October-December quarter and economists have predicted a negative impact of the currency ban, he adds.
Once upon a time, it used to throb with life. People from the city and nearby towns would wear their party best and descend on the Sector 17 plaza in the evenings. Many would sit around on the benches and even stairs as the musical fountain swished back and forth.
Munching popcorn and relishing soft-serve ice creams, some would while away hours, strolling up and down the plaza. The square surrounded by rather forbidding concrete buildings would perennially wear a festive look, the weekends being simply maddening. With all big brands congregating to this Sector, it was truly a shoppers paradise. But all that was a few years ago.
Cut to the present. The plaza may not be totally deserted but the crowd is thin. The fountain still gurgles, but it looks old and forlorn with hardly any audience. The concrete buildings too appear grey and jaded. The shopkeepers look glum as there arent even enough window shoppers to keep them company. Only the number of pavement vendors has grown manifold. Then there are pesky salesmen chasing the visitors as they try to sell their rather shady looking eye-glasses and other gear.
THE UNIQUE PLAZA
Everyone agrees that Sector 17 has lost its sheen, and this is upsetting. After all, it isnt just any other sector of the city. The diminishing crowd translates into financial losses. But more than that, there are sentiments attached to this place. Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier designed the sprawling piazza on the European pattern and intended it to be a pedestrians paradise. The proportion of this square and the way its separated from the shops around it makes it unique, says architect Namita Singh, whos been involved in many projects with the UT administration.
APATHY TO BLAME
Its a combination of market forces and administrative apathy that has brought the sector to this sorry state. No one could have done much about the factors like economic slowdown. But being a public property, the onus was on the administration to take initiatives to make it vibrant and keep the sectors pulse going. There was a total failure on that count. The sector kept losing its vibe, and other places, especially the Elante mall, were quick to fill up that void. Locals and outsiders flock to the mall, like they used to religiously congregate in this sector. Elante is the new Sector 17.
The concern of residents is not that a new mall has emerged in a desolate corner that no one visited till some time back. The worry is how the sector lost out with bureaucrats and politicians only paying lip service to revive it all these years.
The skyline is marred by wires that are symptomatic of the ad-hocism that is the bane of this city centre. (HT Photo)
MARKET FORCES AT WORK
There are various factors that led to a decline in the footfall here. For one, the citys only Inter-State Bus Stand was just a five-minute walk from the plaza. So, a trip to plaza was a must-do on the itinerary of all those travelling to the city. The bus stand has now been divided with a major chunk shifted to Sector 43.
The shifting of district courts to Sector 43 and many other government offices to Panchkula, Mohali and other places has also contributed to a drastic drop in the number of visitors.
Who can forget the cinema halls that used to attract massive crowds once upon a time. In days of state-ofthe-art multiplexes, the Neelam theatre wears a forsaken look. Jagat has converted into a multiplex but in absence of any shops it remains a renovated cinema hall. The KC Theatre with its unique dome shape was once a rage, but its been a work in progress for ages.
The buying power of people is down regardless of the reasons, says a Sector 17 showroom owner RP Malhotra. At best people just come for window shopping when the weather is convenient.
THE LONG ROUTE TO REJUVENATION
On paper, a lot is happening. The Smart City project envisages rejuvenation of the sector. We will install energy-efficient lights, lay tiled pedestrian walkways, introduce underground smart parking, smart advertising panels, and cycle tracks besides landscaping the open spaces, says an official. But does that sound attractive enough? Much more needs to be done.
Two things are extremely vital for this sector to surviveget rid of vendors and chaos at the parking spaces so that people feel like coming back here, says Jagdish Kalra, general secretary of Sector 17 Traders Association.
Not just that. There is also problem with the mindset of officers. Theres a feeling that the unimaginative babus have stuck to rules and refused to change with age.
Every age has to have its own architecture, says Namita Singh. The officials have been too rigid about the framework of buildings. The architecture department cant think beyond Corbusier or the line he drew. She cites the case of Jagat and KC theaters for instance. They wanted to change from single screens to multiscreens and were told to fit into the same shape and area, she says.
Things have come to such a pass that even basics are missing. The other day governor VP Singh Badnore was shocked to see the filth and told his officers: If you cant clean it Ill do it.
Coming back to Corbusier, he had conceived the citys master plan as analogous to human body. The city centre, Sector 17, was earmarked as the heart of its body with the capitol complex as its head. Well, the heart is there but the beat is missing.
(FIRST OF SEVEN-PART SERIES, TOMORROW: PARKING PROBLEM)
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In yet another resolution passed to press for their demands, Jat leader Yashpal Malik on Sunday asked the community to stop purchasing goods from shops that dont support their agitation in written.
He said this while addressing thousands of Jat protesters gathered here in Jassia village to observe the Black Day called to protest what the Jats call the bias of the government against the Jat community.
Malik said, From March 1, purchase only those goods from the market that are extremely important and only from those shops or traders who have mentioned that they support Jat agitation and the demands raised by the community, in writing outside their shops.
Try to buy as little as possible to crumble the markets in Haryana, the AIJASS president said.
The Jat leader had earlier asked the community to stop paying electricity and water bills and repayment of loans to government agencies from March.
Earlier in the day, as a mark of protest, Jats painted Jassia village in black by adorning only black clothes. The leaders once again alleged that Jat victims of last years quota stir were not given justice. This comes despite the state police having countered this claim on Saturday.
It is learnt that the principle organising committee of the quota stir, the All India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, reportedly distributed black scarves to women and black turbans to men in a door-to-door campaign in several villages that are actively participating in the dharnas.
National highway-71 A that passes through Jassia was clogged with a large number of vehicles belonging to the protesters. The police had shut the highway from Rohtak to Jassia and had diverted routes for commuters.
However, what can perhaps be seen as a security lapse on part of the administration, police and paramilitary forces were not deployed anywhere near the dharan spots, even to control traffic as vehicles of the protesters clogged the highway for several hours. This is despite the fact that Rohtak city has adequate deployment of police and paramilitary force.
After Black Day comes Black Holi
The Jat leaders on Sunday also asked the community to boycott the upcoming festival of Holi in March. So many of our community members have died in the last one year, while many are in jail. There has been immense injustice. We will observe Black Holi by not celebrating it, Jat leader Ashok Balhara said.
Last year, too, Rohtak, which used to witness the festival of colours with much fervour and fanfare saw a subdued Holi, after the city was rocked by unprecedented violence in February during the Jat quota stir.
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Starvation and lack of treatment has claimed the life of two regular employees of Jharkhands 103 year old civic body Mineral Area Development Authority (MADA). They had not been paid salary for 35 months.
Security staff Prem Bahadur Thapa (57) and sanitation wing employee Shrish Gurung (58) succumbed to poverty triggered by non-payment of salary. Both of them were posted at MADA headquarters and coincidently both of them died within the span of one hour on Thursday evening.
Members of both the victims families charged that despite repeated reminders for last one month, the management did not release arrear of salary payment so that they could be treated.
Father was already under debt so we could not borrow money again ,said Raman Thapa , son of Prem Bahadur Thapa. The employees association had on February 2 served a notice to the management for payment of salary but to no avail.
MADA managing director (MD) Shashidhar Mandal gave Rs 10,000 to each family for the last rites and announced payment of arrears of five months salary to them. The financial condition of MADA is not good. The salary size is more than the monthly income of the organization. That is why employees are not paid regularly, he said.
Meanwhile, the death of the two employees has triggered a massive protest from employees body, Pradhikar Karmchari Sangh, the frontal organization of MADA employees. It decided to knock the doors of the Ranchi high court as well as the Human Rights Commission for justice.
MADA was established in 1914 by the British to manage drinking water supply and sanitation requirements of collieries area. It has 1150 staff, who have not been paid their salary for 35 months.
In lthe ast three years , denial of salary has impacted education of children and their marriages , while several employees have died due to lack of treatment, while many have committed suicide due to debt, said Prem Tiwary, general secretary of the Sangh.
The employees body also held the state government responsible for the poor financial condition of MADA.
The government has been sitting on a proposal for water tax enhancement passed by the cabinet in 2011. Had that been done, MADA would have had enough to pay its employees, Tiwary added.
AGP forms four-member team to conduct forensic audit
ISLAMABAD: The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has formed a four-member team to conduct forensic audit of major loss-making state-owned entities (SOEs) following the Finance Ministrys letter in compliance to Prime Minister Imran Khans directive.
The prime minister has asked his Adviser on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh last month with respect to forensic audit of loss making PSEs, and subsequently Shaikh who presiding over a meeting of Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (CCoSOEs) wanted to know whether sufficient expertise to carry out audit was available with the AGP or the government would be required to hire private auditor, and if so, how much it would cost.
Shaikh directed that he should be informed in the next meeting about the availability of sufficient forensic audit expertise within the AGP before taking the final decision.
On Thursday, in response to a letter of the Finance Ministry, asking whether the AGP had sufficient expertise to carry out forensic audit of the entities, the office of the AGP affirmed that it had the required experience, and expertise of forensic auditing, and for this purpose, a team had also been formed.
The forensic audit team would be led by a BS-19 officer of the DG Audit (CA&E) Karachi Saqib Bashir, whereas, its members would be Attique Ur Rahman, Deputy Director, Nadeem Masood, Audit Officer currently deputed at the office of DG Audit (CA&E) Lahore, and Saqib Hussain, Assistant Audit Officer.
Under the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Finance Ministry issued a letter to the AGP with respect to conducting forensic audit to the major loss-making SOEs of which the audit had not been done for several years.
The prime minister, in recent cabinet meeting, instructed the concerned authorities to make arrangements for conducting forensic audit of the SOEs, of which audit had not been carried out for more than four years.ZAHEER ABBASI
Brothers Ashfaq Khan, 10, and Mushtaq Khan, 7, are the ghost boys of Rampur village in Vidisha district in Madhya Pradesh. They are routinely ridiculed, pelted with stones and have even had dogs set on them because they are different.
What sets them apart is not something theyve done but the way they look. Both suffer from a rare genetic disease called Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia (HED), which has manifested in four pointy teeth in their upper jaw, hair peppered with grey, flat noses, dark and cracked skin, and thin and reedy voices. They couldnt get an Aadhar card because their palms are too cracked (to get a biometric scan), says their mother Abila Bi.
The brothers have no friends but each other and are shunned even by their extended family, which has ostracised their parents for giving birth to ghosts.
The parents, however, love their boys to bits. They resisted advice from well-wishers to kill or abandon their firstborn Ashfaq after birth. When Mushtaq was born with the same disease, their extended family and villagers gave up on them and declared them cursed.
HED is one of around 150 types of ectodermal dysplasia that results in the abnormal development of the skin, hair, nails, teeth and sweat glands. The condition is life-threatening as affected children cannot sweat to regulate their bodys temperature.
The disease cant be cured but their sufferings can be reduced to some extent, but diagnosis is expensive as the medical tests for the HED type cost between Rs 35,000 and Rs 100,000, says pediatrician Dr Gauri Pandit.
Watch Ashfaq and Mushtaq talk about their life
Tough diagnosis
Diagnosis is far from easy. We somehow saved money for bus fare and took the boys to Guna and Bhopal, where doctors couldnt diagnose the disease but made it clear to the villagers that they are not ghosts but suffer from an incurable disease, says the childrens father, who works as a labourer.
Since the disease makes the boys feel exceedingly hot and the family cant afford a fan, the two cool off by pouring water on themselves every half hour. They survive summers by staying indoors all day and stepping out only in the early morning and evening.
Having only four teeth in the upper jaws allows them to eat only food in a semi-liquid form. They have never tasted a fruit, not even the plums that grow wild around their village.
Three years ago, the brothers started attending school. They love every moment of it. The teacher allows us to step out to pour water on ourselves and provides semi-liquid mid-day meals. We love to read with them, said Ashfaq, who is Class 3 with his brother.
The only hurdle is social acceptance. They looked like ghosts, Im afraid of them. My mother asked me not to play with them, said Shanu Khan, 8, a neighbour.
Read: Half of worlds disabled children are kept out of schools says report
Unwanted labels
Delhis Pullan family also faces a hard time due to their fair skin; people label them as Angrez because of their pale skin. Theyre not foreigners but suffer from Albinism, a congenital disorder that results in complete or partial absence of melanin in the skin, hair and eyes.
Life has not been easy for us, Vijay Kumar, one of the six siblings, told HT. The family has struggled to get the colony kids to let them participate in games as children, to interact with the neighbours, find jobs and partners. They have also been called Surajmukhi, (a face like the sun) because of their extremely pale skin colour.
The mother, Mani, carries the gene from her family, while the father, Rose Turai, was the only one born with albinism in his clan. We dont have a choice. We just have to live with the discrimination, says Vijay.
Vijay Kumar, one of the six siblings, in the Pullan family in Delhi says that they are often discriminated against and labelled Angrez or Surajmukhi because they suffer from Albinism. (Arun Sharma/HT PHOTO)
Heartbreak and hope
Mumbais Aarya Bhatkar, was one-and-a-half years old when he was diagnosed with Niemann-Pick disease, a rare type of Lysosomal Storage Disease (LSD) that is caused by genetic mutation and affects metabolism. Children with LSD have physical deformations depending upon the type of disorder. In some cases their bones grow abnormally, facial features can get coarser and the tongue may get enlarged, which makes it hard to function and harder to find acceptance among other kids.
Aarya had an enlarged spleen, because of which his lower abdomen was bloated, his hands were twisted inwards and his feet never really grew after infancy, says his mother Sheetal Bhatkar, a resident of Wadala, Mumbai. Initially, my neighbours kids would come to play with him regularly, which he looked forward to. But, when his condition started deteriorating, they stopped visiting.
Aarya took it hard. He would ask me why they werent playing with him and I really had no answer, says Bhatkar.
Her son passed away at age seven, two years ago, owing to the severity of his case, but Bhatkar is working to ensure that other children with rare disorders do not face the same stigma. She makes it a point to visit hospitals like KEM and Hinduja to talk to parents of other young patients on how they can cope and help their child deal with reactions from others.
Doctors too, refer parents to her so that she can counsel them on not losing heart. One parent, whose child was battling a degenerative disease, called me up after I lost my son and told me that I must be relieved that the stress is over, she recalls. I was aghast, but then I realised that this stems from the social mindset about disorders like these. I explained to her that she needs to take things in her stride and do all that she can to make her daughter feel loved and accepted.
Read: Tackling stigma- In Indore colony, HIV-positive patients live to the fullest
Springtime in Afghanistan usually brings a spike in violence as the Taliban takes advantage of the thaw to launch a wave of fresh attacks. But the Talibans leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, has just issued a statement calling on Afghans to plant more trees.
In a public letter issued on Sunday in four languages, including English, Akhundzada said, the Mujahideen and beloved countrymen must join hands in tree planting.
The statement does point out that the Taliban remain, actively engaged in a struggle against foreign invaders and their hirelings a reference to the Kabul government that the militant group seeks to overthrow.
Shah Hussain Murtazawi, deputy spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, dismissed the statement as an attempt to deceive public opinion and distract from the Talibans crimes and destruction.
Since the establishment of the Taliban movement the only things that these people have in their minds are fighting, crimes and destruction, he said.
How is it possible for the Taliban to think about planting trees or protecting the environment in the country?
Most of Afghanistans big cities, including capital Kabul, are overpopulated and there are few public green spaces or parks.
According to officials from the public health ministry, up to 4,000 citizens die each year in Kabul due to illnesses brought on or exacerbated by air pollution.
Wahid Muzhda, a political analyst in Kabul, said announcements like this and other statements where they claim to be building roads and bridges could be part of a Taliban campaign to show that they would provide enlightened leadership in areas of the country that they control.
Akhunzadas statement cites Islamic tradition and the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammed to reinforce its environmental message.
Tree planting plays an important role in environmental protection, economic development and the beautification of the earth. Allah Almighty has interconnected the lives of human beings with plants, it says.
Plants live off soil while humans and animals live off plants. If the plants and trees are eradicated, life itself would be put in peril, Allah Almighty says.
The US-based Sikhs Political Action Committee (SikhsPAC) chief has condemned the shooting incident that resulted in the death of an Indian engineer in Kansas, saying there is a need for Indo-Americans to unite.
Our first priority needs to be ensuring safety and security of every Indian and Sikh living in the US, Gurinder Singh Khalsa, founder and chairman of the SikhsPAC said.
The organisation aims to raise awareness of Sikh culture, identities and values, promote diversity through interfaith dialogue and pave the way for the communitys involvement in American politics.
Khalsa announced to organise the community nationwide to work with the states and federal government to ensure that Indians and people of Indian origin no longer become victim of hate crimes.
While the new immigration guidelines nominally continue the previous administrations emphasis on targeting criminals, there are significant changes... There is a lot of uncertainty about the rules right now, said the community leader from Indiana.
Khalsa also plans to travel to Washington DC in the next few days to meet with members of the Congress and the Trump administration about clarification on the new guidelines.
The tragic death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in a hate crime in Kansas is further proof that xenophobic rhetoric can and does have consequences... We all need to work together to ensure that this type of violence is never repeated, he said.
Islamic State militants are planning indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians in Britain on a scale similar to those staged by the Irish Republican Army 40 years ago, the head of the countrys new terrorism watchdog said.
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph published on Sunday, Max Hill, the lawyer tasked with overseeing British laws on terrorism, said the militants were targeting cities and posed an enormous ongoing risk which none of us can ignore.
In terms of the threat thats represented, I think the intensity and the potential frequency of serious plot planning with a view to indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians of whatever race or colour in metropolitan areas represents an enormous ongoing risk that none of us can ignore, he said.
So I think that there is undoubtedly significant ongoing risk which is at least as great as the threat to London in the 70s when the IRA were active on the mainland.
The IRA abandoned its armed struggle for an end to British control of Northern Ireland and unification with Ireland in a 1998 peace deal. More than 3,600 people were killed, including more than 1,000 members of the British security forces, during a sectarian conflict that began in the late 1960s.
British security officials have repeatedly said that Islamic State militants, who are losing ground in Iraq and Syria, will target Britain.
The US space agency said Friday it is considering putting astronauts on an upcoming test flight of the deep space capsule Orion as it aims to orbit the Moon.
Orion is being built with an eye to one day ferrying astronauts to Earths neighbouring planet, Mars, perhaps by the 2030s.
Until now, the Orion test flight known as Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) was scheduled for 2018 and was expected to be unmanned.
But NASAs acting administrator Robert Lightfoot asked on February 15 for the space agency to study the feasibility of putting people on board, and the findings of that study are expected in the coming months.
Our priority is to ensure the safe and effective execution of all our planned exploration missions with the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket, said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASAs human exploration and operations mission directorate.
The capsule will be propelled to space atop a rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS), which is currently being developed. NASA has described it as the most powerful rocket in the world.
Orion will fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown, NASA added.
The space capsule also aims to stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
The study is evaluating the pros and cons of adding two crew members, and could possibly delay the EM-1 mission until mid-2019.
The current plan is to send astronauts on Orions second flight, EM-2, an eight-day mission in 2021.
Pakistan International Airlines, which is probing reports that seven extra passengers were allowed to travel to Saudi Arabia, has denied they stood in the aisles for the three-hour journey, reports said.
PIA spokesman Danyal Gilani said media reports to this effect are exaggerated and baseless. It is not possible for anyone to travel like that in an aircraft, regardless of the duration of the flight.
But he said: The matter pertaining to the travel of more passengers than the booked load...is under investigation, adding the airline had ordered a thorough probe into it, and all concerned are being questioned.
PIA is committed to ensure the safety of the passengers and cannot allow any incident to happen which compromises safety, the influential Dawn newspaper quoted him as saying.
The state-run carrier is also investigating why no member of the cabin crew reported the matter to the airline management after the completion of the Karachi-Madinah flight.
The airline is beset with a number of issues and in the past passengers have accused crew of overloading aircraft to accommodate staff and others, violating international aviation rules.
In this incident, which reportedly occurred in January, passengers with handwritten boarding cards were allowed on board after being adjusted by ground staff.
The captain and a cabin crew member blamed each other for the incident, reports said.
Captain Anwar Adil told Dawn that the passengers should not have been accommodated in the first place and if they were on the plane, the senior purser should have alerted him to this.
Adil said he learned about the extra passengers only after take-off, by which point it was too late to turn around as this would have meant dumping fuel in order to land safely.
I had already left and the senior purser (of the cabin crew) did not point out extra passengers before closing the aircraft door. Therefore, after takeoff, immediate landing back in Karachi was not possible, he said, adding, It may be appreciated that immediate landing in Karachi after take-off required a lot of fuel dumping, which was not in the interest of the airline.
The media report said that although the B-777 plane was allowed to carry 409 passengers, there were 416 onboard flight PK743 to Madinah that day.
The official, computerised list of passengers did not mention the extra travellers.
Officials said the extra passengers were PIA staff members who boarded on concession tickets and were accommodated following pressure from the powerful employees union that operates in the airline.
Gilani initially did not respond to media queries but finally confirmed that an internal investigation had begun and appropriate action will be taken once responsibility is fixed.
PIA is currently headed by a German aviation expert who has promised to return the national airline to its glory days when it was considered one of the most efficient airlines in the region.
Pope Francis has become the first pontiff to visit an Anglican church in Rome.
Francis and an Anglican bishop prayed side-by-side on Sunday afternoon at All Saints Church in central Rome.
Bishop Robert Innes welcomed Francis by praising the Roman Catholic leader for his solidarity with refugees and migrants.
Anglicans split from Catholicism in 1534, when Englands King Henry VIII was denied a marriage annulment. Both churches are striving toward greater closeness despite obstacles.
Pope Francis delivers a speech as Robert Innes (right), the Anglican Bishop in Europe, listens during the popes historic visit to the Anglican Church of All Saints in Rome on Sunday. (AP)
Francis in his homily acknowledged that Anglicans and Catholics viewed each other with suspicion and hostility in past centuries.
He encouraged both faiths to be always more liberated from our respective prejudices from the past.
Francis made no references to major theological differences, including the Anglican practices of ordaining women and allowing openly gay bishops.
As Srinivas Kuchibhotlas family tries to deal with the young aviation engineers cold-blooded murder by a hate-driven shooter, questions are being raised about the lack of attention it has received from the White House, especially in comparison to similar circumstances in the past.
Questions are also being raised about why the shooting has not been a bigger news story, given the charged atmosphere of surging social tensions fuelled in part by the Donald Trump administrations stalled attempts to curtail visits by foreigners from parts of the world it deems a security risk to the United States.
Adam Purinton, the shooter, had mistaken Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, a colleague from Garmin, a GPS technology major, for people from the Muslim-majority Middle East, telling them to get out of my country before opening fire on them and another patron at a suburban bar in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday.
There was no comment or reaction from the White House until Friday, when the shooting was raised at the daily briefing, and only to dismiss suggestions, as had been made by many, that the presidents rhetoric may have been responsible for it. Any loss of life is tragic, said press secretary Sean Spicer, but Im not going to get into, like, that kind of -- to suggest that theres any correlation (to the president rhetoric) I think is a bit absurd.
If it seemed more like a clarification than a condemnation, it was. Once upon a time, presidents like Obama or Bush wouldve spoken out against this hate crime today, Jon Favreau, President Barack Obamas speechwriter for most of his first term, tweeted, adding, Trump yelled about the media and FBI.
Trump was indeed immersed then in a fierce fight with that part of the news media he doesnt like and with the FBI.
Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn of the shooting that tragically took so many lives in Wisconsin, Obama had said in a statement after the killing of six people at a gurudwara in Wisconsin in 2013. As we mourn this loss which took place at a house of worship, we are reminded how much our country has been enriched by Sikhs, who are a part of our broader American family.
But the White House has generally been seen as silent on the Kansas shooting.The President could say Don't shoot innocent brown people. Its wrong, Kumail Nanjiani, a Pakistani-American comic who plays a techie in HBO TV series Silicon Valley, tweeted. And he would save lives. But he won't. & that doesn't surprise us.
And Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations, a think tank, suggested the president tends to take a motivated position on such issues. Of course President Trump has no comment. He only comments when the perpetrators are Muslim, Boot tweeted on Saturday.
US media has also come under some scrutiny for being less nimble on the story as well, will allegations ranging from racially motivated to just plain dismay. This is an act of domestic terror by a former military officer, Pawan Dhingra of Tufts University told Hindustan Times, adding, It should be much more covered. The shootings and killing would be getting much more attention if the shooter was a self-described Muslim or if it happened in midtown Manhattan. The lack of coverage suggests the normalization of such terror and distrust of Muslim, Arab, and South Asian Americans.
Peter Daou, who described himself as an adviser to Hillary Clintons 2008 presidential campaign, wrote on Twitter, If the news media really wanted to be fair, they would give this as much attention as they do attacks with white victims.
And Jonathan M Katz, a freelance journalist, said in a post he was confused about why this isnt a bigger story in America right now, and why Ian Grillot hasnt become a household name. Grillot, was shot when he tried to stop Purinton. And he is a hero in India, and possibly a household name.
Irans former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter Sunday to President Donald Trump, striking a somewhat conciliatory tone while applauding immigration to America and saying it shows the contemporary US belongs to all nations.
It isnt the first dispatch sent by Ahmadinejad, who has counted US Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama among his pen pals.
But this letter, weighing in at over 3,500 words, comes as criticism of Trump over his travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries including Iran mounts in Tehran. It also may serve to burnish Ahmadinejads image domestically after the nations Supreme Leader warned him not to run in Irans upcoming May presidential election.
In the letter, published by Iranian media outlets, Ahmadinejad noted Trump won the election while he truthfully described the US political system and electoral structure as corrupt.
Ahmadinejad decried US dominance over the United Nations, as well as American meddling in the world that has brought insecurity, war, division, killing and (the) displacement of nations.
He also acknowledged the some 1 million people of Iranian descent living in America, saying that US policies should value respect toward the diversity of nations and races.
In other words, the contemporary US belongs to all nations, including the natives of the land, he wrote. No one may consider themselves the owner and view others as guests or immigrants.
A judge later blocked Trumps travel ban, and an appeals court refused to reinstate it. Trump has promised to issue a revised order soon, saying its necessary to keep America safe.
Entirely missing from the letter was any reference to Irans nuclear program. Under Ahmadinejads presidency, Iran found itself heavily sanctioned over the program as Western governments feared it could lead to the Islamic Republic building atomic weapons. Iran has long maintained its program was for peaceful purposes.
Iran under current President Hassan Rouhani struck a nuclear deal with world powers, including the Obama administration, to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions. Trump campaigned promising to renegotiate the deal, without offering specifics.
Ahmadinejad gave the letter to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents US interests in Iran. The embassy declined to comment Sunday while American officials could not be immediately reached.
The letter comes ahead of Irans presidential election, in which Rouhani is widely expected to seek a second four-year term. While allies of Ahmadinejad are expected to run, he himself wont after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned him in September his candidacy would bring about a polarized situation that would be harmful for the county.
Ahmadinejads popularity in Iran remains in question. During his tenure, he personally questioned the scale of the Holocaust and predicted the demise of Israel. His disputed 2009 re-election saw widespread protests and violence. Two of his former vice presidents went to prison for corruption.
But Ahmadinejad offered Trump his own warning about how quickly time passes for leaders.
Four years is a long period, but it ends quickly, he wrote. The opportunity needs to be valued, and all its moments need to be used in the best way.
Malaysias health minister said on Sunday that the dose of nerve agent given to North Korean ruler Kim Jong Uns exiled half brother was so high that it killed him within 20 minutes and caused very serious paralysis.
Kim Jong Nam died on February 13 at Kuala Lumpurs airport in what Malaysian police say was a well-planned hit by two women who wiped a liquid on Kims face. Police revealed on Friday that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim, raising the stakes in the case.
Health minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said the dose of VX given to Kim was so high that he showed symptoms within minutes. Kim fainted at the airport clinic and died in the ambulance while en route to a hospital, he said.
VX only requires 10 milligrams to be absorbed into the system to be lethal, so I presume that the amount of dose that went in is more than that, he said at a news conference. The doses were so high and it did it so fast and all over the body, so it would have affected his heart, it would have affected his lungs, it would have affected everything.
Asked how long it took for Kim to die after he was attacked, Subramaniam said, I would think it was about, from the time of onset, from the time of application, 15-20 minutes.
Malaysia hasnt directly accused the North Korean government of being behind the attack, but officials have said four North Korean men provided two women with poison to carry it out. The four men fled Malaysia on the same day as the killing, while the women one from Indonesia and the other Vietnamese were arrested.
Experts say the nerve agent used to kill Kim was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory and is banned under an international treaty. But North Korea never signed the treaty, and has spent decades developing a complex chemical weapons program.
Passengers scan departure information at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia. (AP Photo)
Kim was not an obvious political threat to his estranged half brother, Kim Jong Un. But he may have been seen as a potential rival in North Koreas dynastic dictatorship, even though he had lived in exile for years.
North Korea has denied any role in the attack.
Earlier Sunday, Subramaniam said the state chemistry departments finding of the VX toxin confirmed the hospitals autopsy result that suggested a chemical agent caused very serious paralysis that led to death in a very short period of time. The VX agent can lead to death very quickly in high doses, he said.
He said the final autopsy report would be submitted to police soon.
Subramaniam also said that there have been no reports of anyone else being sickened by the toxin, but that medical workers who attended to Kim would remain under observation for possible delayed effects.
Tens of thousands of passengers have passed through the airport since the apparent assassination was carried out. No areas were cordoned off and protective measures were not taken.
Early Sunday, more than a dozen officers in protective gear swept the budget terminal where Kim was attacked and said they found no traces of VX.
Abdul Samah Mat, the police official leading the investigation, said the terminal was free from any form of contamination of hazardous material and declared it a safe zone after a two-hour sweep.
He also said a condominium on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur that was raided by police last week had been rented by the four North Korean suspects who left the country. He said police were still testing a seized substance for traces of any chemicals.
Suspects Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, North Korean Ri Jong Chol, Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Malaysian Muhammad Farid Bin Jallaludin are seen in this combination image. (Reuters Photo)
Abdul Samah said the Indonesian woman who was arrested, Siti Aisyah, vomited in a taxi on the way from the airport after the attack but is fine now. He said that more tests were needed to determine if the two arrested suspects were given antidotes so the nerve agent wouldnt kill them.
An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected.
On Saturday, representatives from the Indonesian and Vietnamese embassies met with the two arrested women, who both said they thought they were part of a prank show. Aisyah said she was paid the equivalent of $90, according to Andriano Erwin, Indonesias deputy ambassador to Malaysia.
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Trivia isn't the rare currency it was in the days before Google. But there's still some value to knowing arcane and obscure facts about things that don't really matter to the daily struggle.
So, with that cheery thought, here's a bundle of Oscars trivia that might sate some curiosity during Sunday night's broadcast - and give you a reason not to consult Google.
Most Oscar wins by a single film
The answer: 11. It's happened three times: "Ben-Hur" (1959), "Titanic" (1997) and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003).
Most Oscar wins by an individual
Walt Disney won 26 and was nominated 59 times. He won four in 1954 alone. Twelve came in the category of best short subject (cartoon).
Most nominations by a living person
Composer John Williams has been nominated 50 times and won five: "Fiddler on the Roof" in 1971, "Jaws" in 1975, "Star Wars" in 1977, "E.T." in 1982 and "Schindler's List" in 1993.
Most Oscar nominations without a win
Actor Peter O'Toole was nominated eight times, starting in 1962 for his starring role in "Lawrence of Arabia." He was finally given an honorary award in 2002 for career achievements.
Most astounding Oscar sweep
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003) won all 11 categories in which it was nominated.
Sweep of the "Big Five" awards
This has happened three times: "It Happened One Night" (1934), "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) and "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991)
Youngest Oscar winner
At age 10, Tatum O'Neal won best supporting actress for "Paper Moon" in 1973, beating out co-star Madeline Kahn, who was nominated in that same category.
Shortest performance to win an Oscar
In 1976, Beatrice Straight won best supporting actress for her role in "Network." She was onscreen a total of 5 minutes and 2 seconds.
Playing dress-up
Edith Head won eight Oscars for costume design. She won three consecutive Oscars in that category in 1949, 1950 and 1951. She was caricatured in the Pixar movie "The Incredibles."
Shortest acceptance speech
The shortest acceptance speech ever given was by 16-year-old Patty Duke in 1962, who won best supporting actress for her role in "The Miracle Worker." She walked to the podium, said, "Thank you" and walked off the stage.
Never been beaten
Sound editor Mark Berger has been nominated for four Academy Awards. He's won each time, for "Apocalypse Now" in 1979, "The Right Stuff" in 1983, "Amadeus" in 1984 and "The English Patient" in 1996.
So very meta
In 2004, Cate Blanchett won best supporting actress for her role in "The Aviator." She was playing Katharine Hepburn, who won four Oscars of her own for best actress in 1934, 1968, 1969 and 1982.
No wonder he liked the award
Art director Cedric Gibbons was nominated 39 times and won 11 Oscars. He's also the person who designed the Oscar award. Gibbons died in 1960 at age 67.
Winslet times two
Kate Winslet has a rare Academy Awards distinction. Only twice have two actresses been nominated for playing the same character in the same film, and she is involved in each instance. The first two were Gloria Stuart and Winslet in "Titanic" (1997). The second two were Judi Dench and Winslet in "Iris" (2001).
Local luminaries
In 1962, Horton Foote of Wharton won an Academy Award for his screenplay for "To Kill a Mockingbird," starring Gregory Peck. Foote didn't even attend the Oscar ceremonies because he didn't expect to win. The film had been nominated for eight Oscars and won three. Foote died in 2009.
In 1974, Valerie Perrine of Galveston was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress for her role in "Lenny," a biopic about comedian Lenny Bruce. The Oscar went to Ellen Burstyn for "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore."
In 1978, Gary Busey of Goose Creek was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor for his starring role in "The Buddy Holly Story." The Oscar went to Jon Voight for "Coming Home." "The Buddy Holly Story" had been nominated for three Oscars and won one.
In 1984, Foote won his second Oscar for his screenplay for "Tender Mercies," starring Robert Duvall and Tess Harper. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including best picture.
Karen Dufilho-Rosen of Houston won two Academy Awards for best animated short film: "Geri's Game" in 1997 and "For the Birds" in 2001. She served as the producer for both Pixar productions.
Renee Zellweger of Katy was nominated for best actress in two consecutive years: "Bridget Jones's Diary" in 2001 and "Chicago" in 2002. She finally took home an Oscar in 2003 for her supporting role in "Cold Mountain."
In 2003, Chris Cooper - who briefly lived in Houston when he was a child - won an Academy Award for his supporting role in "Adaptation," starring Meryl Streep and Nicolas Cage. The film had been nominated for four Oscars.
Houston natives and ace directors Richard Linklater and Wes Anderson have yet to win an Oscar, despite being nominated a combined 11 times.
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The chance to become a runway model seemed far away to Deborah Grayson Carpenter.
It wasn't until she saw a model with disabilities on Facebook - Shaholly Ayers, a congenital amputee who walked the runway at New York Fashion Week - that Grayson Carpenter realized it was a possibility.
Since then, she has been a contestant in the Ms. Wheelchair Texas Pageant, has appeared on the Houston Fashion Week runway three times and has become a brand ambassador for local designer Kimma Wreh of TeKay Designs. She and Wreh started the nonprofit KDE Disability Africa Foundation to help empower people with disabilities in Africa and the United States.
The 49-year-old Houston native was diagnosed at 6 months with spinal muscular atrophy, a degenerative muscular disease that impacts a person's ability to walk, eat and breathe. She was expected to live only to age 2.
"I'm not supposed to be here, but I am," she said.
Grayson Carpenter was home-schooled for first through ninth grades, then she attended McCullough Senior High School. She could attend only during nonflu seasons because of her compromised immune system. After graduating in 1986, she attended the University of Houston for several years and lived on campus with a personal caregiver.
At 22, she went to work as a reservation agent at Continental Airlines and remained there for 16 years. About the same time, she met her husband, Larry Carpenter, at a showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
"I never thought I would ever get married," she said. "I wasn't the most datable, given my condition, but we started going to the movies together, and he was so attentive."
They were married at First Baptist Church in The Woodlands. Carpenter wore a "Cinderella" wedding dress made by her grandmother.
Today, Grayson Carpenter is working on a career in fashion, but she knows the challenges are huge.
"Most people with disabilities are on fixed incomes," she said. "They can't afford to travel to the shows and have their hair and makeup done. So we have to get sponsors to help us continue."
She still hopes to make it to New York Fashion Week one day.
"For me to get to New York and maintain my health will be a huge thing," she said. "I'll be risking catching something in an environment I've never been to. But I want to do it."
Style hero: Chloe Dao
Favorite accessory: Necklace or trendy jacket
Should toss but can't: Muscle shirt a hot guy gave me while cruising the Westheimer strip
Trend you'll never wear: Dresses or skirts that show everything when you sit down
On bedside table: My laptop
Recent purchase: A jacket with white fur
Most regrettable purchase: Red material for a dress that made me look like a lobster
Must-have beauty products: M.A.C. Cosmetics' all-in-one foundation and powder and lip gloss
Favorite vacation destination: Cozumel, Mexico
Most hated household chore: Husband does all the chores.
Favorite word: Inspiring
Best advice you have ever received: "You are going to do everything everyone else does" - my mother
Surprising thing about you: That I surpassed my spinal-muscular-atrophy lifespan prognosis of two years.
At a hastily called press conference on Friday, Liberty City Manager Gary Broz announced the rollout of a new partnership with the popular search engine Google that will help area businesses realize more traffic with little investment.
Sparked by worrisome reductions in sales tax revenues during the Christmas holidays, Broz sought answers to help boost the local economy.
With an $80,000 shortfall, about 4 percent of $2 million, Broz was concerned.
"We received our sales tax revenue report for the Christmas season and we were down approximately 4 percent," Broz told the media.
When businesses aren't selling, there's less money in the city coffers.
"Knowing that we all shop on the Internet, myself included, April [Gilliland] and I attended a workshop and Texas City presented this idea and we really liked it well enough to present it to the Liberty Community Development Corporation and they liked it as well," Broz said. "This is our first way of kicking off 'Let's Put Liberty On The Map.'"
The campaign with Google is free and gives small businesses an opportunity to be visible on the Internet in a sort of online directory.
Broz, who admits he isn't the most savvy tech person, said the city will assist with the program.
"Our obligation is to our local business," he said. "We need to try and do everything we can to help them along with trying to recruit new business for our area."
The business not only receives the free placement online that will make them visible in online searches, but it will also be linked to Google Maps for free, an invaluable asset to customers doing queries.
"The process is simple to see if your business is already listed or not," said April Gilliland, administrative assistant for the city of Liberty.
"When you go to the link we'll provide you, you type in your business name, city and state and it will tell you if you're listed or not," she said.
"If you're not listed, customers cannot find you online in a search of Google," she said.
If a business or organization discovers they are not listed, they can hit a tab on the screen and follow the prompts to list their business.
The information requested is basic, but it would be wise to have some photos handy that can enhance the directory listing online.
The site requests a photo of the outside of the location, a photo of the owner/staff, and inside photos that may help describe the business and attract customers. Obviously, one wouldn't put photos that contain proprietary information, but the photos provide the potential of wooing customers to the business.
Once the information has been processed, a post card will be sent to the owner, usually within 35 business days with a PIN. The pin must be entered on the site for verification purposes. Once verified, the online listing goes 'live' and customers will be able to find the business with ease.
The map will provide detailed instructions on where to find the business, the hours, and phone number are also included along with your submitted photos.
Workshops are scheduled for Tuesday, March 7, at 6 p.m. and Friday, March 10, at 9 a.m. at the city library.
"We will use the computers at the library and let everyone who needs help to add their business for free do so," Broz said.
Dennis Beasley, president of the Liberty Community Development Corporation, is an advocate of the program.
"The Internet is a growing platform for large and small businesses," Beasley said. "This is another tool for our small businesses to get a space on the internet, particularly if they don't have a website, and it will come up quickly and help drive customers to their site."
Beasley believes businesses without a website should participate.
"The only investment is about 10 minutes to set up the online profile," Beasley said.
Broz said they were in a hurry to roll out the program and have not gone down every street in the city to try and identify who is on there and who is not.
"This is a free opportunity and we'll leave it up to each business owner to take the initiative to come get the assistance," he said.
The welcome mat is open to all businesses, big or small, storefront or not, and doing business inside the city of Liberty or just past their city limits, Broz said.
"This is something that Bruce is already doing for our chamber customers," said Mary Anne Campbell with the Liberty-Dayton Chamber of Commerce. "We have them by category and a map with a detailed listing for our customers online."
In 2015, a Deloitte found that Americans collectively check their smartphones upwards of 8 billion times per day, or an average of 46 times per day-and that number is higher depending on the age group. In 2015, there were 185 million smartphone users, not including users who still use a laptop or desktop to do their shopping.
Broz said it was important for businesses to be listed.
Anyone interested in the program can call the city or visit gybo.com and type in the name of your business to see if you're already on the Google search engine.
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It took nearly an hour for the rabbi to write the first word of Genesis: "Bereishit," which is Hebrew for "in the beginning."
As he finished each letter, drawn with a quill dipped in ink, the crowd in the Meyerland Minyan synagogue followed with applause.
The hundred or so people crowded together to watch the rare sight of this sacred scroll being crafted by hand. Some of them, many members of the shul, touched the hand of Heshy Pincus, an ordained rabbi who specializes in writing, as he filled in the letters.
Pincus himself contributed to the lengthy process, deriving meaning from each letter and word of the scroll, which orthodox Jews believe was written by God and transcribed by Moses more than 3,000 years ago, and is still the same, word for word, today.
By some counts, there are 600,000 letters in the Torah. "The same as the number of Jews that left Egypt," Pincus said.
At one point he explained that the Torah is made of 62 panels of animal hide, soaked, stretched and sanded to create parchment. Then he made a quip about holy cows, referencing an idol the Israelites once worshipped while in exile.
For members of Meyerland Minyan, the new Torah marked a rebirth, not just of God's word, but of the congregation. After enduring floods that destroyed one of the synagogue's Torahs, members of the 16-year-old synagogue purchased their own building and moved in last fall, at the corner of Chimney Rock and North Braeswood.
"We feel like this is ours," said Randee Smolensky, one of the founders of the synagogue. "This is our home."
Stories still resonate
Meyerland Minyan is easy to miss.
In quintessential Houston manner, the house of worship is located in a strip mall, sandwiched between a UPS store and a gym. The rooms housing the synagogue used to be a toy store, with a party room in the back.
Since the congregation moved in on Oct. 1, the members have adorned the facility's eastern wall with a mural of old Jerusalem and the ceiling with a star of David. The synagogue's remaining walls are lined with prayer books and shawls.
The Torah, stored at the front of the synagogue in a wooden box, is instrumental to the attendees' faith and identity. As Orthodox Jews, members of Meyerland Minyan try to follow all 613 commandments in the Torah - from logistical rules such as keeping kosher and resting on the Sabbath to those that address morality and faith in one God.
For them, the Torah is synonymous with their Jewish identity. Its stories still resonate.
"Our belief system, the laws, the rituals, all of that is found in that scroll," said Gidon Moskovitz, the rabbi of Meyerland Minyan.
The Torah is a vital part of every service. But because Torahs are scrolls, not books, it can take some time to find the readings. Multiple Torahs already opened to the correct verses often are used during a single service.
This is the first time the Meyerland synagogue has had the resources to commission a new Torah.
The congregation of about 60 families started out as a group of 10 families, who met around their dining room tables and, later, at the local Jewish Community Center. There wasn't a place in the community center to store the Torah, so each week after service Smolensky and her husband, Lester, carried the 30 pound scroll home and kept it on a shelf in their closet.
In 2015, the congregation rented a storefront on South Braeswood and Chimney Rock. That spring, during the Memorial Day floods, four to six inches of water sloshed into the synagogue. One of the synagogue's two Torahs was damaged beyond repair.
One of the Torahs is about 40 years old. The other, the one that was damaged, dates back to before World War II.
Once a single letter is damaged, the Torah can't be used, Pincus said, as he inspected the scroll earlier this month. The older Torah's parchment has the consistency of sandpaper. The ink letters are peeling off. Torahs can be repaired. But, in this case, it would cost thousands, Pincus concluded, after running his hands over the scroll.
He advised Moskovitz not to try to repair the Torah but bury it instead, as is done when a Torah is no longer in use.
'Filled with meaning'
Torahs aren't cheap.
A high quality version costs upwards of $50,000 and takes 8 to 12 months to write.
It's created in the same manner that Jews believe Moses transcribed the first Torah: by hand, with a quill and ink, on animal hide.
Though Pincus is authorized to write Torahs, he's more of a middle man. He runs a business out of Brooklyn, where he sells Torah covers and mantles and prayer shawls. Pincus hires scribes in Israel to write the Torahs then he delivers them to American synagogues. A scribe averages a column a day, Pincus said. There are 245 columns in the Torah.
The letters on the panel Pincus wrote at Meyerland Minyan had already been outlined by the Israeli scribe, mailed to Pincus and brought to Texas. Pincus will send the parchment back to Israel for completion. That way the hand writing stays consistent, Pincus said.
Once the Torah is written, it will be proofread by computers. The scroll may be done by hand, but, "We're not opposed to technology," Pincus said, with a wink. The Torah's different panels will then by sewn together with animal sinew.
Other panels of the Torah already were underway when Pincus wrote the first word of Genesis earlier this month in Meyerland. Moskovitz hopes the scroll will be complete by spring, when Pincus will return to write the final few letters.
Only about a dozen of the attendees at the Meyerland Minyan synagogue that night had seen a Torah written before. When Lester Smolensky was a child, his family drove two hours, from Memphis, Tenn., to Little Rock, Ark., to see a Torah's completion. This experience resonated just as much as his first, Smolenksy said.
"Every word, every sentence, every paragraph is filled with meaning."
Dozens of constituents in the southeast Texas congressional district represented by House Ways and Means chairman Kevin Brady held a town hall meeting Saturday, which was not attended by the congressman, though a glossy photograph of him occupied a chair.
About 250 people packed a sixth-floor room at the Conroe Tower for a two-hour meeting without an opportunity to discuss issues with the Republican from The Woodlands, but featured subject-matter experts who educated the crowd on the Affordable Care Act, immigration, education and activism.
The diverse group quickly organized in a week through the Indivisible Guide, an online resource compiled by former congressional staffers, and via progressive Internet meet-up groups. They secured a venue on Tuesday and had an invitation hand-delivered to an aide in the U.S. representative's office.
Brady spoke Friday afternoon about tax reform at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which was held at a Washington-area convention center.
His office released a statement explaining his absence: "Unfortunately the Congressman cannot attend because of a long-standing invitation to be a keynote speaker at our nation's biggest gathering of conservative thinkers, CPAC. Due to his additional commitments tied to CPAC, his travel schedule could not be adjusted to accommodate this event to which he was just recently invited. During this district work week, he has met with a number of constituent groups and traveled to Austin to meet with key Texas leaders."
Katie Pickard of Montgomery spoke on behalf of her family which is covered by workplace insurance but has periodic large medical bills because her husband has an incurable, recurring form of cutaneous lymphoma. The 41-year-old said she's been counseled about "the cap" on lifetime benefits. The Affordable Care Act included a provision that prevents insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions whether they are covered by marketplace policies or not.
"I am a hard-working citizen who came to Texas because the economy was great. I am active in my church. I am a leader at my business. I'm a good mom. I dedicate my time to my school and I have a right to live out my days without bankruptcy," Pickard, a software educator, told the crowd to rousing applause. She later said she had hoped to talk to the congressman in person.
Brady has offices in Conroe and Huntsville. He represents the 8th Congressional District, which includes Montgomery, San Jacinto, Grimes, Houston, Madison, Trinity and Walker counties, as well as parts of Harris and Leon counties.
Dr. Carolyn Payne and Dr. Abhishek Dhar, both Baylor College of Medicine physicians, offered information about Brady's top campaign donors, the Affordable Care Act and updates on new immigration actions by President Donald Trump's administration. Montgomery County NAACP chairman Carl White fired up the crowd about the importance of activism.
Sanctuary surprise
Linda Good, a legal aid lawyer and Lone Star College System trustee who was not speaking on behalf of her employer or the college system, discussed the Trump Administration's impact on education. She lauded Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez for ending his agency's agreement with federal immigration authorities.
She also discussed the state's so-called "sanctuary cities bill" passed by the Texas Senate this month and sent to the House for consideration. She specifically talked about the potential impacts on Texas universities, colleges and schools regarding cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"Senate Bill 4 aims to turns even college campus police officers into agents of ICE. It requires compliance with requests to detain individuals for immigration enforcement. It forbids boards of trustees and governing bodies of colleges from adopting policies or for permitting consistent actions that prohibit or discourage campus police officers from cooperating with immigration officers," she said. "The penalties are daunting. If we violate Senate Bill 4, if it's passed, the penalties include up to $25,000 a day for continuing violations and members of governing boards who knowingly violate Senate Bill 4 can be subject to criminal prosecution."
People in the room gasped.
"These are times that demand that we search our conscience," Good continued. "If it's a question between violating a deeply unjust law and protecting one of your neighbors ... what choice will you make? You donated to my re-election campaign. I hope I can count on you to donate to my criminal defense."
According to Brady's Twitter feed, he was in the district last week attending private events including a Leadership Montgomery County meeting on Thursday at Memorial Hermann-The Woodlands Hospital where he reportedly discussed tax reform and health care.
On health reform, the congressman tweeted on Tuesday that "#Obamacare has failed Americans. We will #RepealandReplace it with a truly patient-centered system."
Face-to-face questions
During an open question-and-answer period, Good picked up Brady's photo so that people could ask their questions to his face.
"Kevin," one man said to the image. "You and your family are not going to go without health insurance. ... Why are you willing to allow millions of Americans to go without health insurance when you overturn Obamacare, as you like to call it, and why can't you replace it first ... before you repeal it?"
Similar town hall events without elected officials happened last week during the Congressional recess, when many representatives and senators return to their districts. On Tuesday, a group held a demonstration outside the downtown Houston high-rise where U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has an office. The Republican later spoke with some of the participants in a private meeting, but did not attend a town hall organized by the same group that evening.
They crowded by the hundreds into this bilingual church in Conroe, so many that organizers had to leave dozens of families outside to watch a Facebook livestream presentation on their phones.
Their faces weighed with worry, questions, desperation. The first man said his wife is the sole caretaker of her sick mother, an American citizen. What would be her lot if immigration agents detained his wife?
Allison Cardenas, second at the microphone, said San Jacinto County sheriff's deputies stopped her friend this week after claiming his taillight was out. When the teenager presented his Honduran passport, he was booked into jail for not having a driver's license and is now being deported, although he has committed no crime beyond coming here illegally three years ago.
"We hear about cases like this all the time," replied Raed Gonzalez, an immigration attorney with a Spanish-language radio show and a panelist at this town hall broadcast on Univision. "But there are things one can do. You do have rights."
Speakers repeatedly tried to calm the palpable fear, with chief deputies of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office reassuring the crowd that they are not enforcing immigration laws. Left explicitly unsaid was that this is the new reality in American immigration enforcement, that many of the 700 or so immigrants and their friends and relatives could potentially be deported to countries they haven't been to in years.
Guidelines issued last week detailing how President Donald Trump's administration would enact his executive orders give federal agents broad authority to deport or detain nearly anyone here illegally, even some with green cards or other types of legal permission to stay if they can't prove they're legally here.
It's a new frontier in this nation's immigration enforcement that has dramatically escalated the risk to the estimated 11 million immigrants in the country illegally, more than half a million in the Houston area.
READ MORE: Texas builders fear fallout of immigration crackdown on workforce
'Keep my promise'
Trump, who made reducing immigration the cornerstone of his victorious campaign, told a cheering crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on Friday that he was standing up for conservative values and American workers by deporting immigrants here illegally who have committed crimes. "As we speak today, immigration officers are finding the gang members, the drug dealers and the criminal aliens and throwing them the hell out of our country," he said. "All I've done is keep my promise."
The federal government has said that three-quarters of the immigrants arrested this month in raids across the country had criminal convictions. But in Austin, congressional leaders reported that more than half of some 50 immigrants detained had committed no crime other than being here illegally.
As the guidelines were released Tuesday, immigrants who have been living here illegally for years found themselves suddenly detained under the administration's new priorities. A 31-year-old father of two American children who had a temporary reprieve from deportation and a work permit was arrested when he went for his annual check-in with Houston immigration authorities. Jose Escobar's wife said federal agents told her they were simply complying with Trump's orders.
"Anyone that is here undocumented could fall under these priorities," said Alyson Sincavage, a legislative associate with the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
RELATED: Harris Couty Sheriff cuts ties with ICE program over immigrant detention
Though the executive orders highlight deporting criminals, and supporters of Trump praise him for doing just that, it is the fine print that has alarmed lawyers and advocates, making anyone who has committed any violations that "constitute a chargeable criminal offense" a priority for removal. That could include the vast majority of immigrants here illegally who crossed the border without a visa, even if it was decades ago. Attorneys say it has sent chills through clients eligible for green cards or other types of legal protections who wonder if they'll be arrested when they apply.
"It has a freezing effect on people trying to get their legal status, which is what everybody is accusing them of not doing," said Nancy Falgout, a Houston immigration attorney. "We're hesitant to file applications that previously would have been a no-brainer."
The new emphasis on immigration enforcement also appears to have emboldened racism in some places. In The Woodlands, a flier declaring that Trump is "God's gift to white nation" circulated widely and Hispanic residents testified at a meeting that their children are being bullied at school. Some said they are considering moving to a more welcoming place. In Pasadena, attorneys reported that immigration agents were trying to arrest people paying municipal tickets and, in New York, they requested passengers on a domestic flight show identification in a search of an immigrant with a deportation order.
RELATED: Trump administration releases 'mass deportation blueprint'
The result is an atmosphere that advocates say is intended to push out immigrants, whether by pulling them into a massive enforcement dragnet or scaring them into leaving on their own. "This is about creating fear," said David Leopold, an Ohio immigration attorney and past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Police chiefs and sheriffs across the country have sought to calm residents.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said his department is not interested in going after construction workers who might be here illegally and are looking for jobs outside a Home Depot.
"That's a civil matter," he said. "We really rely on the trust and cooperation of the community we serve to investigate serious crimes."
Enforcement varies
In Harris County, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced last week that he ended a controversial agreement with federal authorities that enabled deputies to inquire about immigration status in his jail. Like most other sheriff's offices in the nation, however, he still complies with federal requests to hold immigrants if they are suspected of being here illegally. Anyone booked into any jail in the country has their fingerprints matched with a vast law enforcement database that could indicate whether they are here illegally. If so, immigration officials are alerted.
Fourth Amendment concerns about warrantless detentions led many law enforcement agencies to scale back on the program, called Secure Communities, and limit when they hold immigrants past their release date on what is known as an immigration detainer. President Barack Obama had instructed they only detain immigrants convicted of serious crimes or seen as safety threats.
Now such priorities have been rescinded, potentially funneling any immigrant booked into jail into the custody of immigration agents.
In Texas, anyone can be jailed for any crime other than speeding or having an open container of alcohol in their car. For most immigrants in the state illegally, however, the pressing concern is driving. Since 2008, when the Department of Public Safety required proof of "lawful presence" to obtain a driver's license, anyone here illegally has been unable to apply for or renew a license. Large metropolitan police departments don't typically jail drivers for not having a license if they have another form of valid identification.
"The mere act of driving without a license will not send you to jail," said Houston Police Department spokesman Keith Smith, who added that his agency does not allow officers to inquire about immigration status, a practice in place since 1990. The written policy permits officers to contact immigration authorities only if someone is arrested on a charge greater than a Class C misdemeanor and the officer knows the suspect is here illegally.
But small police departments and rural counties often do just that. That's what happened to Eduin Rivas, a 19-year-old from Honduras who San Jacinto County deputies stopped about 60 miles north of Houston on Feb. 20. A sheriff's deputy said that Rivas, who has been here illegally for three years, had a taillight that was out. Cardenas, his friend, said she drove behind him and it worked.
When the deputy asked for Rivas' license, he gave him his Honduran passport. The officer arrested Rivas for driving with an invalid license, a Class C misdemeanor, and not having proper insurance, Chief Deputy Joe Schultea said.
THE MILLION: Immigrants from around the world are transforming Houston
Rivas was booked into jail, his fingerprints scanned, and immigration authorities alerted. They picked him up on Feb. 22, and he is being processed for deportation.
"We don't have time to chase illegal immigrants around the county, but if we identify them we will call (immigration,)" Schultea said. "If we discover an illegal alien, whatever the circumstances are, we are going to make the report."
Trump's immigration orders could, in effect, turn law enforcement jurisdictions into a hodge-podge of safe havens and danger zones.
"You literally have to be careful driving from county to county, depending on their policy," said Sincavage, from the lawyers association.
'Prepare yourself'
There is a broader concern, too. Trump's guidelines would expand a controversial practice known as expedited removal that allows federal authorities to deport certain immigrants within 24 hours without allowing them to contact their attorney or make their case before a judge. Previously that policy applied only to immigrants in the country fewer than 14 days who were apprehended within 100 miles of the border. Now it could pertain to anyone who has been here for fewer than two years.
Still, many immigrants, especially those who have been here illegally for more than a decade without committing major crimes, could qualify for a process known as cancellation of removal once they are in deportation proceedings, said Silvia Mintz, an immigration attorney.
Gonzalez, the attorney at the Conroe town hall, counseled immigrants to know their rights. They are not required to answer questions about their immigration status, but they should not lie about it. They don't have to allow immigration officials into their homes unless they have a warrant. They should not sign paperwork without consulting a lawyer. They should carry around a form of identification, even if it is a passport, at all times.
"If you want to live a normal life and interact in our society there is no avoiding (immigration) anymore," said Franklin Bynum, a Houston criminal defense attorney who specializes in immigration. "You need to carry around proof that you have been here over two years on your body at all times. Prepare yourself and have a plan for when (immigration) rightly or wrongly takes enforcement action."
Staff writer Bridget Balch contributed to this report.
A senior Republican lawmaker on Friday agreed that a special prosecutor should investigate Russia's alleged interference with the 2016 presidential election.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., became one of the few Republican representatives to publicly state the need for an independent investigation into Russia's reported election meddling. This comes as Democrats have increasingly pushed for an investigation into Trump associates' ties to Russia.
In an appearance on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," Issa, a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, first told the liberal show host that House and Senate intelligence committees would look into Russia's activities "within the special areas they oversee."
That was not sufficient for Maher, who pressed Issa - formerly the head of the House Oversight Committee - on whether he would have "let that slide" had similar suspicions arose involving the Democrats. Maher has been a vocal critic of Trump.
Shortly after the election, a CIA assessment concluded that hackers with connections to the Russian government targeted the Democratic National Committee and leaked thousands of emails to WikiLeaks in an effort to sway the outcome in Donald Trump's favor. United States intelligence agencies have said they agree with the assessment, and a broad investigation is underway.
Russia has denied the accusations, and Trump - who has a history of praising Russian president Vladimir Putin - has vehemently denounced the findings and continued to blast the intelligence community.
"Let's go back to 2012," Maher asked Issa on the show Friday. "Say, the Russians hacked only Mitt Romney and there was a lot of contact between the Obama administration and Russia. You'd have let that slide?"
"No," Issa replied.
"So you're not gonna let this slide?" Maher asked.
"No," Issa said.
Issa then replied that lawmakers would ask the House and Senate intelligence committees to investigate.
Maher protested, saying there needed to be a special prosecutor - and that now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself "the same way former Attorney General Loretta Lynch recused herself" from an investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails.
Issa seemed to agree that Sessions should not be involved in an investigation.
"You're right, you cannot have somebody, a friend of mine, Jeff Sessions, who was on the campaign and who was an appointee," he said. "You're going to need to use the special prosecutor's statute and office."
WASHINGTON - 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 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 focus on recreational marijuana in states that have legalized pot would present a departure from the Trump administration's statements in favor of states' rights. A day earlier, the administration announced that the issue of transgender student bathroom access was best left up to states and communities.
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 said he opposes legal marijuana but has not indicated what he might do.
Eight states and Washington, D.C., have legalized 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 Trump's executive order on immigration and said Thursday he's prepared to defend legal marijuana, too.
"We will resist any efforts to thwart the will of the voters in Washington," Ferguson said.
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.
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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.
We need leaders
Regarding "Protesters press Cruz to listen to constituents" (Page A4, Wednesday), the story spotlights a disturbing disconnect between our Texas congressmen and those of their constituents who are troubled by what's happening in Washington.
John McCain, Republican U.S. senator from Arizona, is also troubled, and he's doing something about it. He should be commended for his good work in this chaotic period of American political life - speaking out to defend our democratic values and to condemn actions that threaten them. Other U.S. senators, such as Republican Susan Collins of Maine, Democrat Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont also have been doing similar good work. However, we are dismayed that more of our elected representatives are merely standing by as our president's outrageous behavior continues unabated; he seems bent on undermining the foundations of our government with lies, assaults on a free press, disrespect for the judiciary, unhinged narcissistic grandiosity and thinly veiled malice toward those who are different or who disagree with him.
I am especially disappointed that my three representatives in Washington - U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and U.S. Rep. John Culberson - are unresponsive to constituent concerns, reluctant to challenge the president's alarming behavior and unwilling to confront the disarray created by his incompetence in forming a new government.
We hope they will soon step out of their hiding places and, along with other members of Congress, follow John McCain's example of patriotic leadership.
Stephen Carroll, Houston
Hear us
Regarding "Town hall angst spreads across Texas" (Page A1, Thursday), President Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, and other Republicans who accuse their constituents who show up at district offices of being organized by liberal groups did not seem to have the same concern when the NRA organized letter writing, phone calling, emailing and protest groups to support the gun lobby. Likewise, I never heard their concerns about the organized anti-abortion groups, or the tea party groups.
If being informed when a representative will be at his office or holds a town hall so that people with concerns can show up is organized, then yes, we are organized.
Joanna Pasternak, Houston
New playbook
Regarding "Trump escalates war on media" (chron.com, Friday), so if ABC, CBS, NBC reports something he doesn't like and he denies them access ... what then? Where does the buck stop? He's only taking a page from the playbook of his Republican congressional colleagues. Shutting down town halls and bending over backward to dismiss real concerns.
Cameron Drew Rison, via Facebook
Unattended state needs
Regarding "Mr. Fix-it" (Page A16, Friday), I understand. Fixing our public school problem is really, really, really hard. Preaching about the wonders of vouchers is a no-brainer for a politician. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick focuses on the easy non-problems, like where one goes to the bathroom, whereas our roads are falling apart, schools are failing and a hundred other problems go unattended.
J. Whiett, via HoustonChronicle.com
White tigers
Regarding "Judge tosses defamation lawsuit over Landry's tigers," (chron.com, Friday), the tigers are so beautiful in person, but you can tell they're wasting away in there. I'm surprised they still have them. Who goes to an aquarium for tigers in a box?
Waldo Rodas, via Facebook
Team Houston?
Regarding "Pension teamwork" (Page A31, Feb. 19), your editorial suggested that state Sens. Joan Huffman and Paul Bettencourt and I were not on the team for pension reform. Hardly.
Houston's pension crisis is the result of successive administrations going to Austin with the unions and pension boards in tow, and getting the Legislature to rubber stamp schemes that proved to be totally unsustainable and have now driven the city into insolvency.
What Mayor Sylvester Turner has proposed has many of the same elements that got us into this mess in the first place. Borrow more money, put off paying the pension debt, keep pretending defined benefit plans can be made to work.
Turner claims this plan is different because it supposedly caps city contributions, albeit at the absurd level of 37 percent of payroll. We can argue all day about whether this hideously complex, untested, experimental cap will work, but the truth is no one really knows.
However, we do know something that does work - phasing out defined benefit plans for defined contribution plans. We know that it works because the private sector has proved it works.
Many taxpayer groups have put themselves on the field this round by demanding their legislators include provisions that the city can only offer defined contribution plans to new employees and that new pension bonds must be submitted to voters for approval. Not exactly radical demands and in no way inconsistent with what Turner has proposed.
Bill King, Houston
Texas 'Wonderland'
Regarding "Patrick predicts bathroom bill win" (Page A3, Thursday), the so-called "bathroom bill" has me thinking I've fallen down the same rabbit hole that Alice encountered, landing amid the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Only this time the Hatter is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The Dormouse is Gov. Greg Abbott. Neither have a clue as to what the term "transgender" entails.
Respect for the law is never enhanced by passing unnecessary laws that are clearly unenforceable.
Is the DPS going to have to hire thousands of "Crotch-Watchers" to verify gender before allowing entry into a restroom or shower? Are Texans going to be issued physician-certified licenses verifying gender? The issue is ludicrous. It's absurd. It's embarrassing.
Texas should consider a law against a public official bringing the state into disrepute. But then, the courts would be overcrowded.
W. Holmes, Houston
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Of those surveyed, the majority (69 per cent) said they felt responsible for taking care of their elderly parents and more than half (56 per cent) felt that employers could do more to support people who are looking after elderly family members.
This number is even higher for women, with 62 per cent of females believing that employers should provide support for this caring responsibility, whereas only 50 per cent of men felt this was necessary.
The healthcare firm said flexible working should be one of the first things employers consider if they hope to bolster support including being able to work from home or enabling changes or breaks in job arrangements.
According to respondents, employers could also support employees to keep working as they age by providing opportunities to exercise, access to medical advice, health insurance and mental health support.
Stephanie Clare, chief executive of Age Concern, said employers that invested in their older employees as well as those caring for elderly relatives would reap the rewards in the long run.
Alberto E. Rodriguez via Getty Images
Before this movie, I had no idea that so many women had participated in NASA, nor did I know that black women had contributed so significantly to America's advances in the 'space race'.
The movie's title says it all. Factually, Hidden Figures identified the three black females who shaped an industry, these women were previously hidden from us, which starts to explain why this was news to a large proportion of the audience viewing it.
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It's no accident that this movie has had over 70 award nominations, including nominations in this year's Golden Globes and the Oscars. It's also unsurprising that it has scooped 27 of these awards so far, in fact it's bang on time. To me this identifies two crucial things I've always believed in; firstly the value of diversity and secondly to never underestimate the value of a visible role model.
This movie's narrative was different and whether audiences will admit it or not; black women and tech, is different. It's different to the other roles and stories we have gotten used to see black female actresses play, it was a refreshing and inspiring story about three black women who achieved incredible things. This narrative is different to those we are so often exposed to on a multitude of media platforms.
Note, the key word is 'difference' also known as 'diversity' - that buzzword and political hot potato we've all heard a lot lately. That is diversity in terms of social demographic, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and so on.
This movie proved to me that we need to do more to find difference and celebrate it. Diversity breeds success, it drives innovation, competition and ultimately reveals better stories.
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One of the most telling scenes in the movie for me is when Katherine G. Johnson, played by Taraji P. Henson, returns home from a long shift at the NASA space centre. She is presented with a drawing drawn by one of her daughters, seeing Katherine depicted inside a space rocket.
Because her mum worked at NASA and worked hard at NASA, a career in the sector became attainable, an option. It appeared normal to the little girl to draw her mum positioned inside the rocket, because her mum's very existence in this world made her aware it was a possibility.
In the UK, we don't shine our torches enough on the diverse figures that contribute to our STEM sector, as well as creative industries. More also needs to be done to attract, retain and develop these individuals. There is something seriously wrong with this picture.
I know first-hand the power of a visible role model. As a child I remember the first time I recognised that Journalism was an option for me. It was when I saw journalists Moira Stewart and Sir Trevor McDonald read the news.
I must have been less than ten-years-old and I remember thinking, 'wow, they are black' not because I'd never seen a black person before, but because I'd never seen a black person read the news before. I remember thinking, 'I wonder if I can do that?' I saw this visible representation as an indication of options.
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It's not simply about creating more visible role models and solving all the issues regarding diversity and inclusion within the workforce, because that wouldn't be enough. And I know first hand the long list of issues that demonstrate the lack of inclusiveness across all our sectors. But it certainly wouldn't hurt.
At the screening of Hidden Figures in celebration of women in tech at IBM this week, in answer to a question regarding why it has taken so long to discover, Caroline Taylor, CMO, IBM Global Markets replied: "Because the day after the first rocket went out nobody spoke about it."So let's talk about it.
In science and tech, we have come a long way in 40 years since the days of the 'space race'. But in the workplace and in industry not enough real commitment and accountability is in place to attract a wider pool of diverse and previously hidden talent. And once attracted and hired, not enough is being done to allow that diverse talent to thrive and flourish in cultures that make them feel included.
40 years later there are still some 'giant leaps' to come in the workplace, the benefits in innovation, creativity and excellence will be incalculable for individuals, families, communities, companies, the economy and nation as a whole. I'm committed to seeing that change happen in this generation.
Julian Elliott Photography via Getty Images
I think most people would be surprised at how hard many MPs really work when they're in Westminster. Most of us are far from home and we try to make our time in parliament as productive as possible. Usually, meetings start around 9am or earlier and last well into the evening. The House sitting hours mean we need to be around for votes until 10pm, 7pm or 5pm depending on the day of the week, but in reality we're often at meetings or events well past these times.
Busy days involve quick sandwiches snatched on the way from one meeting to another, and being an hour late for something or only being able to stay for a quarter of the discussion. Quieter days mean time spent in the library or our offices catching up with emails or preparing for upcoming speeches. Although I rarely write speeches in full these days I usually do a good bit of preparatory reading and come up with some headline bullet points before I deliver them.
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It's often the case that we go from a meeting about welfare, to one on consumer rights, straight on to the launch of a report about breastfeeding and then to a drop in information session about the work of a national charity. Moments in between are spent trying to consolidate the information or ensure adequate follow up action is taken. Early day motions have to be presented in person to the table office and papers need to be picked up from the vote office to be read. Briefings can be collected in the library and information printed there too to catch up on during the journey home.
Our constituency offices have to be kept up to date with plans we have and we have to respond to their queries about how to deal with knotty local concerns and respond to the 30 or so invitations we receive each week.
We also have internal party meetings. Groups of MPs meet together formally to discuss how to tackle forthcoming legislation and where the possible pitfalls or opportunities might lie.
Public bill committees scrutinise Government bills and attempt to amend it before it's returned to the main chamber for the remaining stages of the parliamentary process. Delegated legislation committees and European scrutiny meetings take place to scrutinise more minor areas of legislation.
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Select committees take evidence on specific issues relating to their departments and create reports that the Government must respond to. All party parliamentary groups exist on almost every possible topic, from the APPG on Iceland to the one on Inclusive Growth, to one focused on Couple relationships. These groups vary in their level of commitment, attendance and efficacy, but the best ones produce and champion significant reports encouraging the Government to take action or highlighting a specific issue.
Ballotted departmental question sessions take place each day, allowing lucky MPs the opportunity to ask questions of a Government minister. Ministers can be called at the discretion of the Speaker to answer urgent questions from MPs.
Main debates take place in the chamber and MPs who intend to speak must forgo any of their other engagements that day and be present for the duration of the debate, until two speakers after they get the chance to contribute. They can then leave but must return for the front bench speeches at the end of the debate. Further debates take place in Westminster hall before and during sitting hours, but they only last up to 90 minutes so can usually be slotted in more easily.
Lastly, media bids can be received, particularly when a major but unexpected issue comes to the fore. This can mean TV or radio stations requesting interviews with only half an hour's notice and having to either be refused or a more suitable time negotiated. Fitting in an interview with a local radio station in the midst of a back to back day can be hard but often needs to be prioritised.
In between, there could be a spare fifteen minutes or couple of hours where an inconsequential chat in the tearoom can spawn the idea for some written parliamentary questions or some collaboration on an application to hold a backbench business debate on a topical issue.
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Severe hunger that threatens lives is spreading across parts of Africa. Chronically and silently, a food crisis has been growing which the UN says now means that 20million people are facing deadly hunger. It hasn't happened in a day, it won't be solved in one, but it desperately needs the world's focus to save those lives.
In Somalia, South Sudan, northern Nigeria and then in Yemen, within a hairsbreadth of the east coast of Africa, the Red Cross are seeing people facing such severe hunger that their lives are threatened. The UN says that 1.4million children are at imminent risk of death from severe acute malnutrition.
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In many ways, these are unconnected regional crises fuelled by different political contexts and pressures, across a continent that stretches thousands of miles. Each has its own mix of chronic, protracted causes. Climate change and severe weather conditions play a part in Somalia, for example, but the one uniting feature is conflict.
Conflict creates extreme vulnerability. Livelihoods are decimated by displacement and insecurity - crops are not cultivated, trade is cut off, businesses shut down. It's difficult to get aid to those most in need but the Red Cross is present in all of these places and what we're seeing on the ground is a worsening humanitarian crisis that shows no signs of slowing.
People are in critical need of food, water and shelter, with women and children suffering the most. Millions are 'severely food insecure', meaning they don't have enough food to feed themselves. Malnutrition rates are alarmingly high- and most have not had enough food for months or even years. Many people affected by the food crisis are also nursing the physical and mental scars of war and conflict.
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These situations are rapidly deteriorating and will continue to do so unless urgent action is taken to address the severity of the crises. Significant hurdles to aid actors remain whether they are related to security, logistics or the result of insufficient funding.
We hoped we wouldn't be here less than a year ago, when the humanitarian community came together at the World Humanitarian Summit and committed to find ways to work differently to end need, including by anticipating crises instead of waiting for them to happen. But these are the crises that are too often ignored until it is too late, marginalised by the media and humanitarian organisations.
Part of the reason they are so easy to ignore is the very complexity of the picture. It's hard for people to understand the scale and nature of a famine that is really about war and conflict, the political contexts that fuel them and the barriers that prevent solutions. In the UK, the media is focusing more in recent days after the development secretary Priti Patel announced a new push to help Somalia and South Sudan. But the level of need is staggering.
This is why we must forge partnerships of joint-action between humanitarian and development actors, and between the international community and national and local governments to strengthen our immediate relief efforts. We need a concerted push on fundraising but also the political attention to focus on the solutions. We the need the public to understand this crisis to help put the pressure on international actors to focus on them.
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Appellate court tosses Reno County sentence, finding court 'vindictive'
Kansas appellate court finds "presumption of vindictiveness" after judge fails to state reason for longer sentence following ordered retrial
The protest, organised by Maltas opposition Nationalist Party (NP), is campaigning against a new proposal, seen as a clampdown on freedom of speech.
Several thousand people took to the streets of Malta on Sunday (19 February) to protest against a new bill that is expected to force online news sites to register with the government.
The draft bill, proposed last week, seeks to update Maltas defamation and libel laws, which some say is a way to oblige citizens to register before being able to express views on the Internet.
This is a restriction on internet freedom and a future nationalist government will repeal it if it gets approved by parliament, NP leader Simon Busuttil told the rally in Valletta.
Malta on Sunday (1 January) became the smallest country ever to take on the presidency of the Council of the EU.
The move comes after the Organisation for Security and Coopeation in Europe (OSCE) slammed Malta last week for intimidating journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Earlier this month (8 February), a court upheld a request by the Economy Minister Christian Cardona to freeze the bank account of Caruana Galizia for more than 47,000 for an article published on 30 January, which compromised the minister and his EU presidency policy officer Joseph Gerada for a recent business trip to Germany.
Caruana Galizia reported that both men had been in a brothel in Velbert, Germany, while on official business as guests of the German government, where they were seen at close range by another Maltese person. Cardona has denied the allegation.
It is the job of journalists to report on issues of public importance and it is the job of the authorities to ensure that journalists can do so without being intimidated or threatened, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic said last week, adding that she was following with concern the pressure on Caruana Galizia.
Initiating libel lawsuits for the work of journalists can very quickly chill free public discourse in any society, Mijatovic said, recalling that public figures must endure a higher threshold of criticism and scrutiny due to their public work.
Slovakias time at the helm of the EU rotating presidency has not been completely smooth sailing and its successor, Malta, will hope to guide the blocs agenda controversy-free. Recent successes in social issues point towards a presidency quite different from the last.
In addition, the very unusual move to freeze significant financial assets of Caruana Galizia already depicts her as guilty, Mijatovic said. Freedom of expression cannot stop at views deemed appropriate by those in power.
The Institute of Maltese Journalists has called on the minister to reconsider his action in order to give journalists a message that they are really free in their work: Freezing a journalists assets is exaggerated and goes against freedom of expression and press freedom, a press release issued by the institute stated.
On Monday (20 February), Caruana Galizia won a libel case lodged by Mark Gaffarena, whose shady deals had been exposed by the journalist.
The new bill was announced by the government last week and has yet to go before parliament.
orruption, has helped a cabinet minister exposed in the Panama Papers, to escape a no-confidence motion.
The proposed law would require all websites carrying news and controlled from Malta to register with the government, with the threat of fines for those that fail to comply.
The government says it is following the same procedure as already exists for newspapers and broadcasters, which have been required to register with the government since 1975.
Busuttil said the bill would be the beginning of the end of freedom of expression on the internet.
In her statement, Mijatovic also noted with concern that on 4 February the economy minister sued another journalist, Mario Frendo from the media outlet In-Nazzjon, in connection with the same issue.
I call on the authorities to protect critical journalism and free speech, she said. I trust that they will remedy this situation by ensuring that Caruana Galizia and all journalists can freely carry out their important work.
The draft law defines editors as any person responsible for the publication of information, ideas or images on a website, and websites as any web-based news service or other web-based service relating to news or current affairs that operates from Malta or in respect of which editorial decisions are taken in Malta.
The cost to implement Cabinet's approved ICT white paper policy recommendations and other ICT expenditure is expected to amount to R287.2m over the medium term, according to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
The department of telecommunications will also facilitate and coordinate the implementation of the national e-strategy which plans to tap the National Development Plan (NDP) by prioritising sectoral electronic services such as e-health, e-agriculture and e-education.
To give effect to these activities, spending in the department's policy, research and capacity development programme is expected to amount to R287.2m.
This programme's purpose is to develop ICT policies and legislation that support the development of an ICT sector and, in turn, create favourable conditions for accelerated and shared economic growth.
Over the medium term, the telecoms department is expected to expand and modernise ICT infrastructure by implementing the South Africa Connect broadband policy, coordinating the migration to digital broadcasting, and implementing the legislative framework stemming from the 2016 National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper.
South Africa's Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) previously welcomed government's National ICT Policy White Paper calling it "broadly positive".
The policy, which has called on mobile networks to give up key spectrum to a single, countrywide wireless network, has however received mixed reaction from industry role players and mobile network operators.
Key findings of the report by research company Africa Analysis on the White Paper were that there was a significant expansion of government oversight and involvement, fundamental wholesale market impact, development of wholesale operator and spectrum licence implications.
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201702230100.html
Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco holds the Pickard Memorial Innovation Award presented to the town in January. Board member Gail Sellers says the fairy festival returns on June 17. George LeMaitre with the Art on the Trail brochure. PreviousNext
Adams Arts Group Celebrates Award While Planning Future
Francie Anne Riley, one of the founding board members, speaks about some of BagShare Project.
ADAMS, Mass. The event was billed as a reception to celebrate the Arts Advisory Board recent recognition with an innovation award.
But like so many gatherings of this local group of artists and entrepreneurs, the focus was less about past success and more about its future endeavors.
The Kenneth E. Pickard Memorial Innovation Award was presented at the annual Massachusetts Municipal Association conference in January to acknowledge the town and the group's creative efforts.
"It's a great recognition for us and for the work that the Arts Advisory Board has done in Adams in less than two years," said Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco. "You guys have come onto the scene and really made a huge difference and really made an impact in the community, in the look of the community, in the feel of the community, and the recognition of the community that we get statewide."
About two dozen local officials and others connected to the advisory board gathered Tuesday in the Mohagony Room at Town Hall for refreshments and a chance to view the plaque with the motto "Make Art Happen."
It all started with a bunch of local artists that had taken to dropping into Mazzucco's office to talk about what they could do.
It turns out, they could do a lot. The somewhat amorphous group that swells and ebbs around a steering committee core was established in August 2015; by the end of 2016, it had created a removable mural concept to fight blight, decorated windows to brighten Park Street, installed two Art on the Trail murals and launched its biggest success to date: the Berkshire Mountain Faerie Festival.
The board's goal from the start has been utilize arts and creativity as a public good and to reinvigorate this former mill town, and beyond. The group's members hail from around North County and its hope is to generate fruitful collaborations among Berkshire communities.
And that has them focused on the future with a slate of events and projects gearing up for 2017.
George LeMaitre said Art on the Trail public art along the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail will install two more murals this season, one on the back of the Adams Visitors Center and the second on the mill at Harmony Street across from Russell Field.
Last year, murals were placed on the mill off Grove Street owned by LeMaitre and Pat Fietta; the second on the wastewater plant that currently can be seen mainly be riders on the Berkshire Scenic Railway.
"I've had people tell me it's great to go down the trail and see them," LeMaitre said. "I know they had the Steel Rail run last year and they saw it while running and thought it was fun. ... It's a work in progress and seems to be going at a good rate."
Art on the Trail is also working with Cheshire, which wants to place a sculpture of some type at one its rail trail crossings.
Former White House Cybersecurity Leader Joins CTA to Drive Alliance Mission of Improving Global Defenses Against Cyber Adversaries; Six Industry Leaders Collaborate on Automated Threat Intelligence Sharing Platform
The Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) recently announced the appointment of Michael Daniel as the organizations first president and its formal incorporation as a not-for-profit entity. Additionally, founding Members Fortinet, Intel Security, Palo Alto Networks, and Symantec recently announced the addition of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. and Cisco as new alliance founding Members. Together, the six founding Members have contributed to the development of a new, automated threat intelligence sharing platform to exchange actionable threat data, further driving the CTAs mission of a coordinated effort against cyber adversaries.
CTA Formalizes as an Independent Not-for-Profit Entity
Founded and actively sharing threat intelligence since 2014, the CTA has evolved to an independent organization with Michael Daniel as its President and a Board of Directors comprised of its six founding Members, Check Point, Cisco, Fortinet, Intel Security, Palo Alto Networks and Symantec. Daniel brings extensive expertise to the CTA in developing strategic cyber partnerships and programs that span the private and public sector, as well as other nations to build the most effective security solutions. The CTAs move to an incorporated entity signifies the commitment by industry leaders to work together to determine the most effective methods for sharing automated, rich threat data and to make united progress in the fight against sophisticated cyber attacks.
Since inception, the CTA has regularly exchanged information on botnets, mobile threats and indicators of compromise (IoCs) related to advanced persistent threats (APTs), and advanced malware samples. Notable milestones of the CTAs cooperative efforts cracked the code on CryptoWall version 3, one of the most lucrative ransomware families in the world, totaling more than US $325 million ransomed. The CTAs research and findings pushed cybercriminals to develop CryptoWall version 4, which the CTA also uncovered and resulted in a much less successful attack, validating the power of the CTAs cooperative threat intelligence sharing.
These coordinated efforts demonstrate that all Members of the CTA believe in protecting the common good of the Internet by sharing intelligence to combat sophisticated global cyberattacks. By bringing together industry competitors contributing their unique threat insights, the CTA builds a comprehensive view of important threat actors. With enriched understanding and enhanced protections against global attacks, members can better protect customers in real time and prioritize resources based on collective knowledge.
Information Sharing Platform Automates Collaboration on Contextual Threat Intelligence
With co-development from its six founding Members over the past year, the new CTA platform automates information sharing in near real-time to solve the problems of isolated and manual approaches to threat intelligence. The platform better organizes and structures threat information into Adversary Playbooks, pulling everything related to a specific attack campaign together in one place to increase the contextual value, quality and usability of the data. This innovative approach turns abstract threat intelligence into actionable real-world protections, enabling Members to speed up information analysis and deployment of the intelligence into their respective products.
To foster continued collaboration and incentivize meaningful threat data, the new CTA platform requires Members to automate their intelligence sharing contributions, meet a minimum contribution every day, and rewards contextualized, unique intelligence. Members will eventually be rewarded with greater levels of access based on the value and volume of the information they have contributed.
In addition to its core mission of coordinated information sharing, the CTA is also the first industry trade association designed by and exclusively for cybersecurity practitioners. Representing the collective voice of industry leaders, the CTA is committed to help shape industry best practices and continue to ensure that the most effective security is being delivered for individual customers and organizations around the world.
Our everyday achievements all add up in eventually reaching our goals. Even simply checking things off of your to-do list can be a big step for you to soon get where you want to be.
Take pride in leveling up, and get to do more and be more with a smartphone that looks and feels like a premium device. Go ahead and celebrate, and show that you can jump to your prime with the new Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime.
As the latest addition to Samsungs line-up of quality smartphones, the Galaxy J2 Prime is designed for those who want to treat themselves to a much-needed upgrade, while also keeping in check with great value for money. The Galaxy J2 Prime is the ideal device as you begin your journey to success, capturing the highlights that you would like to share with your family and friends.
More than just a smartphone, the Galaxy J2 Prime is an excellent companion on your road to prime with features that suit your needs. Samsung brings in the Galaxy J2 Prime as a premium choice for those looking for an upgrade, while staying smart within a budget. It comes with an 8MP+5MP camera with front flash so you can better capture your daily milestones whether its about trying out that restaurant youve been dying to go to, or about the new outfit you got that you can easily share on social media. Thanks to the front flash, youre always looking bright and photo-ready at any time of the day.
It also boasts of a large 5 qHD TFT screen that allows you to easily view your top picks, so you can fully enjoy browsing through your favorite social media sites, watching your must-not-miss shows, or playing games.
Built to withstand the demands of daily life, the Galaxy J2 Prime is equipped with a 2,600mAH battery and an Ultra-Power Saving feature to ensure no down time as you go through your day.
The Galaxy J2 Primes LTE Cat.4 capability ensures fast internet browsing so that your friends will quickly know the highlights of your day, such as that fun moment at the office, or your bonding time with the family.
Priced at a reasonable P5,990 SRP, you can go ahead and easily jump to your prime with the Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime! It will be available in Samsung Experience Stores and authorized Samsung dealers starting February 18, 2017.
Curious to learn more? Visit https://www.samsung.com/ph/smartphones/galaxy-j2-prime-lte/SM-G532GZDDXTC/ to find out all the premium features of the Galaxy J2 Prime.
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Samsung's MWC press conference was plagued by problems on Sunday evening.
The show kicked off over 20 minutes after it was supposed to, due to technical problems.
Once it finally started, a Greenpeace protester had to be ushered away from the stage after holding up a banner urging Samsung to recycle the Galaxy Note 7, which was discontinued last year.
Samsung is believed to have over two million recalled Note 7 handsets lying around, and it's not yet clear what it plans to do with them.
Recent reports claimed that it wanted to re-release it in emerging markets, but a Samsung India spokesperson has poured cold water on that rumour.
According to Business Insider, the Greenpeace protester wasn't alone.
More Greenpeace activists were spotted scaling the conference building ahead of the show. Venue staff reportedly prevented them from unfurling a banner.
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Armed police tasered a blind man after they mistook his walking stick for a gun.
Greater Manchester Police officers rushed to Levenshulme Station in Manchester after receiving a call that a middle-aged man had been seen holding a firearm.
But the "gun" was actually the blind mans cane, which he had folded up while he waited for a train.
The man was hit with a 50,000 volt stun gun, after he failed to respond to police calls to drop the "weapon".
The man is believed to have collapsed before he was detained by officers.
Tasawar Dar, who owns a shop opposite the station, told the Manchester Evening News he had heard police detaining the man
They shouted lie down on the ground and there was the bark of a dog as well, Mr Dar said.
Superintendent Steve Howard, of GMP's City of Manchester Team, said: "Officers responded quickly to the incident to ensure the safety of the community of Levenshulme.
Armed response officers attended and a Taser was deployed. A 43-year-old man was detained.
It has been established that there was no threat and inquiries are ongoing to fully understand the circumstances of the incident.
In line with standard procedure on occasions such as this, a referral has been made to GMP's Professional Standards Branch."
Body cam footage shows man tasered
Sophie Khan, a solicitor who specialises in pursuing action against the police, told The Independent the Manchester incident demonstrated structural problems with misuse of Tasers by the police.
It's very concerning that we're seeing blind people being Tasered, and people with mental health problems on the streets are being Tasered.
We really have to ask ourselves whether there are enough safeguards in place to protect vulnerable individuals.
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An exceptionally able engineering student is set to be deported with just three months left of her degree.
Shiromini Satkunarajah, a student at Bangor University, was arrested on Tuesday and taken to Yarls Wood Detention Centre.
The Home Office have since informed Ms Satkunarajah she will be sent back to her birthplace, Sri Lanka, on 28 February.
Ms Satkunarajah has lived in the UK since she was 12 years old, when her parents fled the Sri Lankan Civil War. She was originally a dependant on her fathers student visa, but was given leave to complete her secondary education in the UK when he died in 2011.
She was informed by the Home Office this week that her application for a full student visa had been denied.
Iestyn Pierce, Bangors head of electrical engineering, described Ms Satkunarajah as exceptionally able and diligent.
I have no doubt that Shiromini would achieve first-class honours, he said.
A relative of Ms Satkunarajah told The Independent that she was most concerned about being unable to complete her education.
Shiromini came here when she was 12. Her whole life is here, all of her friends and family are here. She has no one in Sri Lanka, were a small family. She wont be able to continue with her education.
Our family are devastated. My mums just been crying all the time.
At the time of writing, a Change.org petition calling on Home Secretary Amber Rudd to grant Shiromini leave to remain had gathered 16,000 signatures. The campaign group 'Unis Resist Border Control' told The Independent Ms Shivani Jegarajah from Justitia Chambers would be lodging a judicial review to stop Tuesday's impending removal from taking place.
(Change.org (Change.org)
A spokesperson for the Free University of Sheffield, who have been campaigning for Ms Satkunarajah to remain in the UK, said: The deportation of Shiromini is emblematic of the cruelty of the Home office more widely.
Previous interventions in deportations have had success with contacting flight companies to ask them to use moral discretion and halt the flight: in this case, contact Manchester Airport and Qatar Airways.
Recommended Amber Rudd launches immigration crackdown targeting students
Sanaz Raji from Unis Resist Border Controls said: "Although Shiromini is an exceptional student with a bright future ahead, we advocate for all students, regardless of their academic aptitude. No one should be denied the right to an education."
We have seen far too many international students woefully mistreated both by universities who use us as cash cows to financially prop up their institutions, while the Home Office attacks us in order to justify their racist and xenophobic migration policies.
The Home Office said it would not comment on the details of an individual case.
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The government will launch a review into Artifical Intelligence (AI) and robotics in an attempt to make the UK a world leader in tech.
The government said in a statement on Sunday that it would invest 17.3 million in university research on AI. Artificial intelligence powers technologies such as Apples SIRI, Amazons Alexa, and driverless cars.
According to a report by consultancy firm Accenture, Artificial Intelligence could add around 654 billion to the UK economy.
A report by the Institute for Public Policy Research recently forecast that millions of jobs will be lost to automation over the next two decades. Researchers predicted that two million jobs retail jobs will disappear by 2030 and 600,000 will go in manufacturing.
Jerome Pesenti, CEO of Benevolent Tech, who will be leading government research into AI, said,
There has been a lot of unwarranted negative hype around Artificial Intelligence (AI), but it has the ability to drive enormous growth for the UK economy, create jobs, foster new skills, positively transform every industry and retain Britains status as a world leader in innovative technology.
EU universal income must be 'seriously considered' amid rise of robots
The announcement is part of the governments new Digital Strategy, which will be announced in full on Wednesday. As well as investment in research and the tech industry, the strategy is also expected to detail a comprehensive modernisation of the civil service.
The government has been heavily criticised the delay in the publication of the strategy. In 2015, Ed Vaizey, the then Digital Minister, said plans would be published in early 2016.
In January, the chairman of the governments Science and Technology Committee criticised the government for this delay.
In a letter to Digital Minister Matt Hancock, Mr Metcalfe expressed his disappointment over such a long delay.
The letter also asked why the strategy continues to be a work in progress nearly a year after [Mr Hancocks] predecessor considered it already largely completed.
The government has said it was forced to delay the publication of the report to take into account the impact of Brexit.
However, other sources have suggested that Whitehalls resistance to the modernisation of the civil service under the Government Digital Service plans was also a significant factor.
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New laws targeting rough sleepers are being routinely used to deport EU citizens, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
In May 2016 the Home Office introduced a new policy stating that rough sleeping by European Economic Area (EEA) nationals was an 'abuse' of their right to freedom of movement.
Previously, the Home Office was able to remove EEA nationals for abuses of right such as anti-social behaviour or periods of economic inactivity".
Individuals found sleeping rough can now be subject to administrative removal from the UK.
The updated guidance means that immigration enforcement teams are now able to remove individuals from the UK purely because they are sleeping rough, which means people who are in employment are now also at risk.
Freedom of Information requests sent to London boroughs by migrant support group North East London Migrant Action (NELMA) and Housing Action South London revealed that council patrols targeting migrant rough sleepers were conducted, on average, nine times a year.
The patrols were carried out collaboratively by local authorities and Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) teams.
NELMA found that homelessness outreach teams commissioned by local authorities also participate in these patrols.
The data collected also indicates that at least 95 rough sleepers have been removed in London, but the number is likely to be higher, as most boroughs said they did not hold this information.
The group also claimed that identification documents were routinely confiscated during patrols, stopping people from exercising their rights under freedom of movement to look for work and find accommodation.
Recommended The majority of homeless people in London are foreign nationals
A spokesperson for NELMA said: "Many of those affected have lived in the UK for years, usually working and paying tax.
"Homeless people need to be helped, not criminalised. We're calling on local authorities and homelessness charities to stop collaborating with ICE and the Home Office and take a rights-based approach to working with some of the most vulnerable people in our society.'
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.
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Britain is facing the severest terror threat since the height of the IRA bombings in the 1970s, the new terrorism watchdog has warned.
Max Hill, who has recently taken up the role, claims the UK faces a heightened risk of attacks from Isis, with the ideological group planning indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians.
He likened the scale of bombing threats to that posed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) four decades ago, when the group was highly active.
The terror group targeted, buses, pubs to even parliament, killing dozens of people.
Similar to the IRA, Mr Hill told The Telegraph Isis was targeting UK cities, and was reaching a critical point with enormous ongoing risk which none of us can ignore.
He said: In terms of the threat thats represented, I think the intensity and the potential frequency of serious plot planning with a view to indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians of whatever race or colour in metropolitan areas represents an enormous on-going risk that none of us can ignore.
Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Show all 9 1 /9 Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Policemen outside Rouen's cathedral during the funeral of Jacques Hamel, the priest who was killed in a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Normandy on 26 July during a hostage-taking claimed by Islamic State group Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Two jihadists, both 19, slit Hamel's throat while he was celebrating mass in an attack that shocked France as well as the Catholic Church Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Muslims place flowers and hold a minute of silence in front of the church if Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, western France, where French priest Jacques Hamel was killed on 26 July Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Two people hold each other by the new makeshift memorial in Nice, in tribute to the victims of the deadly Bastille Day attack at the Promenade des Anglais Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the truck attack that killed 84 people in Nice on France's national holiday. Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, smashed a 19-tonne truck into a packed crowd of people in the Riviera city celebrating Bastille Day Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Police work at a site where a Syrian migrant set off an explosive device in Ansbach, southern Germany, on 25 July, killing himself and wounding a dozen others Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis A Syrian migrant set off an explosion at a bar in southern Germany that killed himself and wounded a dozen others in the third attack to hit Bavaria in a week. The 27-year-old, who had spent a stint in a psychiatric facility, had intended to target a music festival in the city of Ansbach but was turned away because he did not have a ticket Friebe/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Police officers walk along train tracks in Wuerzburg southern Germany on 19 July, a day after a man attacked train passengers with an axe. German authorities said they had found a hand-painted IS flag among the belongings of the man, an asylum seeker from Afghanistan, who seriously injured four members of a family of tourists from Hong Kong in his rampage Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis German police killed a teenage assailant after he attacked passengers on a train in Wuerzburg, southerg Germany with an axe and a knife on 18 July, seriously wounding three people Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/AFP/Getty Images
So I think that there is undoubtedly significant ongoing risk which is at least as great as the threat to London in the Seventies when the IRA were active on the mainland.
Warning that children as young 14 were being radicalised by Islamic fundamentalism, he said there was growing concern over the threat posed by British jihadis returning from overseas.
Its an enormous concern that large numbers we know this means at least hundreds of British citizens who have left this country in order to fight are now returning or may be about to return, he said.
Mr Hill took over from David Anderson, and was praised by Home Secretary Amber Rudd for his wealth of experience and legal expertise.
With a career spanning three decades, the latest watchdog has helped convict the 21/7 bomb plotters, bring Damilola Taylors killers to justice and break up numerous terror cells.
One of the countrys leading terror prosecutors, he will report to parliament annually on British terror legislation as well as undertaking his own independent reviews.
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Disability benefits should only go to really disabled people, a senior advisor to Theresa May has said, and not those "taking pills at home, who suffer from anxiety".
George Freeman, a Conservative MP and head of the Number 10 Downing Street policy unit, was defending plans to cut 3.7bn from personal independence payments (PIP).
"These tweaks are actually about rolling back some bizarre decisions by [benefits] tribunals that now mean benefits are being given to people who are taking pills at home, who suffer from anxiety," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"We want to make sure we get the money to the really disabled people who need it."
He added that he and Ms May "totally" understood the problems caused by anxiety.
"We've set out in the mental health strategy how seriously we take it," he added.
His remarks resulted in a barrage of criticism from opposition politicians and mental health advocates, who branded his comments an insult to disabled people.
Mr Freeman later hit back on Twitter, saying he had suffered anxiety and depression as a child and didnt need lectures on the damage caused by such conditions.
Theresa May dodges question on 'theft' of child mental health funding
The Mid-Norfolk MP was defending Government reforms to PIP, which are intended to roll back "bizarre" tribunal decisions which he said meant unsuitable care measures were being implemented.
The changes will affect around 1,000 people who need help taking a medication and monitoring a health condition, and 164,000 people who cant leave their homes alone because of the severe psychological stress it causes, the Mirror reported.
Debbie Abrahams, Labour's Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: Mr Freeman must immediately apologise for the comments he made regarding sick and disabled people.
Not only does this fly in the face of the commitment to parity of esteem for people with mental health conditions, but it directly contradicts Theresa Mays comments on mental health and two recent tribunal judgements.
And shadow Chancellor John McDonnell tweeted: "This is an insult to disabled people. (George Freeman) should apologise immediately or Theresa May should make him."
Disability charity Scope also criticised Mr Freeman's "crude" distinction between physical and mental health and said it was concerned about the Government's "worrying" changes to PIP.
The independent Equality and Human Rights Commission said Mr Freeman's comments would add to the stigma surrounding mental health.
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
Its chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath said: "Any decisions should be based on sound evidence and not sweeping generalisations.
"There are many people who have unseen disabilities and they need just as much support.
"These comments will only feed into negative perceptions of disability and add to the stigma surrounding mental health issues."
Earlier, Conservative Party Chairman Patrick McLoughlin defended the governments plans to cut disability benefits, saying the spending reductions needed to be viewed in the wider context of bringing down the deficit.
He told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show: We are spending as a country over 50bn a year supporting people who have got disabilities in this country.
Duchess of Cambridge plays pool during visit to mental health project unit
I think we give, overall, very generous schemes. There are changes that come about as a result of tribunals and we have to look at that.
But as far as supporting disabled people, I think overall we do very proudly in this country.
We are still spending as a country over 60bn more each year than we are getting in as a country and we have got to look at trying to balance that budget and reduce that deficit.
Disabilities Minister Penny Mordaunt said the payments were being to "restore the original aim of the benefit" to make sure the most needy were given support.
Additional reporting by Press Association
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The Government must immediately stop suspending the benefits of hundreds of thousands of claimants each year or risk soaring rates of mental health problems, experts have warned.
In an open letter to The Independent, doctors from Britains leading mental health organisations said that an urgent review of the system must be carried out to discover how deep an impact it is having.
Ministers are facing a separate battle in Parliament over plans to slash 3.7bn of disability benefits that would go to people with mental health problems, epilepsy, diabetes and dementia.
The doctors' letter comes just 10 days before Philip Hammonds spring budget, with the Government still struggling to bring the deficit under control and under intense pressure to spend money giving companies more business rates relief.
It reads: We, the UKs leading bodies representing psychologists, psychotherapists, psychoanalysts and counsellors, call on the Government to immediately suspend the benefits sanctions system.
It fails to get people back to work and damages their mental health.
The letter sets out bodies which have provided evidence linking sanctions to destitution, disempowerment, and increased rates of mental health problems, before adding: We call on the Government to suspend the benefits sanctions regime and undertake an independent review of its impact on peoples mental health and wellbeing.
More than a million unemployed claimants must meet conditions, such as turning up for appointments and applying for enough jobs, in order to receive benefits. If the rules are breached the claimants can incur a punishment or sanction which sees their welfare payments stopped, with a four-week penalty hitting over-25s for 300.
The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned Show all 16 1 /16 The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "One case where the claimants wife went into premature labour and had to go to hospital. This caused the claimant to miss an appointment. No leeway given" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Its Christmas Day and you dont fill in your job search evidence form to show that youve looked for all the new jobs that are advertised on Christmas Day. You are sanctioned. Merry Christmas" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You apply for three jobs one week and three jobs the following Sunday and Monday. Because the job centre week starts on a Tuesday it treats this as applying for six jobs in one week and none the following week. You are sanctioned for 13 weeks for failing to apply for three jobs each week" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A London man missed his Jobcentre appointments for two weeks because he was in hospital after being hit by a car. He was sanctioned" 2011 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Youve been unemployed for seven months and are forced onto a workfare scheme in a shop miles away, but cant afford to travel. You offer to work in a nearer branch but are refused and get sanctioned for not attending your placement" 2013 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You are a mum of two, and are five minutes late for your job centre appointment. You show the advisor the clock on your phone, which is running late. You are sanctioned for a month" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man with heart problems who was on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) had a heart attack during a work capability assessment. He was then sanctioned for failing to complete the assessment" Rex The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man who had gotten a job that was scheduled to begin in two weeks time was sanctioned for not looking for work as he waited for the role to start" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Army veteran Stephen Taylor, 60, whose Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) was stopped after he sold poppies in memory of fallen soldiers" 2014 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man had to miss his regular appointment at the job centre to attend his fathers funeral. He was sanctioned even though he told DWP staff in advance" 2014 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Ceri Padley, 26, had her benefits sanctioned after she missed an appointment at the jobcentre - because she was at a job interview" Jason Doiy Photography The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man got sanctioned for missing his slot to sign on - as he was attending a work programme interview. He was then sanctioned as he could not afford to travel for his job search" 2012 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Mother-of-three Angie Godwin, 27, said her benefits were sanctioned after she applied for a role job centre staff said was beyond her" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Sofya Harrison was sanctioned for attending a job interview and moving her signing-on to another day" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Michael, 54, had his benefits sanctioned for four months for failing to undertake a weeks work experience at a charity shop. The charity shop had told him they didnt want him there" Getty The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Terry Eaton, 58, was sanctioned because he didnt have the bus fare he needed to attend an appointment with the job centre" Getty Images
Todays letter signed by the British Psychological Society, the UK Council for Psychotherapy, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, the British Psychoanalytic Council, and the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies goes on to argue that suspending the sanctions system alone is not enough.
It advocates a complete overhaul of the way in which the Government approaches the benefits system, moving away from making unemployment less attractive, to making employment more attractive and calls for mental health awareness training for job centre staff and reform of the controversial work capability assessment.
It adds: These policies would begin to take us towards a welfare and employment system that promotes mental health and wellbeing, rather than undermines and damages it.
According to the Department for Work and Pensions own estimates, the state spends up to 50m a year applying sanctions and 200m monitoring whether claimants meet the conditions for receiving payments.
Last year it withheld payment of 132m in the form of sanctions. It also paid out 35m in hardship payments, according to National Audit Office estimates, many of which directly compensate for withheld benefits.
A report from the NAO also found different job centres and employment schemes take radically different stances on enforcing the rules, with some more than twice as likely to sanction as others in the same area and many sanctions overturned on appeal.
It described the system as one involving pot luck and a postcode lottery for those affected and claimed sanctions were allegedly causing hardship and depression for many individuals.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Debbie Abrahams said: Like the British Psychological Society and evidence from many other sources, I believe that the Tories punitive sanctions regime is irresponsible, ineffective, and in the worst cases, has been linked to premature deaths.
That's why I have committed Labour to scrapping the Tories punitive sanctions regime as part of our plan to transform the social security system.
Baftas 2017: Ken Loach condemns 'brutal' Tory government
Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, said the sanctions system is fundamentally flawed and needs to be restarted entirely while Jonathan Bartley, the Green Party co-leader, said the Government must listen to the warnings from the psychological bodies, adding the DWP should scrap the system entirely.
A spokesman from the department said: Sanctions are an important part of our benefits system, and are only used in a very small percentage of cases as a last resort when people dont fulfil their commitments to find work. We have made improvements to the sanctions system, particularly to help those who are vulnerable or have a mental health condition, and the number of sanctions has halved over the last year.
Ministers are also facing a separate battle in the House of Lords this week after announcing legislation to tighten the criteria of Personal Independence Payments (PIP), resulting in a 3.7bn saving between now and 2022.
The Government argued that the measure was needed after tribunals ordered that the payment should cover a broader spectrum of claimants, including those with some mental health problems.
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The man credited with brokering the Good Friday agreement has warned that Brexit may threaten the prospect of peace co-operation in Northern Ireland.
Former US Senator George Mitchell said he hoped the UKs decision to leave the European Union would not stop the establishment of a new power-sharing government in Stormont ahead of the assembly elections on 3 March.
He told Sky News: I believe that the European Union was an important factor that led the United Kingdom and Ireland to co-operate in establishing a process that led to the Good Friday Agreement and I think the UK being out of the European Union may reduce the prospect for further co-operation.
Secretary of State James Brokenshire called new elections last month after republican party Sinn Fein pulled out of the power-sharing government following a financial scandal involving DUP First Minister Arlene Foster.
The partys long-standing Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, also stood down due to poor health last month.
Many in Northern Ireland, which voted Remain, are worried about a possible return to border controls between it and the Republic of Ireland as the UK is likely to opt for hard Brexit which could lead to an increase in violence and instability.
Last month, Stormonts leaders were given a fresh blow when the Supreme Court ruled the UK Government did not have to get the approval of the country's regional parliaments to trigger Article 50.
Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Show all 13 1 /13 Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Supreme Court Brexit Challenge People wait to enter the public gallery outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Gina Miller, co-founder of investment fund SCM Private arrives at the Supreme court in London on the first day of a four-day hearing Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waves the EU flag in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Satirical artist Kaya Mar poses with two of his paintings in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin. The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Businesswoman Gina Miller arrives at the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Attorney General Jeremy Wright arrives at the Supreme Court in London EPA Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Protesters outside the Supreme Court in London, where the Government is appealing against a ruling that the Prime Minister must seek MPs' approval to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union PA wire Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protesters wearing a judge's wigs and robes stands outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protester holds up a placard outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waiting to enter the public gallery waves a European Union flag outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters
The Independent revealed last month that they were planning to block Article 50 if they felt that not enough consideration was being paid to the peace process.
The Good Friday agreement was signed by then UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and then Irish Taoiseach Bernie Ahern in 1998 ending decades of fighting known as the Troubles.
The agreement led to the formation of the Northern Ireland Assembly, known as Stormont, which is jointly controlled by the DUP and Sinn Fein.
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Amber Rudd says reports that the Government are not taking in child refugees were fake news.
Earlier this month the Government announced it would take just 350 unaccompanied child refugees from Syria under the Dubs amendment as councils said they had capacity for around 400 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children until the end of this financial year.
But in an interview with Robert Peston the Home Secretary rejected a question about whether they would reinstate the scheme to help children in France and Syria, saying they had already settled 8,000 children in the UK last year.
Ok just in your question it shows that unfortunately the fake news is settling out there, she argued. The fact is we took 8,000 children last year into this country and settled them. 3,000 arrived unaccompanied and illegally and have been settled here. These numbers are large.
She said they had said there would be a consultation with local authorities under the terms of the Dubs amendment but it was always going to be a one-off and rejected calls to reinstate it.
Ms Rudd reiterated her stance that she believed the scheme was a pull factor for traffickers to smuggle vulnerable children into the UK and said that it was important to focus on taking children from Syria rather than Europe where they are safe.
She said: Where are the most vulnerable children? Are they in the region or are they in France, Italy and Greece?
They are in the region which is why we are focused on the region.
Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Show all 13 1 /13 Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Volunteers walk a group of refugee children towards their school on the island of Chios AFP/Getty Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Refugee children pose at a makeshift camp on the island of Chios AFP/Getty Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees A Syrian Kurd mother combs Roza's hair, as she prepares to go to a volunteer-run school in a refugee camp on the island of Chios AFP/Getty Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Refugee children attend an English language class at the volunteer run school on the island of Chios AFP/Getty Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Refugee children carry vegetables in a refugee camp on the island of Chios AFP/Getty Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees A newly arrived Syrian refugee, 13, holds her sister, 2, in a makeshift camp on the island of Chios AFP/Getty Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Refugee children pretend they go to school as they play in a refugee camp in the island AFP/Getty Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees A Greek girl walks past a graffiti on her way to a school on the island of Chios AFP/Getty Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees A Malian refugee child poses from behind a fence in a makeshift camp AFP/Getty Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees A Syrian Kurd mother combs Roza's hair, as she prepares to go to a volunteer-run school in a refugee camp on the island of Chios AFP/Getty Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees A Syrian family from Aleppo newly arrived to Greece sits in a makeshift camp on the island of Chios AFP/Getty Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees A child carries a broken blackgammon game in a makeshift camp on the island of Chios AFP/Getty Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees Inside the classroom with Chios's child refugees A child holds onto her mother, Djeneba from Mali, before attending school in a refugee camp on the island of Chios AFP/Getty
She also insisted that they were helping the children in the European camps because they had set up a 10m fund for them and accepted 900 children from the Calais camp "as a one-off" when it was closed last year.
But this is not enough as far as the architect of the scheme, Lord Alfred Dubs, is concerned.
Lord Dubs forced through the amendment to the Immigration Bill last year which meant the Government had to accept up to 4,000 child refugees under Section 67 of the act so far only 200 have been accepted and they will be included in the final figure of 350.
He told The Independent the end to the scheme was bitter disappointing and would continue to fight for the rights of child refugees to come to the UK.
The peer, who was himself a child refugee who fled the Nazis, described the announcement in the House of Commons by Immigration Minister Robert Goodwill sandwiched between PMQs and all these votes on Brexit as confusing and hidden.
He said: Up to lunchtime [on Wednesday] I was under the impression there was no cap.
[The government] recently said they would accept the letter and spirit of the amendment but they are manifestly not doing that.
I think theyre using it as an excuse that local authorities dont want to step up to the mark, and I think it is quite clear from the evidence that we have that local authorities would respond if asked.
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Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to turn back the Tory tide and hit back at critics calling for his resignation after Labour lost a by-election in Copeland, a constituency it has held since 1935.
Writing in The Mirror, Mr Corbyn acknowledged the result in Copeland was deeply disappointing,
He said: Labours share of the vote in Copeland has been falling for 20 years and of course I take my share of responsibility.
After fresh criticism from a number of Labour figures, Mr Corbyn explicitly called on disgruntled MPs to unite behind his leadership, in order to finish the job and reconnect Labour with working class voters.
He said: If we stand together, I am confident we canturn back the Tory tide.
Conservative candidate, Trudy Harrison, won the Copeland seat with 13,748 votes, while Labours Gillian Troughton trailed on 11,601, a swing of 6.7 per cent. It is the first time the government has won a seat from an opposition party in a by-election since 1982.
On the same day, Labour saw off the challenge from UKIP in Stoke, retaining the seat with 37% of the vote.
A Labour activist who campaigned in the constituency told The Independent Mr Corbyn had been unpopular with voters in Copeland, who described him as "weak", "weird" and a "weasel".
However, he also said he believed the real reason for failure was the partys neglect of its Northern base.
The Labour party has abandoned these communities our majority in Copeland been gradually decreasing since 1997," he said. "Labour has failed to address the trauma inflicted upon these areas by years of deindustrialisation and more recently austerity.
Doors we knocked on hadnt been knocked on since May 1st 1997, the date of Blairs first election victory.
John McDonnell shifts blame on to Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson after Labour Copeland by-election defeat
A senior figure recently told The Independent that if the devastating Copeland by-election result were mirrored elsewhere, Labour would be left with just 150 seats in the House of Commons.
The frontbencher also predicted Labour might be looking at its worst general election since the 1930s.
On Saturday, former leadership contender David Miliband told The Times that Labour was further from power than at any stage in [his] lifetime.
However, Corbyn has clearly stated he will not be standing down, regardless of the result in Copeland.
I was elected to lead this party to oppose austerity and to oppose redistribution of wealth in the wrong direction, which is what this government is doing. We will continue our campaigning work on the NHS, on social care and on housing, he said.
Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Party, also told members at a Scottish Labour conference that it was not the time for a leadership election.
He did, however, acknowledge that Copeland demonstrated the huge challenge facing Labour ahead of the next general election.
"Seven years into a Tory Government, we shouldn't be facing questions about whether we can retain the seats we already hold.
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Shadow cabinet member Shami Chakrabarti was mocked on Sunday after blaming Labours disastrous Copeland by-election defeat on everything from bad weather to poor public transport... but not Jeremy Corbyn.
Baroness Chakrabarti also suggested explanations could include Labour voters being less likely to have a car, low turnout, Brexit divisions, false claims about Mr Corbyns views on nuclear power, party disunity and ill-treatment in the media.
Following the interview on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show, one Labour MP ridiculed the pearls of wisdom from the never-having-stood-for-election ... wing of the Labour party.
It comes amid pressure on Mr Corbyn to consider his position in the wake of the defeat, which was the first time an opposition party was defeated by a governing party in decades.
Challenged over claims that Labours vote may have been hit by Storm Doris, particularly given Labour voters are less likely to have cars, she said: That is one aspect of all by-elections.
She went on: There was a low turnout in Copeland and having been to Copeland recently, I know that its a very rural constituency, public transport is not great. But its just one factor, of course thats not the entire explanation.
The Baroness explained that Labour had neglected voters for many years in Copeland, but also turned on party disunity, claiming that constant speculation over the leadership and infighting had damaged Labours cut through.
Her comments echoed claims by shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who attacked Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson for making high-profile interventions shortly before the by-elections in Copeland and Stoke-on-Trent Central, which Labour won.
John McDonnell shifts blame on to Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson after Labour Copeland by-election defeat
She then went on: Sometimes we havent had the fairest or most balanced treatment in the media, including in the broadcast media.
Challenged by Mr Marr as to why the left always blames the media, she added: Im not blaming the media. Im just saying that the disunity has been the focus.
Labour insiders had feared that Mr Corbyns long-held views opposing nuclear power may also damage the party in Copeland, where the nuclear industry is a major employer.
Mr Corbyn attempted to mitigate the impact by insisting during the campaign that he is right behind development of the nuclear industry in the constituency.
Conservatives take Copeland in humiliating blow to Labour
However, Baroness Chakrabarti, who joined Labour under Mr Corbyn, said: There are peculiarities about that seat, like what was said about our position on the nuclear industry which was apocryphal.
But I dont want to just make it all about the specifics of Copeland. Weve clearly got work to do, weve clearly suffered from disunity two leadership elections in the space of a year. Weve clearly suffered from the fact that out supporters were divided, like the country over Brexit, and thats been such a big issue.
But now I think once Article 50 is triggered, as it will be, we have an opportunity to unite about things that clearly matter to peoples lives, like schools and hospitals and benefits.
Slamming the interview, Labour MP and former frontbencher Michael Dugher tweeted: Pearls of wisdom from the never-having-stood-for-election, joined-ten-minutes-ago wing of the Labour Party: Labour voters dont have cars.
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Jeremy Corbyn has said he will still be Labour leader in 2020, in an attempt to draw a line under one of his toughest periods at the partys helm.
The announcement followed a desperate plea for party unity that was undermined before it had even been made by open anger over his and his closest allies reaction to the devastating by-election loss in Copeland.
Ex-frontbencher Lisa Nandy slammed what she called the severely inadequate response of Mr Corbyns allies to the defeat, claiming they had sought to blame others for shortcomings inside the party.
Shadow Attorney General, Shami Chakrabarti, was among those singled out by critics after she gave an interview blaming everything from Storm Doris to poor public transport in Copeland for the humiliating loss.
Deputy leader Tom Watson attacked one of Mr Corbyns closest allies, Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey, for ensuring Mr Corbyn had stayed in post but not publicly defending him in bad times.
The fall out from the by-election result last week, the first time a governing party has won a seat off an opposition since the early 1980s, has left Mr Corbyn facing deep questions over how long he can survive as leader.
Asked repeatedly on Sky News if he would remain in place at the 2020 general election, he finally replied: I've given you a very, very clear answer, yes.
Earlier in the day the beleaguered Labour leader insisted his party and its policies are needed more than ever. He added the party must remain united in order to win. Now is not the time to retreat to run away or give up, he said.
Corbyn mistakenly thanks the SNP during the Scottish Labour Party conference...twice
Speaking at the Scottish Labour Party conference in Perth, he said he took his share of responsibility for the Copeland defeat and conceded that Labour had not yet done enough to rebuild trust with disillusioned voters.
But with his critics demanding a change, either in leadership or strategy, anger spilled over when Corbyn ally Baroness Chakrabarti gave an interview suggesting Copeland could in-part be explained by other factors including bad weather, Labour voters being less likely to have a car, low turnout, Brexit divisions, false claims about Mr Corbyns views on nuclear power, and ill-treatment in the media.
Labour MP Michael Dugher tweeted: Pearls of wisdom from the never-having-stood-for-election, joined-ten-minutes-ago wing of the Labour Party: Labour voters dont have cars.
Wigan MP Ms Nandy, ex-shadow energy secretary, said this weeks by-election were very bad results for Labour, telling Sky News: I think the trouble with looking at every factor apart from Labour, is that its just a severely inadequate response.
She added: Labour is in real trouble and there is no point pretending that isnt the case.
Labour's Shami Chakrabarti blames range of factors- except the party's leader- for Copeland loss
The last few days has seen Mr Corbyn also come under pressure from union backers, with Unisons Dave Prentis branding Copeland a disaster and demanding the Leader take responsibility for what happens next.
But on ITVs Peston on Sunday, Mr Watson hit out at Mr Corbyns main union backer Mr McCluskey, saying: If Ive got some frustrations, its that those people that are Jeremys cheerleaders, that made sure that he was elected a second time last September, they should be sticking with their leader in the bad times, not just the good.
Dave Prentis has spoken out but Id say to you this morning wheres Len McCluskey defending his leader in this difficult time? It shouldnt be just down to me.
Gerard Coyne, who is challenging Mr McCluskey for leadership of Unite, also criticised the General Secretary, saying: As the partys facing its biggest crisis in over a generation, with the Labour leadership completely disconnected from its traditional support, Len is suddenly nowhere to be seen or heard.
The silence of Len McCluskey is truly damning. He has driven Labour to the edge of the cliff and then disappeared in a puff of smoke as it tumbles over the edge.
Mr Corbyn explained the lack of a public appearance from the Unite boss by saying that he is going through a general secretary election, adding that he had spoken to him 10 days ago.
A Unite spokesman said: Tom Watson is deputy leader of the Labour Party. It is his job to address the issues facing the party in the wake of the by-elections.
Len McCluskeys job is to address the issues that are the foremost priorities for Unites members. He has been working flat out to defend Unite members pensions in the nuclear sector and at BMW and to save Vauxhall jobs and plants.
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Tory grandee Michael Heseltine has signalled he is ready to defy Theresa May over Brexit and will fight to change her plan to trigger Article 50 in the House of Lords.
The Conservative peer said he was intent on ensuring that people have a chance to change their minds, raising the prospect of a second referendum should public opinion demand it.
Tomorrow peers will begin debating Ms Mays bill to launch Brexit talks, with discussions eventually moving on to a cross-party plan to force the Government to guarantee Parliament a meaningful vote on the final deal the Prime Minister secures with the EU.
Gina Miller, whose Supreme Court action forced Ms May to give Parliament a vote on triggering Article 50, called on the Lords to show backbone in challenging Ms Mays Brexit plan.
Lord Heseltines comments also follow similar demands from Labour peer Lord Mandelson who made a call in The Independent for people be given the chance to have their say on Ms Mays Brexit deal, through a vote in Parliament or even another referendum.
Writing in The Mail On Sunday, Lord Heseltine said: I have never known a future populated by such uncertainty but my preoccupation is to ensure that if public opinion changes then Parliament has the means to reflect that, whether by election, referendum or rethink.
He added Labour, Lib Dem and rebellious Tory colleagues also want a change to the Brexit bill that will mean MPs and peers have ultimate authority over how the UK leaves.
The Conservative peer went on: In the end the outcome of Brexit will have to be confirmed by Parliament. It will also have to pass in 27 national European parliaments, several sub-national parliaments and the European Parliament.
Second EU referendum must be held on final Brexit deal, says former head of British civil service
It was perhaps unwise for our Government to suppose that our Parliament should be excluded where all others were included. Very sensibly, after the Supreme Court interpreted the law, that position was reversed and Parliament was restored to its rightful constitutional role as the ultimate authority.
I will vote in the House of Lords to ensure that position is legally intact. This is not a confrontation with the Government which has already made such a commitment.
A Labour Lords source said the party would be likely to win handsomely if the issue came to a vote, though ministers may seek to avoid testing the theory this week by promising to make concessions to delay it.
Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Show all 13 1 /13 Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Supreme Court Brexit Challenge People wait to enter the public gallery outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Gina Miller, co-founder of investment fund SCM Private arrives at the Supreme court in London on the first day of a four-day hearing Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waves the EU flag in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Satirical artist Kaya Mar poses with two of his paintings in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin. The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Businesswoman Gina Miller arrives at the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Attorney General Jeremy Wright arrives at the Supreme Court in London EPA Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Protesters outside the Supreme Court in London, where the Government is appealing against a ruling that the Prime Minister must seek MPs' approval to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union PA wire Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protesters wearing a judge's wigs and robes stands outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protester holds up a placard outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waiting to enter the public gallery waves a European Union flag outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters
Any vote that does occur will most likely be on the amendment to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, which has wide support in the Lords.
Should a vote be made to amend the bill in the upper chamber, those changes would then have to go back to the Commons for approval.
Downing Street has said it still expects to meet its goal of finishing the legislative process around the bill in order to fulfill its goal of triggering Article 50 by the end of March.
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Ministers are reportedly considering plans to limit benefits for new immigrants and give multi-year visas to migrant workers in key sectors as part of efforts to stick to the pledge to bring net inward migration down to the tens of thousands.
The plans being discussed by senior ministers could also see the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) advising the Government on how many visas should be issued to take the political sting out of the issue, according to The Sunday Times.
Under the proposals for a post-Brexit Britain with full control over immigration, new arrivals could be given five-year working visas if they have a job but be banned from claiming any benefits during that time.
The MAC would decide how many visas need to be issued for workers in key industries such as software engineering, health and social care, farming and hospitality, which are heavily reliant on immigrants.
The Prime Minister reportedly ordered ministers to make preparations for a new system at a meeting of the Cabinet's Brexit committee on Thursday.
According to the newspaper, Mrs May will also attempt to guarantee the rights of all EU nationals who are resident in the UK on the day she triggers Article 50 to begin exit negotiations, if she can get a similar agreement for British expats in Europe.
This is because Home Office lawyers have warned the Government would face a legal challenge if it made the cut-off date the day of last year's EU referendum, the report said.
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
A Government spokesman said: We said we would use the opportunity of leaving the European Union to take control of our immigration system and we will do exactly that.
Our plans will be published in due course but this is just speculation.
Press Association
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In the chaos of South Sudan's civil war, it took three years for Nyagonga Machul to find her lost children. Machul had travelled from her village to the capital when President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy, Riek Machar, a Nuer, in 2013. The dismissal triggered a civil war in the world's newest nation that has increasingly been fought along ethnic lines.
Machul found herself cut off from her son Nhial, now aged 14 and the protector of the family, 10-year-old Ruai , 8-year-old Machiey, 6-year-old Nyameer, and Nyawan, now four but then the much-loved baby. For years, Machul prayed for news. In December, she heard her children were alive but far away in Bentiu, the northern gateway to the nation's oil fields. More than a thousand 1,000 km (620 miles) of battlefield stretched between them.
Machul had left the children with their grandmother, but one night gunmen had attacked their village. I was in bed sleeping, when I heard the sound of gunshots, then people shouting, screaming, said Nhial.
The panicked children scattered and hid near the river Nile. Wandering back, they found each other, but not their grandmother. They decided to flee. They walked through swamps, in chest-deep water infested with snakes and crocodiles. They begged food from families with little to spare.
A family reunited in South Sudan Show all 9 1 /9 A family reunited in South Sudan A family reunited in South Sudan Bentiu, South Sudan Nyagonga Machul, 38, touches the feet of her younger daughter, Nyawan Mario, 4, in their home at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan Reuters A family reunited in South Sudan Bentiu, South Sudan Machiey, Nyameer, Nyawan and Ruai leave their home on the day they will travel to Juba to be reunited with their mother Reuters A family reunited in South Sudan Bentiu, South Sudan An internally displaced boy plays with a bit of plastic sheet in the mission Reuters A family reunited in South Sudan Bentiu, South Sudan Nyagonga embraces her children after being reunited with them at the UN mission Reuters A family reunited in South Sudan Bentiu, South Sudan Displaced people wash and collect water in a reservoir in the mission Reuters A family reunited in South Sudan Bentiu, South Sudan The children chat in a tent at the mission, near Bentiu REUTERS A family reunited in South Sudan Bentiu, South Sudan A woman walks in a market in the town of Pibor, in Boma state, east South Sudan Reuters A family reunited in South Sudan Bentiu, South Sudan A man and women carrying firewood at the end of the day are heading back to the mission Reuters A family reunited in South Sudan Bentiu, South Sudan A flag flies inside a local church in the village of Nimini in northern South Sudan Reuters
A former neighbour, Nyabika Temdor, took them in, camping with them on a tiny island in the Nile. But gunmen struck again and they ran. I had to pay someone to carry the little ones, as they couldn't walk, Temdor said. After four days, they reached a camp for displaced families in Bentiu. The sprawling settlement of 120,000 people is bordered by barbed wire and watchtowers. That is where Cina found them a local organisation supported by Unicef, where case workers painstakingly trace separated families. They enter the names of lost children into a Unicef database that holds nearly 15,000 names.
Having a parent vastly improves the long-term chances of a child's survival, said Marianna Zaichykova, a spokeswoman for Unicef. But the programme is chronically underfunded.Last year, reunifications dropped by 50 per cent because there was not enough money to trace families, Zaichykova said.
Machul was lucky. Unicef arranged for the children to fly to Juba this week. Their mother waited for them, in a tent made of sticks and plastic that looked just like the one they left in Bentiu. She dappled drops of water on her children's faces in a traditional blessing. Her friends began to sing. And then she opened her arms for her children. God has answered my prayers, she said. I am so happy.
Reuters
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George Clooney has compared the Trump era to McCarthyism.
The actor, who received an honorary award at Fridays Cesar Awards in Paris, did not mention President Donald Trump by name but invoked Edward R Murrows words about Senator McCarthy.
The term McCarthyism originates from the anti-Communist witch-hunt against the left led by Senator McCarthy in 1950's America. The term has now taken on a broader meaning and refers to the practice of making accusations of treason which lack proper regard for evidence.
Appearing on stage alongside actor Jean Dujardin, who presented the award, Clooney started his speech by thanking his wife, Amal Clooney, and the French Academy. He then turned his attentions towards the state of the US.
I was thinking about Edward R. Murrow as we find ourselves nostalgic for when America was great and when the news wasnt fake, he told the audience.
Maybe his words some 60 years can help put things in perspective.
He then pieced together quotes from one of Murrow's most famous telecasts which saw him rebuke Senator McCarthy back in 1954 on CBS for mounting anti-communist suppression.
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
We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must not walk in fear of one another, Clooney said, garnering applause from the audience.
We must not be driven by fear into an age of unreason. If we dig deep in our history and remember that we are not descendants from fearful people, we proclaim ourselves indeed as we are the defenders of freedom wherever it continues to exist in the world. But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.
The actions of this president have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies, he said referring to Mr Trump.
And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didnt create this situation of fear, he merely exploited it - and rather successfully.
Cassius was right. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves. Good night, and good luck.
Clooney has a special affinity for Munrow, having written, directed and acted in Good Night, and Good Luck in 2005, a historical drama that explores the conflict between veteran radio and television journalist Edward R Murrow and US Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Clooney, an ardent Hillary Clinton supporter, has vented his frustrations about Mr Trump on a number of occasions. He recently branded him a Hollywood elitist and expressed his support for Meryl Streep after her scathing rebuke of the billionaire property developer president at the Golden Globes.
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The parents of a 15-year-old boy who died due to untreated diabetes and starvation have been found guilty of first-degree murder.
Emil and Rodica Radita isolated and neglected their son Alexandru for years before his eventual death at which point he was said to be so emaciated that he appeared mummified, a court in Canada heard on Friday.
Alexandru, one of the Raditas eight children, reportedly weighed less than 37 pounds when he died in 2013 at their home in Calagry, Canada, following months of suffering due to untreated diabetes.
According to CTV News, Justice Karen Horner told the court: Mr and Ms Radita intended to and did isolate Alex from anyone who could intervene or monitor his insulin treatment aside from themselves.
Alex died as a result of bacterial sepsis brought on by extreme starvation. His physical condition at death was not a sudden or quick occurrence but rather took place over months and possibly, probably years.
Judge Horner proceeded to say that by isolating their son, who was diagnosed with diabetes at an early age, the couple left him totally reliant on them. She added that it was clear the Raditas knew what they were doing in denying Alexandru a sufficient amount of insulin and the long-term consequences.
The evidence underscores that the Raditas were well aware how ill Alex was and still refused to treat his medical condition with proper insulin protocol and medical care. They knew he was dying, she added.
Witnesses testified that the couple refused to accept that their son had diabetes and failed to treat his disease until he had to be admitted to hospital near death in British Columbia in 2003.
Following his time in hospital, Alexandru had been placed in foster care, where he stayed for nearly a year and reportedly thrived before he was returned to his family, at which point they moved house to a different area.
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. 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According to 660 News, the judge stated that Deborah Baumback, one of the paramedics called to the scene following the death, recounted Alexandru's body as appearing mummified.
She described him as emaciated to the point where he appeared 'mummified'. His face had no visible flesh left and his left jaw had open sores so deep she could see his jawbone, Judge Horner said.
There was nothing left of his stomach as he was just so extraordinarily skinny. She estimated his waist line to be approximately three inches. He was dressed in a diaper and a T-shirt. His eyes were open. He was not breathing.
Mr and Ms Radita were both sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. Neither parent reportedly showed any emotion or had a comment during sentencing.
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The father of a US Navy Seal killed during an anti-terrorism raid in Yemen is demanding an investigation into its planning, criticising the Trump administration over its timing.
Bill Owens told The Miami Herald that he refused to meet with President Donald Trump when both came to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to receive the casket carrying his son, Chief Special Warfare Officer William "Ryan" Owens.
"I want an investigation," said Mr Owens, a retired Fort Lauderdale police detective and a military veteran. "The government owes my son an investigation."
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told ABC News she believes the president would support an investigation.
"I can't imagine what this father is going through," she said. "His son is a true American hero, and we should forever be in his son's debt."
The younger Owens, a 36-year-old married father of three, was the lone US fatality in the raid last month on a suspected al-Qaeda compound. Approximately 16 civilians and 14 militants died in the attack, which the Pentagon said was aimed at capturing information on potential al-Qaeda attacks against the US and its allies.
His father told the Herald he refused to meet with the president because the family had requested a private ceremony.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to see him," Mr Owens recalled telling the chaplain who informed him that Mr Trump was on his way from Washington. "I told them I don't want to meet the president."
He said he was also troubled by the attack Mr Trump levelled at Khizr and Ghazala Kahn, an American Muslim couple whose Army officer son died in Iraq in 2004. The couple had criticised Mr Trump at the Democratic National Convention last summer.
Mr Owens also questioned why the president approved the raid a week after taking office.
"I told them I didn't want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldn't let me talk to him," Mr Owens said.
"Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn't even barely a week into his administration? Why?
"For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen everything was missiles and drones because there was not a target worth one American life. Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display?"
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 White House says the raid was planned during the Obama administration, but the former president's aides have said he hadn't given the go-ahead because it would have been an escalation of US involvement in the war-torn and destitute Arab country.
Ms Sanders said: "The mission has a lot of different critics, but it did yield a substantial amount of very important intel and resources that helped save American lives and other lives."
Copyright Associated Press
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President Donald Trump has announced he will not be going to the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.
The declaration was made on Twitter.
The President has taken an aggressive stance towards the media, calling them the enemy of the people and decrying accurate coverage as fake news.
Now, he will not attend the annual White House party on 29 April, which some media organisations were considering boycotting because of Mr Trumps attacks on the media.
The last President not to attend the dinner was Ronald Reagan, in 1981, when he was at Camp David recovering from an attempt on his life.
The White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) released a statement in response to the Presidents remarks.
Jeff Mason, WHCA president said: The White House Correspondents Association looks forward to having its annual dinner on April 29.
The WHCA takes note of President Donald Trumps announcement on Twitter that he does not plan to attend the dinner, which has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic.
In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President-elect Donald Trump acknowledges guests as he arrives on the platform at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump shakes hands with Justice John Roberts after taking the oath at inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump raises his fists after his inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets outgoing President Barack Obama before Trump is inaugurated during ceremonies on the Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump resident-elect Donald Trump arrives on the platform of the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Attendees partake in the inauguration ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump US President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address during ceremonies at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President Donald Trump waves with wife Melania during the Inaugural Parade in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters registered their rage against the new president Friday in a chaotic confrontation with police who used pepper spray and stun grenades in a melee just blocks from Donald Trump's inaugural parade route. Scores were arrested for trashing property and attacking officers AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators protest against US President Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A woman holds a sign before the start of the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Anti-Trump protesters prepare banners for a protest against the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, in Berlin REUTERS In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators shout slogans against US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators march, block foot traffic and clash with U.S. Capitol Police at the entry checkpoints for the Inauguration of Donald Trump Alamy Live News In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators display a banner as people arrive for US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A man displays a placard as people lineup to get into the National Mall for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump raise their hands as they are surrounded by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Donald Trump protests outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators hold placards as they protest outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush arrive for the Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden share an umbrella as President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address at the inauguration in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. Vice President Mike Pence takes the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Advisors to President-elect Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon depart from services at St. John's Church during the Presidential Inauguration in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump take cover as they are hit by pepper spray by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump An activist demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump is helped after being hit by pepper spray on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer tries to tackle a protester demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump Reuters/Adrees Latif In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Police arrest and detain a protester in the street in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer falls to the ground as another shoots pepper spray at protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters
We look forward to shining a spotlight at the dinner on some of the best political journalism of the past year and recognising the promising students who represent the next generation of our profession.
Earlier this week, the White House banned a number of news organisations from a press briefing, causing uproar among press freedom advocates.
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The White House has said it wont not rule out Attorney General Jeff Sessions removing himself from Justice Department investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election due to a conflict of interest.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a deputy White House press secretary, said congressional investigations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election would have to run their course before Mr Sessions, who was a top campaign adviser to Donald Trump, needed to decide whether to step aside from the FBI investigations.
I wasnt saying that he shouldnt recuse himself or that he should, Ms Sanders told ABCs This Week. My point is I don't think were there yet. Lets work through this process.
Democrats have been pushing for an independent investigation of links between the Trump campaign team and Russian officials.
The FBI and US intelligence agencies are looking into Russian espionage operations in the United States. They are also looking at contacts in Russia between Russian intelligence officers or others with ties to President Vladimir Putins government and people connected to Mr Trump or his campaign.
Republican Representative Darrel Issa said in an interview on Friday he believed Mr Sessions and his deputy, also a political appointee, needed to separate themselves from the FBI probes related to Mr Trump.
Mr Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned three weeks into the new administration after revelations surfaced that he had discussed US sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Mr Trump took office and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.
The Attorney General must recuse himself, House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on ABC.
She cited news reports that White House officials had asked the FBI to dispute a New York Times story on 14 February indicating regular contacts between senior Russian intelligence agents and members of Mr Trumps team during the 2016 presidential campaign.
On Saturday, The Washington Post reported the Trump administration tried to enlist intelligence officials and politicians to rebut the stories on Russian contacts.
You have seen a flurry of activities that are completely inappropriate, encouraging lawmakers, encouraging intelligence officials to say that something is one way or another, Ms Pelosi said. Lets have the investigation and find out the truth.
Reuters
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Mass rituals have been performed in the US as witches and opponents of Donald Trump cast a spell of magic resistance in a bid to remove the President from office.
Followers of witchcraft across the country performed a mass spell at midnight on Friday, which entailed chanting the incantation and burning an 'unflattering' photograph of him with a candle.
A Facebook group devoted to the ritual has attracted over 10,500 likes, coining the hashtag #magicresistance, and an online document stating how the ritual is carried out has been widely shared online.
The document, titled A Spell to Bind Donald Trump and All Those Who Abet Him, written by a self-proclaimed "magic thinker", recites the spell. Part of it reads: I call upon you to bind Donald J Trump, so that his malignant works may fail utterly, that he may do no harm to any human soul, nor any tree, animal, rock, stream or Sea."
Video footage circulating the internet shows people on the first "ritual date" on Friday night reciting the incantation and burning the photos of Mr Trump. Participants are instructed to undertake the ritual on the stroke of midnight on every waning crescent moon until he is removed from office.
The ritual does not endeavour to physically harm anyone, asserting instead that "magical resistance under each waning crescent moon" will be enough to remove the President from the White House.
The mass action has sparked fury among Christian conservatives, who have accused the witches of declaring spiritual war. Founder of the Christian Nationalist Alliance, Kevin Ambrose, said in response: "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."
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The dose of nerve agent given to North Korean ruler Kim Jong-uns exiled half brother was so high that it killed him within 20 minutes and caused very serious paralysis, according to Malaysias health minister.
Kim Jong-nam died on 13 February at Kuala Lumpurs airport in what Malaysian police say was a well-planned hit by two women who wiped a liquid on Mr Kims face. Police revealed on Friday that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Mr Kim, raising the stakes in the case.
Health minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said the dose of VX given to Mr Kim was so high that he showed symptoms within minutes. Mr Kim fainted at the airport clinic and died in the ambulance while en route to a hospital, he said.
VX only requires 10 milligrams to be absorbed into the system to be lethal, so I presume that the amount of dose that went in is more than that, he said. The doses were so high and it did it so fast and all over the body, so it would have affected his heart, it would have affected his lungs, it would have affected everything.
Asked how long it took for Mr Kim to die after he was attacked, Mr Subramaniam said: I would think it was about, from the time of onset, from the time of application, 15-20 minutes.
Malaysia hasnt directly accused the North Korean government of being behind the attack, but officials have said four North Korean men provided two women with the poison to carry it out. The four men fled Malaysia on the same day as the killing, while the women one from Indonesia and the other Vietnamese were arrested.
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
Experts say the nerve agent used to kill Mr Kim was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory and is banned under an international treaty. But North Korea never signed the treaty, and has spent decades developing a complex chemical weapons programme.
Mr Kim was not an obvious political threat to his estranged half brother, Kim Jong-un, but he may have been seen as a potential rival in North Koreas dynastic dictatorship, even though he had lived in exile for years.
North Korea has denied any role in the attack.
Earlier on Sunday, Mr Subramaniam said the state chemistry departments finding of the VX toxin in Mr Kims bloodstream confirmed the hospitals autopsy result that suggested a chemical agent caused very serious paralysis that led to death in a very short period of time. The VX agent can lead to death very quickly in high doses, he said.
Three arrests amid probe into death of North Korean leader's half-brother
He said the final autopsy report would be submitted to police soon.
Mr Subramaniam also said that there have been no reports of anyone else being affected by the toxin, but that medical workers who attended to Mr Kim would remain under observation for possible delayed effects.
Tens of thousands of passengers have passed through the airport since the apparent assassination was carried out. No areas were cordoned off and protective measures were not taken.
Early on Sunday, more than a dozen officers in protective gear swept the budget terminal where Mr Kim was attacked and said they found no traces of VX.
Abdul Samah Mat, the police official leading the investigation, said the terminal was free from any form of contamination of hazardous material and declared it a safe zone after a two-hour sweep.
He also said a substance that was seized from a condo on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur rented by the four North Korean suspects, which was raided by police last week, was still being tested for traces of any chemicals.
Mr Samah said the Indonesian woman who was arrested, Siti Aisyah, vomited in a taxi on the way from the airport after the attack but is fine now. He said that more tests were needed to determine if the two arrested suspects were given antidotes so the nerve agent wouldnt kill them.
An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected to be used.
On Saturday, representatives from the Indonesian and Vietnamese embassies met with the two arrested women, who both said they thought they were part of a prank show. Ms Aisyah said she was paid the equivalent of $90, according to Andriano Erwin, Indonesias deputy ambassador to Malaysia.
AP
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Thousands of Russians marched through Moscow shouting slogans such as Russia will be free! and Putin is war! to mark two years since opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down outside the Kremlin.
Mr Nemtsov, formerly Russias deputy prime minister, was a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin. His death on 27 February 2015, in what appeared to be a contract killing, sparked an outpouring of anger and fear from Russias beleaguered opposition movement.
The protest in Moscow was the largest opposition gathering since a similar memorial march for Mr Nemtsov last year.
Moscow police said 5,000 people attended the event, however organisers said the figure was more likely to be in the tens of thousands.
Green paint was thrown at former Russian prime minister and Liberal opposition leader Mikhail Kasyanov during the second anniversary of Boris Nemtsov's murder in Moscow (EPA ) (EPA)
Its very important that after two years people continue to come out and show their solidarity with the ideas for which Boris Nemtsov fought for and gave his life, said opposition activist Ilya Yashin, who was Nemtsovs friend and colleague, Interfax news agency reported.
Participants carried Russian flags, banners of opposition political parties and placards with quotes from Mr Nemtsov including If theres Putin, theres no Russia, and Our only chance left is the street.
Many carried cardboard Russian flags with bullet holes in them.
The event largely occurred without incident, but police made several arrests and opposition leader Mikhail Kasyanov was attacked during the march by an unknown assailant who threw green dye in his face.
This is the hysteria of the government. They do not know what to do. The government is afraid, Gennady Gudkov, a former deputy of Russias lower house of parliament and an opposition activist, said of the attack on Mr Kasyanov.
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
After the march, thousands of people went to lay flowers on the site on the central Moscow bridge where Mr Nemtsov was killed by an attacker who shot him several times in the back as he was walking home with his girlfriend.
Similar demonstrations to honour Mr Nemtsov took place in other Russian cities, including St Petersburg and Mr Nemtsovs hometown of Nizhny Novgorod.
AP
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French President Francois Hollande has mocked Donald Trump for insulting the countrys capital city, saying he would invite him to Disneyland Paris so he understands what France is.
The US leader insinuated the French capital was no longer a safe destination for US tourists in a speech delivered at the Conservative Political Action Conference, when he referred his friend "Jim", who he said frequently visited the French city, but has not been for the past four or five years.
Criticising Europe's handling of terrorism, he said that Americans could not let similar attacks happen in the US. "Take a look at what's happening to our world folks and we have to be smart," he said. "We have to be smart. We can't let it happen to us.
Recommended Parisian mayor fires back at Trump
Without mentioning Mr Trump's name, Mr Hollande said during a visit to the tourist destination: I may send a special ticket to one of them, so that he at least comes to Euro Disney and understands what France is.
At a separate appearance at an agriculture fair in Paris, Mr Hollande called for the US President to support American allies.
There is terrorism and we must fight it together, he said. I think that it is never good to show the smallest defiance toward an allied country.
I wouldn't do it with the United States and I'm urging the US president not to do it with France.
He added: I won't make comparisons but here, people don't have access to guns. Here, you don't have people with guns opening fire on the crowd simply for the satisfaction of causing drama and tragedy.
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
More than 230 people have died in a series of assaults in France since the beginning of 2015, and the country has been under a state of emergency rules since November the same year.
On Friday, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo also used Disney to reject Mr Trump's comments by tweeting a photo of herself alongside Mickey and Minnie Mouse with Mr Trump's Twitter handle.
She said: "To Donald and his friend Jim, from the Eiffel Tower, we're celebrating the attractiveness of Paris with Mickey and Minnie."
In another tweet, with the hashtag #Donald&Jim, Ms Hidalgo said American tourist reservations are up 30 percent in 2017 so far compared to last year.
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Greece must not be granted a bail-in that would involve creditors taking a loss on their loans, Germanys deputy finance minister has said, reiterating his governments opposition to debt relief for Athens.
There must not be a bail-in, Jens Spahn told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.
We think it is very, very likely that we will come to an agreement with the International Monetary Fund that does not require a haircut, he said, referring to losses that Greeces creditors would have to take if debt was written off.
The IMF has called for Greece to be granted substantial debt relief but this is opposed by Germany, which makes the largest contribution to the budget of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the eurozones bailout fund. Greece and its creditors agreed on Monday to further reforms by Athens to ease a gridlock in talks with creditors that has held up additional funding for the troubled eurozone country.
Inspectors from the European Commission, the ESM, the IMF and the European Central Bank are due to return to Athens this week.
Mr Spahn, a senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkels conservatives, said Greeces problem was a lack of growth rather than debt and giving Athens debt relief would upset other eurozone countries such as Spain that had to deliver tough reforms. Our Spanish friends, for example, say: Hang on that wouldnt be fair we carry out reforms and get no haircut and now youre talking about giving Greece one?!'
Mr Spahn said Germany was campaigning hard to keep the IMF on board in Greeces bailout because of its expertise in helping countries that need to deliver reforms in return for aid.
Manfred Weber, who leads the conservative bloc in the European Parliament, said this month that if the IMF insisted on debt relief for Greece, it should no longer participate in the bailout, breaking ranks with Berlin's official line that the programme would end were the IMF to pull out. A survey published on Friday showed around half of people in Germany, Europes paymaster, are against granting debt relief to Greece.
Reuters
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For more than two decades, the unresolved question of Britains relationship with the European Union has threatened to tear the Conservative Party apart. After all, Europe brought the premierships of Margaret Thatcher, John Major and David Cameron to an unceremonious end.
Yet nine months after the historic decision of UK voters to leave the EU, it is the Labour Party that is reeling: politically divided, intellectually bereft, with little ostensible idea of where to go next. It is an indictment of Jeremy Corbyns dismal period as leader that Labour has been unable to devise a coherent response to Brexit, other than acceding to the Governments squalid objective of immigration controls over single market access and economic growth.
In truth, however, Labours difficulties with Europe long predate the Corbyn insurgency. In the late 1980s, the party made a principled decision to support European integration after several decades of ambivalence and discord. Membership of the EU would enable the party to fulfil the core rationale of social democracy in a capitalist economy: reconciling economic efficiency with social justice. In a world of growing interdependence, there was little prospect of creating socialism in one country. Access to the single market meant growth, jobs and higher living standards; it entailed social protection for workers, new employment rights and a positive role for trade unions. The EU espoused a market economy, but not a market society, in the words of former French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. In short, Europe would allow Labour to create a bulwark against the worst of the Thatcherite legacy.
Tony Blair: Brexit is not inevitable
Coming to power in 1997, Tony Blair promised to be the most pro-European prime minister in modern British political history. He spoke of a step-change in Britains relation with the EU; passionate speeches were delivered arguing that the UKs destiny lay with Europe.
But the Labour Governments approach was, in practice, far more ambiguous. Ministers signed the social chapter, but rejected proposals to strengthen social rights, initially refusing to enact the information and consultation directive. They wanted the EU to be a dynamic market competing with the rest of the world in an era of globalisation, but were resistant to Europe as a guiding light for solidarity and equality. British ministers lived in fear of the federalist project to create a United States of Europe (which, in reality, had little support among member states), preferring instead to promote the enlargement of the EUs borders. On Iraq, senior Labour politicians sided with the United States against Berlin and Paris.
They did so for a reason: in their gut, Labour politicians did not believe that many of their partys voters could be persuaded to support a fundamentally pro-European vision. In particular, they dreaded the political influence of the Eurosceptic Murdoch press over the skilled working-class electorate who flocked to New Labour in 1997. During that election campaign, Blair wrote an article for The Sun entitled Why I love the pound. Ministers were happy to extol the EUs virtues when making visits to other European capitals, but much more cautious about making the case for Europe in Britain. In a decisive intervention, the former Prime Minister recently called upon the citizens of the UK to rise up against Brexit, but as he himself admitted, such idealism is easier when you are no longer competing for office.
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
Labour is paying the price for its decades-long reticence on the European question. The party palpably lacks confidence in its own core political convictions. Instead of viewing the centre of gravity in public opinion as something to be constructively shaped, Labour politicians have behaved as if peoples views were immutable: Labour governments could be pro-European only by stealth. There has been precious little effort to take the debate about Europe beyond the economic and political elites in London. Today, the Labour front bench use working-class revolt against globalisation and mass migration as an excuse to troop through the division lobbies of the House of Commons with the Conservatives. What precisely membership of the EU has to do with falling wages and the growth of precarious employment has never been explained; the strategy hardly succeeded on the doorsteps in Copeland and Stoke where Labours share of the vote fell, as it has in every by-election since the 2016 referendum.
It is convenient to load the blame for Labours Brexit woes onto the demonstrably ailing leadership of Corbyn. In truth, Europe has been a collective failure of leadership in the Labour Party over several decades. As of today, there is a significant section of British public opinion which is unconvinced as to the plausibility of the May Governments hard Brexit project. Yet the political scientist John Curtice finds Labour rapidly losing support among this constituency. These voters want the principled case for British participation in Europe to be made on the basis that only through EU membership can we solve the problems of de-industrialisation, regional inequality, environmental degradation and uncontrolled migration, while containing the unilateralism of the United States in foreign policy (an even greater priority in the Trump era). If Labour cannot offer real political leadership on Europe, it will find that very soon, the party is consigned to permanent political irrelevance.
Patrick Diamond is lecturer in Public Policy at Queen Mary, University of London, and chair of the Policy Network think tank. He is a former adviser to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
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Greeces agony drags on, as were reminded by remarks from Germanys deputy finance minister Jens Spahn. Greece must not be granted a bail in that would involve creditors taking a loss on their loans, he said.
The International Monetary Fund wants Greece to be given relief on its debt, in effect having their capital value written down. But Germany opposes this, and it is not only Greeces largest creditor. It also makes the biggest contribution to the European Stability Mechanism, the eurozones bailout fund, which has to make a further payment to Greece this summer to enable the country to keep meeting its obligations. A team of European negotiators, plus the IMF, are expected to go back to Athens this week to try to hammer out an agreement. But there is a chasm not only between the Greek government and its creditors, but between the different creditors.
The European negotiating team, in practice led by Germany, argue that the problem is not the size of Greeces debts but the countrys slow growth and failure to reform. They point to the experience of Spain, which has carried through massive economic reforms and is now growing strongly, with 3.2 per cent growth last year. If Greece has its debts written down, this would not be fair on other European countries.
Indeed it is not just a question of fairness. If a Greek government debt is not worth its face value, it is hard to see quite how the country can remain in the eurozone. The European Central Bank operates on the basis that all member states debt is 100 per cent secure. Wolfgang Schauble, the German finance minister, was prepared to see Greece leave the eurozone during earlier debt negotiations. Since then support for the common currency has weakened with Marine Le Pen, the French presidential candidate, calling for a referendum on Frances membership of the euro, and votes threatened in the Netherlands and Italy too.
So this is not just a technical issue about the most appropriate form of debt relief for Greece. Nor is it one just about fairness in treating different eurozone member states. Nor even it is one just about the future of the eurozone, or indeed about economics at all. All these matter, but one thing matters more. This is a humanitarian issue, for the Greek people are facing a social and human catastrophe.
The Greek economy has shrunk by more than a quarter over the past decade. The pain from that is obvious enough, but that pain is not equally shared. Pensioners have seen their income cut by half, in some cases more. Medical services are under huge pressure, with some drugs no longer available. Unemployment is officially 23 per cent, with youth unemployment double that. For the lucky and well-educated young, the escape is to emigrate to Britain or Germany, where there are jobs. For the older and less fortunate there is no escape except to scrape by, often relying on charity to do so. Of course there has been gross mismanagement of the Greek economy, but those who mismanaged it are not the ones who are suffering now.
The tragedy is that there is an established path that countries in financial difficulty can follow to reset their economies. These typically involve three things: debt relief, a devaluation of the currency, and structural reforms. Greece has been made to do the last, but the first two options have not been available. At some stage there will have to be debt relief, and many believe there will have to be devaluation too. Meanwhile the agony continues, hurting most those least able to bear it.
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Just weeks after the people of Libya found themselves subject to Donald Trumps travel ban, the countrys women experienced a terrible sense of deja vu. The military governor in eastern Libya, Abdul Razzaq al Nadhuri, appointed by General Khalifa Haftar, decreed that women under the age of 60 could not travel outside the country without a male guardian.
The ban has prompted resentment and criticism online. Libyan human rights activists called the ban a gross violation of fundamental rights, in direct contravention of Libyas interim constitutional declaration, and made without authorisation, mandate or jurisdiction. In an extraordinary appearance on national television, the governor justified the ban on the basis that Libyan women represent a threat to national security.
After days of women protesting in the streets of Benghazi, the governor issued another decree cancelling the previous announcement, only to enforce a wider ban on all women and men between the age of 18 to 45. None can travel outside of Libya without a security clearance.
The justification this time was to stop Libyans from joining terrorist groups. This is quite bizarre given that after the revolution, the problem has been terrorist groups coming into Libya, rather Libyans joining them. Since the revolution, Libya has become a hotbed for many global terrorist groups like Ansar Sharia and Isis due to the lack of secure borders. With the continuous and uncontrolled flow of arms fuelling the civil war and the deteriorating humanitarian conditions, Libyans find themselves forced to travel if they can afford it to get even basic medical treatment. Libyan activists too have been forced to leave their country under the threat of terrorist attack and persecution.
Coming almost exactly six years from the start of the protests initiated by women in Benghazi that led directly to the Libyan revolution, the claim that women represent a threat to national security could perhaps be taken as a strange compliment to the effectiveness of womens political activism in Libya.
Though just as women had become symbols of a better future for Libya, two brutal acts came to symbolise the countrys fall into chaos. In June 2014, the lawyer and activist Salwa Bugaighis was assassinated by gunmen after returning home from voting in the general election. Just three weeks later, Fariha Al-Berkawi, one of 33 women elected to Libyas parliament, was also gunned down.
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
Ever since, women activists and human rights defenders have been the targets of attacks and threats ranging from character assassination, to assault, to actual assassination. Civil society activists have also been subject to a systematic crackdown and repressive measures by the disputing governments of Libya.
As I write, civilians in Abu Salim, Tripoli, are under indiscriminate shelling as rival militias including those loyal to the internationally recognised National Accord Government continue to fight. While in the east, where the Libyan National Army now has the backing of Russia, we have seen the shame of the travel ban.
It is a depressing story that after a revolution fought for dignity, freedom and social justice, and all the lives sacrificed for these causes, Libyans are struggling for their basic human rights and safe corridors through violence.
This is yet another reminder of the failure of the international community in addressing the needs of countries in transition, instead applying the so-called democratic tool kit as a blueprint. Libya needed, and still needs, a comprehensive strategy that addresses the roots causes of its conflict unchecked militarisation.
If the international community continues to pay lip service to womens rights and a political solution without really addressing the real issue at stake, more womens rights defenders and human rights activists will be silenced, if not sacrificed.
Garda said Gary O'Brien died from a gun shot wound in a flat on the North Circular Road in Dublin
Two people arrested over the suspicious gun death of a man in a flat have been released without charge.
Gary O'Brien, aged in his 50s and originally from Finglas, north Dublin was found dead in the property on the North Circular Road a week ago after suffering a gun shot wound to the head.
Gardai said a man and a woman, both aged in their 30s, who were detained in connection with his death were released and a file was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The investigation is ongoing and detectives are continuing to appeal to the public for information, the Garda press office said.
The inquiry centred on whether Mr O'Brien had died by suicide and whether anyone else was in the flat around the time he died.
An agreement on enhanced access for Irish beef to Saudi Arabia has been announced as a major Irish agri-food Trade Mission to the Gulf region continues.
The agreement will make a difference to Irish companies wishing to export beef to Saudi Arabia, by adding processed, cooked, minced and bone-in beef to the products that can be exported to Saudi Arabia
It follows high level discussions between Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed and Prof. Dr Hisham Saad Aljadhey, the Executive President of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), which is the competent authority in Saudi Arabia for market access matters.
Speaking after the meeting, Minister Creed said, he was delighted to secure todays agreement said it was a testament to the high regard in which Irish beef is held in the country and marks the culmination of intensive work by his Department, the Irish Embassy in Riyadh and the industry over recent months.
Last year Ireland exported some 2.4 billion worth of beef to around 70 countries. I am very cognisant of the need both to expand the number of beef markets but also to enhance existing market access given our current exposure to the UK beef market.
Minced, processed and cooked beef, are all potentially valuable products and we want to develop export opportunities for them, in addition to intact cuts of beef, he said.
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The Minister also discussed a number of technical certification issues of interest to the dairy and other sectors, and both sides agreed that the process for Irish sheep meat access should commence, and arrangements are being made to follow up on the necessary technical steps.
Last year Saudi Arabia was the third largest non-EU destination for Irish agri-food exports, only behind China and the USA. Total Agri food exports to Saudi Arabia increased from 92 million in 2013 to 136 million in 2016, representing an increase of almost 50% over the course of only 3 years.
Minister Creed also attended the launch of Green Isle Foods Goodfellas pizza range at Danube, one of the largest Saudi retail outlets.
Green Isle Foods is Irelands largest frozen food manufacturing company and exports its products to over 30 countries worldwide.
Speaking at the launch, Minister Creed said; I am delighted to have launched a branded Irish product on Saudi retail shelves. Green Isle Foods is a perfect example of an Irish prepared consumer foods company doing business all over the globe.
Michael Fitzmaurice says 50pc of his constituency workload is about farmer issues. He gets calls from far beyond the bounds of his Roscommon-Galway constituency.
"I deal with people all over the west of Ireland, from Mayo up to Donegal. I've been busier since getting the national spotlight last May with the Programme for Government talks," he says.
The Independent rural TD insists he was serious about going into government back then. But at the end he could not because of a dispute about planning and access to bogs.
"Opposition is easier but you have an obligation to try to get into government and find solutions. At the end I would have betrayed every principle I ever stood for and you cannot do that," he sums up.
Expand Close Michael Fitzmaurice served part of his political apprenticeship when leading the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association campaign against EU restrictions on turf cutting rights in the west. / Facebook
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Whatsapp Michael Fitzmaurice served part of his political apprenticeship when leading the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association campaign against EU restrictions on turf cutting rights in the west.
The farmer-cum-agricultural contractor is proud that the current Dail has a strong rural flavour. "In the first 10 months of a parliament, you're not going to flick a switch and turnaround 30 years of neglect and decline. But we're keeping a focus on things," he says.
He took an unusual route into politics as a founder member and chairman of the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association. Elected to Galway County Council in May 2014 with 1,200 votes over the quota, he arrived at the Dail the following October in a by-election caused by the move of Luke 'Ming' Flanagan to the European Parliament.
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Whatsapp Michael Fitzmaurice feeds his cattle before heading off for his first day in the Dail
He maintains some contact with 'Ming', speaking to him about once a month on EU issues. But one gets a sense that he has been developing his own brand of politics.
Soon after being elected a TD, he joined the Independent Alliance along with Shane Ross, Finian McGrath and others. But when he opted against joining government on May 6 last, he reverted to being an independent. He also maintains his link to farming, owning 65 acres, and renting a similar amount of all-round "average land" on which he raises sheep and sucklers.
Fitzmaurice speaks positively about some of the current government ministers and their work, notably Simon Coveney and Heather Humphreys. But he remains genuinely worried about the rural age structure. "We just have to improve the infrastructure if we are to get young people to stay. What people lived on one time, they won't live on now," he says simply.
Fitzmaurice has always had an ambiguous attitude to the EU. He does not take EU grants and is concerned that big farmers get too much in subsidies to the detriment of small operators. "We know 20pc of farmers get 80pc of the money. We have to share the cake better than that if we are to get young people back on the land. I believe nobody should get more than 50,000 per year," he says.
Expand Close Michael Fitzmaurice,Independent deputy for Roscommon-East Galway. Pic Tom Burke / Facebook
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Now, in the wake of Brexit, and the threat of a return of the "hard Border," he believes Ireland may need to reappraise its EU status if that happens. "It may be time for a different take on our EU membership - time for a new conversation on things," he argues.
In the event of a "hard Brexit", he advocates looking at the model of EU relations adopted by Norway, Switzerland and others. "We are now net contributors and should not fear about grants. We'll be able to pay our farmers."
Expand Close Michael Fitzmaurice pictured working the farm with his son Patrick as the Roscommon South Leitrim by-election count continues at Roscommon Gaels GAA club. Photo Brian Farrell / Facebook
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Fitzmaurice is equally passionate about the need for a "vibrant live cattle export business" to keep a floor under cattle prices. He's determined to lobby for this.
John Downing is an Irish Independent political correspondent
It is estimated that by 2030 computers will have become more intelligent than humans. Given the low standard of Dail debates, you could be forgiven for thinking that this has already happened.
It seems we are living with two versions of reality. The first is the one we read about as emanating from politicians' statements and the other is the reality the rest of us face while struggling to balance our household budgets.
Whether you hold political power or are in opposition, reality is something to be avoided if at all possible and this especially applies if you are in the back benches and will probably never have to justify your comments.
The reality you and I face is rather more serious. We have to stand over our decisions and we pay the price if we make mistakes. Politicians and, indeed, many of our civil servants work in a privileged place that ignores any requirement that they be held accountable for their errors.
So let us be thankful computers will soon make an ever-increasing number of decisions for us and hope they will be sensible and logical ones, devoid of populist emotion.
Computers can already park your car for you and some can even drive themselves. All decisions relating to speed, distance between vehicles and overall safety will be in the hands of computers.
This should deliver a huge drop in the cost of automobile insurance as accidents will be rare events.
Fifty years ago, the vast majority of our population could only dream of owning their own car, but in the future, will we even need one? Probably not if we can dial a car up on our mobile phone and have it pick us up virtually anywhere and drop us at our chosen destination.
Your phone can already translate languages and give you instant access to virtually any information you require by accessing the internet. Most major financial transactions are decided by using computer-driven models. Clothes are designed by computers, as are houses and new roads.
The world as we now know it is disappearing rapidly and intelligent software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next five to 10 years.
If you don't believe me, just think about the dramatic changes that have occurred in recent decades.
In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85pc of all photo paper worldwide. Within just a few years, digital photography had taken over, their business model disappeared and they went bankrupt.
No one needed a camera as they could take perfect photographs with their phones and send them instantly to friends all over the world.
Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don't own any properties. Likewise, the online taxi service Uber is just a software tool that connects you to affordable transport virtually anywhere. They don't own any cars, but are now the biggest taxi company in the world.
It is time to welcome the fourth Industrial Revolution. Major developments are continually occurring in relation to artificial intelligence, health, autonomous and electric cars, education, 3D printing, agriculture and jobs.
What it will all mean is still unclear and the future without the need for most people to go to work is a scary prospect. If a tractor or combine can operate perfectly well without a driver, why employ anyone?
Computer models already decide when to spray crops and apply fertiliser. The computer will simply tell the machinery when conditions are right and just do it.
No arguing, no tea breaks, no need for sleep, no staring at the sky or wondering if rain is imminent because the swallows are skimming the ground or the cattle are heading for shelter.
You will be redundant. If a milking parlour can be computerised and decide for itself what feed each cow receives, what is left for the farmer to do?
When did you last post a letter or write a cheque? Did you ever dream that your payments from the Dept of Agriculture would appear automatically in your bank account or that so many of our bills would be dealt with by direct debit?
If you think a real person is considering whether to approve a request for a bank loan or not, think again. It's all decided by computer first.
And, yes, I reckon computers will be well able to write columns for newspapers in the future. Don't you just hate the idea of that?
Take advantage of technology in rural Ireland
A computer is only as intelligent as the person programming it, but this is changing and soon these machines will be able to think for themselves.
The speed of this change is almost frightening. We can all learn and adapt, however, and even Luddites like me have happily opted to using internet banking, which saves a lot of queuing time and/or trips to a local branch.
New technology provides great opportunities that those of us in rural Ireland can avail of. If you have a spare bedroom or two, just log on to Airbnb and check out how you can make money from them.
This works best obviously in cities, but there is also a good demand for accommodation in quiet rural areas and you dont even have to provide the traditional breakfast.
If you own a car, van or truck, you can sign up to Uber and earn money whenever you are free or on a journey when others might like to get to the same destination.
All information on this can be found on the internet. Where else?
Send letters to: Farming Independent, Independent House, Talbot street, Dublin 1 or email: farming@independent.ie
Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher said the bank was always looking at opportunities. Photo: David Conachy
An investment of up to 1bn in technology by Bank of Ireland will bolster its ability to pursue acquisitions, according to chief executive Richie Boucher.
At present, 50pc of the bank's operations are in Ireland, 40pc in the UK and 10pc in the US and Europe.
"You can't contemplate material acquisitions unless you have the IT systems that support that," Boucher said in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Independent.
"We always look at opportunities," he said.
"Our IT investment gives us an optionality. If you're thinking of making an acquisition, I think key to it is having the IT capabilities that could enable you to integrate that with your systems," he added.
"I'm not saying it is designed to do that. It's a sine qua non for being in the business and therefore even having the potential to think about acquisitions."
He said that the IT project would cost between 750m and 1bn over the next four years.
Bank of Ireland last week reported 1.071bn profits for the year to the end of December, down from 1.2bn the previous year.
Although weaker sterling as a result of the Brexit vote has impacted on the bank, he said the wider impact had been less than expected.
"In the obvious places that you'd expect - retail and hospitality in the border counties and food and agriculture - we haven't seen any material sign of credit distress," he said
Boucher reiterated a commitment to the Bank of Ireland branch network, despite the costs.
"Cutting costs is just one side of the business," he said. "The more challenging thing is growing your revenue. If you're not physically on the ground, you're not building a relationship with the community, you're not identifying opportunities."
Looking back on the banking crisis and the property crash, Boucher defended the role of so-called vulture funds, which have been criticised recently.
"No one wanted to invest in Ireland. They took the risk, the cash came in, so they were the providers of cash into the economy," he said.
"They bought things that no one else wanted to buy and now they're selling them on to other people. You had the high-risk people who were prepared to take a risk. I work with them, and not all of their plans work out. They sell on and then more cautious capital comes in," he added.
Boucher has been at the helm of the bank since 2009 and said that he was thinking about what his future would be at the bank.
"We're achieving a lot and as long as we're doing that I remain committed.
"But I won't be here forever and one of my jobs is to make sure that any transition is handled well, is handled smoothly," he said. "I think you've let yourself down and you've let your organisation down if the company becomes too dependent on one individual. That's the one thing I've learned in life: no one's indispensable."
The on-off-on saga of Norwegian Air International's bid to fly from Cork to the United States has been surrounded by more secrecy than the third secret of Fatima.
And it was a case of you wait long enough for one route and four come along, with Dublin, Shannon and even Belfast stealing Cork's inaugural transatlantic service thunder.
Seats - advertised from as low as 69 each way - sold out within minutes (and I couldn't find any at the low prices, just minutes after the route's announcement on Thursday).
Norwegian said it was an unprecedented sales scramble, saying 5,000 seats sold out in record time - but sources have told me the real figure could be even higher.
But of course it's a case of buyer beware. The flights from Dublin, Shannon and Belfast to 'New York' land at Stewart International - 67 miles from Manhattan. The lovely-named Leprechaun Lines will shuttle you from the airport to nearby Beacon Station.
From there it's a little over an hour and a half - and up to $42.50 return - to Grand Central in Manhattan. The 'Boston' service lands at Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island, 60 miles away. It has handier public transport links, but still expect a journey time of up to two hours. At the time of writing there was still no word on whether the Dublin and Shannon services will have pre-clearance, so the routes - while a steal for the happy clappers - might not be so enticing for the time-poor business traveller. If you're still keen, and can bag a decent fare, more power to you - and you're not alone, with 95pc of transatlantic growth this year coming from European airlines and only 5pc from the major US carriers.
A good deal of the extra growth is fuelled by announcements from Norwegian (adding almost a quarter of a million extra seats in total this year) and other low-cost carriers, most notably WOW, which connects Ireland to US cities via Iceland. And Norwegian's Ed Sheeran gig-style sales rush proves yet again that the Irish love a bargain. Indeed, one major Irish tour operator recounted a spike in sales from Irish families hungry for a deal to New York ... the day after 9/11.
There's drama too at home with Transport Minister Shane Ross appearing to pass judgment on the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) before the jury's even been sworn in.
With Dublin's passenger figures heading ever closer to topping the 30 million mark, a third terminal is on the agenda. And the prospect of that being in private hands is back on the agenda too.
Ross told an aviation conference last Monday that a review to look at the needs of our airports will begin in weeks, but he added: "The question must be continually asked, is a State monopoly in the interest of the users, the taxpayer or the travelling public. I think I know the answer."
He's not giving away the answer, but no prizes for guessing where he stands - his Department told this column that the winning bidder to carry out the review of our airports hasn't been decided yet.
Aer Lingus chief executive Stephen Kavanagh recently told the Irish Independent that the option of going private should be strongly considered, while Ryanair was strongly critical of Terminal 2, with boss Michael O'Leary saying on its opening day in 2010 that "it's a nice place to welcome IMF executives".
But another executive involved in global aviation argued to this column that the DAA "are doing a fantastic job", and had only minor quibbles with the operator compared to other airports.
The DAA itself is keeping tight-lipped on the issue. But with Dublin Airport being named Europe's fastest-growing for passenger numbers last year, it now risks becoming a victim of its own success.
Irish-owned telecoms company Digicel is working with local suppliers to mitigate the risk of currency fluctuations, which have hit revenues and profits at the group.
Over the past 12 months, the strong dollar has been a significant challenge for the company, which operates in 31 countries in the Caribbean and Asia Pacific regions. It is understood that the company will seek to share the currency risk with partners across its markets.
The company, which is owned by businessman Denis O'Brien, said last week that it will cut 25pc of its workforce as part of a plan to transform the business. Sources said that this would equate to between 1,800 and 2,000 jobs and that the final tally could be higher than 25pc. The group will centralise its operations into regional hubs housing back office centralised functions and shared services.
"The company sees a lot of opportunities to do things differently and take costs out of the business," said an industry source. "Unfortunately some of that relates to headcount."
Digicel also announced that it has signed a global-partnership agreement with Chinese telecommunication solutions company ZTE for an ongoing network upgrade programme.
On Friday, the company had a quarterly call with bond analysts and outlined that it has already started reducing employee numbers.
The savings delivered by the new operating model, including the reduced headcount, combined with growth in the business, will result in it becoming deleveraged, analysts were told.
In a recent note from ratings agency Fitch, it was estimated that Digicel would require at least $1.1bn of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) to achieve break-even free cash flow with reduced capital expenditure in the full year 2018 and 2019. It is understood the company expects to more than achieve this, although EBITDA will be down in the year to March 2017.
In 2015, O'Brien - who is the biggest shareholder in INM, the publisher of this newspaper among others - planned to raise as much as $2bn in an initial public offering in the US before shelving the sale, due to volatility in stock markets.
David Holohan, an analyst with Merrion Capital, said that cost-saving plans were to be expected. "It's a reflection of the fact that at some point they may look to return to the equity markets and look to IPO the business," he said.
"In order to do that they need to be able to demonstrate that costs can be reduced."
He said that the partnership with ZTE would help bring the company to the next level. "It is a natural fit for Digicel to announce the partnership with that company. Ultimately, it reflects the fact that the terrestrial telecoms market has gone ex-growth for some time, even in emerging markets."
This means that the initial growth in markets with low penetration for mobile phone usage levelled off and the challenge for Digicel is to encourage customers to use more sophisticated, and therefore more expensive, services.
This largely relates to data, as is used in more mature markets.
At the time of the planned IPO, some analysts questioned how likely it was that populations in poorer countries such as Haiti would migrate to more complex services.
However, Digicel remains confident that its customers will follow the patterns seen in Europe and elsewhere and is already achieving improved revenue per users in many countries.
Said Holohan: "While the rest of the world was moving towards data, they were still using analogue services, but they ultimately will move towards data like we are seeing in the rest of the world. That means you need to continually try to be at the forefront of technology and one of the challenges in telecommunications is that there is constantly a large capital expenditure bill.
"That capital expenditure requirement doesn't diminish and you just have to fund it through better cost management elsewhere in the firm.
"Had they proceeded with the IPO, the equity markets would have been open but when you're a private company that already has a significant amount of debt, your options are much narrower."
In addition to the savings, the company expects good growth from several parts of the business including a cable business in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad. This business had startup losses, but that has turned EBITDA positive in the last quarter of 2016.
With a 35pc share of the overall mobile market in Ireland and 33.8pc by revenue share, Three Ireland has gone from being a peripheral challenger brand to the second-biggest operator in the market following its acquisition of O2 in 2014.
Owned by the Hong Kong-headquarterd conglomerate, CK Hutchinson, it has over two million customers, 1,400 staff and a 2015 turnover of 694m.
One of the key driving forces behind the growth of the company over the last nine years is Elaine Carey, the Limerick native who is its chief commercial officer (CCO) and spearheads all of its consumer commercial activities, managing its 67 retail outlets in addition to the marketing, brand and sponsorship activities. With extensive sales and marketing experience from stints at Digicel in its formative year as well as eir, she has also just been appointed to the board of Three Ireland.
What specific marketing challenges does Three Ireland face on a day-to-day basis?
"Firstly, we are investing 300m in integrating and upgrading our network to a state-of-the-art 4G network. Secondly, we are investing 65m in a digital transformation that will transform our IT systems and deliver cutting-edge customer experience.
"These two pieces of work will deliver an unparalleled network experience and customer service and, while we are on a journey to get there, we are very focused on ensuring that our customers are kept up to date and aware of the benefits that this will bring them."
What is driving growth in the overall market?
"In 2016 we saw a 77pc increase in data use among our customers and it continues to grow at pace. Every hour on average, an incredible 10 terabytes of data passes through our network - that's the equivalent of 520m WhatsApp messages or 22,000 episodes of Game of Thrones."
"At present, video streaming represents more than half of the data that goes through our network. This illustrates how people are now using their smartphones. It's gone way beyond just making a call. People are using mobile technology in many aspects of their life; it gives them flexibility and, in many ways, makes their life easier. Because of this dramatic shift in usage, we are seeing telecommunications companies evolve into data companies.
"As data becomes more and more integral to our customers' lives, we need to continue to provide them with access to a strong performing network, which will improve further with our upgrade, and propositions that are built around their needs. Our ability to meet our customer's growing data needs and give them a better connected life is what will drive business growth in to the future."
Your competitors are operating in the triple/quad play space: is this something the company might consider in the future?
"The notion that telecommunications companies need to offer triple or quad play to stay competitive remains to be proven. In fact, if you look at the Irish market, in the last year, our mobile market share has grown, while the main operators that offer triple and quad play have lost market share.
"We already offer phone and mobile broadband services. The only quad-play service that we don't provide is TV, and for good reason. Cord-cutting, where consumers move away from multichannel TV subscriptions in favour of Video on Demand is becoming more and more prevalent. People value the flexibility of being able to watch TV when and where they want. This is an area that we see huge growth in the future and is a key focus for our business."
Customer retention and churning is a big issue for all mobile operators: how do you manage this?
"Retaining customers is a huge focus for us. We do this in a number of ways. Firstly, we work hard to provide a good service and level of care. Secondly, we look at what the customer wants in terms of propositions, and we provide this to them as competitively as we can.
"Finally, we reward customers' loyalty, such as with our 3Plus app which has proved to be really successful and something we will be expanding in 2017.
"These three areas provide the cornerstone in retaining our customers, but in recent years we have taken it a step further. The consumer mind-set has evolved and customers don't just want a service provider that will give them a good service for a good price. They want to know what you stand for as a corporate citizen; that you take your responsibilities seriously and give back to your community.
"Marketing also plays a key role in communicating our values as a business, but for it to resonate with people, it needs to be done in a genuine way. Our Christmas Girl and the Cloud campaign that we ran in association with Barnardos, for example, was a great success. It raised money and awareness for a very deserving charity while illustrating to our customers that fundamentally, we care."
Now that you are on the board of the company, how important is it for people with sales and marketing experience to sit in the boardrooms of corporate Ireland?
"The more varied experience and perspectives you can have around a board table, the better. Traditionally, board members came from very similar disciplines and shared very similar beliefs but that doesn't work for the organisations of today or tomorrow. Diversity is key."
RARE DEAL: Sharon Ledwidge, TV3 group brands partnerships manager, Margaret Donnelly, editor of FarmIreland.ie, Sarah Geoghegan, Virgin Media Solutions brand executive, and Geoff Lyons, commercial director of Independent News and Media when it was announced that FarmIreland.ie were to sponsor the programme Rare Breed. Photo: Brian McEvoy
FarmIreland.ie - Ireland's leading digital agricultural news portal from INM - has announced its sponsorship of Rare Breed on TV3, 3e and be3.
The show, which provides an in-depth look into life on Irish farms, has returned for a second series, following a successful run last year.
The sponsorship is a wonderful fit for FarmIreland.ie, which was launched in late October 2016, to provide quality, real-time daily news for Irish farming.
Since its launch, FarmIreland.ie has grown to a monthly audience of almost 600,000 users, 6.3 million impressions and nearly 4,000 App downloads. Some 82pc of those are accessing the content on hand-held devices.
Geoff Lyons, commercial director of INM, said Rare Breed was a perfect fit for FarmIreland.ie as they shared the same audience - Ireland's farming community who were seeking quality content and information on farming life, and the ups and downs that go with it. "The website and app of FarmIreland.ie were launched in direct response to an appetite from our readers for quality content, reflecting real life, and the business of farming. It has seen hugely positive engagement from users, with a current reach on Facebook of 740,000 users and year-on-year growth of our farming audience has increased seven-fold."
Virgin Media Solutions brand partnerships manager Sharon Ledwidge said TV3 was delighted to partner with Farm Ireland on Rare Breed. "There are a number of natural synergies with this quality Irish programme and FarmIreland.ie. Both give viewers trusted insights."
When my son was two, I discovered he was hearing things as if he was underwater. This was because he had fluid rather than air in his middle ears - a condition known as glue ear. His speech was not coming on as it should have for a child of his age as a result - and he had suffered more than a dozen painful ear infections. I had two options: wait and see if it would clear up naturally - or the surgical insertion of grommets.
At that young age, hearing is crucial for the development of speech. I waited a couple of months and arranged another hearing test - only to find it was persisting. I figured that any further delays could hold my son back in playschool - and, later on, in school. Reluctant as I was to have him under general anaesthetic at such a young age, I made an appointment with a hearing consultant to explore the option of grommets. A few weeks later he received grommets in the Hermitage Clinic in Lucan. His speech has come on in leaps and bounds since, the ear infections cleared up, and he is able to interact with the world as he should. He is five now and his hearing is fine.
The total cost of my son's treatment that day came to 1,420 - and thankfully, I had private health insurance which covered most of the bill.
Had I waited for my son to be seen publicly, I would have waited at least six months - and perhaps a year or more. Maybe the glue ear would have cleared up of its own accord by then; maybe not. Like any parent with a child who is suffering, I didn't want to take the chance and wait. Had I waited any longer to resolve the problem, my son could still be playing catch-up with his speech today.
It is not a life-threatening condition - yet getting it treated early made a big difference to my son's daily life. The same is true of the many people who are waiting years for treatment in the public health system - as highlighted in RTE's recent Prime Time documentary, Living on The List. This documentary found that people are waiting months and sometimes years for treatment for a range of conditions, such as cataracts and scoliosis - where an individual's spine curves to the side.
"Unless you've got a life-threatening condition, you could be waiting months or over a year to get seen publicly for routine surgery - especially for orthopaedic procedures," said Dermot Goode, health cover analyst with totalhealthcover.ie. "People often assume that children get special treatment for elective treatment [where a medical emergency is not involved]. They don't. Children often have to wait six months or more for tonsillectomies. The wait time for a child's MRI scans can be up to three months - and it's something similar for an urgent colonoscopy [which examines the inner lining of your large intestine]."
There are about 2.5 million people in this country who don't have private health insurance. These people will have to rely on the public health system if they become ill - unless they have the money to hand to pay for the treatment themselves. The bill for a stint in hospital however could run to tens of thousands of euro or more. Here are some of those bills:
Mastectomy: 10,000
A mastectomy, one of the procedures used to treat breast cancer, involves the removal of a breast. "The cost of getting a mastectomy in a private hospital as a private patient can be anything up to 10,000," said Barbara Sheahan, head of health and dental with healthinsurancehelp.ie. "For example, it could cost 400 for the initial consultant's appointment, 4,500 for the procedure, 1,000 for an anaesthetist, and 2,500 for a two-night stay in a private hospital."
Hysterectomy: 8,000
A hysterectomy - which involves the removal of part or all of the womb - is not always medically necessary.
Some women consider hysterectomies when they have decided not to have any more children - particularly if they suffer from menorrhagia. A hysterectomy may be medically necessary in certain circumstances, such as if a woman has cervical cancer. You could have to wait a year-and-a-half for a hysterectomy as a public patient, according to Sheahan.
"The length of time you have to wait will depend on how urgent your procedure is," said Sheahan. "The public hospital waiting list at the moment for a hysterectomy is anything from 12 to 18 months."
Without private health insurance, you could face a bill of 8,000 if treated privately - once you take the cost of the procedure and hospital accommodation and care into account.
You can expect to pay around 3,000 for a hysterectomy as a private patient, according to Sheahan. "That 3,000 would include the consultant fee, pathology fees, histology fees and the anaesthetist bill," said Sheahan.
Hospital accommodation costs could be as high as 5,000. "A hysterectomy usually requires a four- to five-night hospital stay," said Sheahan. The cost of a private room in a public hospital is 1,000 per night; the cost of a semi-private room is 813 a night. You cannot visit a consultant and then opt to be treated publicly - once you attend a consultant, you are opting to be treated as a private patient," said Sheahan. "A lot of consultants will refuse to take private patients who don't have private health insurance, even if they are willing to pay the bill."
Tonsillectomy: 3,000
A tonsillectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the tonsils. It is often used to treat breathing problems and rare diseases of the tonsils - and it can also be used to treat chronic and recurring tonsillitis. It could cost about 3,000 or more to get a tonsillectomy if treated as a private patient in hospital - assuming an overnight stay is required.
Spinal fusion surgery: 12,000 plus
RTE's Living on the List documentary highlighted cases where those on public hospital waiting lists have been waiting years for treatment for scoliosis. Spinal fusion surgery can be used to treat scoliosis. Yet at more than 12,000, the cost of such surgery is often prohibitive for those who don't have private health insurance. "The cost of this surgery will vary - depending on whether or not implants are needed," said Goode.
Life-saving tests
Public patients face waits of up to a year or longer for life-saving tests which can help detect - and act on - serious health problems early. Should you wish to undergo such tests privately, the bill could run to a few grand - depending on the test. You can for example expect to pay about 2,500 for an angiogram - a procedure which detects blockages in heart arteries, according to Goode.
Other common big-ticket bills
Many elderly people suffer with poor hips and knees - and as these are not usually deemed medical emergencies, the wait for treatment in the public health system can run into years.
The same is true of children waiting for orthodontic treatment. Should a patient wish to be treated privately, a hip replacement could cost 15,000, while a total knee replacement could set you back 17,500, according to Goode. The bill for a set of braces for a child could come to 2,700. There are many people on waiting lists who need surgery for cataracts, gallbladder problems or hernias. A cataract operation is likely to cost between 2,000 and 2,500. The bill for a laparoscopic cholecystectomy - which is surgery to remove the gall bladder - could come to 6,000. Surgery to repair the hernia could cost 5,000.
Many people without private health insurance simply don't have the cash to cover bills like this and so are unfairly facing year-long waits for treatment as a result. As well as impinging on their quality of life, these waits can sadly turn manageable problems into unmanageable ones.
I have been living in the United States for 18 months but I am planning to move home to Ireland soon. I have a full, clean Irish driving licence and had my own insurance policy before I emigrated. That policy included a three-year no claims discount. I have not been driving while I have been away and I am a little concerned about the impact this will have on my premium when I return. Will I have any issues taking out a policy in the future?
Pauline, Greenwich Village, New York
Generally speaking, a no-claims discount is valid for two years after the expiry of a policy. So if it is longer than two years since your last policy expired, you may have lost your no-claims discount and end up paying more than you expected for your insurance.
Companies typically look at a number of factors when you look for a motor insurance quote - such as your number of years driving experience, your no-claims discount, the age of the car, what the car is used for, previous driving convictions, and so on. You may also be asked if you have been living abroad and for how long.
To get the most competitive quote, you should contact a number of insurance companies and discuss your situation with them. You may also wish to contact a broker who will then contact a number of companies on your behalf.
I SIGNED up to a personal contract plan (PCP) three years ago to buy a new car. My agreement is due to finish at the end of March and I am not clear on what to do next. I signed up to it originally as the monthly repayments seemed attractive and I liked having a new car. Can I keep the car or should I consider taking out another PCP?
Patrick, Finglas, Dublin 11
Similar to a hire-purchase agreement, a PCP is an agreement between you and a finance company. This means that for an agreed period (usually three years), you make monthly payments on a car to the finance company. A PCP normally has relatively small monthly repayments, which can make the plan seem very affordable. However PCPs also have a very large final payment called the 'guaranteed minimum future value' (GMFV) or 'balloon payment'.
As you have now reached the end of your PCP agreement, you have a number of options. Your first option is to keep the car and pay the GMFV or 'balloon' payment which is due. The GMFV is the amount you will have to pay to own the car at the end of the agreement. It is calculated by the finance company at the outset of the agreement and is based on its estimate of the future value of the car at the end of the agreement. It takes into account factors such as the value of car you are buying, the length of the agreement, the condition of the car at the end of the agreement, and your annual mileage. It should be detailed in your original agreement but you will need to check the final figure with the garage who provided you with the finance. Once you pay this, you will then be the legal owner of the car.
A second option is to hand the car back to the dealership and make no further payments. This will be subject to the car's condition and service history. If, for example, the mileage is higher than that set out in the terms and conditions of the PCP agreement or the condition of the car is beyond what would be considered normal wear and tear, you may have to make an additional payment. Your final option is to return the car and enter into a new PCP agreement for a new car. The garage you are dealing with will decide what, if any, equity you may have to put down as a deposit towards a new PCP agreement. Any equity you get may be less than the deposit required for taking out a new PCP agreement so you may need to top up the deposit. If you agree to buy a new car, you will be entering into a new agreement. So make sure to read the fine print again.
MY local supermarket regularly sells tins of beans individually even though it clearly says on the tins that they are not to be sold separately. Are shops allowed to do this?
Maeve, Islandbridge, Dublin 8
Under consumer law, shops must display the selling price of every item offered for sale and, where required, a unit price in euro. This ensures that consumers have the necessary information to compare prices. Selling items as a 'multipack' is a recommendation by the manufacturer of the product rather than a legal requirement. So there is no breach of consumer law when a retailer splits a multi-pack to sell items individually - once the correct price is displayed.
You could however make a complaint about the shop to the manufacturer of the product as the shop may not be acting in the spirit of the offer intended by the manufacturer.
I GOT a voucher as a Christmas present. However, I have turned the house upside-down and can't find it. Is there any way the business will honour the voucher if it's lost?
Michelle, Cuffesgrange, Co Kilkenny
Unfortunately if you lose a gift voucher, it is just like losing cash and the business does not have to replace it. But if the voucher was made out to you specifically and is not transferable to another person, the shop may be able to issue you a new one and cancel the original voucher.
Another option is to explain your situation to the person who gave you the gift voucher. The shop may consider issuing you with a new voucher if the person who bought it can show proof of purchase, such as a receipt or credit or debit card statement.
I'M worried there may be contaminated fuel in my car. I understand the bill to repair the damage could run into the thousands. If contaminated fuel is the cause of my car's problems, can I get compensation from the garage which I believe sold me the contaminated fuel - or should I claim for the damage on my car insurance?
Brendan, Leixlip, Co Kildare
There is no regulatory body in place in Ireland for the regulation of fuel. However, if you suspect that your petrol or diesel may have been contaminated, you should consider getting it tested independently.
If you find out you have purchased contaminated fuel, you should report it to the service station where you think you bought it. If the service station can't or won't offer you a remedy, you have other options.
If you are at a financial loss as a direct consequence of a fault with a product or service, you may be entitled to claim for "consequential loss." Therefore, if you cannot resolve your issue, you can raise it with the Registrar of the Small Claims Process to establish if a claim such as yours would be accepted by the Registrar. The Small Claims process can accept cases up to the value of 2,000 and there is a current non-refundable fee of 25 to submit a claim.
Some insurance policies may cover damage caused by contaminated fuel so check the terms of your policy to see if you are covered. You will usually have to provide evidence to your insurer that it was contaminated fuel which caused the damage. Remember that claiming for the damage will result in you losing your no-claims discount.
Email your questions to lmcbride@independent.ie or write to 'Your Questions, The Sunday Independent Business Section, 27-32 Talbot Street, Dublin 1'.
While we will endeavour to place your questions with the most appropriate expert to answer your query, this column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice.
Director of Communications and Market Insights with the CCPC (www.ccpc.ie)
Email your questions to lmcbride@independent.ie or write to Your Questions, The Sunday Independent Business Section, 27-32 Talbot Street, Dublin 1.
While we will endeavour to place your questions with the most appropriate expert to answer your query, this column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice.
IT FEELS like the mobile equivalent of Back To The Future.
So far, the big story from the biggest mobile trade show in the world has been the return of BlackBerry and Nokia.
Remember them? Both dominated the world's phone industry back in the 90s and 2000s.
BlackBerry was nicknamed 'CrackBerry' because of its always-present email service got people addicted. Nokia, meanwhile, got the world into SMS texting.
Both companies were effectively killed off with the arrival of the iPhone and Android smartphones.
But now they have have staged a spirited comeback.
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BlackBerry has unveiled the OneKEY, a 4.5-inch Android touchscreen phone with a full Qwerty physical keyboard tucked in underneath. All of its 52 physical keyboard buttons can be programmed as shortcuts to launch applications such as Facebook or Twitter. It has a 12-megapixel main camera and a larger-than-average battery (3,505mAh). Its touchscreen is 'full HD' (1620x1080).
Nokia, meanwhile, has a mixture of the old and the new. It's releasing a handful of mid-range Android touchscreen phones, anchored by the 5.5-inch Nokia 6. But it's also giving the world a new version of the bullet-proof 3310 button-phone that dominated the world's cellular communications for so long. Forget about 4K video or 20-megapixel cameras -- this will feature 'Snake' and a battery that will last for days.
These aren't the only phone launches from Mobile World Congress 2017. Huawei is expected to launch its P10 model on Sunday afternoon, while Sony is also expected to launch phones at the show on Monday. Despite planning a big event on Sunday evening, Samsung is not expected to launch any major new phones such as the upcoming Galaxy S8.
Because Mobile World Congress is such a giant conference -- over 100,000 trade executives are expected -- there are lots of Irish companies at the event hoping to pick up some business.
Earlier this month, HP (Inc) announced the closure of its Irish facility, with the loss of 500 jobs. One big reason is that HP missed the mobile boat, focusing instead on laptops and printers.
Laptops, we now see, are an endangered species. It is mobiles that are becoming utterly dominant.
This point will be made clearer in Barcelona over the next few days, where the world's biggest mobile tech conference takes place.
As you read this, your correspondent will be knee-deep in new smartphones, chips, drones and virtual reality headsets.
While the biggest beast, Apple, won't officially be presenting, Mobile World Congress is where much of the world's daily communications agenda will be set for the next year. Regulators, chip makers, hardware manufacturers, operators, network infrastructure providers and software firms will all lay out their stalls for how our lives will be governed in the foreseeable future.
Other than the shape of our next smartphone, there are some big issues at stake.
Take 5G. Most people don't appreciate just how important and powerful 5G will be. It's not just that speeds will be hundreds (or even thousands) of megabits per second, dwarfing the fastest current 4G signals. It's that 5G is expected to become the wireless broadband upon which everything will be based. Things like cars and buses can only really achieve self-driving levels if 5G-type services are available. Robots and other machines will similarly reach new levels of usefulness with this kind of connectivity on tap. And for the rest of us, 5G will probably transform our lives in ways we don't yet appreciate - greater in magnitude than our switch from old mobiles to smartphones 10 years ago.
Sadly, for the first time in a generation, Europe looks like it will trail the US in a new mobile technology. While US operators look set to roll out the equivalent of ultra-fast fibre broadband between phones soon, Europe is mired in competing tests, regulatory dithering and financial uncertainty.
This show is of inordinate relevance to Irish companies, too. At least 30 are displaying their wares here. There's Anam, which is using the event to announce a big deal with German mobile operator T-Mobile. There's Cork-based Software Radio Systems which will announce a deal with a US network operator. Even tangential deals, like Aer Berlin's new in-flight 3G service, is being used as a platform at the show for companies like Druid Software to point out their involvement.
Other Irish interests take a keen interest, too. Former politician Declan Ganley is an habitual visitor. His Rivada Networks company is looking to capitalise on soaring demand for spectrum in a 4G and 5G era.
So what kind of future is Mobile World Congress painting for us? Can Samsung, which has plummeted in brand reputation after its Note 7 fiasco, recover with any new products? Can Huawei, which is eyeing up Samsung's position as the main competitor to Apple's iPhone, break through this year? And what of the smaller manufacturers trying to turn things around, such as Sony and HTC? Is Microsoft completely dead as a phone system now? Could we see resurrections from BlackBerry and Nokia?
On a broader level, Mobile World Congress may signal a long-term shift in user habits from Windows and Mac OS based computing systems to ones closer to iOS or Android.
For most people, smartphone interfaces are now the most familiar computing system they know. Increasingly, it is Windows and Mac OS interfaces that look complicated compared to the 'ordinary' smartphone systems.
In the medium to long term, it makes sense that this familiarity will start to translate into people's work devices.
For many, being told that their work computers would start to resemble more phone systems may not bristle as much as we now think.
Of course, this is largely what you get with iPads and Android tablets. And sales of those are falling rather than increasing.
But current tablets are still severely limited in size, form and reach. It's easy to forget that, as a computing system, their ecosystem isn't even seven years old. Talk to many people who bought an iPad and they still have the one they bought four or five years ago, used mostly for online video streaming.
But go into any airport business lounge and you'll see dozens of iPads being used by business folk. They're simply much handier to get things done quickly on.
Some of the biggest, most influential manufacturers are starting to bet on this trend. Lenovo, which vies with Dell and HP at the top of the PC manufacturing heap, recently launched its Yoga Book. This is a moderately priced tablet-and-keyboard combo that adds in extra productivity features. It's aimed mainly at students and younger people, who aren't as brainwashed into thinking that PCs are 'real' computers while phones are 'add-ons'.
It's a phone's world now.
Ziggy the Piggy was discovered by gardai on patrol in Greystones
Gardai in Greystones made a suprising discovery while on patrol on Sunday when they came across a micropig.
The animal was brought to the animal hospital in Kilkoole as gardai used their Twitter account to appeal for information... and funny captions for the array of pictures.
Social media users were quick to oblige, asking if the snaps were an elaborate Vodafone ad. Others directed gardai that the pig was named Sue and belonged to the star of th Vodafone campaign.
However, it turned out the pig's name was Ziggy the Piggy and its owner was quick to reclaim it.
Greystones Garda on Patrol -You never know! Little Micro Pig found, Kilcoole today. Taken to The Animal hospital Kilcoole. Captions pls ;) pic.twitter.com/BA16ID9iMs An Garda Siochana (@GardaTraffic) February 26, 2017
"This little piggy is called ziggy . not sue or pinky or perky. Owner reclaimed. We all love a happy ending," the gardai info account tweeted on Sunday night.
American Film Director Martin Scorsese speaking at an IFTA Masterclass at the InterContinental Hotel in Ballsbridge. Pic Steve Humphreys
President Michael D Higgins had a rapt audience in stitches yesterday afternoon with a moment of delicious self-deprecation.
As the President took to the podium to honour the legendary director Martin Scorsese with the John Ford Award, an overzealous steward placed an extra-large step at the podium.
After stepping up onto the tall wooden block, the microphone now almost navel level, the President brilliantly saved any blushes by quipping to the crowd of students: "Wasn't it Wellington who said long legs are only useful in retreat?"
Mr Scorsese was left doubled in laughter before the cheering crowd.
From there, the mutual admiration between both men was unmistakable.
At the special Irish Film and Television Academy event, the President honoured the cinematic maestro for his "unique contribution" to the industry. He said: "How timely it is to be reminded that, what art makes possible is the emancipation of our sensibilities from any acceptance of the inevitability of a weary indifference to the suffering of the world.
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"For his gaze that has never been averted, it is right that Martin Scorsese be honoured."
He added in reference to the Academy: "You have chosen well."
When it was time for Mr Scorsese to take to the podium, there was visible emotion in his eyes.
He told the crowd: "I never thought that I would be receiving something like this. It's from another time and place for me."
Mr Scorsese delivered a masterclass for the students before receiving the honour. He told them that the aftermath of the Iraq War "had created thousands and thousands of Travis Bickles" who "have nothing to lose".
Bickle is the protagonist of Scorsese's 1976 Palme d'Or-winning film Taxi Driver. Bickle, played by Robert De Niro, is a Vietnam War veteran and loner living in New York City who violently lashes out at the world around him.
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The last time Mr Scorsese was in Dublin, in 1998, he dined with directors Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan.
Last night, he spent the evening in The Shelbourne Hotel, dining once more with his friends from the world of Irish film.
Scorsese has been making films since the 1960s.
His catalogue of masterpieces includes Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Departed, for which he won a Best Director Oscar in 2007.
Legacy: Michael Colgan, who has been at the helm of the Gate Theatre for 33 years, said his successor Selina Cartmell will be brilliant. Photo: David Conachy
In an upper room, behind a velvet rope, Michael Colgan is pouring the wine and explaining how he will say goodbye to his "mistress", the grey and stately Gate Theatre.
Like a good play, pacing and timing are everything. Across the road the office is being slowly, incrementally emptied so that no one memento feels like the death blow to her - or him. He gave his farewell a long lead-up, so she would have enough time to get used to the idea.
He leaves at a dignified moment of his choosing, delaying the departure so nobody could be under the impression he was being pushed out due to the sniping about his pay packet a few years back. He drew the line at a commemorative bust - although the board suggested one a few years ago, and Hilton Edwards and Micheal Mac Liammoir (the Gate's iconic founders) are generously homaged throughout the building, he points out. But he did allow himself a fitting flourish of a send-off: a festival of plays by his heroes, Brian Friel, Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, which will be staged this spring.
It's been dubbed a "best of the best" festival and, fittingly, some big names are coming into town for it, including Michael Gambon, Penelope Wilton and Ralph Fiennes. There will also be poetry and prose readings by those stars, and by talents including Liam Cunningham and Ingrid Craigie.
The festival is a spectacular victory lap and not half bad for a man who describes himself as "a loaf of bread past its sell-by date - still OK if you toasted it, but inedible otherwise".
How the old lady - he also thinks of her as "an aged trophy wife" - will soldier on without him remains to be seen. For three decades, Colgan has dominated the cultural landscape in Dublin, gliding through restaurants ("only the seven best") on castors made of flattery, and drawing artists, thinkers and businessmen around him like a one-man salon.
With clever and pragmatic play choices, he created a credible, commercial opposition to the Abbey, and lured to Dublin some of the biggest acting stars in the world; Oscar winner Frances McDormand in A Streetcar Named Desire and Ralph Fiennes in Faith Healer, to name but a couple. He's been honoured by Britain's Queen (she awarded him an OBE) and won a People Of The Year award here.
He's weathered recession and criticism. He straddled the worlds of art and commerce like few other figures in modern Ireland - he'd grit his teeth and put on A Christmas Carol to pay the way for more experimental fare. And he did it all with the stylish aplomb of an old-style impresario. He doesn't do false modesty which means, despite his achievements, he's clear-eyed about his accomplishments.
"I can't sing, or act, and I can't even really direct," he tells me, "but I think if I have any talent, it's being persuasive. My father was a salesman; my brother is a brilliant salesman too. I think we are a family of people good at selling.
"I persuade someone to let us put the play on, then I persuade someone to direct it, then I persuade people to come and see it. I don't know if I'm charming to people, or if they can just spot a genuine admiration. I am flattering, but it's sincere. It's easy to be nice and friendly and praising if you genuinely like people."
And if you genuinely don't? One imagines that 11.55pm, with the wine flowing, is the perfect time for some long-overdue score-settling. "There are scores that, I suppose, need to be settled. I'm not going to give her the credit of having her name in the paper, but I was badly betrayed by a woman in the cultural arena. We both agreed we wouldn't speak to the papers, and I was driving to Monaghan for reasons unknowable, and I got a call to say, 'she's spoken to the papers and they are saying you refuse to comment'. I find that hard to get over. I'm not proud of the fact that I can hold a grudge."
He's a healthy-looking 66 - although, on the advice of film director Neil Jordan, he tells people he's 85 ("then everyone tells you you look great") - but it was a combination of a sense of his own creeping mortality and the death in 2015 of his friend, restaurant critic Paolo Tullio, that convinced him that it was time to go.
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"When my wife Susan was diagnosed with cancer I just had a sense she had two years left, which turned out to be true. Paolo Tullio, my dear friend, had kidney failure, and he thought he would be on dialysis forever and I had an instinct there might be a year or two in Paolo. For some reason, I also knew it would take two years for me to get out of the Gate.
"I had a dread. I didn't want to go to a doctor one wet Wednesday and hear, 'We've bad news', and I'd walk out of the consulting room and instead of all the things I want to do, my bucket list, going on holidays with my son, I could only say, 'I've been working'."
Although he will, in fact, still work. He's going to oversee some "small, exquisite bijou theatre". He's joining a board and, proving that the art and commerce are still in internal harmony for him, he's going to be Dublin Landings' culture and arts adviser for developer Sean Mulryan.
Colgan says, "He's an extraordinary man. I've known him for about 20 years. I'll help with naming the squares and the streets [in Dublin Landings, a docklands development] and maybe the art in the boardroom and the foyers. He wants to make them high-level artistic communities. The dream I've always had is, instead of people stalking up and down in pinstripe suits, imagine if you had ballerinas on the bar in an office block or opera music floating through the halls."
All of his cultural references are high, and he presents his life as a long, slow progression towards impeccably good taste. He was born late and thinks that being "trapped" in his mother's womb gave him his adult hatred of clutter and a tendency toward minimalism.
"Growing up, we hadn't the arse in our trousers," he says. "We were lower middle class. My dad worked for the Royal Liver Assurance company. My mother had a lot of sayings. One of these was, 'Marry for money and you'll earn it'. As if some Ford heiress was going to try to sweep me off my feet."
And, yet, perhaps his mother had an inkling that he'd marry up. A few years later, he went to Trinity College Dublin and met his future wife, Susan Fitzgerald. She schooled him in art and interior design. "I didn't marry for money, but I got a different type of riches from Susan," Colgan admits. "She took a diamond in the rough, if I can describe myself that way, and polished it. She was my educator."
The couple had three children, Sarah, Sophie and Richard, and were, perhaps, the country's ultimate theatre couple - she was also a well-known actress. Their marriage broke down but they remained great friends and he spent a lot of time with her when she was diagnosed with cancer. Susan died in 2013, and one of his few stated regrets is that she did not live to see their grandchildren.
He has had three serious girlfriends since his split from Susan, and he unabashedly prefers younger women. "My last girlfriend was a lot younger and, as my friend said, she was a bit old," Colgan says.
"Someone said, 'Where's Michael?' and the answer came, 'I think he is down in the Rotunda looking after his next girlfriend'.
"You do get a bit bored of explaining your references to them and, of course, everyone looks at you and presumes you're with them for their great body and so on. But they were all intellectual equals. If you don't have that, you're on a hiding to nothing."
Colgan remains friends with his exes, but he is phlegmatic about the ephemeral nature of relationships. "I fell out with my best friend in the 1980s and I think there is another 10 years left in that," he says.
"It doesn't cause me pain now. I've been betrayed; I've been recently betrayed. But I do think if you get to 66 and haven't been betrayed, you probably haven't been alive. But you have to make sure you are on terra firma. I bite my tongue, I wait, I test, I get vulnerable again so I can get hit again and then I pull down a barrier like something you'd have in a jewellery shop out in Clondalkin."
April 1 - his final day and exactly a third of a century on the job - will be emotional. He is not sure how he will feel when he walks past the place after he's gone.
One imagines it would be hard for him to hand over the reins to his successor, Selina Cartmell. But he trusts she'll know what to do.
The various shrines to Edwards and Mac Liammoir are self-explanatory evidence of the standing post-send-off etiquette.
"I've given my lifeblood to this building, I created this room," he explains. "But the Gate was bigger than (Edwards and Mac Liammoir) and it is bigger than me. I want with all my heart for Selina to succeed, and I know she will be brilliant. And she needn't say she is standing on the shoulders of giants - but, well, I've just said it."
Michael Colgan's farewell, the Beckett Friel Pinter Festival, runs from March 7-26. See gatetheatre.ie
Garda forensics at the remote scene where an elderly man's body was found in his home, near Lismore. Pic Michael Mac Sweeeney/Provision
Gardai investigating the death of a 90-year-old man in his remote rural home in Co Waterford over the weekend are treating the death as suspicious.
Detectives in Dungarvan are probing all of the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the elderly mans body at his house in Ballysaggart, Lismore, in the south of the county close to the border with Cork.
The man has been named locally as Paddy Lyons.
Gardai were called to the scene shortly after 5pm on Saturday evening.
Mr Lyons was found slumped in a chair in the house, but had a number of marks on his head.
He was pronounced dead at the scene and his body remained there earlier today pending the arrival of a pathologist to carry out a preliminary examination.
His body was then removed for a post-mortem examination, the outcome of which would determine the course of the investigation.
Local sources said the scene cordoned off by gardai is very remote.
The house is about a quarter of a mile up a track. You cant even see it from the road, said one man.
I heard Mr Lyons had been targeted in a burglary in the past, but nobody really knows the circumstances around what happened to him over the weekend. Its very sad, he added.
Local Fine Gael councillor Declan Doocey described Mr Lyons as an active man despite his age.
He would visit the town a few times a week, getting lifts with neighbours and people who used to look in on him, he said.
loved
He was a small farmer in his day and a very interesting man.
He had a love of sport and youd often see him chatting to neighbours in the town and keeping in touch with what was going on, Cllr Doocey said.
Were all saddened by his death and anxious to hear what the gardai come up with.
Paddy was well known and well loved in the town of Lismore, he added.
A media briefing will be held at the scene at 12 noon on Monday.
Josiane Umumarashavu who was the face of Trocaire's 2004 campaign
Josiane Umumarashavu has never been to Ireland but her face has been welcomed in more than one-million households nationwide.
She adorned Trocaires famous Lent campaign boxes in 2004 when she was 12 years old, ten years after she was forced to flee her home in Rwanda to escape one of mankinds worst atrocities.
Expand Close Josiane on the 2004 Trocaire box, the 10 year anniversary of the 1994 Genocide (Image: Trocaire website) / Facebook
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Her father and three of her brothers were among the 800,000 people who were killed in only 100 days during a genocide.
Josiane will visit Ireland for the first time next month to promote Trocaires new campaign.
Generosity is the picture of Ireland in my mind, she said. I think its a beautiful country.
Set up in the nascent, halcyon days of the Celtic Tiger (the first, real export-led one kids, not the later, hallucinogenic property one) the Commercial Court was meant to enhance Ireland's international reputation as a country that dealt with business rows elegantly and efficiently. (stock photo)
It's back to business for the Commercial Court, the jewel in the crown of Ireland's legal system, which fast-tracks big business disputes - those valued at a mere 1m and over.
Set up in the nascent, halcyon days of the Celtic Tiger (the first, real export-led one kids, not the later, hallucinogenic property one) the Commercial Court was meant to enhance Ireland's international reputation as a country that dealt with business rows elegantly and efficiently.
Justice delayed and all that.
Instead, the Commercial Court became the graveyard of the aforementioned tiger, a kind of high-class debtors' court that granted judgments to banks as quick as those banks had issued their voluminous, heady and toxic loans in the first place.
Now, with much of the detritus of the bust processed, Nama'ed or passed on to the vultures for enhanced carrion management, the Commercial Court has gone back to its roots of handling ordinary decent rows of a more familiar - and familial - kind.
Last week saw the entry into the Commercial Court list of a truly spectacular row involving the well-known publican Frank Gleeson of Mercantile fame who claims he has been subject to a "calculated and systematic campaign of shareholder oppression" wholly denied by his alleged oppressors.
Gleeson was one of those souls who appeared to have emerged intact from the near collapse of the banking/property sectors. That was when his Mercantile group, including my old Trinity College haunt Cafe en Seine - or Cafe Insane as I fondly recall it - merged with the Capital Bars Group to become arguably the biggest hospitality group in the country.
Now the merger is beset with regrets and recriminations as Gleeson is being sued for close to 5m by the majority shareholders of the newly enlarged entity. A vituperative flurry of allegations and denials rained down last week when the opening salvo of the dispute came before High Court judge Mr Justice Brian McGovern. The previous week, Judge McGovern was at pains to implore one of Ireland's best-known retail families to bring their dispute far away from the Four Courts.
That was when Greg O'Gorman, son of Kilkenny Group founder Marian O'Gorman, sued his mother in the Commercial Court amid claims that he had been left financially destitute after he was "summarily dismissed" from his role as the group's marketing director last summer.
The opening salvo in that dispute - the mother-and-son row centres on whether sole shareholder Marian O'Gorman holds the business on trust for her four adult children, including Greg O'Gorman - revealed that Marian's husband of 40 years faced dismissal after allegedly breaking into a Spanish villa owned by the company but used as a family holiday home for decades.
Unsurprisingly, Judge McGovern pleaded with Marian and Greg O'Gorman to mediate their succession differences rather than have their private family business discussed in open court for consumption by les tricoteuses such as you and me.
That's the thing about the Commercial Court, you see: it's public and efficient, sometimes ruthlessly so.
As well as having sharp rules and tools to get to the heart of disputes and prevent the costly trial-by-ambush tactics that had plagued court actions in the past, the big business division of the High Court has a tendency to flush heat and light out in a flash. It's no surprise, therefore, that the Commercial Court and its twin levers of speed and publicity, have given birth to a quieter era of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration.
We might, as a fella from Mayo once said, just well be the best small country in the world in which to do business - we're also still capable of throwing out a good aul Irish barney when we need one too.
Time to take a punt on the next chair of CRH
Succession of a less turbulent kind is also occupying the minds of those who like to take a punt on CRH plc, the building materials giant led by chief executive Albert Manifold. Will CRH's next chairman be a female or a foreigner, neither class of whom have occupied that hot seat to date?
Paddy Power Betfair (who else?) is taking punts on CRH's next chair. Out front at 5/4 is Heather Ann McSharry, daughter of former EU commissioner Ray McSharry who has been on the board since 2012 and is well accustomed to shattering glass ceilings.
Hot on her heels is fellow board member Pat (PJ) Kennedy who joined the CRH board in January 2015. Not quite a foreigner, the Irishman spent more than 30 years overseas at SVH, one of Holland's largest family owned multi-nationals where he served as executive chairman.
I'm not putting my money on builder-turned TD Mick Wallace who has come in at 250/1. Nor will I be placing any bets on US President Donald Trump at 500/1.
Although anything's possible in this post-truth world.
And if he builds that wall...
A man has been charged with kidnap and a range of motoring offences after a car carrying two young children was stolen in Belfast.
The incident happened in the Boucher Crescent area shortly before 5.30pm on Saturday.
The man jumped into the driver seat of the car after a woman got out of the vehicle. He drove off with the children inside.
Police said members of the public managed to stop the car and the man made off on foot.
A PSNI spokesman said the children were unharmed.
On Sunday police charged a 35-year-old man with kidnap and assault and a range of driving offences.
He is to appear in court on Monday morning.
There was an official narrative doing the rounds about Sergeant Maurice McCabe. It said that the Cavan-based whistleblower was not to be trusted, for various unsavoury reasons, and that any disclosures he made about wrongdoings by his Garda colleagues were therefore not to be trusted either.
It's now been replaced by a new popular narrative, which says that McCabe made a nuisance of himself by raising the abuse of penalty points, among other things, so the powers-that-be concocted false allegations of child abuse against him, because that's what powers-that-be do when in a tight spot.
Neither version is entirely accurate. Rather, McCabe became a problem to those higher up, and they wanted to cast doubt on his testimony, and there happened to be an ugly allegation on file that he was unsafe around children, so they used that, because that's what organisations do. They find their critics' weak spots and exploit those to their own advantage.
It might seem like a small quibble, but it is central to the whole affair, because there's a gulf of difference between a false story being circulated by people who didn't know it was false, and one deliberately concocted to damage a decent man doing his job.
Tusla, the State's child and family agency, insists that the wholly false allegation that he had digitally penetrated a child only appeared on McCabe's file in error.
For the guardians of the new truth, it all sounds much too convenient, but that's the wrong way to look at it. They seem to be saying that, because something turned out to be useful to someone's agenda, it must have been manufactured to be useful, rather than that McCabe's enemies needed something to use against him, and were too quick to give credence to what they found without verifying it first.
It could be that there was a conspiracy involving Tusla; but while acknowledging that this affair has undermined confidence in his agency, chief executive Fred McBride reiterated to the Public Accounts Committee last week that he has no "knowledge, or evidence that Tusla staff acted with any malice of intent" regarding the false allegations against McCabe.
It may emerge that there is more to this than an appalling error, but thus far there is no evidence for that whatsoever, so in that sense the new narrative bears a troubling resemblance to what was done to Maurice McCabe.
As a whispering campaign was mounted against him, so a whispering campaign is in full flow against anyone involved with the Guards now or then or who dares to defend their reputation. "They're all in it together," goes the whisper.
See how this works?
One person has been entirely overlooked in all this, and that's the woman who, more than a decade ago, made the original allegation of inappropriate physical contact by Maurice McCabe when she was six years old. Now she has given an interview in which she describes the effect her involvement in this saga had on her, as well as expressing her own frustration with Tusla.
There was some disquiet expressed about the fact that she has surfaced at this point, with some even claiming that this was a further part of the whispering campaign against Sgt McCabe, designed to spread the feeling that there's "no smoke without fire".
That's understandable. McCabe has suffered horribly as a result of his decision to blow the whistle on his colleague's unethical behaviour. For this lurid aspect of the case to become the subject of further speculation must be distressing.
Equally, though, it's hard to know how any investigation into this sequence of events by the forthcoming Charleton Tribunal can be complete without her testimony being part of it.
In 2006, she did make an allegation about something that she claimed happened when she was six, and that had to be investigated further, because dismissing her story out of hand would have been wrong too; and while the Director of Public Prosecutions decided at the time not only that there should be no prosecution, but that what she was alleging might not even be an offence at all, it will still be raked over again in the tribunal.
She also did have subsequent meetings with counsellors in which, after prompting, she repeated the allegation, even if she at no point made the most damaging allegation of digital penetration.
That the second, false, allegation gained traction was entirely the fault of Tusla. Fred McBride acknowledged to the PAC that normal procedure when an allegation is made is to speak to the alleged perpetrator and alleged victim.
"That's part of our job, to try determine the veracity of that allegation," as he put it. That wasn't done in this case, meaning a false abuse claim was allowed to sit in the file unchallenged for far too long when it could have been quickly cleared up if proper procedure was followed.
How and why that happened is still to be determined, but the girl's interview did add some important details about her own involvement with Tusla, and she was explicit too about one of her main reasons for going public now, which is that she feels a counter-version of events is being propagated by the media to the effect that she made her complaint as a young teenager of what allegedly happened when she was six because McCabe was in dispute with her father, and that "it was your father who put you up to it".
She strongly refutes that rumour, in fact she calls it "horrific", and she has every right to do so, since she effectively stands accused by some of being part of a conspiracy against Sgt McCabe.
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There may have been a conspiracy against him, but she wants to assert strongly that she had no part in it and that her original allegation was a separate matter.
She has every right to speak for herself, not least when everyone else in political and media life has no compunctions about publicly adding to the febrile rumour mill.
The problem is that listening to her story now is being seen as taking sides against Maurice McCabe.
Journalist Mick Clifford in the Irish Examiner certainly seemed to be troubled by the interview, saying that it "raised more questions than it answered" and contained "apparent inconsistencies".
Clifford found it "strange", for instance, that the woman now claims she didn't want to revisit the incident when she had counselling in 2013 - only to subsequently tell journalist Paul Williams that she was unhappy with the earlier DPP decision, and later meet with Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin.
It's possible to pick holes in her story, as in anyone's, but a person can want to put something behind them while still being unhappy with how it turned out. The impulses are not mutually exclusive, and, as Clifford himself said of the differences between her account and that of Maurice McCabe: "These will be teased out in the tribunal."
That has its first sitting tomorrow. Trusting it to throw light on this mess is preferable to pulling on the jersey of one team or another.
There are no teams, only human beings caught up in events beyond their control. We should listen sensitively to them all, rather than imposing convenient narratives of our own on their lives, because more damage is done by those who claim to know what's "really" going on than almost any other people.
Maurice McCabe discovered that, to his cost. It would be a tragedy to do the same to his detractors.
MYSTERY AT SEA: IT consultant Daniel Belling and his wife Li Yinglei, who vanished during a family cruise in the Med on board the MSC Magnifica Picture: Kyran O'Brien
The Dublin-based IT consultant in prison in Italy on suspicion of murdering his wife during a Mediterranean cruise believes she is still alive and is either in Dublin or her native China.
Daniel Belling (45) said he last saw Li Yinglei when their ship docked on the Greek island of Katakolon. When he returned to the vessel after an outing with his sons, she had gone, along with her suitcase and her mobile phone, he claimed.
Mr Belling's lawyer, Luigi Conti, told the Sunday Independent yesterday that his client did not kill his wife. He said Ms Yinglei was a missing person and the international police agency Interpol was obliged to search for her.
"Now we want her as a missing person because we do not have the body of this person," he said.
In the meantime, Mr Belling languishes in a prison cell in Rome while their two young children are in the care of Italian social services. Efforts are being made to repatriate them.
Mr Belling, who is originally from Germany, made international headlines last Thursday when he was arrested at an Italian airport as he was about to board a plane home to Ireland after his wife vanished from the luxury cruise.
The couple, who live in Clare Hall in Dublin, had set off on an 11-day cruise with their two children aboard the MSC Magnifica.
The ship set sail from the Italian port of Civitavecchia on February 9 and continued on to Genoa, Malta, Greece and Cyprus.
Crew members noticed Ms Yinglei was missing when they did a head count at the end of the cruise.
They alerted police, who arrested Mr Belling at Ciampino Airport in Rome as he was about to board a Ryanair flight with his children.
Ms Yinglei was registered on the Magnifica's passenger record on February 10, following a stop-over at Genoa, the day after the ship set sail.
A souvenir shop owner later told reporters that she remembered the couple and their two children in her store that morning, when Mr Belling was "agitated" and "yelled" at his wife over her shoes.
"He said: 'Put these on instead of your sandals and shut up'," she said, adding that he handed his wife a pair of gym shoes.
However, according to local reports, Mr Belling told a magistrate during a prison court hearing last Friday that the family remained together until the ship reached Katakolon.
Mr Belling reportedly told the judge that they had quarrelled the night before and she wanted to "quit the trip". According reports in local Italian press, he claimed his wife left while he was on an outing with the boys.
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"I thought she was returning to Dublin. She was acting weird lately," he reportedly told the judge.
Mr Belling did not report his wife's disappearance to the ship's staff. However, his lawyer, Mr Conti, told the Sunday Independent that after she left, Mr Belling informed the cleaning personnel that three people were now staying in the room, not four.
"This comportment [is] not the comportment of a killer," he said.
If Mr Belling thought his wife may have returned to Dublin, there was no sign of her at the couple's apartment in Clare Hall in north Dublin yesterday. The mobile phone number she used for her wedding planning business went to voicemail with the message: "Hi, this is Angie."
Mr Belling and Ms Yinglei, who also goes by the name Angie Li, have lived in the apartment block near the Clare Hall shopping centre for several years. Mr Belling worked as an IT consultant to firms such as Apple while Ms Yinglei set up her own wedding planning business targeted at the Chinese community in the city. Their two sons, aged six and four, were born here.
Like many families, they fell on hard times during the recession.
In 2010, they both lost their jobs and they fell behind with their rent on their apartment in west Dublin and had been served with eviction notices. The landlord accused them of keeping two kittens against the rules and of subletting the flat.
They ended up in court, after Ms Yinglei returned from a trip to China to share wedding photos with her family and discovered that they had been evicted from their apartment.
According to a court report of the case in 2011, Ms Yinglei was in the apartment when gardai were called. She refused to come to the door and a garda eventually broke it down. Ms Yinglei was prosecuted for burglary and criminal damage but the judge dismissed the charges.
The couple moved to Clare Hall and Ms Yinglei started her wedding business in 2015, offering unique designs with "trendy and innovative touches and bespoke events".
The website featured numerous podcasts, some in Chinese, and one from "Daniel and Angie" at the Bloom Festival.
According to Mr Conti, the couple had parted company on holidays before. On one occasion, Ms Yinglei returned to Dublin. "Another time the wife go for six months in China. This is the type of relationship in this family," he said.
Mr Belling remained in Regina Coeli prison in Rome this weekend. He appeared before a magistrate in the prison's court last Friday.
He has been formally charged and remanded in custody pending an investigation.
Mr Conti said his client "will respond to all questions, he wants to speak he wants to make a declaration."
ORDER: Monks at the new monastery in Co Meath
The first new monastery in Co Meath since the Reformation some 500 years ago was established yesterday.
Bishop Michael Smith presided at the canonical establishment of a new monastery at Silverstream Priory.
Silverstream is home to a community of eight monks who follow the Rule of St Benedict.
The community came from Tulsa, USA in 2012 and occupies the former residence of the Visitation Sisters in Stamullen.
The monastery is contemplative in nature, with a particular focus on the Liturgy and Eucharistic Adoration. Its constitution and canonical norms were approved by the Holy See earlier this month.
Bishop Michael Smith signed the Decree yesterday "erecting the Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar as a monastic Institute of Consecrated Life of diocesan right in the Diocese of Meath".
It's the first formal establishment of a monastic community in Meath since the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1536.
"The history of religious life has seen many developments over the centuries. Through their prayer, study and hospitality, the monks are 'speaking to the heart'," Bishop Smith said.
Walkers watch the big waves this month in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Photo: Justin Farrelly
BATTEN down the hatches - Met Eireann has issued national weather warnings as the latest storm system touches down in Ireland.
Storm Ewan has resulted in a status Orange wind warning for counties Cork, Kerry , Waterford and Wexford, while there is a somewhat less severe warning for much of the rest of the country.
Winds of up to 120km/h can be expected along southern and southeastern counties until early this afternoon.
It will get wet too, with widespread heavy rain and localised flooding. However the rain will turn showery later this afternoon with some brightness breaking through.
Highest temperatures will be between just seven and 11 degrees Celsius.
Last week, Storm Doris resulted in power cuts in Dublin, the midlands and parts of Connacht.
Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan's claim to lead a "shining beacon of 21st-century policing" has been demolished amid calls this weekend for her resignation.
Members of the civilian oversight body, the Policing Authority, openly rebuked Commissioner O'Sullivan and her "top" management team over failures to investigate rape and other serious crime and engage with victims of crime while concocting statistics - some of which were removed from the Garda website last week.
Fianna Fail has increased pressure on Commissioner O'Sullivan to consider her position after the chair of the Policing Authority said she had a "degree of confidence" in O'Sullivan and her senior management team to run An Garda Siochana.
Yesterday, a senior Fianna Fail source told the Sunday Independent: "The comments of Josephine Feehily (chairwoman of the Policing Authority) add a new dimension to the issue of the Garda Commissioner's position. Obviously the Policing Authority is monitoring developments.
"Our position remains that the Commissioner should examine her ability to continue to do her job, but that due process still applies.
"However, public hearings at the Charleton Tribunal need to start as soon as possible and the issues surrounding the Commissioner would preferably be the first module to deal with this for once and for all."
In relation to the Garda Commissioner, Ms Feehily said: "I would say we have a degree of confidence but we are concerned. I'm not saying that that's a deep concern at this point. The tribunal hasn't begun.
"We have flagged that concern to the Commissioner. We asked her the question in public yesterday and so I think it remains to be seen whether the accelerator can be kept to the floor in policing, and in modernising the organisation, while servicing the tribunal."
The first meeting of the tribunal investigating alleged smears against Garda whistleblowers will be held tomorrow morning. The Disclosures Tribunal, as it has officially been named, will hear the opening statement of Justice Peter Charleton at Dublin Castle from 9am. The event will be open to members of the public.
However, no applications for representation will be made on that date.
At last Thursday's public meeting with the new civilian oversight body, the Policing Authority, it was learned that the Garda has only a handful of specialist child interviewers to deal with between 17,000 and 20,000 reports of alleged child abuse each year.
Authority members were apparently aghast when the figure of "between 17,000 and 20,000 cases a year" was mentioned by one of the senior officers in Commissioner O'Sullivan's team, Assistant Commissioner John O'Driscoll, who is in charge of victim support.
The mood at the meeting worsened when it was claimed under further questioning by authority board member Dr Vicky Conway that the number of gardai trained to interview children is "in single figures".
Dr Conway challenged a claim by Deputy Commissioner John Twomey, that there are "73 gardai" trained in child victim interviewing. Under questioning, the deputy commissioner could not say how many had received full training in child interview techniques.
Dr Conway said that, from what she had learnt, the number of gardai who had completed the training was "in single figures".
A query to the Garda Press Office from the Sunday Independent last Thursday on this subject received no response. Garda sources told this newspaper, however, that the enormous disparity between the number of potential child abuse cases and the lack of almost any trained investigators was indicative of what they said was "disinterest" in crime investigation.
Commissioner O'Sullivan and her team of "strategic" managers will this week begin a course of ethics training as the Judge Charleton inquiry begins into allegations of corruption at top levels in the force.
The ethics training arises from the Policing Authority's publication of a Code of Ethics document for the force - something Garda management had failed to produce despite being statutorily obliged to do so under the 2005 Garda Siochana Act.
The Garda Commissioner's claims that "inaccuracies" by journalists were behind many of the problems facing the Garda were ignored by authority members at the hearing. There was also no reference or support for her previous statement that the Garda was a "shining beacon of 21st-century policing".
In September, the Commissioner's team admitted to the authority that untrained junior gardai were being detailed to investigate serious crime, including rapes, as there were frequently no trained detectives to do this work.
At the outset of Thursday's meeting, Ms Feehily made it clear they could not discuss the matters under investigation by the Charleton Inquiry before authority members raised questions about serious Garda management failures.
The Irish have an awful knack of beating themselves up about their failings, real or imagined, and few subjects bring on the self-flagellation more than our attitude towards immigration.
It's become commonplace to slate the Irish for being less than welcoming to those fleeing war or economic difficulty, and contrast that unfavourably with the welcome which Irish people received abroad in their hours of need.
It may be true that the Irish did spread like dandelion seeds around the world, but it wasn't always to a warm welcome.
Frequently they faced racism and discrimination, too. They had to build that warm welcome through hard work, by making a contribution to those societies, by being good citizens.
And in return, Ireland didn't shut the door. Under a long-standing agreement, now potentially under threat in Brexit negotiations, the British were always free to come to Ireland on the same terms that the Irish went to the UK.
That they did so in fewer numbers was because Ireland's economic hardship made it a less attractive destination, but tens of thousands did come to settle here nonetheless, until they now make up more than 2pc of the population according to the 2011 Census, and, with rare exceptions, faced little hostility.
Given that whole 800 years of oppression thing, it doesn't suggest Ireland is unwelcoming.
Of course, the British are not that dissimilar, socially or culturally, to the Irish, so there were fewer barriers to integration; but 6pc of the population comes from other EU countries, mainly Poland and the Baltic states, and more than 2pc of people who live here were born in Asia or Africa. In total, more than one in 10 people in Ireland were not born here.
The country's population is more diverse than that of Italy, Denmark or Portugal, to name just a handful of countries; and again, that integration has been achieved with remarkably little conflict.
Liberal mortification at our supposed lack of sophistication is all very well, but that the Irish have a welcoming streak is confirmed by the latest Sunday Independent/Millward Brown poll, which finds that more than half (52pc) of people believe that the greater cosmopolitanism which comes from a multi-cultural society has a positive effect, with fewer than one in three agreeing with the view that it does not; and there's equally broad consensus that "non-Irish" workers contribute hugely to the economy.
Similarly, only 24pc would protest against refugee centres in their own communities, with 54pc saying that they would not; and we should be careful too before making lazy presumptions about the one in four who don't want refugee centres. The knee-jerk response is to think of them as rural rednecks, but closer analysis of the figures reveals that the highest percentage of objectors are actually among Leinster residents and Sinn Fein supporters.
Perhaps these people do so out of a fear of being "swamped" by refugees, and some reassurance that the numbers are comparatively small would help.
Or they might fear that local services, already stretched, might not cope with new pressures.
The key factor seems to be fostering a sense of being in control - a word that has become toxified lately by its associations with Trumpism and Brexit, but which simply expresses a deep psychological need in people to have some say over their own environment.
That's what has been lost in recent years; politically, the consequences have been explosive.
Finding a balance between the Government's duty to resettle refugees in desperate straits and a need to keep local populations onside is what matters; and on that score, the will of the Irish people, as expressed in this poll, could not be clearer.
Three in four believe that local residents should be involved in planning preparations with their local authorities when refugees are being housed.
Only 15pc think local residents should not be consulted. This question offers the first chance to gauge reaction to the recent controversy after the decision to move 80 Syrian refugees into the former Abbeyfield hotel in Ballaghaderreen in Co Roscommon.
Locals in the town seemed to be concerned by two things.
One, that they had not been consulted.
Two, that the eventual number of Syrians in the town was projected to expand to more than 200, a significant demographic change in a town of only 2,000 residents, given a lack of extra resources to cope.
Irish Times religious correspondent Patsy McGarry, a native of Ballaghaderreen, declared that the Government had no reason to apologise for the lack of consultation, reasoning: "It would merely have provided a platform for the naysayers who are always with us."
This appears to suggest that the people only give the "wrong" answers if asked, so best not ask them at all. Why bother with democracy at all if the great unwashed are so terribly unenlightened?
The words of one local farmer at the time back up these poll findings: "The people in charge should have let people know about this 12 months ago. Everything is underhand in this country."
It's not racist to worry about a large influx of migrants. Numbers alone can stretch local services.
UK guidelines on the resettlement of unaccompanied Syrian child refugees state that "no region is expected to have in excess of 0.07pc in relation to their current total child population".
Concurrently, no local authority is permitted to refuse a home to child refugees up to that figure.
The point is that both sides know what's expected of them, and can plan accordingly.
That's the only way to manage these decisions with a minimum of resentment. Irish people, according to this poll, largely agree.
"Ask us," they seem to be saying. "We're reasonable people. But don't make decisions over our heads and expect us to be happy about it."
One of the worries which needs to be addressed is that of security.
Another woman in Ballaghaderreen made that point strongly last month: "If they are Syrian, they are welcome - as long as they are not infiltrated by jihadists."
This latest poll confirms that, with more than six out of 10 people admitting to concerns that terrorists may enter the country via the migrant programme.
Again, there's nothing irrational or racist about that. It's happened elsewhere.
Security services believe that men behind the Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks last year entered Europe as refugees using fake passports.
If 62pc of Irish people are fearful that the same thing could happen here - a figure that is almost identical to polls conducted on the same question in Germany, the Netherlands and Italy - then they should be listened to, not dismissed as irrational, especially when more than half also feel that the Islamic community in Ireland does not do enough to encourage integration. Tolerance has to work both ways.
That's what this poll highlights. Far from being racist and unwelcoming, the Irish have a rational and tolerant attitude towards immigration.
They're not hostile to refugees, in fact they can see huge benefits from opening the door.
But they do want a greater say in how these issues are handled, and they want refugees themselves to do more to try to fit in, because not making a nuisance of yourself is an Irish virtue, too, and there's nothing wrong with defending that either.
Sinn Fein TDs sought to shut down a debate on workers' rights last week when the party's own workplace practices were raised in the Dail, the Sunday Independent can reveal.
During a debate on a Sinn Fein bill seeking to give trade unions more access to workers, the party tried to silence Fianna Fail jobs spokesman, Niall Collins, when he highlighted a recent Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) case taken by a former Sinn Fein constituency worker.
The case, which was revealed by this newspaper last weekend, will for the first-time highlight how Gerry Adams' party spends millions of euro of taxpayers' money.
Speaking in the Dail, Mr Collins contrasted the "measured" criticism from Sinn Fein of Fianna Fail's position on workers' rights against how "they treat their own employees, which I read about in the papers".
"In particular, I noted with interest its position on non-disclosure agreements," the Limerick TD added.
Mr Collins was referring to a settlement offered to former Sinn Fein worker Aoife Booth, in return for signing a non-disclosure agreement.
He also noted that Ms Booth, did not have "trade union representation" at the WRC hearing.
During Mr Collins' contribution, Sinn Fein public expenditure spokesman David Cullinane demanded that he withdraw his comment and said it was "absolutely inappropriate" for the TD to mention the ongoing workplace relations dispute involving Sinn Fein.
"For the Deputy to call into question the integrity of my party and anybody associated with my party because of an ongoing case is despicable on his part. It shows his absolute lack of interest in procedures," Mr Cullinane said.
Acting Dail chairman Declan Breathnach told Mr Cullinane to sit down and show "a small bit of manners" before allowing Mr Collins finish his speech.
The WRC case centres on a claim that Sinn Fein unfairly dismissed Ms Booth, a young mother-of-three, after the General Election. Ms Booth worked in Meath West TD Peadar Toibin's constituency office in Navan but claims she was employed by and answerable to Sinn Fein senior management.
The party confirmed it supplemented Ms Booth's salary every week but denies it was her employer. It also said it paid her wages during the General Election campaign as Mr Toibin was technically no longer a TD.
However, Sinn Fein maintains that Ms Booth signed a fixed-term employment contract with Mr Toibin, which expired once the election was called.
The young mother worked full-time for Mr Toibin for the two years leading up to the General Election. Mr Toibin got his highest-ever vote and returned to the Dail after the votes were counted. However, Ms Booth claimed she was told by the TD she would have to re-apply for her job.
She also claimed Mr Toibin told her she should keep her options open as he had "no power" over employment decisions. Sinn Fein claims Ms Booth told the TD she had found another job and would not be reapplying for the role.
"It is impossible to separate the TD and the party in terms of work done. She was the only member of staff working in an office that also serves the councillors and party members," Ms Booth stated in her affidavit.
"Nobody in Sinn Fein is permitted to work independently, to do so would be reprehensible and considered a breach of policy," she added.
Like all TDs, Sinn Fein representatives are paid 87,258 before tax. However, they are only permitted to earn the average industrial wage of around 38,500 - although this has increased by 2,000 recently.
Under Sinn Fein rules, each TD gives a 2,500 donation to the party as this is the highest amount allowed under Standard in Public Office Commission (Sipo) rules.
The remaining 47,000 is used to hire additional constituency staff or pay for local political expenses.
Brian Hayes scuttled past a group of Fianna Fail TDs on his way into the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting in Leinster House last Wednesday night. The Fianna Fail lads were in great form. They were riding high in the opinion polls while their arch-rivals were imploding over the party's leadership. Life couldn't be better.
Hayes, a Fine Gael MEP, on the other hand had just jetted in from Brussels to attend a party meeting billed as the funeral of Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Niall Collins, who was among the group of Fianna Failers, couldn't resist jeering Hayes as he walked by.
"You couldn't get rid of him six years ago and now you're back to give it another go," Collins teased. Hayes continued on his way sheepishly. Hayes had been among the plotters seeking to oust Kenny in the failed heave in 2010 and was now returning to get a pitch-side view of the demise of Fine Gael's most successful leader. But, yet again, Kenny proved his credentials as a battle-hardened politician who is well able to take a few feeble punches from weak opposition.
For two weeks they lined up to attack him. Two weeks of backbenchers venting frustrations about being left behind and ignored by the Taoiseach despite their support. Two weeks of radio interviews, newspaper columns and public pronouncements by those who sought his head on a spike. In the midst of it all, a motion of no confidence was held to his throat like a rusted dagger and he was dared to flinch. The Taoiseach then watched his would-be successors - Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney - launch a pincer movement around his stronghold as their soldiers bayed for blood. Varadkar was the most militant.
In an ultimatum to Kenny last Saturday, the young prince demanded that the Taoiseach 'settle' the leadership issue or risk destabilising the party, Government, and lastly, the country.
Coveney followed Varadkar's lead and publicly stated he believed the Taoiseach would step down as Fine Gael leader soon after his return from a State visit to Washington to mark St Patrick's Day. He was sure to add that he was in no way putting any pressure on the Taoiseach despite all but naming the date he hoped he would be gone by.
This was all on Kenny's mind as he entered the parliamentary party meeting armed with only some speaking notes jotted down on a handful of cue cards. To a room of silence, the Taoiseach stared down his opponents and warned that "caucus and veiled threats are of no interest" to him. In a bullish 10-minute speech, Kenny told his party it was his decision not to contest the next election and it would be he who decides how he steps down.
He said "very few" people understand what it means to lead the largest party in Government and insisted he intends to "fulfil his obligations" while in office.
Kenny said he would travel to the US for St Patrick's Day and outline his intentions thereafter.
"I ask you for your trust on this matter," he added. The knife-wielding assassins re-sheathed their weapons and applauded the man they had come to kill.
After the meeting, his rivals immediately briefed that Kenny would be gone by Easter. They said a new leader would be in place soon after the celebration of Jesus rising from the tomb in Jerusalem and Fine Gael would once again be restored to its rightful glory.
However, they perhaps missed one essential section of Kenny's speech in which he highlighted how "complex and intense" Brexit negotiations would be once official talks begin next month.
In the Taoiseach's office they laughed at the "young pups" who dared question the leader while they discussed attending EU meetings well into May.
Their laughter was only matched by the cackles from Fianna Fail TDs falling through the corridors of Leinster House in convulsions as they watched another failed attempt to oust Kenny.
Meanwhile, as the drawbridge was pulled up in front of the Department of the Taoiseach for another few weeks or possibly months, the conspirators returned to their war rooms to plot their next move.
Varadkar and his generals are at an advanced stage. The Social Protection Minister's kitchen cabinet is a closely guarded secret due to the sensitivities of the battle ahead. They have been conspiring over coffee and pints since at least last year.
Junior Minister Eoghan Murphy is a central figure as is Carlow-Kilkenny TD John Paul Phelan. There are other significant politicians involved but not many. Certainly none of those who have spoken out against the Taoiseach in recent weeks are considered essential members of the team. Brian Murphy, Varadkar's special adviser, and Nick Miller, his media adviser, are part of the team tasked with making the minister a Taoiseach. Public Relations Institute of Ireland chief executive John Carroll, who was previously Varadkar's parliamentary assistant, is another key figure and someone who still has the minister's ear.
There are a number of other non-politicians involved with those in the know saying there is at least one household name. "Varadkar listens to a lot of voices," is what his team says.
Interestingly, this includes former Fine Gael chief strategist Frank Flannery, who was unceremoniously ousted from the party by Kenny over the Rehab charity scandal. Flannery is still influential in Fine Gael and his views are listened to across the party. He was even spotted calling into the party's headquarters on Mount Street in Dublin last week.
Varadkar's pack of baying wolves have been starved of power for too long and are now hungry for battle. Their sights are firmly set on Coveney and they will not be afraid to resort to underhand tactics. "Simon Coveney is earnest and toils away but there is little to show in terms of results when it comes to homelessness or housing," a senior player in camp said last week.
"If Varadkar produced as many action plans, launches and videos it would be seen as 'show' or claimed he was 'PR obsessed,'" the source added. There will also be a campaign mantra of 'a vote for Coveney is a vote for Kenny' as part of an attempt to tarnish the opposition with the failings of the past. It will be a dirty campaign and the mild-mannered image Coveney has cultivated will be put to the test by Varadkar's brand of warfare. Varadkar will seek to shore up support at a ministerial level and key to this will be an endorsement from Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe.
However, there's one area in which Coveney's team will have a clear advantage over Varadkar - money. They will have Coveney money, merchant prince money and lots of it. The Housing Minister's war office has only been in full operation since the beginning of the year. It includes Junior Housing Minister Damien English, chair of the housing committee Maria Bailey and Cork Senator Tim Lombard. Coveney's five brothers are always on hand for support and advice. Patrick, the CEO of Greencore, and Andrew, a hospital consultant, are the most active.
Another recent addition to the minister's team is Ciaran Conlan, a long-time Fine Gael strategist who was a central figure in the last general election and the campaign in 2011. At this stage, Conlan has only held talks with Coveney but the minister hopes to have him on his team when the contest eventually begins. Conlan's involvement does raise questions over the likelihood of Richard Bruton entering the race as his last job in Fine Gael was as the Education Minister's special adviser.
Coveney will present himself as a more middle-ground candidate opposed to the right-leaning Thatcherite polices of Varadkar. They will call for more State investment in services while he calls for less government in people's lives. The Housing Minister also hopes to rein in the support of Kenny loyalists with Finance Minister Michael Noonan at the top of their wish list. There is even a suggestion Noonan will be kept in Cabinet in return for his sage influence during the campaign.
For now, the conspirators can plot away while telling radio show hosts "there is currently no vacancy". But when the vacancy finally arises it will be followed by an ugly contest. Blood will be spilt, tears will be shed and life-long friendships will be destroyed. However, it will only happen when Kenny decides and those who believe otherwise should have spoken their piece when they had a chance.
Fine Gael leadership candidate Simon Coveney has made a dramatic general election warning at a behind-closed-doors meeting of Fine Gael, the Sunday Independent can reveal.
This newspaper has received a secret recording of Mr Coveney's threat to Fianna Fail at a meeting in Co Kerry last Friday night.
The Housing Minister told Fine Gael members that, should he be elected Fine Gael leader, he intends to "draw a line in the sand" with Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin.
And he warned that if Fianna Fail crossed that line then it would be held responsible for the consequences. "If that means an election, it means an election," he said.
Mr Coveney's comments, which are at odds with his stance in public, will significantly add to rapidly increasing tensions between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.
Last night, a senior Fianna Fail source told the Sunday Independent: "Simon Coveney's statement smacks of the type of arrogance that got Fine Gael the result they got in the election."
Expand Close Ministers Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar. Photo: Frank McGrath / Facebook
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In the recording, Mr Coveney is heard to say that Fine Gael should not lose its "values and principles" while being supported in Government by Fianna Fail.
He said: "Every now again when we are in Government and we are being pushed by Fianna Fail we will have to draw a line in the sand and say we are not crossing that line and, if you force us to, well, then be responsible for the consequences for that - including an election."
However, he added that he believed an election would be "unlikely to happen" this year and said he hoped Fine Gael would "move through 2017 after a leadership change and still be a stable, strong Government".
Last night a Fianna Fail source said: "Fianna Fail has its principles as well. Our main aim is to put the country first. This is the first confidence and supply arrangement ever, and that comes with compromise on all sides, but some not mature enough are finding it harder to adapt."
Now Mr Coveney's election threat will raise fresh concerns over the stability of the Government as Fine Gael faces a prolonged leadership contest in the coming weeks.
His comments came two weeks after Mr Martin warned the Government would collapse if there was a breach of the "spirit" of the confidence and supply agreement.
Last Friday, a spokeswoman for Mr Coveney played down the prospect of an election and said maintaining the three-year confidence and supply agreement would be the "focus of the new Taoiseach".
Those comments were in response to Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar confirming he would not call a snap election should he become the next Fine Gael leader. "I don't think anybody wants a general election; not politicians and not the general public," Mr Varadkar said.
However, in Kerry, Mr Coveney said Fine Gael members should "not for one minute mistake" Fianna Fail's commitment to the confidence and supply agreement as Martin's party "co-operating" with Fine Gael.
"That is co-operation because Fianna Fail sees it within their interests, because they weren't able to form a government. They want to be seen as responsible and supporting government because the people didn't want another election and so their political strategy is to support a government," he said.
Mr Coveney's 20-minute address to party members was billed as the first significant speech of the leadership contest, and the minister notably used the event to set out his vision for the party.
He described the country as the most "divided society" he has seen since entering politics and said Fine Gael should seek to attract votes from people who support "protest parties" such as Anti-Austerity Alliance/People Before Profit.
"We have got to be a Government and a party that represents everybody whether you are in social housing or a mansion, whether you are on a small, rough farm on a mountainside, or whether you are a big dairy farm growing and expanding, you have to be of interest to fine Gael," he said. He added Fine Gael should "not leave anyone behind" if the country is to avoid the "street protest politics" which have emerged in other European countries. The minister's call for Fine Gael to lure far-left voters is in stark contrast to recent comments from his leadership rival, Social Protection Minister Varadkar, who plans to focus on the party's core support should he become leader.
Writing in the Sunday Independent two weeks ago, Mr Varadkar said FG is for "the Ireland that gets up early, the taxpayer, citizens who obey the law and are ambitious for themselves, their children and their communities".
He added: "We represent people who don't expect the Government to do everything for them, but who do expect the Government to help them or get out of the way."
The opposing ideological views of the two main leadership candidates will present Fine Gael members with the difficult choice.
In Kerry, Mr Coveney warned that the leadership contest would be a significant challenge for the party.
"It is a difficult thing to manage because of personal ambitions because people in the party having different support bases and also the sort of other things that those of you who have been involved in politics and in Fine Gael for years understand as well as I do," he said.
"There are many people in politics outside of Fine Gael who want to see the party implode and want to see this minority Government fail. I think we can prove them wrong on both counts."
He also added he "trusted" Taoiseach Enda Kenny to set out a timeline for his departure soon after he returns from a State visit to Washington for St Patrick's Day.
The poll found that 62pc of people fear terrorists from the Middle East and Africa could relocate to Ireland (Stock picture)
There is growing concern that Ireland's immigration policy will be exploited by terrorists who will come here posing as genuine migrants, according to new Sunday Independent/Kantar Millward Brown poll.
The poll found that 62pc of people fear terrorists from the Middle East and Africa could relocate to Ireland.
The findings show refugees are broadly welcomed by the Irish public but opinions on immigration appear divided across different social classes, with the jobless and low-paid most fearful.
Some 54pc said they would not object to a refugee centre in their community.
A teenager was hospitalised after consuming drugs supplied to him by a criminal who did deals outside a rural secondary school, a Garda whistleblower has claimed.
However, a surveillance investigation into the drug dealer, who was on bail at the time, was dropped because he was allegedly a garda informer.
The allegations are contained in an explosive protected disclosure submitted to Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan last year.
The whistleblower also claimed that the same criminal put a gun "under the chin" of a 16-year-old boy before pointing the weapon at a young woman who was holding a child.
This incident was allegedly reported to gardai by the young woman but it did not result in searches or arrests.
It is also claimed that details of the alleged incident were not uploaded to the Garda's Pulse system and no intelligence file was created to alert gardai to the possibility of an armed criminal operating in their area.
It is also alleged that members of the force were not alerted to the gun threat because the drug dealer was being used as an informer by local gardai.
The rank-and-file garda claims the criminal at the centre of the allegations is an informer who gardai are "unable to control". The garda said the criminal was "too volatile" to be used as an informer and was a risk to other officers and the public.
"I believe members' safety was put at risk by them not being informed. I believe that members of the public were put at risk because of the fact it was not properly reported" the garda said.
The Sunday Independent has previously revealed how the whistleblower claimed to have been targeted by senior members of the force after discovering a explosive device linked to a well-known criminal.
However, last week the whistleblower received confirmation that there would be no investigation into claims the officer did not follow correct procedure on finding the pipe bomb.
In a letter from the investigating officer, the whistleblower was thanked for their "assistance and professionalism" in dealing with the disciplinary investigation.
In the protected disclosure, the garda claims to have been "targeted" by senior members of the force as a result of the "success" of finding the pipe bomb.
"It is my belief that those same members were jealous of this success," the garda said.
Gardai carried out a risk assessment over fears there was a threat against the whistleblower after the local criminal was prosecuted for road traffic offences.
The garda is on work- related stress leave after a breakdown in relations with a superior officer.
Just before Christmas, the whistleblower was told their concerns about a senior officer had been brought to the individual's attention.
The senior garda assured the whistleblower that when they returned to duty they could expect a "working environment that is caring, supportive, and one in which you as with all employees are treated with respect and dignity at all times".
It is understood the whistleblower is reluctant to return to duty while the senior officer is still their superior. The allegations are contained in a protected disclosure submitted to Garda Commissioner O'Sullivan last year.
1951: Picture shows aftermath of Abey Theatre Fire in the auditorium - which shows how effective the fire curtain on the stage was. It was mostly water damage in the auditorium after the fire.
'Those firemen might have saved their water" was how the poet Austin Clarke ended the first of two poems about the Abbey Theatre fire. The line might seem disrespectful and mean-spirited, but Clarke was really aiming his attack on WB Yeats, who he blamed for having been excluded from the Oxford Book of Modern Verse ("Pride made of Yeats a rhetorician"), rather than at the theatre itself. He did, after all, later acknowledge that it was the plays of the Abbey Theatre "that turned my head at seventeen" and inspired his early writings. Clarke's first poem about the fire was published in 1957, six years after the event, and he returned to the subject in 1963 in "The Abbey Theatre Fire". Now more forgiving of Yeats ("So, I forgot/His enmity"), he reflected on how "Yeats had not dreamed an unstubbed butt,/ I'll match, would bring his curtain down".
When the theatre which Yeats had helped to found went up in flames in the early hours of 18 July, the result apparently of a carelessly discarded cigarette, the effect was devastating, and many in the country believed that a national institution had been destroyed. The alarm was raised around 12.25am and five sections of the fire brigade, "with practically every fireman available" rushed to the scene. As the Irish Independent reports in this iconic edition - published on the same day as the fire - "thousands of gallons of water were poured on to the burning building from engines operating in the laneway, Marlboro St and Lower Abbey St". It was 2 am before the fire was under control and, while they managed to prevent its spread, "the main body of the building was a blackened shell".
As Robert Welch writes in The Abbey Theatre, 1899-1999: Form and Pressure, the theatre lost "all the scenery, props, many costumes, play scripts, records", and the Irish Independent records how "this highly flammable material" helped the fire to spread. Some things however were saved, including the portraits of the founders in the vestibule - WB Yeats, Lady Gregory, Lennox Robinson and other leading figures from its 47-year history - which were rescued by some of the Abbey staff, including actors and actresses who had taken part in the earlier performance of The Plough and the Stars. Page seven of the newspaper contains a photograph of the paintings being guarded outside, alongside an article describing the theatre as the "Cradle of Irish Drama".
Many of those with long connections to the Abbey were heartbroken. One person who heard the news on the night of the fire was Maire O'Neill, perhaps the leading actress in the early years of the Abbey Theatre, and credited by Linde Lunney in the Royal Irish Academy's Dictionary of Irish Biography with contributing "greatly to the internationally high reputation of the Abbey". She had played Pegeen Mike in the first production of John Millington Synge's The Playboy of the Western World, the one that was famously "howled off the stage in 1907". Don Harron recorded in his memoirs that she mourned the loss as if it was her own child, and reminisced about how she had learned the lines of The Playboy from the author himself, then "laughed and cried some more, and drank a final toast to the dear old Abbey", and then to Synge, to whom she had been engaged to be married before he died in 1909.
Some of the old atmosphere was lost in the fire. Walter Macken, the writer, actor, and theatre director, reminisced that there was "a sort of dirty glamour" about the theatre. He put this down to the wardrobe room because the costumes "seemed to be always old, shabby and dirty - tenement clothes if you like for that was the sort of play we always seemed to be doing". Lennox Robinson, the theatre director and playwright, claimed to be glad the place had burnt down, believing it would force the government to honour its promise, made years earlier, to build a new theatre to house the Abbey.
The shocked cast and crew of the Abbey Theatre met the morning after the fire to discuss what to do next. Ria Mooney, the first female producer at the Abbey, and one of its leading actresses, suggested closing down the theatre until a new venue was found. According to legend the head carpenter, Seaghan Barlow, intervened and argued that "the Abbey Theatre has never closed its doors except during Easter Week 1916. We must keep faith with the public. Even if we are to recite it on an otherwise empty stage tonight, we must give a performance".
Inspired by these words, they put on their scheduled performance of The Plough and the Stars in the experimental theatre next door, the Peacock. The much smaller theatre had a capacity of 102 compared to the Abbey's 520 and it was packed on an emotional night. Makeshift scenery was used, and costumes provided by the other Dublin theatres. At the end, a relative of Lady Gregory appeared on stage with a magnum of champagne "to drink to the memory of those who had gone".
This performance was reported in detail in the Irish Independent on 19 July and it praised the company for following one of the greatest traditions of the theatre, "The Show Goes On". In an editorial the paper recognised that it was evidence of the place of the Abbey "in our national life" that the destruction of the theatre "comes to so many as almost a personal loss". It praised the theatre for proving over its history, to "an incredulous or indifferent age, that there was a distinctively Irish literature; later it showed that there was an Irish way of life". Recognising that it had also been a source of controversy over the previous 47 years, "some of which was inept, some of which was unnecessarily provoked", it acknowledged that "the function of a living theatre is to provoke controversy".
The destruction of the Abbey Theatre was reported around the world. Under the headline "Sad news from Dublin", The New York Times reported the story on 19 July, and the first two sentences captured the international reaction: "The Abbey Theatre burned! And what will Dublin be without it?" Asking "was there ever such a theatre?" the paper believed that it was "impossible" the curtain had gone down for the last time in the Abbey. Instead it insisted that "one of these days soon the deep-toned gong will sound thrice - and the curtain will rise again". It credited the Abbey Theatre with a legacy of presenting all kinds of Irish life: "mystical, humorous, poignant, infinitely sad".
Some of the fire had been captured on film, and there were requests from news organisations in the United States to show it on television, and it was reported in the Irish Independent on 19 July that the film was being sent to New York.
Fifteen years to the day of the fire, on 18 July 1966, the Abbey Theatre reopened its doors on the same site, with a new design by Michael Scott. In the years between the company had operated in the old Queen's Theatre on Pearse Street while it waited for the rebuilding to be completed. President Eamon de Valera attended the opening, as well as other leading politicians, and it was seen as appropriate that the Abbey was being celebrated in the year of the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. The next day the Irish Independent reported that the Abbey theatre had been "reborn out of smoke and flame as nations are".
In an interview recorded in 1951 and available online from the RTE Archives, Lennox Robinson had a poetic and philosophical interpretation of the fire. He recognised that sooner or later the Abbey Theatre would have needed demolishing and rebuilding and that this would have broken the hearts of those who had been involved with it for so long. So instead, "The Theatre took the matter into its own hands, waited until the house was empty, and deliberately set itself on fire. It went up in flames and in glory reflecting the glory of its players and playwrights". Reflecting on how the Abbey Theatre had been "harshly criticised" ever since its opening in 1904, he was moved to see how "this little tragedy" had generated so much support from other theatres, from cinemas, and from people in Ireland and around the world. It had finally made people "realise how deeply rooted the Abbey Theatre is in the national life of Ireland".
Patrick Geoghegan is a professor of history at Trinity College Dublin and presents the award-winning Talking History on Newstalk
A burnt-out shell: the metaphor for 1950s Ireland
Shortly after midnight on July 18, 1951, the Abbey went up in smoke. Badly scarred, Ireland's national theatre stayed upright - just about - making a perfect metaphor for the nation itself.
Ireland was tottering. The country had a new government, though it was really just the same old De Valera regime restored after three years and bereft of any fresh ideas for lifting Ireland from the mire. The outgoing coalition left some achievements, in particular an effective drive to wipe out tuberculosis. However, the Catholic Church and the medics had kicked back hard when Health Minister Noel Browne unveiled plans for a free Mother & Child healthcare scheme. Doctors quaked at the prospect of Ireland following the UK down the road of a free NHS, branding it a communist plot.
As the lights went out all over Ireland due to enforced power cuts, FG's Sean Mac Eoin blamed "fifth columnists" in the pocket of Moscow for spreading a mood of despair. A new census recorded that countless young people were emigrating each year to work in British factories and hospitals, and to labour rebuilding bombed-out cities.
A report on the scope for "incidents of immorality" amongst the Irish swarming to Britain landed on the desk of the incoming Taoiseach. It found: "A Catholic welfare officer stated that from her experience that 75pc of Irish girls becoming pregnant do so by Irish boys. A barman had three children by different Irish girls. A clippie, previously a good Irish girl, got into trouble, and was too ashamed and frightened to take anyone into her confidence. She worked on until one day she collapsed on the bus and died along with her child in hospital. Another Irish girl living with a coloured man had a baby by him."
The State-commissioned study told scare stories of Irish girls having their babies adopted by non-Catholic families.
The report cited married men going to England "in good faith" to seek work. However, the men would then often drop out of contact with their families, and some wives back in Ireland were allegedly resorting to the desperate measure of applying for a police warrant to have their husbands dragged back.
An Irish priest in Birmingham said he knew of Irish construction workers sleeping "in relays" because they only had access to their beds and tiny flats on a timeshare basis. He remarked sorrowfully: "They have no home life and are forced to spend their leisure in dance halls and public houses where they meet bad characters."
Irish journalists following up the story reported that Irish workers in Britain had to endure living conditions only slightly better than those of "the negro".
Settled back into office, De Valera made a speech in Galway saying that Irish migrants in the English Midlands were living in "absolute degradation". He urged them to come home to a better life here, although he was sketchy on the details of how life could conceivably be better in the moribund wasteland that was Ireland in 1951.
A YOUNG MAN died in a crash in the early hours of Sunday morning
Gardai in Dundalk are appealing for witnesses following the single vehicle fatal collision in Co. Louth.
"At approximately 2.20am Gardai and Emergency Services attended the scene of a single car collision at Ballybinaby near Hackballscross," a garda spokesman said.
"The occupant of the car, a 23-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. His body has since been removed to the mortuary at Louth County Hospital."
The scene of the collision is preserved for examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators and local traffic diversions are in place. The Coroner has been notified.
Investigating Gardai are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information to contact them at Dundalk Garda Station 042-9388400 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.
Tom Sweeney jet-sets around Scotland's spectacular film and TV locations... from Harry Potter to Tobermoray!
The Hogwarts Express
There's no Platform 9 at Fort William station, but you can still travel on the Jacobite Steam Train, which doubled as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter movies. The highlight of the 84-mile round trip on the West Highland Line to Mallaig - the most scenic rail journey in the world - is crossing the 21-arch Glenfinnan Viaduct (above). Boy wizard fans and train buffs will love every magical minute.
How: westcoastrailways.co.uk
What's the Story in Tobermory?
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The pastel-painted seaside town in children's TV favourite Balamory exists, though it's called Tobermory and is on the island of Mull. Sailing there from Oban (the hut on the pier serves the best seafood snacks in Scotland) is half the fun, as the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry cruises along sea lochs and past ancient castles. Tobermory Distillery is a big draw, and kids will adore the sea otters frolicking on the shore.
How: calmac.co.uk, tobermorydistillery.com
Faithful Bobby's dogged devotion
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Forget Scooby Doo - the best-loved dog that ever lived was Greyfriars Bobby, the cute little Skye Terrier who sat pining by his master's grave for 14 years. Bobby, who died aged 16 in 1872, was the subject of two Hollywood movies (1961 and 2005) filmed in and around Edinburgh's Greyfriars Kirkyard, where he's buried. His grave and bronze statue are among the city's top tourist attractions and, as a bonus, the family must-see National Museum is right across the street.
How: edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Swords in Skye
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Key scenes in new film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (opens March 24), starring Jude Law, Eric Bana and David Beckham, were shot in Wester Ross and on Skye. This is Scotland at its most spectacularly scenic and unspoiled, and a perfect area for touring. Picnic among the heather while stags play peekaboo and golden eagles glide in search of prey. All that's missing is the David Attenborough voiceover.
How: visitscotland.com, kingarthurmovie.com
PS: 007
Skyfall (2012) saw James Bond return to his estate in Glen Coe... Ian Fleming gave 007 Scottish roots as a tribute to Sean Connery.
Read more:
The maverick Conservative MP Enoch Powell is often quoted when a politician is at his or her end: "All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of all human affairs." Has Enda Kenny's political life ended in failure? It is too early to say, not least because it has not yet ended. The late Conor Cruise O'Brien's observation on Charles Haughey is relevant: "If I saw Mr Haughey buried at midnight at a crossroads, with a stake driven through his heart - politically speaking - I should continue to wear a clove of garlic round my neck, just in case."
This time, it really does appear as though the end is nigh. Well, in three months. Perhaps Kenny's political life is best summed up, to paraphrase Beckett, that he has failed better than others, which includes half his 13 predecessors as Taoiseach - no mean achievement, but not a great one either.
***
Powell was best known for his infamous 'Rivers of Blood' speech in 1968, which pointedly criticised immigration into Britain from Commonwealth nations. The main political issue addressed by the speech was not immigration as such, but the introduction by the Labour Ggnation on grounds of race in certain areas of British life, particularly housing, where many local authorities had been refusing to provide houses for immigrant families until they had lived in the country for a certain number of years. The findings of a Kantar Millward Brown opinion poll, published elsewhere in this newspaper today, generally find that the immigration issue raised in such incendiary fashion by Powell, and which led to his immediate sacking by prime minister Edward Heath, has not gained much traction here as it has elsewhere in Europe and the United States, as represented by the election of Donald Trump. Perhaps that is a consequence of the relatively small numbers of immigrants coming here. The opinion poll finds broad acknowledgement that a more cosmopolitan society leads to a better society and broad consensus that immigrants here make a positive contribution to the economy. And so say all of us.
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A fascinating analysis of Trump's controversial chief strategist, Stephen Bannon - he of Irish extraction - is published in a recent edition of the US digital magazine Quartz. Bannon's political influence is said to be Edmund Burke, the influential 18th-century Irish political thinker, regarded to be the father of modern conservatism, whom Bannon occasionally references. In Reflections on the Revolution in France, Burke presents his view that the basis of a successful society should not be abstract notions like human rights, social justice or equality, which is a view not uncommon in Fine Gael. Rather, he believed, societies work best when traditions (privilege?) that have been shown to work are passed from generation to generation. The baby boomers, Bannon said in a recent lecture, failed to live up to that Burkean responsibility by abandoning the tried-and-true values of their parents (nationalism, modesty, patriarchy, religion) in favour of new abstractions (pluralism, sexuality, egalitarianism, secularism). For both Burke and Bannon, failure to pass the torch results in social chaos.
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The aforementioned Cruiser, of course, wrote a brilliant, although unorthodox, biography of Burke in 1992 - The Great Melody - having brooded on the statesman, political thinker, orator, and ardent campaigner for decades. The Cruiser also considered Powell not a racist in a technical sense, as one who believes in the natural inferiority of some races to others and in the justice of legal and social arrangements designed to register that inferiority, but took him to be a racist in the more ordinary sense, as a person who does not like to have to associate, on a footing of equality, with persons belonging to a race different from his own. "Edmund Burke was not like that," Dr Cruise O'Brien wrote in 1989.
Burke's activity as a parliamentarian and political writer embraced many concerns, prominent among which were the problems of British rule overseas, including Ireland. His name was linked most strongly to a critique of the French Revolution. He was, however, more notable as a pundit than an executive politician. That said, in my view he did not bequeath a straightforward legacy to any political party or ideological brand of thought, though plenty have tried to appropriate him either wholly or in part, not least the likes of Stephen Bannon.
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At the Conservative Political Action Conference in the US last week, Bannon took a run through the various brands of conservatism to which Trump has extended his dubious appeal: "populist", "limited-government conservative", "libertarian" or "economic nationalist".
It will be interesting, indeed, to see which conservative brand of thought the new leader of Fine Gael will follow, now that the torch is to be passed. Young Simon Harris, at 30, would be the first to quote Burke that "the arrogance of age must submit to be taught by youth". Donald Trump is 70. Harris also raises a time-old question, however. Is a mere lad of 30 too young to lead a country? Leo Varadkar is 38 and Simon Coveney will be almost 45 when Enda Kenny has departed. For the first time, it would seem I will find myself to be older than a Taoiseach, which is a disconcerting realisation.
***
This raises an interesting question all the same. There is compelling evidence that generations carry with them the imprint of early political experiences.
A recent paper by two Columbia University researchers identified five main generations of US presidential voters, each shaped by political events during their formative years: New Deal Democrats, Eisenhower Republicans, Baby Boomers, Reagan Conservatives and Millennials.
So, which political events have shaped the conservative views of Leo and the two Simons?
Answers on a postcard, please.
Apparently no one really cares who the next leader of Fine Gael will be. Apparently it doesn't really matter who gets the job.
It's not clear, because the commentators such as Vincent Browne never said so, whether the Fine Gael contest doesn't matter because the contestants are ideologically indistinguishable, or that the focus on personality is in some way superficial and has no impact on government, or maybe it doesn't matter because who we choose as Taoiseach doesn't really matter.
Whatever they mean, they are wrong.
We can overplay the impact of leaders, because any leader is constrained by the circumstances they are in. Any new Fine Gael leader won't suddenly be able to ignore the demands of Fianna Fail or the independents.
Nor will they magically find the challenges of Brexit or housing disappear. But the identity of the Taoiseach does matter - and the fact that the people making complaints of the coverage of the Fine Gael leadership are also people who complain about Enda Kenny's performance should show them that even they think it matters.
The Fine Gael leader could well be the next Taoiseach, and Taoisigh set the agenda for the government. If he (and it will be a he) does a very good job, Fine Gael could find itself re-elected.
It matters because ideologically the two contenders - Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney - are quite different. Not Jeremy Corbyn and Tony Blair different, but they do emphasise different visions which will influence how they perform in the job.
The personality of the Taoiseach also matters - a leader's personality determines how they operate and how they react to events. Fred Greenstein, a specialist in US presidents, identified a number of traits that affect performance.
Some leaders have good political instincts, some are good communicators, some are good organisers, some have vision, people deal with problems and process information differently, and some leaders have better emotional intelligence.
How a leader performs depends on these. Contrast the abrasive, take-it-or-leave-it style of Albert Reynolds with that of Bertie Ahern, who was more compromising and more likely to find a solution. Reynolds led two very short-lived governments, whereas Ahern was Taoiseach for more than a decade.
Now while we can go overboard on the personal details of leaders, and sometimes become fixated by what they do in their spare time, being aware of their differences is something that the public should want to recognise.
There isn't one stand-out candidate; both Varadkar and Coveney have their strengths and weaknesses. But they are undeniably different.
Coveney appears to be the safe choice for Fine Gael. He appears more socially conservative than Varadkar. He is more obviously old-school, with family connections to the party and a base in the Munster heartland.
But Coveney is probably in the Just Society camp of the party - the side that moved towards social democracy in the 1960s, which came to a highpoint under Garret FitzGerald in the early 1980s. In interviews he gives the impression of a patrician One Nation Tory politician, who knows that the lower orders suffer and knows also what's best for them.
He is not a conviction politician. By his own admission he is a politician who likes to find compromise and secure a workable deal rather than an ideologically pure one.
So he brought in policies on rent control that his party would normally rail against. Critics might say this leads to fudge, such as in how water charges have been pushed to the long grass.
Defenders might point out that Fine Gael had effectively no choice, and starting a row on this issue would yield nothing.
Fine Gael under Coveney would see the State as a driver of economic growth, and his willingness to engage in big infrastructural plans hardly marks him out on the right. He'd compete with Fianna Fail and most of the other parties on the centre ground. Essentially they'd be competing on competence.
Varadkar came to prominence as an articulate TD who was willing to say what he thought.
He is a better communicator than Coveney, who has had to teach himself public speaking. Varadkar also has a good instinct for what the public think. He will rarely say anything damaging, though his willingness to criticise his own party may make him less popular among the membership.
Varadkar a not a partisan Fine Gaeler. He was willing to praise Mary Harney when she was in Health, where most in opposition instinctively criticise government. And when criticising Brian Cowen, he revealed what he thinks of the social democratic wing of his own party: "You're no Sean Lemass, you're no Jack Lynch, you're no John Bruton, you're a Garret FitzGerald. You've tripled the national debt, you've officially destroyed the country."
This must have upset the acolytes of St Garret.
It is hard to point to significant ministerial successes for either man. Some argue than Coveney is better able to deliver, but Varadkar has been moved around departments so frequently he can hardly be blamed for not having put his name on specific policy initiatives. It is also said that Varadkar is more brusque, less good at small talk, which might make for a more confrontational style in government.
Varadkar is willing to quote Adam Smith, and emphasises the need for the private sector to create wealth if anyone is going to redistribute it. He was ideologically attracted to Fine Gael by its emphasis on personal responsibility, and what he saw as Fianna Fail's willingness to buy itself out of problems.
Fine Gael under Varadkar would put clear blue water between Fine Gael and the other parties, leaving a clearer left-right divide in the party system.
Whoever Fine Gael appoints will have an impact on the chances of any Fine Gael TD to save their seats or even grow the party, but it has an impact beyond just that; the identity and personality of the new leader is of all our concern.
Eoin O'Malley is director of the MSc in Public Policy at Dublin City University
Casey Affleck with his best actor award for Manchester By The Sea (Invision/AP)
Casey Affleck has criticised US president Donald Trump's "abhorrent" policies as he was named best actor at the 2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards on the eve of the Oscars.
The American star, who is a favourite to win best actor at the Academy Awards on Sunday, was honoured for his performance as a depressed caretaker in Manchester By The Sea.
On stage, he said: "The policies of this administration are abhorrent and they will not last, they won't. They are really un-American.
"I know this feels preachy and I'm preaching to the choir here."
Backstage, Affleck also criticised US education secretary Betsy DeVos as he called for more programmes in schools to boost diversity in the arts.
He said: "Now it seems like a lot of those programmes have disappeared and are probably going to be all gone soon if the secretary for education has her way.
"There's a torrent of terrifying news that comes out of Washington every day.
"It's easy to feel like education is not as significant but I think nothing can be further from the truth."
Moonlight dominated the Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California, winning six trophies including best feature, best director and best screenplay.
Barry Jenkins' movie about a young black man struggling with his sexuality in Miami beat Manchester By The Sea, Jackie, Chronic and American Honey to win the best film award.
But the coming-of-age drama faces tough competition at the Oscars on Sunday, where musical La La Land is expected to win multiple awards after earning 14 nominations.
Backstage, Jenkins - who won gongs for best director and best screenplay - said he was "pissed off" by the current political situation in America.
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He said: "I'm pissed off, as Casey said he was pissed off, as I'm pretty sure the majority in that room is pissed off.
"I think Moonlight as this beacon of inclusivity, as this version of America that's as valid as any red state ... version of America.
"I made this movie under a very different administration.
"Now the space is not so safe."
Isabelle Huppert beat Irish-Ethiopian actress Ruth Negga to win best female for her role in psychological thriller Elle.
Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris, who are both nominated for Oscars for their supporting roles in Moonlight, failed to gain nominations at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Instead, Ben Foster won best supporting male for his performance in Western thriller Hell Or High Water, while Molly Shannon was named best supporting female for her role in Other People.
Moonlight also won trophies for best editing, cinematography and the Robert Altman Award, which is given to a film's director, casting director and ensemble cast.
Josh Welsh, president of Film Independent, opened the show by thanking members of the press in the wake of recent criticism by Mr Trump.
He said: "At a time when you've been declared the enemy of the American people, it feels appropriate to thank you for exisitng and doing what you do."
Mr Welsh also paid a "special thanks" to nominees from different countries around the world including Mexico and Iran.
"Thank you for coming and reminding us that the filmmaking community is one that transends borders and walls," he said.
"Independent film is globalism at its best."
Shortly before the ceremony, Natalie Portman, who was nominated for best actress for her role in Jackie, revealed she would miss the Spirit awards and the Oscars because she is heavily pregnant.
The US star is expecting her second child with her husband, choreographer Benjamin Millepied.
David Tennant used to go to the Glasgow Film Theatre as a student
David Tennant has said he felt like he had gone "full circle" as he attended the world premiere of his latest film Mad To Be Normal in Glasgow.
The Broadchurch star, originally from Bathgate in West Lothian, brought the curtain down on the 13th Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) on Sunday night.
He stopped to talk to crowds of fans, taking selfies and signing autographs after he arrived on the red carpet at the Glasgow Film Theatre.
The screening of the movie, which also stars Sir Michael Gambon, Elisabeth Moss and Gabriel Byrne, brought to a close an 11-day celebration of film in the city.
Tennant plays controversial Scottish psychiatrist RD Laing, who was seen as a radical when he set up a medication-free community for psychiatric patients in London in the 1960s.
The former Doctor Who star, who studied drama at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow from 1988 to 1991, then known as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, frequented the Glasgow Film Theatre during his studies.
Speaking to Press Association Scotland, he said: "I'm so chuffed we're at the Glasgow Film Theatre, this is where I came as a student, so this feels like a bit of a full circle for me.
"I hope he (RD Laing) would be very pleased - I hope he would be pleased about the film and I'm sure he would be pleased we were in Glasgow to premiere it.
"He was a complicated man but he was a fascinating man so he is someone that I was completely entranced by and fascinated by and I just hope we have done him justice."
Earlier this month, Tennant said he would back Scottish independence in a second referendum, despite previously keeping quiet on the issue.
Speaking at the premiere, the 45-year-old said: "The thing is, I don't live in Scotland and I don't get a vote so there's nothing I say that is relevant.
"I can have an opinion but it shouldn't influence anyone.
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"I'm passionate about Scotland, I would love to continue living in the same country, but at the same time I can appreciate the appeal of remaining in Europe - it's a difficult one."
Speaking about working with Tennant, Mad To Be Normal director Robert Mullan said it was "wonderful".
Mullan added: "He's very professional and good at what he does, kind to other actors, whether they are established or first-timers.
"He's just a very kind, courteous, considerate actor and he's just very talented."
The GFF has hosted more than 300 events and screenings since its opening on February 15.
About 40,000 people attended the 2016 festival, with organisers expecting a similar audience to have attended this year.
Asghar Farhadi, the Oscar-nominated Iranian director boycotting the awards because of Donald Trump's travel ban
Lily Cole speaks before the free screening of Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman in Trafalgar Square
Stars are arriving on the red carpet at the Oscars where musical La La Land could make history after earning a record-equalling 14 nominations.
Best actress nominee Ruth Negga was among the first celebrities to arrive at the ceremony in Hollywood, which is expected to be dominated by political speeches.
The Irish-Ethiopian star, wearing a red Valentino dress, was sporting an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ribbon as she posed for photographs outside the Dolby Theatre.
Negga, who is nominated for her role in drama Loving, described the film as a "once in a lifetime opportunity".
She told E!: " Films you've either watched or been in, they stay with you and leave residue with you.
"This is one of those films, I don't think it'll ever leave me."
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the Oscar-nominated song How Far I'll Go from Moana, arrived on the red carpet with his mother.
They were both wearing ACLU ribbons.
Isabelle Huppert, who is nominated for best actress for her role in psychological thriller Elle, told ABC: "I feel so thrilled about this film in particular. The whole road has been amazing.
"There's a wonderful atmosphere. It's all about being happy here."
Sting is nominated for best song for The Empty Chair which played during Jim: The James Foley Story, a documentary about the American journalist captured and beheaded by Isis.
He told ABC: "This is my fourth nomination. I've never won one."
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The British music star said the documentary told the story of "an important subject".
Let It Shine judge Martin Kemp has blamed almost 40 years in the music industry for a maddening case of tinnitus.
The former Spandau Ballet star said he now suffers from worse hearing following his years touring global stages in the 1980s.
According to The Daily Mail, he said: "There is a whistling in my ears all the time... During the day I don't notice it, but as soon as it goes quiet, or I'm in bed, I can hear it... It drives me a bit crazy sometimes."
Revealing that his brother and bandmate Gary has been left with a similar problem, he said: "I went to have a test because of the tinnitus and was taken aback when the audiologist said that I have hearing loss."
The 55-year-old added that the issue may be the result of standing in front of towers of "incredibly loud" amplifiers on stage and using in-ear monitors.
But despite his hearing problems, he was still able to join Gary Barlow on the BBC singing show to help pick out a central cast for an upcoming musical based on the career of Take That.
Male group Five To Five were crowned winners in the show's final on Saturday night.
Actor Shane Richie was barred from a nightclub because he refused to remove his hat.
The former EastEnders star was in Malvern on tour with the stage adaptation of Peter James novel Not Dead Enough and fell foul of the dress code at the Malvern Lounge when he went out for a post-show drink.
Richie, 52, stars in the play as DS Roy Grace opposite Strictly Come Dancing contestant Laura Whitmore and tweeted his frustration at being told to change his outfit if he wanted to enter the bar.
He tweeted a photo of himself in the baker boy-style hat alongside Whitmore and captioned it: "The hat that offended management at Malvern lounge @thewhitmore wouldn't mind but it was bleedin empty!"
But even Richie's son, Shane Nolan, supported the bar's door policy.
He tweeted his father to say: "Rules are rules dad."
Another Twitter user, @leddpinkgen, wrote: "Too proud to take hat off? Were you asked politely remove hat or leave? If yes what's your problem!?"
However, @JCI81 joked about the style of Richie's hat and tweeted: "Did they think you were in the peaky blinders, and going to cause trouble?!"
Other fans sent Richie supportive messages about his choice of headwear.
Fan @Hels101 tweeted: "You can wear as many hats as you like in Bristol pubs. Looking forward to seeing your show on Thursday!"
Bar owner Matt Fletcher sent Richie an apology about the incident and invited him back.
He tweeted: "Please feel free to come in 2moro and have a drink with me, it's on me this time x"
When a Malvern resident told Richie about a coffee shop he should try, the star asked: "Can I wear a hat?"
Porn. Is this perhaps the last bastion of sex that has yet to darken the Irish breakfast table? We've had underage sex, extramarital sex, mid-life sex, late-life sex and, yes, we're still addressing abortion, but porn?
Thus far, the national conversation has centred around the abusive aspects of porn - revenge porn, for example, where a woman's face has been superimposed onto that of a porn actor, or where she and a partner have videoed themselves before the end of the relationship, only for the partner to later post the clip online in an act of, as the name suggests, revenge.
But what of the porn that is lighting up Irish living rooms and bedrooms, when the children have gone to sleep and when the Chablis has been unscrewed? The kind of porn that you might see in a film, rather than the kind of film which endangers children and abuses trafficked women? As Fifty Shades returns to the mainstream, replete with bondage references and sexual consent documents, and at a time when household brands like Diesel are advertising on porn channels - the brand last year began a campaign on Pornhub which Diesel CEO Renzo Rosso claimed resulted in a 31pc increase (he didn't specify sales or traffic) - porn is now mainstream.
And we Irish are enthusiastic consumers. Pornhub is the largest porn website on the internet, hosting a mix of professionally produced and amateur content. While Ireland ranks 27th in the world for traffic to the site, per capita page views tell a different story. On that table we rank sixth, behind the USA, then Iceland, the UK, Canada and New Zealand.
According to Alexa, the Amazon-owned company which provides independent site traffic statistics, pornhub.com is Ireland's 38th most popular site overall. For comparison, independent.ie is listed 18th on that ranking, theguardian.com is just ahead of Pornhub at number 34. The average time spent on the porn site, says Alexa, is 9 minutes 40 seconds.
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But what about Irish women? Tony Moore, a psychotherapist and counsellor with Relationships Ireland, says, "From the latest surveys, about 15-20pc of women say they view porn on a regular basis." Weekend asked Pornhub if they could provide us with specific figures on their Irish female users, as well as metrics on Irish users, users by county and peak times of use (see graph and panel opposite).
Here's what Pornhub told us about Irish women's viewing habits: since mid-2014 (when Google Analytics, which collates their data, started providing demographics) there has been a 55pc increase in the number of female visitors to the site. Women now account for 26pc of Irish traffic, with 65pc of those women aged from 18 to 35. Sixteen per cent of visitors are aged between 35 and 44, 14pc less than men of the same age. However, they say there are proportionately more 18- to 24-year-old Irish women on the site than there are men.
International figures tell the same story. A 2015 study conducted by Typeform on behalf of Marie Claire - as a part of a project by television presenter Amanda de Cadenet - found that more than third of women watch porn at least once a week.
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Of the respondents, 83pc were straight, 51pc were in a relationship, 52pc were aged between 25 and 42, and 13pc were older.When asked about frequency of viewing, 31pc said they watched porn every week, 31pc answered a few times a month, 21pc a few times a year, and 10pc said they consumed porn on a daily basis. Notably, 99pc of the porn consumed was from the internet.
So women do watch porn. But why? "The issue is actually huge, but it is not explored or discussed because of guilt and shame," Moore says. "Porn in whatever form is very popular. However, porn use is seen as dirty and disgusting and therefore difficult to discuss. But because it will never go away, and because it is changing the way men and women relate to each other, a more open and honest discussion needs to take place."
Some are prepared to start that conversation, off the record, at least. "Of course we watch it," says 25-year-old Caoimhe, who works in social media. "I started watching it when I was at college with a boyfriend who was into it. Now I watch it myself. Some of it is terrible, some of it is funny, but if men watch it, why shouldn't women watch it? I'm single. I don't want to sleep around and - I mean, come on - everyone does it. Everyone I know, anyway."
She isn't alone. Niamh is 38 and works in marketing. "I guess I started watching it intermittently maybe 10 years ago. I watch it alone if I'm bored. Sometimes I'm not really proud of myself but I'm pretty strict as regards to what I watch. I buy female- friendly porn, usually by female directors - stuff my friends would recommend to me.
"So I try to make sure that, well, 'no women have been harmed in the making of this movie', even if that sounds trite. I know my mother would probably disown me, though, even though I'm nearly 40 now.
"I genuinely feel that I'm making an informed decision. And I feel that women should have the same choices as men in this regard. But you're not really allowed to say that you want to watch porn because you're lonely or you're single or you're bored. And sometimes that's the truth."
Does this seem shocking - and, if the answer is yes, then why?
Beyond the complex and opaque morality of porn, which we will touch on later, why does this seem so anathema to Irish society? Are we really that repressed? While the sexual revolutions which overtook our neighbours in the 1960s and '70s now seem quaint reminders of how we were, why is there still a taboo about the notion of Irish women being so bold about their own desires?
"As Irish women, we are still deeply uncomfortable talking and writing about sex, and that is a huge issue," says Roe McDermott, a Fulbright Scholar and visiting lecturer in sexuality studies, San Francisco State University, and sex columnist for the Dublin Inquirer. "And a woman expressing sexual desire is offending traditional gender roles. Because men have never really had to care about women's sexual desire. The trajectory from gaining access to contraception to divorce, the marriage equality referendum - that has all combined to eliminate the idea that sex has to be with someone you're in love with. It's all but eradicated the notion that sex will end in pregnancy.
"Thirty years ago, sex meant marriage, pregnancy now, if sex doesn't mean adulthood and motherhood, what does it mean? And if there is a replacement pathway for all these things, you are saying women don't have to choose the path that life had set out for them. So if that means not choosing marriage and choosing to be sexually fulfilled as a single woman - that is incredibly threatening. But now women are exploring the concept of what sex means for them."
As McDermott says, it is worth remembering how far we've come in a relatively short time. When the State was drawn in 1922, much of its new social landscape was coloured by the mores of the Catholic Church. The 1929 Censorship of Publications act which banned 'erotic literature' also banned any literature which advised on 'unnatural' birth control. Contraceptives remained banned until 1979 and restricted into the 1990s. But it is perhaps more interesting to examine the social consequences of this time.
The Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships, published by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency (CPA) and the Department of Health and Children in 2006, makes for fascinating reading, in particular in the chapter on 'Influences on Irish sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviours'. It found that, after this period, "The climate of repression in matters sexual shaped the imagery and language within which relationships and sex were experienced by the majority of Irish people. Most were brought up to associate sex with feelings of guilt, shame and embarrassment. This had a number of consequences. First, it created an environment in which it was extremely difficult to find clear, factual information on sex and relationships." And for most of us, that legacy lasted long into the 1980s and '90s. Sex education was not introduced in secondary schools until 1997, for example. The CPA report noted that 46pc of respondents found talking to their mother about sexual matters 'difficult'; 45pc found talking to their father 'difficult'. Twenty-five per cent said sexual matters 'never came up' with their mother and 36pc said the same of their father.
So how do you learn about sex and your own sexuality when most avenues are closed to you, and those which are open you are too embarrassed to push? "It's true," 45-year-old Saoirse tells me. "I got a lot of my sex education from porn. At the time, it was terrible - awful movies I would buy in desperate sex shops, but where else were you supposed to get it from?
"Honestly it was either that or go around sleeping with people, and I didn't want to do that. But you and your friends had to find out. And that's how we did it."
This same phenomenon - the lack of mature, non-instructional sexual content - drove advertising maven Cindy Gallop to found Make Love Not Porn. Launched at the TED conference in 2009, it's a user- generated content platform and website, meaning real couples upload videos of themselves having 'real world sex' rather than its dramatised and often misogynistic cousin.
So the data tells us Irish women watch porn, and Irish women have told us why, but there is one issue which has not yet been challenged and that is how the representation of women in porn - both physically and psychologically - affects our perceptions of ourselves in the first instance and our relationships in the second. And, says Tony Moore, porn can have a devastating impact on relationships. What may start out as anxiety that your partner is having an affair can unspool chaotically.
"The overuse of porn can and often does destroy the close emotional intimacy between a couple," Moore says. "[A man may focus] on the fantasy on screen believing that what he sees on screen is the 'usual and normal'. He can begin to resent his partner, believing that every other woman wants lots of sex and he is married to the only woman who doesn't. This resentment can turn to anger and that can turn to violence. Porn can change how men think about women and behave with women."
There are certainly repercussions for relationships. Not only do women feel they have to 'compete' with the unrealistic and hypersexualised pneumatic bodies of porn, but there is an expectation that they will act out some of the some deeply unpalatable behaviours common to the genres. No wonder many feminists felt so uncomfortable with the industry.
Second-wave feminists (the period from the early '60s to the 1980s) such as Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin certainly agree that porn leads to the subjugation of women. It was MacKinnon and Dworkin who defined pornography as 'the graphic, sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures or words' in 1987. The phrase 'pornography is the theory, rape is the practice' was coined by Robin Morgan in 1978, and later adopted by Dworkin. Therefore, there is often conflict about porn. Does liking porn make you a bad feminist?
"It's an interesting thing," says Roe McDermott. "We know what porn is offering but I don't feel that it's catering to women's tastes. But you have to treat porn like it's another type of media. And in that sense, I don't think porn is either good or bad. I'm a professional film critic and I don't see films as all 'good' or all 'bad' - it's a form of media, and you apply critical discourse to that medium to examine and critique what individual films are doing or what recurring tropes indicate and perpetuate."
McDermott believes that opening up the industry to fulsome criticism of what is and isn't acceptable is the only way to cast light onto an debate which is more often characterised by heat.
"It's important to talk about it so we can teach a form of media literacy, so that people become aware of how porn can be consumed in an ethical way. For one thing, this approach makes the porn industry a lot more safe - by creating a market for ethically produced porn and also by protecting sex workers. I hear a lot of damaging rhetoric that porn involves the abuse or coercion of women. I would argue that all women choose to go into porn, because if it's not voluntary, then it's not pornography - it's filmed abuse. There is a professional industry with safety regulations, and women are choosing to work in front of and behind the camera for many reasons. I believe that inherently casting them as the victim is an unhelpful and inaccurate trope."
In Ireland we still have problems admitting our sexual desires and impulses, and the messy, sometimes difficult, situations they beget. But the end of those benighted days during which we were denied purchase over such matters must be in sight.
As Tony Moore points out, "The most important and positive step for the couple who attend counselling is to talk openly with without guilt and shame. The majority of us have a sex drive. How to manage that natural drive has been the subject of discussion for literally thousands of years, yet we still have difficulty talking about it."
Shame comes up again and again.
"Shaming people for enjoying certain forms of porn is not going to eliminate it; it's just going to put people in conflict with themselves," says McDermott. "It is time for us to develop a form of discourse to speak about pleasure."
Irish users and porn
THE STATISTICS
This information has been collated by Pornhub Insights using Google Analytics. The top 12 Irish counties by traffic, for both men and women accessing the site, are as follows:
Dublin 65pc
Cork 8.4pc
Galway 3.1pc
Limerick 2.3pc
Meath 2.1pc
Kildare 2pc
Donegal 1.9pc
Wexford 1.8pc
Louth 1.5pc
Kerry 1.3pc
Fingal 1.3pc
Waterford1.2pc
Busiest day for traffic: Monday
Quietest day: Friday
Peak hours: 10am to midnight
Low hours: 3am to 4am
He was meant to be her happy ever after - a fairytale ending for the prolific children's author consumed by grief. When Helen Bailey's husband of 22 years drowned on holiday in Barbados in 2011, her world crumbled. Then she met Ian Stewart (58), a "gorgeous, grey-haired widower", on an online bereavement group.
He had lost his wife and quickly they bonded over what they had both been through. Within a year, Stewart had proposed. The couple moved to Royston, Hertfordshire, and set up home in a seven-bedroom mansion. Bailey even changed her will so her fiance would inherit almost all of her 4.7m fortune if she died before they married. She was worried he would be left vulnerable if their paperwork wasn't in order.
But their cosy domesticity was short-lived. Last July, Bailey (51) was discovered in a cesspit underneath the house, alongside the remains of her faithful dachshund, Boris. Her body was so badly decomposed she had be identified by her dental records.
Last week, Stewart was sentenced to 34 years in jail for Bailey's murder. The jury heard how he had been secretly drugging his partner with zopiclone, a sleeping medication, for weeks before suffocating her. Later that day, he watched his eldest son, Jamie, play bowls, taking him back home for a post-match Chinese takeaway. Afterwards, he changed a standing order from Bailey's bank account to the couple's joint account, switching the amount from 600 to 4,000.
Expand Close Helen Bailey with Ian Stewart, who was sentenced to 34 years for her murder / Facebook
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In the months that followed (Stewart told concerned relatives Bailey had left a note saying she "needed some space") he renewed Arsenal season tickets and even flew to Spain for a holiday he had booked with his wife-to-be.
The grim final chapter in the life of a woman described by family as "immensely witty and talented" has once again exposed the seedy underbelly of the digital world. This time, however, it's not the online exploitation of children that's raising alarm bells - research suggests older women are, in fact, the internet's most vulnerable.
This becomes even more apparent when they are going through difficult emotional times which come with this life-stage, such as divorce or bereavement, when usual good judgment may not be so finely tuned and a lot of very personal information can be unloaded very quickly if they find someone to trust.
"The most successful scams are carried out on women between the ages of 40 and 60," says psychologist Emma Kenny, who explores the perils of internet dating in a TV documentary, Dated to Death, to be broadcast next month.
"Increasingly, older men are going out with much younger partners. A lot of middle-aged women find themselves incredibly lonely and this emotional vulnerability can cause them to make bad choices. Quite often, a woman will go for someone who validates her, and she might reveal a lot of personal information early on, which enables predators."
The number of people defrauded by online dating schemes has hit a new high, according to the UK's National Fraud Intelligence Bureau - last year, almost 4,000 victims of 'romance fraud' handed over a staggering 39m. Forget the well-worn trope of the wealthy widow conned overseas by an unscrupulous lothario you could see coming a mile off - the danger has now moved closer to home, and can be much harder to spot.
'Nancy', a 37-year-old single mother, was duped out of 350,000 by Marcello, a man she met on match.com. Within days, the attractive Italian, who claimed to be Manchester based but working in Turkey, persuaded 'Nancy' to move their conversations to an instant messaging service. After six weeks, he asked for a loan for his son, who needed surgery.
"It escalated unbelievably quickly, so straight away it was the medical fees, then money for food, rent and taxes to get them out of Turkey," said 'Nancy', who is now facing bankruptcy.
"I wasn't comfortable, and then I got in so far I couldn't get myself out. You keep going in the hope this person is genuine."
It's not just the betrayal of trust women like 'Nancy' have to endure - a number of female victims of so-called 'love scams' claim to have been excoriated for their perceived naivety. Like Bailey, the casualties are often smart, successful women who under other circumstances would know better.
One 68-year-old university professor I spoke to declined to be interviewed after she was trolled for publicly admitting to giving 140,000 to a con artist she met on a dating site. "People haven't a clue how clever and sophisticated these men and their scams are," she told me.
Those who have suffered an emotional trauma, like a divorce or bereavement, are particularly susceptible to grooming, says Kenny. "My friend is widowed, so I checked out a couple of support forums for her. You could tell that not everyone on there had lost a spouse. It's awful to say, but trust no one."
"It's truly astonishing how much time and effort fraudsters will invest in building a relationship with someone," says Tony Neate, CEO of Get Safe Online.
"Starting a new relationship at a difficult time in your life can prevent you from noticing the signs of something more sinister. It is this vulnerability that they prey on, which makes it ever so important to talk to your friends and family about your experiences online. They might spot something suspicious you don't. Even if you feel you have become close to someone on the internet, you must remember that they are still a stranger."
It is also sensible to check the privacy settings on all of your social media accounts to ensure that people can't easily fish for details about your private life which they can exploit further down the line.
Of course, for the majority, support forums provide a tremendous source of comfort during the worst of times. It was through a Widowed and Young Facebook group that 'Annie' (42) met her partner, 'Andrew'. They've been together for three and half years.
"You can't assume that because someone has been through the same thing as you, they're somehow 'safe', but I did feel like I got the measure of 'Andrew' pretty quickly," says 'Annie'. "People have made a lot out of the fact that [Bailey and Stewart] met on a widows' group but I think that's irrelevant. Sadly, you can meet bad people anywhere. I don't think there was any way she could have known."
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Police at the scene at Bromley Road in Bellingham, where five people have been left in hospital after they were run over by a car in London (Image: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)
Police at the scene at Bromley Road in Bellingham, where five people have been left in hospital after they were run over by a car in London (Image: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)
The scene at Bromley Road in Bellingham, where five people have been left in hospital after they were run over by a car in London (Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)
Police at the scene at Bromley Road in Bellingham, where five people have been left in hospital after they were run over by a car in London (Image: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)
A woman who saw the aftermath of a car crash in which five people were mown down described her shock at the "carnage", saying she feared they were all dead.
One man remains in a critical condition while another man and a woman are in a serious but stable condition in hospital after a Mercedes ploughed into them in Bellingham, south-east London on Sunday morning.
Police have arrested the driver on suspicion of drink-driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and confirmed the incident was not terror-related.
The crash happened outside a car wash opposite a row of shops on Bromley Road, with the Mercedes appearing to have come off the road and careered through a row of bollards before hitting a low wall at the end of a hedge.
The car's bonnet and boot were popped open by the impact, its airbags all deployed, while debris was strewn across the pavement.
Raee Towolawi, 26, was on her way to church with her mother, brother and sister from her nearby home at around 8.20am when they heard the sound of screaming.
She told the Press Association: "I just thought it was people messing around or fighting nearby at the car wash but my mum said no, they sound like different types of screams.
"I went up the road and saw all this carnage. There were two men lying flat on their backs, just lifeless or unconscious.
"There was a lady in between them who had been sat upright and all the car washers were around her trying to get her to respond.
"They were just crying and wailing over her, and she wasn't responding. They were saying her name to try and get her to wake up, and shaking her."
Ms Towolawi said she saw a man with blood coming from a head injury and another uninjured man, both car washers, chasing a well-dressed black man down the road.
She said: "They were swearing, saying 'Why have you done this?' I am assuming he was the one who did the damage."
Ms Towolawi said she believed those who were injured work and live at the car wash, and that they had been waiting outside for customers when they were hit.
She and her brother went to see if they could help, but could not understand the group as they spoke little English.
"They just kept saying something bad had happened and were slapping themselves and pulling their hair out. They just didn't know what to do and were screaming and crying," she said.
"I thought they were dead. I was just shocked and couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was a lot of blood as well.
"I didn't notice the car until I came back afterwards. I just thought they'd been stabbed or shot."
Police, paramedics and an air ambulance were all called to help.
Four men and a woman were treated at the scene before being taken to hospital, Scotland Yard said.
A 25-year-old man is in a critical condition, while another man the same age and a woman of 35 are in a serious but stable condition.
Two men, aged 36 and 46, also sustained minor injuries in the crash.
London Ambulance Service said the group were treated for head, chest and leg injuries.
A Met spokesman said: "The driver of the car was detained at the scene by an off-duty police officer before being arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
"He was also arrested on suspicion of drink-driving before being taken to a south London hospital with a head injury."
Roads around the area have been closed while investigators examine the scene.
Police are appealing for witnesses, and anyone who saw the incident is asked to call officers on 101 or 0208 285 1574.
A car stands in front of a store, guarded by police in Heidelberg, Germany (Image: AP)
Policemen stand around a car in front of a business building in Heidelberg, western Germany, where a man ploughed into pedestrians Getty Images
A car is pictured in front of a business building in Heidelberg, western Germany, where a man ploughed into pedestrians Getty Images
Police vehicle and ambulance stand in front of a business building in Heidelberg, western Germany, where a man ploughed into pedestrians Getty Images
Policemen stand around a car in front of a business building in Heidelberg, western Germany, where a man ploughed into pedestrians Getty Images
A man who drove into a group of pedestrians in the German city of Heidelberg, fatally injuring one man, is being held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
Prosecutors and police are examining whether the suspect, a 35-year-old German student who lives in the city, can be held criminally responsible.
They say there is no evidence of terrorism or extremism and his motive remains a mystery.
Three people were injured in Saturday's crash and one later died.
The suspect got out of his rented car with a kitchen knife and was shot in the stomach by police shortly afterwards.
He has been taken to hospital but authorities say his life is not in danger.
They said he has not responded to initial questioning.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa joins Tourism Irelands Global Greening initiative, to celebrate the island of Ireland and St Patrick.
The Italian city of Pisa has decided to add a towering Ferris wheel to its roster of tourist attractions.
The big wheel will be roughly the height of Pisa's famed Leaning Tower, or more than 50 metres (165ft) high, the Tuscan city's culture commissioner Andrea Ferrante told state TV.
Plans call for it to be installed where a car park now stands for three months this summer to test its popularity.
From the top of the wheel, riders will be able to see both the tower and the nearby Mediterranean Sea.
But culture advocacy group Italia Nostra said the amusement park-style attraction will clash with the city's medieval architecture, including structures such as the Leaning Tower and Pisa Cathedral.
The European Parliament has taken an unusual step to crack down on racism and hate speech in its own house.
Representatives have granted special powers to the president to axe live broadcasts of parliamentary debate in cases of racist speech or acts, and the ability to purge any offending video or audio material afterwards.
However, the rules on what is considered offensive are not clear and there are concerns about manipulation and censorship.
"This undermines the reliability of the Parliament's archives at a moment where the suspicion of 'fake news' and manipulation threatens the credibility of the media and the politicians," said Tom Weingaertner, president of the International Press Association.
After Britain's decision to leave the European Union, the rising popularity of anti-immigrant candidates such as Geert Wilders in the Netherlands or far-right Marine Le Pen in France is worrying Europe's political mainstream.
Ms Le Pen, who is running for the French presidency this spring, has promised to follow Britain's lead.
At the European Parliament, where elections are due in 2019, many say the need for action against hate speech and strong sanctions for offenders is overdue.
The assembly - with two seats, in the Belgian capital of Brussels and Strasbourg in France - is often the stage for political and sometimes nationalist theatre.
Beyond routine shouting matches, members occasionally wear T-shirts with slogans or unfurl banners. Flags adorn some members' desks.
"There have been a growing number of cases of politicians saying things that are beyond the pale of normal parliamentary discussion and debate," said British MEP Richard Corbett, who chaperoned the new rule through the assembly.
"What if this becames not isolated incidents, but specific, where people could say: 'Hey, this is a fantastic platform. It's broad, it's live-streamed. It can be recorded and repeated. Let's use it for something more vociferous, more spectacular'," he said.
In a nutshell, rule 165 of the parliament's rules of procedure allows the chair of debates to halt the live broadcast "in the case of defamatory, racist or xenophobic language or behavior by a member".
The maximum fine for offenders would be around 9,000 euro (7,600).
Under the rule, not made public by the assembly and first reported by Spain's La Vanguardia paper, offending material could be "deleted from the audiovisual record of proceedings".
That means citizens would never know about it unless reporters were in the room. Mr Weingaertner said the IPA was not consulted on that.
A technical note outlines a procedure for manually cutting off the video feed, stopping transmission on in-house TV monitors and breaking the satellite link to halt broadcast to the outside world.
A tape in four languages would be kept running to serve as a legal record during the blackout. A more effective and permanent system was being sought.
It is also technically possible to introduce a time delay so broadcasts appear a few seconds later. This means they could be interrupted before offending material is aired.
But the system is unwieldy. Members have the right to speak in any of the European Union's 24 official languages.
An offending act could be over before the assembly's president Antonio Tajani has a chance to hit the kill switch. Misunderstandings and abuses could crop up.
During a debate in December, Gerolf Annemans, from Belgium's Flemish independence party Vlaams Belang, expressed concern about the rule.
He said it "can be abused by those who have hysterical reactions to things that they qualify as racist, xenophobic, when people are just expressing politically incorrect views".
Even those involved in the move acknowledge it is a sensitive issue.
Helmut Scholz, from Germany's left-wing Die Linke party, said EU lawmakers are elected - indeed the EU parliament is the bloc's only popularly elected institution - and must be able to express their views about how Europe should work.
"You can't limit or deny this right," he said.
He worries about fake news too, but of the kind made from selective extracts of debates.
"If you are following the whole debate that is one thing, but if you have certain media who are taking out individual sentences you could falsify the whole issue," he said.
Still, Nazi rallying cries and racist obscenities are relatively rare but not unheard of.
"We need an instrument against that, to take it out of the record, to stop distribution of such slogans, such ideas," Mr Scholz said.
AP
Former president of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, pictured, has written to US president Donald Trump (AP/Bebeto Matthews)
Iran's former hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sent a 3,500-word letter to US president Donald Trump that applauds immigration and says it shows "the contemporary US belongs to all nations".
The missive strikes a somewhat conciliatory tone and is not the first dispatch sent by Mr Ahmadinejad, who has counted US presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama among his pen pals.
But this letter comes as criticism of Mr Trump over his travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries including Iran mounts in Tehran.
It also may serve to burnish Mr Ahmadinejad's image domestically after the nation's Supreme Leader warned him not to run in Iran's upcoming May presidential election.
In the letter, published by Iranian media outlets, he noted Mr Trump won the election while he "truthfully described the US political system and electoral structure as corrupt".
Mr Ahmadinejad decried US "dominance" over the United Nations, as well as American meddling in the world that has brought "insecurity, war, division, killing and displacement of nations".
He also acknowledged the immigration of some one million Iranians to America, saying that US policies should "value respect toward the diversity of nations and races".
"In other words, the contemporary US belongs to all nations, including the natives of the land," he wrote. "No one may consider themselves the owner and view others as guests or immigrants."
A judge later blocked Mr Trump's travel ban and an appeals court refused to reinstate it. He has promised to issue a revised order soon, saying it is necessary to keep America safe.
Entirely missing from the letter was any reference to Iran's nuclear programme.
Under Mr Ahmadinejad's presidency, Iran found itself heavily sanctioned over the programme as Western governments feared it could lead to the Islamic Republic building atomic weapons.
Iran has long maintained its programme was for peaceful purposes.
Iran under current president Hassan Rouhani struck a nuclear deal with world powers, including the Obama administration, to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions.
Mr Trump campaigned promising to renegotiate the deal, without offering specifics.
Ahmadinejad gave the letter to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents US interests in Iran.
It comes ahead of Iran's presidential election, in which Mr Rouhani is widely expected to seek a second four-year term.
While allies of Mr Ahmadinejad are expected to run, he himself will not after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned him in September his candidacy would bring about a "polarised situation" that would be "harmful for the country".
Mr Ahmadinejad's popularity in Iran remains in question. During his tenure, he personally questioned the scale of the Holocaust and predicted the demise of Israel.
His disputed 2009 re-election saw widespread protests and violence. Two of his former vice presidents went to prison for corruption.
But Mr Ahmadinejad offered Mr Trump his own warning about how quickly time passes for leaders.
"Four years is a long period, but it ends quickly," he wrote. "The opportunity needs to be valued, and all its moments need to be used in the best way."
AP
People march in memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was killed two years ago in Moscow, Russia (AP/Pavel Golovkin)
Thousands of Russians have marched through Moscow to mark two years since opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down outside the Kremlin.
Mr Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, was a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin.
His February 27 2015 death, in what appeared to be a contract killing, sparked an outpouring of anger and fear in Russia's beleaguered opposition movement.
The memorial protest was the largest opposition gathering since a similar march for Mr Nemtsov in 2016.
Organisers put the number of participants at just over 15,000.
The police, known for underestimating attendance at political rallies, said about 5,000 people showed up.
"It's very important that after two years people continue to come out and show their solidarity with the ideas for which Boris Nemtsov fought for and gave his life," opposition activist Ilya Yashin, who was Mr Nemtsov's friend and colleague, told the Interfax news agency.
Demonstrators carried Russian flags, banners of opposition political parties and placards with quotes from Mr Nemtsov, including "If there's Putin, there's no Russia", and "Our only chance left is the street."
Some carried cardboard Russian flags with bullet holes in them.
"For us, Nemtsov represents free-thinking Russia and the democratic values for which we strive: free elections and no corruption," participant Yekaterina Getgarts said.
Five men went on trial for Mr Nemtsov's murder in a Moscow military court last year, but no verdicts have been returned in the ongoing case.
Investigators allege that the man who shot Mr Nemtsov was Zaur Dadayev, a former officer in an elite Chechen police unit.
But Mr Nemtsov's family and friends say it was a political hit with a trail that leads to senior officials in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya who have not been charged or even questioned.
The Moscow rally largely passed without incident, but an unknown assailant threw green dye in the face of opposition leader Mikhail Kasyanov. Police made several arrests.
"This is the hysteria of the government. They do not know what to do. The government is afraid," opposition activist Gennady Gudkov, a former deputy in the lower house of parliament, said of the attack on Mr Kasyanov.
While large crowds are rare at opposition demonstrations in Mr Putin's Russia, the attendance at Sunday's rally was significantly lower than a year ago, when organisers estimated almost 25,000 people joined a Nemtsov memorial march.
Russia's opposition has been fragmented in recent years by pressure from the Kremlin, the flight abroad of leading activists and political infighting.
After the march, thousands of people laid flowers on the bridge where Mr Nemtsov was shot in the back several times while walking home with his girlfriend.
Similar demonstrations took place on Sunday in other Russian cities, including St Petersburg and Mr Nemtsov's hometown of Nizhny Novgorod.
Several thousand people participated in St Petersburg, but the turnout was low elsewhere.
AP
Norma McCorvey, who died last weekend aged 69, was better known as Jane Roe, the plaintiff in the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe vs Wade, which, in one of the most contested decisions in US legal history, secured the right to an abortion for American women.
She became a poster-girl for the pro-choice movement. But in 1995 she announced that she had found God, left her job at a Dallas abortion clinic and signed on with Operation Rescue, a militant anti-abortion group. Yet McCorvey was never an entirely satisfactory symbol for either side of the debate.
She was born Norma Leah Nelson on September 22, 1947 in small-town Louisiana, into a dysfunctional household. Her grandmother was a prostitute and fortune-teller; her mother was a violent alcoholic who sought to raise her a Roman Catholic; her father, a television repairman who left when she was young, was a Jehovah's Witness.
Norma spent part of her adolescence in a Catholic boarding school (where she claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a nun) and at a reform school. Aged 16, she married Woody McCorvey, a sheet-metal worker who became violent when she became pregnant; she left after two months.
A daughter (Melissa) was born in 1965, but Norma developed a drinking problem and when she announced that she was a lesbian, her mother threw her out, though not before persuading Norma to sign papers giving her custody of the baby. "My mom screamed, what did a lesbian know about raising a child?; I lost my child, and my home," she told an interviewer in 1998.
Before long, Norma was living on the streets in Dallas, Texas, struggling with alcoholism, depression and drugs, and taking lovers of both sexes. Another daughter was given away for adoption in 1967.
Then, in 1969, she found she was pregnant again (she originally claimed that she had been raped, but later admitted lying). By this time, she was working in a carnival looking after freak animals. Feeling she could not face going through with another birth, she inquired about abortion, only to find that it was illegal in Texas.
She visited a back-street abortionist, but was so shocked by the squalor, she could not go through with it.
Soon afterwards, she was introduced to Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, lawyers who had been looking for a plaintiff to challenge the Texas ban. Legal battle was joined in 1970: Jane Roe v the Dallas district attorney, Henry Wade. The case slowly rose up the legal system, becoming a class action, until, in January 1973, the Supreme Court deemed abortion a fundamental right under the US Constitution.
McCorvey had never been asked to testify in court, and by the time the Supreme Court heard the case she had had her baby, another girl, and given her up for adoption.
For a while she disappeared from view, but during the 1980s she became active in the pro-abortion movement, working in abortion clinics and gradually letting people know that she was Jane Roe. As a result she became a target of violent abuse. In 1992, she published I Am Roe, in which she wrote of her lesbianism and attacked the "anti-choice fanatics ... trying to inflict their own religious views on others, still trying to hide their anti-woman feelings".
It was at a book signing the same year that she was first confronted by Flip Benham, national director of Operation Rescue, who accused her of being "responsible for the deaths of over 33 million children". Six months later, he opened Operation Rescue's national headquarters next to the clinic where Norma was working.
Initially she resisted any contact, but eventually started to talk to members of the organisation during smoking breaks. "They were down-to-earth, they weren't telling me I was going to fry in hell, though I'm sure they were thinking that. They were very kind to me," she recalled.
She accepted an invitation to visit Benham's church, and within a year was proclaiming herself "100pc pro-life". When Benham baptised her in a backyard swimming pool, the ceremony was filmed for national television.
Months later she announced that her relationship with her partner, Connie Gonzalez, was platonic. "I am not a lesbian. I'm just a child in Christ now," she said. In 1998 Norma announced that she had become a Roman Catholic, and the same year she published Won by Love in which she proclaimed her belief that abortion "wasn't about 'products of conception' ... It was about children being killed in their mother's wombs".
Abortion-rights activists questioned her motives and in 2013, in interviews in Vanity Fair, Flip Benham claimed that he had come to see her as someone who "just fishes for money" while Connie Gonzalez described her former lover as a "phoney".
Yet she continued to pop up at anti-abortion rallies, including in 2009, when she was arrested along with 26 others, inside the grounds of the Catholic university of Notre Dame, Indiana, protesting against the appearance of Barack Obama.
In later life she moved to live near her daughter, Melissa, who survives her.
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Nigel Farage has posted a picture of himself having dinner with Donald Trump and his family in Washington.
The former Ukip leader dined with the US President in Trump International Hotel with the US President and a number of his close advisors.
It comes as Mr Farage travelled to Washington to tell Mr Trump's followers that they are part of a "global revolution" that began with Brexit.
He was greeted with a standing ovation at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and he spoke of the "Brexit mania" he had witnessed after travelling to the US to take part in a Trump rally.
"I'm proud to be a part of that campaign, I really am," he said, adding that he was beginning to feel "more American" ever since Mr Trump's victory.
Last night he appeared to dining with Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, his son in law Jared Kushner, and Governor Rick Scott.
Dan Jukes, a member of Mr Trump's communication staff, was also pictured at the hotel.
Speaking in Maryland on Friday, Mr Farage spoke out against globalism, saying "our real friends in the world speak English", and alluded to upcoming European elections.
Ahead of his speech, he spoke with the Telegraph about the first time he met Mr Trump.
"The first thing he told me when I met him was, 'you've done a great thing but when I win I'm going to supersede you,'" Mr Farage recounted with a laugh. "I said, 'you sure are.'"
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Reporters raise their hands for questions as President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference. Photo: AP
Major news organisations including the BBC and The New York Times led criticism yesterday against Donald Trump's White House for banning media outlets from a press briefing.
The BBC, which Trump derisively labelled "a real beauty" in a recent press conference, was among those barred from the daily briefing last Friday.
Paul Danahar, BBC Americas editor, said it was "not clear" what led to the ban, adding: "The BBC's reporting of the White House will continue to be fair and impartial regardless."
Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, said the newspaper would "strongly protest" against the decision to ban it. "Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations," he said.
Trump has declared the press the "enemy of the people" and lambasted media outlets by name after reports criticising his administration.
Hours after the rant at a Conservative Political Action Conference, presidential spokesman Sean Spicer barred the two organisations - and others - from a briefing in his office. Spicer said the Trump regime had been showing "an abundance of accessibility", but that he understood why there had been complaints.
A video clip from December in which Spicer said he would not ban specific outlets because open access was "what makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship" spread widely online.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Spicer's deputy, said the briefing would be limited to a small "pool" before "we decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool".
Among those invited were right-wing outlets including Breitbart News, a website once led by White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. Bannon has called some media bodies "the opposition party".
Trump yesterday claimed he was not receiving sufficient credit for the state of the US economy. It also emerged that the White House enlisted senior intelligence officials and members of Congress to contact news organisations and refute reports of links between Trump's campaign aides and Russian intelligence.
Spicer confirmed that report but denied anything inappropriate had taken place.
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
I was in Stockholm a week last Friday - an eyewitness on the great night that nothing happened. Donald Trump gave a speech in Florida the next day, asking his audience to look at what had occurred "last night in Sweden".
Something appalling, apparently, involving asylum seekers. The Swedes "took in large numbers," he said. And now "they're having problems like they never thought possible". But he was wrong: nothing of note had happened that night. His mistake was used by much of the Swedish media (and politicians) to slate him, as if he concocted the whole idea of an immigration problem.
The mockery lasted for days: what event could he have been referring to?
Were some meatballs burned in Uppsala? Did an Ikea run out of Billy bookshelves? "What has he been smoking?" asked Carl Bildt, a former prime minister. He could almost have asked: Crisis? What crisis?
The inside pages of most Swedish newspapers would carry the answer. Early last week, for example, a riot broke out in one of Stockholm's suburbs, ending in a photographer being injured and a policeman opening fire. There were also stories about how six Afghan child refugees had committed suicide in Sweden in the last six months, failed by a government system that cannot cope with the 25,000 unaccompanied migrant children in its care. All this is shocking - but in Sweden nowadays, not so surprising.
Sweden is not a country that is falling apart. You can still land in Stockholm's gorgeous Arlanda Airport, skate on the frozen lakes in special lanes polished by the local authorities, cook sausages on the communal barbecues. The Scandinavian paradise is still there, welcoming and inspiring. The government has, after great upheaval, managed to cut the refugee influx by four-fifths. But its failure to integrate those already there has led to another Sweden, a country within a country characterised by gang violence and joblessness.
It's easier to ignore this in Stockholm than it is in Malmo, a smaller city which has long been the first port of call for immigrants who arrive over the bridge from Denmark.
On the day I arrived in Sweden, a 23-year-old was murdered in the city square there, shot in the head in front of several witnesses. It was the third such murder in six weeks. The local press tends not to report the ethnicity of the victim or suspects in such attacks, but Swedes have learnt to recognise immigrant-related gang crime when they see it.
Foreigners who visit the wrong part of Sweden can pay a heavy price: last summer a British boy was killed in a grenade attack in Gothenburg as he slept with his family.
If grenades were being thrown into children's bedrooms in Athlone or asylum centres were being torched in Meath, the immigration debate here might be a little different. The word "crisis" might be used. But what's striking about Sweden is how defensive policymakers are when confronted about all this; how insistent they are that things are under control. As the violence affects just a sliver of society, the overall Swedish crime figures are quite small. Trouble can be buried in the data.
Wider discussion about all of this is also discouraged by what's known as Sweden's 'opinion corridor' - the narrow parameters into which public debate is confined. Those who step outside, and talk about the immigration problems, risk being accused of bigotry. Or, perhaps worse, giving succour to the more populist Sweden Democrats, the party now supported by one in six Swedes.
The immigrants do want to work, but find themselves stuck outside a heavily regulated jobs market that could have been designed by a populist demagogue to keep them out. For unskilled work in restaurants, for example, the trade unions' unofficial (but strictly enforced) minimum wage is about 11 an hour. For unskilled immigrants, especially from countries like Afghanistan and Somalia with no properly functioning education system, this means the Swedish dream ends before it begins. A policy intended to lift everyone's wages has ended up destroying entry-level jobs, and ensuring thousands of immigrants are shut out of the economy, denied the first rung on the ladder to work.
Among Swedes, unemployment is about 4pc and falling. Among immigrants, it's 22pc. No developed country has a higher differential.
The Swedish government describes itself as a "humanitarian superpower" and accepted refugees on that basis, but its fatal mistake was to welcome so many without being able to integrate them. Hence the zones of joblessness and the criminality, and the inability to know what to do about it.
The resulting shadow society is now quite advanced, with its own moral codes and even its own legal system. Tribal courts are now in operation, dealing with crimes - or, at least, what count as crimes in the underworld. The fine for attempted murder is about 59,000, according to Malmo's chief prosecutor. Of the 37 murders and attempted murders in the first half of last year, just seven have been solved. But what are police to do, when witnesses drop out and victims drop the charges? Officers admit that, when child refugees go missing from care homes - feared to have been passed into prostitution or criminal gangs - there is not much they can do.
In so many fields - technology, music, retail - there are Swedish firms leading the world. But its social model, created from the best of intentions, has ended up incubating a violent underworld into which immigrants are being ensnared. As a friend of mine puts it, Sweden is still "10 parts heaven to one part hell" and you can avoid the hell (if you're not a refugee). But the problems it now faces are those of shadow societies, mafia courts, gangland killings and conundrums like how to handle adult refugees who turn up with a child bride in tow. And how to pacify suburbs that are slipping out of police control.
These issues all fit a certain description. They all stem from Sweden's decision to take larger numbers than it could cope with, leading to problems that were once never thought possible. It will pain the Swedish government to admit it, but on this point, at least, Donald Trump was right.
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
The pick-up truck slammed into the crowd and other vehicles, causing multiple injuries (AP)
Authorities have identified the man who allegedly ploughed into a crowd enjoying a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans while intoxicated.
The New Orleans police department issued a statement identifying the man as 25-year-old Neilson Rizzuto.
Online jail records showed Rizzuto was arrested on a number of charges and was being held at the city's jail.
The accident involving a pick-up truck came on Saturday during one of the busiest nights of Mardi Gras when thousands of people throng the streets of Mid-City to watch the elaborate floats and clamour to catch beads and trinkets thrown by riders.
"We suspect that that subject was highly intoxicated," police chief Michael Harrison had said on Saturday evening.
Mr Harrison was asked by the media if terrorism was suspected.
While he did not say no, he did say it looked like a case of DWI (driving while intoxicated).
Twenty-one people were taken to hospital after the crash, with five victims taken to the trauma centre in guarded condition.
However, their conditions did not seem to be life-threatening, said Dr Jeff Elder, city emergency services director.
Seven others declined to be taken to hospital, he said.
The victims range in age from as young as three or four to adults in their thirties and forties, Dr Elder said.
Among the injured was one New Orleans police officer.
Mr Harrison said the officer, who was on duty, was undergoing tests to determine the extent of her injuries.
She was in "good spirits", he said.
As police and city officials assessed the accident scene, people streamed home as plastic bags that used to hold trinkets and discarded beads littered the ground.
Saturday night's parade was put on by the Krewe of Endymion, which is known for its long, elaborate floats and the big party it hosts at the Superdome after the parade.
One woman at the scene told the New Orleans Advocate that a silver truck went close by her as she was walking through the intersection.
Carrie Kinsella said: "I felt a rush, it was so fast."
Kourtney McKinnis, 20, told the Advocate that the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done.
"He was just kind of out of it," she said.
AP
Security officers patrol the area near to the site where gunmen abducted two German archaeologists (Lekan Oyekanmi/AP)
Nigerian security agents have freed two German archaeologists kidnapped by gunmen at a remote dig, the governor of northern Kaduna state said.
The two academics are now at the German embassy in Abuja and are doing well considering the circumstances, according to the German foreign ministry.
Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai "commended the security agencies for their efforts in securing the release of the Germans", a statement said.
It did not say whether anyone has been arrested over the kidnapping.
Gunmen had been demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (150,000) for the release of Professor Peter Breunig and his assistant Johannes Behringer.
The two were abducted at gunpoint on Wednesday and walked into the bush from an archaeological dig near Jenjela village in Kaduna state.
Two villagers who tried to help the Germans were shot and killed by the kidnappers, police said.
Prof Breunig, 65, and Mr Behringer, in his twenties, are part of a four-person team from Frankfurt's Goethe University.
The other two members, women, were not touched by the kidnappers.
The Germans were collaborating with Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments to recover relics of the Nok culture.
The early Iron Age people, considered the earliest ancient civilisation of the West African region that is now Nigeria, are famous for their terracotta sculptures.
Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria, with ordinary residents and even schoolchildren targeted as well as foreigners.
Victims are usually freed unharmed after a ransom is paid, though security forces have rescued a few high-profile abductees.
Nigeria's acting president Yemi Osinbajo had summoned the federal police chief on Thursday for a briefing on efforts to find the Germans.
AP
Quetta, Feb 26 (IBNS): A bomb was found in Pakistan's Quetta area, media reports said on Sunday.
According to reports, it was found in Arbab Karam Khan Road area in the city.
The explosive device has been reportedly defused, reports said.
Police was quoted as saying by Geo News that the bomb weighed five kilogrammes and it has a remote controlled device installed in it.
Kabul, Feb 26 (IBNS): Afghanistan security forces have killed 21 militants, including Talibanas appointed governor for Urozgan province and a local commander, while conducting joined offensive operations, officials said on Sunday.
"During the past 24 hour, Afghan National Defense and Security Forces conducted joined offensive operations in order to protect lives and properties of people also defeating the insurgents in different parts of the country that as a result, 21 insurgents including Talibans appointed governor for Urozgan province and a local commander killed , 23 wounded and 1 other arrested," Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
This joined operation of the Defense Security Forces was held by supporting of the artillery and air forces in Nangarhar ,Kapisa , Paktia , Ghanzni , Logar , Khost , Bamyan , Urozgan , Zabul , Baghlan and Helmand provinces.
During these operations, in Shah Mansoor and Saydan areas of Trinkot City, Talibans appointed governor for Urozgan (Shikh Hamza) killed.
In Tagab district of Kapisa , 4 insurgents killed and 3 wounded , in Waiz and Aband districts of Ghazni , 4 insurgents killed and 3 others wounded.4 insurgents killed and 4 other wounded in Dahana Ghori district of Baghlan.
Similarly, as a result of cleanup operation in Dehbala and Koot districts of Nangarhar , 2 insurgents killed and 5 wounded. In Zerok district of Paktia , 2 insurgents killed and 2 wounded , in Charkh district of Logar and Sabri district of Khost , 2 insurgents killed , 1 wounded , in Kuhmard district of Bamyan , a Taliban commander (Haji Abdullah) killed and 2 wounded , in Garmser and Sangen districts of Helmand , 1 insurgent killed and 3 wounded, read the statement.
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1. Deepika Padukone Finds Comparisons With PC Bizarre, Says Their 'Worlds' Are Completely Different
AFP
While both the actresses kept mum on the comparisons until now, Deepika has finally opened up on the same. She admitted that it feels weird.
At a personal level, I know Priyanka very well for any sort of comparisons. It feels weird on being compared to her because our worlds are totally distinct. What she wants to achieve and what she is working towards is different from what I am doing. Her demands and requirements are completely different from mine. These comparisons are so bizarre, she was quoted as saying during an event.
2. Rahul Khanna Tweeted About His Break-Up After Two Decades And Twitter Lost It Completely
sekho.in
Rahul Khanna has not appeared in films since a long time, but the Wake Up Sid actor has been winning the internet for quite a long time, thanks to his hot Instagram pictures. However, he became a butt of jokes after he tweeted about his break-up after 20 years recently. Twitter went crazy with bizarre yet funny suggestions.
3. Amit Sadh Aims To Fulfill His Dream Of Climbing Mount Everest In 2019, Begins Preparations!
Amit Sadh
The actor who was once keen on becoming a mountaineer is now prepping up to fulfill his dream of climbing Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.
The Kai Po Che actor has already laid out a plan. He has set out dates from his busy schedule and is also going to undergo training for about two years for it.
4. Good News! Indias First Ever Virtual Reality Cinema In Mumbai Is Now Open For Bookings
Reuters
In case you have been wondering what it is like to be a part of a film and experience its story in reality, head to the Bombay Art Society in Bandra, Mumbai where Indias first virtual reality theatre is now open.
Yes, it is the first of its kind in India. It is quite a possibility that you might have not heard of a virtual reality cinema before. After all, the first one ever in the world was established in Amsterdam in May last year, and in less than a year, India has got its own virtual reality cinema, thanks to Enlighten Film Society.
5. A Lady Thought She Was Dating Saif Ali Khan For 14 Months, She's Now Fighting Against Fake Profiles!
A 44-year-old woman from the UK found love on Tinder. Well, in case you are wondering whats bizarre about that then wait, for theres more to it. Much more. So, Anne basically fell in love with Saif Ali Khan. At least, she thought she did until the truth shook her belief.
Our fast-paced lives have somewhat snatched simple joys of life. Not only do we not get time to pursue our hobbies but even for a thing like falling in love, we rely on dating apps.
Our smartphones are more important than everything else in the world. All our needs are just a tap away, literally! We hardly follow social etiquettes like meeting people and talking to them to get to know them better. We prefer text over spoken words, dont we?
abc news
Everything was going hunky dory until we came across a really bizarre case. A 44-year-old woman from the UK found love on Tinder. Well, in case you are wondering whats bizarre about that then wait, for theres more to it. Much more. So, Anne basically fell in love with Saif Ali Khan. At least, she thought she did until the truth shook her belief.
Now the twist in the tale is that a guy named Antony Ray posted a picture of Saif in a black suit as his profile picture on Tinder. It was a still from his popular film Kal Ho Na Ho. This picture attracted the mother of two so much that she started dating Ray almost instantly.
india today
The duo was said to be in a relationship for almost 14 months until she found out the truth. Now, the first thought that must strike in everyones mind would be that in their 14-month-long relationship didnt the two met even once? The funny bit is that Antony and Anne met three months after they started dating. He would often address Rowe as Mrs Ray and future wife!
According to a Daily Mail report, the seed of doubt sprouted when he would only meet her occasionally. This made her suspicious and she then appointed an investigator to spy on him. Later, it turned out that he was actually a married man! In fact, Ray had been using a separate mobile phone and had multiple affairs.
(Representational image) whet your woman
The big mystery behind posting Saif Ali Khans picture was that Ray thought that he somewhat resembled the actor!
Interestingly, it wasnt just Rowe who was fooled by Antony Ray. Another woman was fed the same lies as her. Anne Rowe has now filed a petition titled Making a fake online profile with the intent to use women/men for sex, should be a crime.
Antonys fake account has been deleted but according to the police, nothing can be done in this case.
Kent Police received a report of a domestic dispute on 14 January 2017 but no criminal offences were disclosed during the call or when an officer visited the informant later that day, Daily Mail quoted a spokesman.
This is yet another absurd case that highlights the dark side of technology.
Prakash Jha production Lipstick Under My Burkha is already facing a tough time with the censor board as it denied certification to the movie, saying that the story of the flick (which is about women fantasising about sex) is lady oriented, their fantasy above life. Now, another controversy has come to the fore.
Muslim community All India Muslim Tyohar Committee (AIMTC) has boycotted the film as well as the cast of the film saying that the movie hurts the sentiments of the community by showing 'Burkha' in a bad light. Not only that, the community has also warned the director and the cast of the film to not visit Bhopal, where the movie was shot.
filmysasi.com
Heres what the president of the community Ausaf Shahmeeri Khurram said:
How narrow can a person think? Those who have scripted and directed this movie have insulted our religious sentiments. A burkha is considered pious and even a religious principle. If anyone disgraces our principles like this, we will take strict action against them. AIMTC's Mumbai unit has already initiated a legal action on the matter. Protest will be taken to highest possible level, he told TOI.
Furthermore, he said that they are glad that the censor board has denied certification to the movie. At the same time, they made it clear that if by any chance the certification given, they will move to the court and take legal action against the flick.
He said that the movie is making fun of women from a certain community, and this needs to stop as they might target women of other communities too.
YouTube
The Alankrita Shrivastava directorial stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak, Aahana Kumra and Plabita Borthakur in lead roles. The story of the movie revolves around a burkha-clad college girl, a beautician, a mother of three and also a 55-year-old widow who rediscovers her sexuality.
Its sad that the film, which won the Spirit of Asia Award at Tokyo International Film Festival and also the Oxfam Award (for best film on gender equality) at the Mumbai Film Festival is facing a tough time to be released in India.
The censor board is getting really unreasonable these days!
In case you have been wondering what it is like to be a part of a film and experience its story in reality, head to the Bombay Art Society in Bandra, Mumbai where Indias first virtual reality theatre is now open.
Yes, it is the first of its kind in India. It is quite a possibility that you might have not heard of a virtual reality cinema before. After all, the first one ever in the world was established in Amsterdam in May last year, and in less than a year, India has got its own virtual reality cinema, thanks to Enlighten Film Society.
Reuters/AshleeEspinal
You can book for the Sunday shows on BookMyShow.com and experience being in a movie while watching it. You will be given a virtual reality set that will include a special pair of glasses as well as headphones. It will allow you to experience the movie in 360 degrees. You can move around to enlighten your viewing experience or swivel about in your chair as well.
Reuters/AshleeEspinal
Some of the short films as well as feature films in English and other international languages are available as of now. Furthermore, only a few VR sets are available. However, it is expected that the platform will grow in near future.
Sounds exciting, doesn't it?
Rahul Khanna has not appeared in films since a long time, but the Wake Up Sid actor has been winning the internet for quite a long time, thanks to his hot Instagram pictures. However, he became a butt of jokes after he tweeted about his break-up after 20 years recently. Twitter went crazy with bizarre yet funny suggestions.
Heres what he tweeted that sparked Twitter jokes:
Breaking up sucks. Especially when you've been together for over two decades. Rahul Khanna (@R_Khanna) February 25, 2017
Twitterati went berserk
.@R_Khanna Sir breaking up after 2 decades? That is like skipping a YouTube ad after having watched it almost till the end. Neeche Se Topper (@NeecheSeTopper) February 25, 2017
@r_khanna start doing Naiiyo Naiiyo Super Sindhi (@iBhaggu) February 25, 2017
@R_Khanna go for a boob job (@prtxt) February 25, 2017
And girls didn't want to miss this opportunity
@R_Khanna Oh! I can be the shoulder Riya (@gulabiglares) February 25, 2017
Funny thing is that, after a few hours he posted another tweet with a link to his new blog, and it turned out that his previous tweet was in reference to British Airways. So, he hadn't really broken up.
I gave you my heart but you let me down, then lied & cheated. And that's why we're breaking up. https://t.co/TgyY73EFTm Rahul Khanna (@R_Khanna) February 25, 2017
Turned out to be a storm in a teacup!
This was a tragedy that could have been avoided with a bit of care, one that will haunt a mother and her family for eternity.
A pair of twins drowned in a washing machine when their mother left them at home and when out to buy washing powder in Rohini area of Delhi. According to police, the incident took place on Saturday afternoon. The boys were reportedly found with their heads down in the tumbler of the machine.
Police say have started a probe in the matter. Through a preliminary investigation indicated it was an accident, police are looking at all angles.
Doctors confirmed death by drowning. The bodies have been sent to a government hospital for autopsy.
marlonwayans/Representational Image
According to police, the incident was reported around 12.40 pm when their mother, Rakhi, left the deceased kids - Laksh and Neeshu - playing near the bathroom in their first-floor apartment.
Rakhi told the police that she had piled up clothes near the washing machine -a top-loading, semi-automatic model -filled it with water and gone to a grocery store nearby to buy washing powder. The door of the flat had not been locked.
When she returned after no more than six minutes, she couldn't find the children. She looked for them in the neighbouring apartments and then informed her husband, Ravinder, who works as a manager with a private insurance company in Rohini. They have another child, Aditya, 10, who was at school. Ravinder came home within 10 minutes and joined the search for the children.
"The couple returned home around 1.10pm and checked the washing machine. To their horror, they found the children lying head down in the water," a neighbour, Jaya Sharma, told TOI.
The couple pulled them out of the tumbler and rushed them to a private hospital where the boys were declared dead. Ravinders then took them to Jaipur Golden Hospital in Rohini where doctors confirmed death due to drowning.
NDTV
Meanwhile, Sharma had informed the police and a team from Vijay Vihar police station reached the house."We found 12-15 litres of water in the washing machine.Though the family does not suspect any foul play, a probe has been initiated," said M N Tiwari, DCP, Rohini. Prima facie evidence suggests that the children might have climbed on a bucket beside the washing machine and tried to peep into the tumbler. The bucket might have slipped due to which they fell head down into the water. However, it's a mystery how both fell into the tumbler.
A crime and forensic team have lifted evidence from the scene. The washing machine had been purchased just a few months ago.
The family has apparently told cops that Rakhi had left the children alone with the washing machine switched on earlier too without any trouble. "It is possible that the children tried to peep in out of inquisitiveness but we are probing how they managed to climb to a height from which they could fall into the tumbler," said a police officer. No FIR had been registered till late in the night.
A pre-wedding bash at P&T Colony in Shah-e-Alam ended in the hospital for more than 100 guests, including the bride, after they suffered a severe reaction to the halogen and helium lights used for decoration. The guests woke up on Saturday complaining of acute burning in the eyes, swelling, redness and watery eyes. The patients were treated at the Nagari Hospital and a private hospital in Danilimda.
kibuck/Representational Image
Meanwhile, decorators say this is the first time they came across such an issue. Danilimda cops have started a probe. The mehendi and garba function, which went on till 2.30 am on Saturday, was held to celebrate 22-year-old Sabiya Munirkhan Pathans wedding to Akram Kadar Saiyed who also lives in the same colony. Sabiya, an MCom graduate, told Mirror, The doctors told me that I had suffered an allergic reaction to the lights used in decoration. When I woke up on Saturday morning, I was unable to even open my eyes. I had thought it was due to fatigue.
But when several other guests also complained of the same problem, we decided to take medical help. Sabiya, whose wedding took place on Saturday evening, was asked by doctors to stay away from make-up products too. Asiya Memon, 37, who lives in the nearby Shah-e-alam row house said that they had felt a burning sensation in the eyes during the function. But everyone was busy having a gala time and no one paid much attention to it. I went to bed, hoping it would get better in the morning. However, when I woke up in the morning, my eyes were blood-red and watery.
kibuck/Representational Image
So, I rushed to the hospital where the doctors said it might be an allergic reaction to the halogen lights. As many as 90 patients were treated at the Nagri hospital while nine others were treated at a private hospital in Danilimda. Nagri RMO Jignyasa Parikh said, On Saturday, we treated around 90 patients who came in with severe allergic reaction in the eye. The reaction was caused due to the halogen and helium lights used for decorations. We gave them anti-allergic injections and eye-drops. She said that there is a team of doctors who will be available if the wedding party needed further medical assistance.
Sabiyas maternal grandfather Gulbahadur Khan, 67, maternal uncle Gul Mohammed, 42, two cousins Majir Pathan (10) and Malhin Modan (16) were also among those affected. Hardik Bhavsar, a doctor at a private hospital where some of the guests were treated, said, The guests came in with a case of severe toxicity, which was caused due to exposure to toxic gases contained in the light bulbs. The halogen and helium lights contain substances like mercury, sodium and noble gases like argon and krypton which are harmful when you come in contact with them.
Representational Image
Some of the lights must have developed a leak or exploded and released the gases. The infection was treated with injections and eye-drops. Meanwhile, the decorator removed the lights as soon as he heard of the trouble. Munaf Shaikh whose decoration company Karishma Decorators installed the lights, said, We have been supplying decorations for wedding venues for more than five years now. Never once have we faced such a problem. This is the first time that guests have suffered an allergic reaction to the lights. Now that we have got to know about it, we will check the lights to see how this could have happened and replace the lights if they are faulty.
As the news of the incident spread, the police commissioner took note of it and directed the Danilimda police to look into the incident. Police Commissioner A K Singh said, I came to know of the incident through media. I have asked the control room to initiate an inquiry into the matter and submit a report. Though Danilimda police have not received any complaint from the wedding party or from any of the hospitals, it has started investigating why such a health-scare took place, told Police Inspector R M Vasava.
The National Investigation Agency has filed a closure report in the case relating to two "guides" from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, initially suspected to have helped the terrorist squad that attacked the Indian Army camp at Uri on September 18, 2016, as the charges against the duo could not be substantiated.
BCCL
The two youths Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan Khursheed are likely to be returned to Pakistan as part of a "goodwill" arrangement under which Indian Army soldier Chandu Chavan was sent back here last month. The custody of the two youths provided leverage to India in ensuring Chavan's return.
The NIA decided to file the closure report after its probe did not find evidence to corroborate the initial "confessional statement" the two youths made to the Indian Army. The two were arrested on September 21 last year after the attack in which terrorists killed 19 Indian soldiers. The investigation into the larger conspiracy behind the Uri terror strike will, however, continue.
PTI
Sources in the security establishment said the "swap" is part of the arrangement that saw Chavan being sent back by the Pakistani army. India has now initiated the process to send back Awan and Khursheed after the NIA probe found them to be youths who inadvertently crossed over from PoK and seemingly not having any link with the Uri attack.
A source in the home ministry told TOI that the closure report, filed in the NIA special court on Thursday, states that no evidence has been found and the two are exonerated of all charges. Once the court accepts the closure report, the two will be free to go back to their families in PoK. The modalities of their return to PoK are likely to be decided by the ministry of external affairs. The Army has been informally told about the closure report.
AFP
The relief for Awan and Khursheed follows claims by their families in PoK, as reported in a section of the media, that the two are Class X students and not yet adults. As per their initial statement to the Army, while Awan, son of Gul Akbar, is 20, Khursheed, son of Chaudhary Khursheed, is 19.
According to the NIA statement dated September 27, 2016, Awan and Khursheed had, during their interrogation soon after their arrest, "disclosed that they were tasked by Jaish-e-Muhammed commanders to facilitate the infiltration of a group of four JeM cadres who carried out the Uri Army camp attack". On being shown photographs of the four slain terrorists, Awan identified one of them as Hafeez Ahmed, son of Feroz, a resident of village Dharbang, Muzaffarabad.
AFP
With the case against Awan and Khursheed collapsing, the claim regarding the identity of the fidayeen has fallen flat. This has further weakened the case for the Army's initial claim attributing the attack to Jaish was belied by evidence pointing to the involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
"The matrix sheet codes recovered from the site are those used by the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Also, Lashkar-e-Taiba had in October 2016 owned up to the attack by announcing funeral prayers for one of the slain terrorists at Gujranwala in Pakistan," said an investigator.
The Delhi police have arrested four persons for gang raping a Delhi University student, who is said to be known to them. There was one other person who has not been arrested so far, police said.
According to police, the incident took place in Faridabad. The victim, 20, is a history student in South Campus and two of the accused study in the same college as her.
Representational Image
According to the police, two of her friends, Gaurav and Sunny, took her to Faridabad on a motorcycle on February 3 after a college function for a party. Initially, she was hesitant, but later they convinced her by telling that one of her female friend and another friend would also join them, police said.
After reaching Faridabad, they took her to another friend, Rohtash's house, where she was raped.
They threatened her against disclosing the incident to anyone.
The victim was dropped in Delhi by Vinod who also raped her after stopping the car in an isolated place. The incident had left the girl traumatised and she didnt attend the classes for many days. Later, she informed her college authorities and a FIR was registered in southeast Delhis Lajpat Nagar police station on February 18, police said. Gaurav, Sunny and Rohtash were held and another person Bunty, who emerged as a conspirator was also arrested, they said adding raids were on to nab Sachin who is absconding.
The idea of chopping thousands of trees in a bid to create a futuristic world may sound fancy, but it sure does paint a sordid picture of our extreme loss.
stateimpact
Gurgaon will now soon pay a heavy price for its development- the loss of over 9,000 trees.
Environmentalist around the city and many others in the nearby areas are now eyeing the execution of NHAI (National Highway Authority of India), that very conveniently felled 9,000 trees to build flyovers and underpass in the city.
As a result, the atmospheric temperature could rise up to 3 degrees celsius in the vicinity let alone the unavailability of shade in the blistering summers that are soon to arrive.
It's strange how the authorities are indifferent towards the green channels in the city since no plans for maintaining the green strength and city forest has been mentioned so far.
Reuters
Three underpasses that will be constructed near Iffco Chowk, Signature Tower and Rajeev Chowk and another flyover which will find its place near Hero Honda Chowk will be made at the cost of thousands of Peepal, Banyan, and Neem trees.
The officials, however, claim that the chopping was only executed after attaining prior permission from the Haryana forest department.
24warez
"The forest department has asked NHAI to plant 1.5 lakh trees to compensate the losses of fully grown trees. They have given a clarification that re-rooting fully grown trees are practically impossible here due to lack of infrastructure and other facilities," one official said.
reference
Undoubtedly, this chopping has been done in an unproportionate and inappropriate manner that will cast its harm on the city life very soon. With summers around the corner and amid all the existing infrastructure, the city for sure could not afford to lose trees in such vast majority.
If it hadnt been for this man and his ability to think on his feet, Akkihebbalu village would have been drowned in sorrow today.
Ravi, 24, a herdsman, is being hailed as the man of the moment after his quick thinking saved the lives of seven villagers. The tahsildar has recommended his name to the district administration for official recognition of his brave act.
AVFM Sverige/Representational Image
On Saturday, the seven men and women were washing clothes in a pond in the Hemavathi river basin in their village, which falls under KR Pet taluk of Mandya district. Around 4 pm, the sluice gates of Hemavathi dam were opened and water quickly swelled up around the villagers. With nowhere to go, the villagers started screaming for help.
Ravi, who was grazing his cattle near the river bank, heard their cries and decided to act. He knew that waiting for help was futile as the water level was rising fast. In order to buy time, he asked the villagers to move to the rocks nearby. He asked his friend to get some tyre tubes and some rope; he then sent word to firemen for help.
Bangalore Mirror
By the time the firemen arrived, Ravi had already rescued four villagers. He inflated the tubes, and swam towards the villagers with the rope. One by one, he brought them ashore without thinking twice about his own safety. Then he assisted the firemen in rescuing the remaining three villagers.
The irrigation department said it had informed the authorities about the planned release of water from the Hemavathi dam. The taluk administration has asked its officers to do a better job of informing locals in future.
Rathnamma, the Tahshildar, told Bangalore Mirror: One must appreciate Ravis bravery. We have decided to felicitate him in the coming national festival. We are also planning to request the district administration to honour him. This will inspire others too.
Just two days after an Indian techie was killed in a hate crime in Kansas, America, Hindu Samhati president Tapan Ghosh has advised Hindu men should wear the tilak and women the bindi to conspicuously reflect their identity, which according to him will increase their security.
PTI
"Hindus should show identity by wearing Tilak, women should wear bindi, for security," Ghosh told ANI on Saturday.
The right-wing politician also said that terrorists do not consider a person's religion when attacking them, which makes us wonder why he solicited the said advice in the first place.
"Do terrorists consider if you are Hindu or Muslim? Muslim clerics must tell followers to embrace Hindu and/or Christian symbols for security," Ghosh said.
The Hindu Samhati founder's remarks come at a time when the Indian diaspora in the US is reeling after engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was shot dead by a by a navy veteran in Kansas City and another was injured. The attacker, Adam W Purington, reportedly shouted "Get out of my country!" and "terrorist" before opening fire on Srinivas and his techie friend Alok Madasani.
ALSO READ: This American Man Tried To Save Indians From Racist Attacker And Took The Bullet In His Chest
BCCL
Authorities charged Purinton, 51, with first-degree murder in Kuchibhotla's death. The incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Srinivas's wife Sunayana Dumala said reports of bias against minorities in the US make them afraid and demanded what the Trump administration would do to stop hate crimes against minorities.
It is interesting to note that Tapan Ghosh is a supporter of US President Donald Trump. Ghosh frequently retweets Trump's posts on Twitter, hailing his presidency and commending the billionaire for his policies and opinions.
While Pakistan's Peshawar province remains in news for all the wrong reasons most of the time, this information surely sends a positive note from one of the most volatile parts of the world. No matter how a section of extremist Islamists are treating the others, the festivities of Maha Shivaratri brought together the Hindus and Muslims of the violence-torn Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Immense brotherhood was on display as the Muslims made sure that their Hindu brethren celebrate the festival while praying to the almighty.
Hindus and Muslim residents of Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa showed solidarity and celebrated Maha Shivaratri at a Hindu Dargah in the heart of the city.
Representational image/AP
This is not the first time, however, when the two communities are seen together. Locals say that come what may, the two communities have always stayed with peace and harmony without fearing the religious extremists in the country.
Nazim Ghulam Mustafa told The Express Tribune, This festival has never been cancelled even during the time when Babri Majid was attacked and destroyed by fanatics in 1992.
He also said that Hindus and Muslims have been living in harmony for centuries and have stood by each other without the burden of caste or religion. It has become our religious and social responsibility to ensure their security and protection, Mustafa added.
Representational image/BCCL
Balwant Raam, an 80-year-old Hindu said they are able to celebrate every year thanks to the support of locals and the police. It is not the first time that we have gathered to perform our religious rituals. We have always observed our celebrations without any fear, he said.
Spring is arriving sooner in the white blanket of the Arctic and, by now, we hardly need to tell you that climate change is the culprit, which is diminishing ice cover. While some plant species are blooming sooner, others' spring development is being delayed, a new study 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.
Reuters
Researchers searched for the first signs of growth in individual plants species every day from early May to late June. Led by the University of California, Davis in the US, they 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.
ALSO READ: 1000-Ft Long Block Of Ice Is About To Break Off Antarctica
Reuters
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, the study published in the journal Biology Letters said.
ALSO READ: Sea Ice Around Antarctica Has Shrunk To The Smallest Size, All Because Of Global Warming
Reuters
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 recognisable 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.
Reuters
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.
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.
ALSO READ: Aerial Video Shows Giant Crack In Antarctica's Ice Shelf. Still Think Global Warming Is A Hoax?
A Syrian cinematographer, who worked on the Oscar-nominated documentary, The White Helmets, wont be able to attend the ceremony this Sunday because US Department of Homeland Security denied him a visa.
Reuters
Khaled Khateeb, 21, was denied entry because officials apparently found derogatory information against him.
On January 27, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order temporarily banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the country. Syrian citizens have been indefinitely barred from entering. However, a US court blocked the ban.
Reuters
The 40-minute-long documentary is about The Syrian Civil Defense, who through their selfless efforts have saved more than 78,529 people from attacks in Syria. They were awarded the alternative Nobel prize by the Stockholm-based Right Livelihood Award Foundation in September 2016.
Also read: Here's The Story Of 'White Helmets' Who Are Risking Their Lives To Save Innocent Civilians In War-Torn Syria
Khateeb had said earlier, If we win this award (Oscars), it will show people across Syria that people around the world support them. It will give courage to every volunteer who wakes up every morning to run towards bombs.
High-stakes political developments in both Greece and Turkey were momentarily but noisily distracted by a brief spate of old-style saber-rattling over the weekend , as Greece's outspoken defense minister warned of dire consequences if Turkish troops "stepped on" a couple of eastern Aegean rock islets that Ankara claims are of disputed sovereignty.
The United States of Permanent War
By Edward Hunt
February 25, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - As the foreign policy establishment continues to grapple with the consequences of Trumps election, U.S. officials can still agree on one thing. The United States is a nation that is waging a permanent war.
In December 2016, President Obama reflected on the development in a speech that he delivered to U.S. soldiers at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. By the time I took office, the United States had been at war for seven years, Obama said. By continuing that war, I will become the first president of the United States to serve two full terms during a time of war.
Notably, Obama did not issue his remarks to criticize the United States. He only made his point to note that Congress had never provided him with authority to perpetuate the wars of the Bush administration. Right now, we are waging war under authorities provided by Congress over 15 years ago15 years ago, Obama said. Consequently, he wanted Congress to craft new legislation that made it appear as if it had not permitted the United States to remain at war forever. Democracies should not operate in a state of permanently authorized war, Obama said.
The Bush Plan
Regardless of what Obama really felt about the matter, the Bush administration had always intended for the United States to wage a permanent war. In the days after 9/11, President Bush provided the guiding vision when he announced in a speech to the nation that the United States would be fighting an indefinite global war on terror. Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes, Bush explained. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen.
The following year, Director of Policy Planning Richard Haass provided additional confirmation of the administrations intentions. There can be no exit strategy in the war against terrorism, Haass declared. It is a war that will persist. In other words, Haass announced that the United States would remain at war against terrorism forever. There is unlikely to be an Antietam, a decisive battle in this war, Haass stated. An exit strategy, therefore, will do us no good. What we need is an endurance strategy.
As U.S. officials developed their endurance strategy, they also settled on a few guiding principles. For starters, U.S. officials determined that they would have to maintain some kind of permanent presence in Afghanistan. Were not leaving Afghanistan prematurely, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates remarked during the early years of the Obama administration. In fact, were not ever leaving at all.
More recently, a number of officials in the Obama administration articulated a similar principle for the Middle East. In October 2016, for example, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper noted that the United States would remain in the region well into the future. Even if the Islamic State is defeated, it is probably not going to go away, and itll morph into something else or other similar extremist groups will be spawned, Clapper said. And I believe were going to be in the business of suppressing these extremist movements for a long time to come.
This past December, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter made a similar point, arguing that coalition forces must be ready for anything and must remain engaged militarily even after the inevitable expulsion of ISIL from Mosul and Raqqa.
In essence, U.S. officials agree that the war against terrorism must remain permanent.
The Trump Turn
Officials in the Trump administration, who are now taking over the endurance strategy, have also remained determined to keep the nation at war. Although Trump promised during his campaign that war and aggression will not be my first instinct, both he and his cabinet members have displayed a clear preference for war.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who is perhaps most well known for once commenting that it was a hell of a hoot and a hell of a lot of fun to shoot enemy forces in Afghanistan, argued during his confirmation hearing that the United States should take advantage of its power of intimidation. In fact, Mattis pledged to increase the lethality of U.S. military forces. Our armed forces in this world must remain the best led, the best equipped, and the most lethal in the world, Mattis insisted.
Furthermore, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has positioned himself as an even stronger advocate of war. For example, Tillerson insisted during his confirmation hearing that the Obama administration should have helped Ukrainian military forces fight Russia after Putin had seized Crimea in early 2014. My opinion is there should have been a show of force, a military response, in defensive posture, Tillerson said. In addition, Tillerson insisted that the Trump administration will not permit China to continue building islands in the South China Sea. Were going to have to send China a clear signal that first, the island-building stops, and second, your access to those islands also not going to be allowed, Tillerson said.
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Altogether, Tillerson argued that the United States must display a greater willingness to go to war. In the years ahead, the United States will follow the old tenet of Teddy Roosevelt, walk softly and carry a big stick, he promised.
Finally, Trump has displayed an even stronger preference for war. In his many public statements, Trump has essentially branded himself as the new face of the permanent war against terrorism. Radical Islamic terrorism is something that we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth, Trump promised during his inaugural address .
In short, officials in Washington are committed to perpetual war. Although they regularly promise to end war and support peace, they have spent the past 16 years transforming the United States into a nation that is permanently at war.
In fact, the fighting is wonderful, Trump has said .
Sam Stone
By John Prine
There was nothing to be done,
But trade his house that he bought on the GI bill,
For a flag-draped casket on a local hero's hill.
Posted February 25, 2017
Sam Stone came home,
To the wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knees.
But the morhpine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a purple heart and a monkey on his back.
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
Sam Stone's welcome home
Didn't last too long.
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And soon he took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.
And the gold roared through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
Sam Stone was alone
When he popped his last balloon,
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair.
Well, he played his last request,
While the room smelled just like death,
With an overdose hovering in the air.
But life had lost it's fun,
There was nothing to be done,
But trade his house that he bought on the GI bill,
For a flag-draped casket on a local hero's hill.
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
- Warning - Barf Alert
Clinton Calls for Resistance and Persistence From Democrats
By Gabby Kaufman
February 25, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - 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.
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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:
The Trump-Netanyahu Circus: Now, No One Can Save Israel from Itself
By Ramzy Baroud
February 25, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The President of the United States can hardly be taken seriously, saying much but doing little. His words, often offensive, carry no substance, and it is impossible to summarize his complex political outlook about important issues.
This is precisely the type of American presidency that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prefers.
However, Donald Trump is not just a raving man, but a dangerous one as well. His unpredictability must worry Israel, which expects from its American benefactors complete clarity and consistency in terms of its political support.
At the age of 70, Trump is incapable of being the stalwart, pro-Zionist ideologue in a way that suits Israeli interests well.
Take, for example, the White House press conference following the much anticipated visit by Netanyahu to Washington on 15 February.
The visit was scheduled immediately after Trumps inauguration on 20 January and is considered the Trump Presidencys answer to what Israel wrongly perceives as a hostile US administration under former President Barack Obama.
However, Obama granted Israel $38 billion over the course of ten years, estimated to be the most generous aid package in US history . He supported all the Israeli wars against Palestinians during his presidency, and unfailingly defended Israel before the international community, at the United Nations and every global forum in which Israel was justifiably criticised.
But Israel expects blind support. It needs a US administration that is as loyal as the US Congress, always praising Israel, degrading Palestinians, dismissing international law, calling to stop funding the UN for daring to demand accountability from Israel, feeding Israeli security phobias with monetary and absolute political backing, demonising Iran, undermining the Arabs and repeating all Israeli talking points fed to them by Tel Aviv and by the fifth column lobbyists in Washington.
Trump is striving to be that person, the messiah that Israels army of right-wing, ultranationalists and religious zealots have been calling for. But this appears beyond the mans control, no matter how hard he tries.
Looking at two-state or one-state, I like the one that both parties like. Im very happy with the one both parties like. I can live with either one, Trump said in answer to a journalists question, implying to Israel that the US will no longer impose solutions; instead, Trump pushed the one-state solution idea to the very top of the discussion. It is not what Israel wanted or expected.
In Washington, Netanyahu, with unmistakable pomposity, stood before the media and simply lied . He painted Israel as vulnerable, a prey for dark radical Islam forces, ready to strike from every corner.
He presented Irans nuclear capabilities as if it is lined up to incinerate Israel, itself built atop the graves and villages of dispossessed Palestinians. No journalist had the courage to quiz the Israeli leader about his own countrys massive nuclear arsenal and other weapons of mass destruction. Listening to him preach fabricated history to the incurious American media, one would think that militarily powerful Israel is occupied by hostile Palestinian foreigners, and not vice versa.
Netanyahu claimed his people belonged to Palestine as the French belonged to France and the Chinese to China. But if European Jewish immigrants are the natives of Palestine, then what is one to make of Palestinians ? How is one to explain their existence on land that has carried their collective name for millennia?
This is inconsequential to the US government and mainstream media. US media is as uninformed about the realities of the Middle East as Trump, who seems to have only two main talking points about the whole issue, both embarrassingly bizarre:
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Israel has been treated very, very badly by the US, and he has a really great peace deal in store.
On the contrary, Palestinians have been treated very, very badly by the US, the most generous supporter of Israel . Israel has used mostly American weapons in its wars against Palestinians and other Arab nations, with thousands of Palestinians losing their lives because of this blind American patronage.
As for his really great peace deal, Trump has nothing. Really great seems to be his answer to everything, to the point that his words are becoming ineffectual cliches, suitable for twitter jokes and comedy.
Furthermore, Netanyahu, urged on by to quote former Secretary of State, John Kerry the most right-wing coalition in Israeli history wants the US to unconditionally support Israel as the latter is finalizing its future vision.
Now, it seems that Israel is concluding that territorial quest. The Regularization Law passed recently in Israels parliament the Knesset will retroactively validate all Israeli illegal settlers claims over Palestinian land. Top Israel officials now openly speak of annexation of the West Bank, using language that was formerly reserved for Jewish extremists.
Israels president believes annexation is the answer. I, Rubi Rivlin, believe that Zion is entirely ours. I believe the sovereignty of the State of Israel must be in all the blocs, Rivlin said , emphasizing that he was referring to the entire West Bank, as quoted by the Times of Israel.
The consensus among Israels ruling class is that a Palestinian state should never be established. Trump, although incoherent, granted them just that.
So what does Netanyahu want? We know he does not want a Palestinian state and plans to annex all Jewish colonies, while continuing to expand over stolen Palestinian land. He wants Palestinians to exist, but without political will of their own, without sovereignty, forced to accept that Israel is a Jewish state (thus signing off on their historic right to their own land); to remain subdued, passive, disarmed, dehumanized.
Netanyahus end game is Apartheid, racist segregation where one party, Israeli Jews, dominates and exploits the other Palestinian Arabs: Muslims and Christians.
But human dignity is not open for negotiation, no matter how a good negotiator Netanyahu is according to Trumps assertion.
Palestinians have resisted Israel for nearly 70 years because they challenge their servitude. They will continue to resist.
Israel has the military means to punish Palestinians for their resistance, to push them behind military checkpoints and trap them behind walls. Yet, it is not a matter of firepower, and no wall can be high enough to stymie the echoes of oppressed people striving for freedom, human rights, equality and solidarity.
Netanyahu must feel triumphant because of Trumps assuring words. The Israeli leader wants any victory, however illusive, to buy time and the allegiance of his camp of extremists, especially now that he is being investigated for fraud and is likely to be indicted .
He may even initiate a war against Gaza to create further distraction, and will readily spin facts so that his country is presented as a victim, to test American support and to downgrade Hamas and other Palestinian groups defenses.
However, none of this will change the reality that Netanyahu has unwisely constructed. His vision for Israel is the perpetual subjugation of Palestinians through a system of racial discrimination that will continue until the world unravels the lies and the propaganda.
Having Trump by his side, Netanyahu will work diligently to perfect the Palestinian prison in the name of Israels security.
Palestinians must now respond, without the irrelevant rhetoric of a two-state solution, but with a unified universal message to the rest of the world: expecting in fact, demanding freedom, equality, full rights in a society that is not predicated on racial order, but on equal citizenship.
Israel has laid out its dark vision. Palestinians must present the antithesis to that destructive vision: a road map towards justice, equality and peace for all.
The U.S. Carried Out Regime Change In Syria In 1949 and Tried Again In 1957, 1986, 1991 and 2011-Today
By WashingtonsBlog
February 25, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " WashingtonsBlog " - The CIA backed a right-wing coup in Syria in 1949 . Douglas Little, Professor, Department of Clark University History professor Douglas Little notes :
Recently declassified records confirm that beginning on November 30, 1948, [CIA operative Stephen] Meade met secretly with Colonel Zaim at least six times to discuss the possibility [of an] army supported dictatorship. [Cold War and Covert Action: The United States and Syria, 1945-1958, Middle East Journal, Winter 1990, p. 55] *** As early as 1949, this newly independent Arab republic was an important staging ground for the CIAs earliest experiments in covert action. The CIA secretly encouraged a right-wing military coup in 1949.
The reason the U.S. initiated the coup? Little explains:
In late 1945, the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) announced plans to construct the Trans-Arabian Pipe Line (TAPLINE) from Saudi Arabia to the Mediterra- nean. With U.S. help, ARAMCO secured rights-of-way from Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The Syrian right-of-way was stalled in parliament.
In other words, Syria was the sole holdout for the lucrative oil pipeline.
(Indeed, the CIA has carried out this type of covert action right from the start .)
In 1957, the American president and British prime minister agreed to launch regime change again in Syria. Historian Little notes that the coup plot was discovered and stopped:
On August 12, 1957, the Syrian army surrounded the U.S. embassy in Damascus. Claiming to have aborted a CIA plot to overthrow neutralist President Shukri Quwatly and install a pro-Western regime, Syrian chief of counterintelligence Abdul Hamid Sarraj expelled three U.S. diplomats .
Syrian counterintelligence chief Sarraj reacted swiftly on August 12, expelling Stone and other CIA agents, arresting their accomplices and placing the U.S. embassy under surveillance. *** More importantly, Syria also had control of one of the main oil arteries of the Middle East, the pipeline which connected pro-western Iraqs oilfields to Turkey. *** The report said that once the necessary degree of fear had been created, frontier incidents and border clashes would be staged to provide a pretext for Iraqi and Jordanian military intervention. Syria had to be made to appear as the sponsor of plots, sabotage and violence directed against neighbouring governments, the report says. CIA and SIS should use their capabilities in both the psychological and action fields to augment tension. *** The plan called for funding of a Free Syria Committee [hmmm sounds vaguely familiar ], and the arming of political factions with paramilitary or other actionist capabilities within Syria. The CIA and MI6 would instigate internal uprisings, for instance by the Druze [a Shia Muslim sect ] in the south, help to free political prisoners held in the Mezze prison, and stir up the Muslim Brotherhood in Damascus.
Newly-declassified CIA documents show that in 1986, the CIA drew up plans to overthrow Syria by provoking sectarian tensions .
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Neoconservatives planned regime change in Syria once again in 1991 .
And as Nafeez Ahmed notes :
According to former French foreign minister Roland Dumas , Britain had planned covert action in Syria as early as 2009: I was in England two years before the violence in Syria on other business, he told French television: I met with top British officials, who confessed to me that they were preparing something in Syria. This was in Britain not in America. Britain was preparing gunmen to invade Syria. Leaked emails from the private intelligence firm Stratfor , including notes from a meeting with Pentagon officials , confirmed that as of 2011, US and UK special forces training of Syrian opposition forces was well underway. The goal was to elicit the collapse of Assads regime from within.
Indeed .
How New Cold Warriors Cornered Trump
The U.S. intelligence communitys extraordinary campaign of leaks claiming improper ties between President Trumps team and Russia seeks to ensure a lucrative New Cold War by blocking detente.
By Gareth Porter
February 25, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Consortium News " - Opponents of the Trump administration have generally accepted as fact the common theme across mainstream media that aides to Donald Trump were involved in some kind of illicit communications with the Russian government that has compromised the independence of the administration from Russian influence.
But close analysis of the entire series of leaks reveals something else that is equally sinister in its implications: an unprecedented campaign by Obama administration intelligence officials, relying on innuendo rather than evidence, to exert pressure on Trump to abandon any idea of ending the New Cold War and to boost the campaign to impeach Trump.
A brazen and unprecedented intervention in domestic U.S. politics by the intelligence community established the basic premise of the cascade of leaks about alleged Trump aides shady dealing with Russia. Led by CIA Director John Brennan, the CIA, FBI and NSA issued a 25-page assessment on Jan. 6 asserting for the first time that Russia had sought to help Trump win the election.
Brennan had circulated a CIA memo concluding that Russia had favored Trump and had told CIA staff that he had met separately with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and FBI Director James Comey and that they had agreed on the scope, nature and intent of Russian interference in our presidential election.
In the end, however, Clapper refused to associate himself with the document and the NSA, which agreed to do so, was only willing to express moderate confidence in the judgment that the Kremlin had sought to help Trump in the election. In intelligence community parlance, that meant that the NSA considered the idea the Kremlin was working to elect Trump was merely plausible, not actually supported by reliable evidence.
In fact, the intelligence community had not even obtained evidence that Russia was behind the publication by Wikileaks of the e-mails Democratic National Committee, much less that it had done so with the intention of electing Trump. Clapper had testified before Congress in mid-November and again in December that the intelligence community did not know who had provided the e-mails to WikiLeaks and when they were provided.
The claim by Brennan with the support of Comey that Russia had aspired to help Trumps election prospects was not a normal intelligence community assessment but an extraordinary exercise of power by Brennan, Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers.
Brennan and his allies were not merely providing a professional assessment of the election, as was revealed by their embrace of the the dubious dossier compiled by a private intelligence firm hired by one of Trumps Republican opponents and later by the Clinton campaign for the specific purpose of finding evidence of illicit links between Trump and the Putin regime.
Salacious Gossip
When the three intelligence agencies gave the classified version of their report to senior administration officials in January they appended a two-page summary of the juiciest bits from that dossier including claims that Russian intelligence had compromising information about Trumps personal behavior while visiting Russia. The dossier was sent, along with the assessment that Russia was seeking to help Trump get elected, to senior administration officials as well as selected Congressional leaders.
Among the claims in the private intelligence dossier that was summarized for policymakers was the allegation of a deal between the Trump campaign and the Putin government involving full Trump knowledge of the Russian election help and a Trump pledge months before the election to sideline the Ukraine issue once in office. The allegation devoid of any verifiable information came entirely from an unidentified Russian emigre claiming to be a Trump insider, without any evidence provided of the sources actual relationship to the Trump camp or of his credibility as a source.
After the story of the two-page summary leaked to the press, Clapper publicly expressed profound dismay about the leak and said the intelligence community has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, nor did it rely on it any way for our conclusions.
One would expect that acknowledgment to be followed by an admission that he should not have circulated it outside the intelligence community at all. But instead Clapper then justified having passed on the summary as providing policymakers with the fullest possible picture of any matters that might affect national security.
By that time, U.S. intelligence agencies had been in possession of the material in the dossier for several months. It was their job to verify the information before bringing it to the attention of policymakers.
A former U.S. intelligence official with decades of experience dealing with the CIA as well other intelligence agencies, who insisted on anonymity because he still has dealings with U.S. government agencies, told this writer that he had never heard of the intelligence agencies making public unverified information on a U.S. citizen.
The CIA has never played such a open political role, he said.
The CIA has often tilted its intelligence assessment related to a potential adversary in the direction desired by the White House or the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but this is the first time that such a slanted report impinges not only on domestic politics but is directed at the President himself.
The egregious triple abuse of the power in publishing a highly partisan opinion on Russia and Trumps election, appending raw and unverified private allegations impugning Trumps loyalty and then leaking that fact to the media begs the question of motive. Brennan, who initiated the whole effort, was clearly determined to warn Trump not to reverse the policy toward Russia to which the CIA and other national security organizations were firmly committed.
A few days after the leak of the two-page summary, Brennan publicly warned Trump about his policy toward Russia. In an interview on Fox News, he said, I think Mr. Trump has to understand that absolving Russia of various actions that its taken in the past number of years is a road that he, I think, needs to be very, very careful about moving down.
Graham Fuller, who was a CIA operations officer for 20 years and was also National Intelligence Officer for the Middle East for four years in the Reagan administration, observed in an e-mail, that Brennan, Clapper and Comey might legitimately fear Trump as a loose cannon on the national scene, but they are also dismayed at any prospect that the official narrative against Russia could start falling apart under Trump, and want to maintain the image of constant and dangerous Russian intervention into affairs of state.
Flynn in the Bulls Eye
As Trumps National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn presented an easy target for a campaign to portray the Trump team as being in Putins pocket. He had already drawn heavy criticism not only by attending a Moscow event celebrating the Russian television RT in 2016 but sitting next to Putin and accepting a fee for speaking at the event. More importantly, however, Flynn had argued that the United States and Russia could and should cooperate in their common interest of defeating Islamic State militants.
That idea was anathema to the Pentagon and the CIA. Obamas Defense Secretary Ashton Carter had attacked Secretary of State John Kerrys negotiating a Syrian ceasefire that included a provision for coordination of efforts against Islamic State. The official investigation of the U.S. attack on Syrian forces on Sept. 17 turned up evidence that CENTCOM had deliberately targeted the Syrian military sites with the intention of sabotaging the ceasefire agreement.
The campaign to bring down Flynn began with a leak from a senior U.S. government official to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius about the now-famous phone conversation between Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak on Dec. 29. In his column on the leak, Ignatius avoided making any explicit claim about the conversation. Instead, he asked What did Flynn say, and did it undercut the U.S. sanctions?
And referring to the Logan Act, the 1799 law forbidding a private citizen from communicating with a foreign government to influence a dispute with the United States, Ignatius asked, Was its spirit violated?
The implications of the coy revelation of the Flynn conversation with Kislyak were far-reaching. Any interception of a communication by the NSA or the FBI has always been considered one of the most highly classified secrets in the U.S. intelligence universe of secrets. And officers have long been under orders to protect the name of any American involved in any such intercepted communication at all costs.
But the senior official who leaked the story of Flynn-Kislyak conversation to Ignatius obviously for a domestic political purpose did not feel bound by any such rule. That leak was the first move in a concerted campaign of using such leaks to suggest that Flynn had discussed the Obama administrations sanctions with Kislyak in an effort to undermine Obama administration policy.
The revelation brought a series of articles about denials by the Trump transition team, including Vice President-elect Mike Pence, that Flynn had, in fact, discussed sanctions with Kislyak and continued suspicions that Trumps aides were covering up the truth. But the day after Trump was inaugurated, the Post itself reported that the FBI had begun in late December go back over all communications between Flynn and Russian officials and had not found evidence of wrongdoing or illicit ties to the Russian government.
Two weeks later, however, the Post reversed its coverage of the issue, publishing a story citing nine current and former officials, who were in senior positions at multiple agencies at the time of the calls, as saying that Flynn had discussed sanctions with Kislyak.
The story said Flynns conversation with Kislyak was interpreted by some senior U.S. officials as an inappropriate and potentially illegal signal to the Kremlin that it could expect a reprieve from sanctions that were being imposed by the Obama administration in late December to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 election.
The Post did not refer to its own previous reporting of the FBIs unambiguous view contradicting that claim, which suggested strongly that the FBI was trying to head off a plan by Brennan and Clapper to target Flynn. But it did include a crucial caveat on the phrase discussed sanctions that few readers would have noticed. It revealed that the phrase was actually an interpretation of the language that Flynn had used. In other words, what Flynn actually said was not necessarily a literal reference to sanctions at all.
Only a few days later, the Post reported a new development : Flynn had been interviewed by the FBI on Jan. 24 four days after Trumps inauguration and had denied that he discussed sanctions in the conversation. But prosecutors were not planning to charge Flynn with lying, according to several officials, in part because they believed he would be able to parse the definition of the word sanctions. That implied that the exchange was actually focused not on sanctions per se but on the expulsion of the Russian diplomats.
Just hours before his resignation on Feb. 13, Flynn claimed in an interview with the Daily Caller that he had indeed referred only to the expulsion of the Russian diplomats.
It wasnt about sanctions. It was about the 35 guys who were thrown out, Flynn said. It was basically, Look, I know this happened. Well review everything. I never said anything such as, Were going to review sanctions, or anything like that.
The Russian Blackmail Ploy
Even as the story of the Flynns alleged transgression in the conversation with the Russian Ambassador was becoming a political crisis for Donald Trump, yet another leaked story surfaced that appeared to reveal a shocking new level of the Trump administrations weakness toward Russia.
The Post reported on Feb. 13 that Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama holdover, had decided in late January after discussions with Brennan, Clapper and FBI Director James Comey in the last days of the Obama administration to inform the White House Counsel Donald McGahn in late January that Flynn had lied to other Trump administration officials including Vice President Mike Pence in denying that he discussed sanctions with Kislyak. The Post cited current and former officials as the sources.
That story, repeated and amplified by many other news media, led to Flynns downfall later that same day. But like all of the other related leaks, the story revealed more about the aims of the leakers than about links between Trumps team and Russia.
The centerpiece of the new leak was that the former Obama administration officials named in the story had feared that Flynn put himself in a compromising position in regard to his account of the conversation with Kislyak to Trump members of the Trump transition.
Yates had told the White House that Flynn might be vulnerable to Russian blackmail because of the discrepancies between his conversation with the Ambassador and his story to Pence, according to the Post story.
But once again the impression created by the leak was very different from the reality behind it. The idea that Flynn had exposed himself to a potential Russian blackmail threat by failing to tell Pence exactly what had transpired in the conversation was fanciful in the extreme.
Even assuming that Flynn had flatly lied to Pence about what he had said in the meeting which was evidently not the case it would not have given the Russians something to hold over Flynn, first because it was already revealed publicly and second, because the Russian interest was to cooperate with the new administration.
The ex-Obama administration leakers were obviously citing that clumsy (and preposterous) argument as an excuse to intervene in the internal affairs of the new administration. The Posts sources also claimed that Pence had a right to know that he had been misled. True or not, it was, of course, none of their business.
Pity for Pence
The professed concern of the Intelligence Community and Justice Department officials that Pence deserved the full story from Flynn was obviously based on political considerations, not some legal principle. Pence was a known supporter of the New Cold War with Russia, so the tender concern for Pence not being treated nicely coincided with a strategy of dividing the new administration along the lines of policy toward Russia.
All indications are that Trump and other insiders knew from the beginning exactly what Flynn had actually said in the conversation, but that Flynn had given Pence a flat denial about discussing sanctions without further details.
On Feb. 13, when Trump was still trying to save Flynn, the National Security Adviser apologized to Pence for inadvertently having failed to give him a complete account, including his reference to the expulsion of the Russian diplomats. But that was not enough to save Flynns job.
The divide-and-conquer strategy, which led to Flynns ouster, was made effective because the leakers had already created a political atmosphere of great suspicion about Flynn and the Trump White House as having had illicit dealings with the Russians. The normally pugnacious Trump chose not to respond to the campaign of leaks with a detailed, concerted defense. Instead, he sacrificed Flynn before the end of the very day the Flynn blackmail story was published.
But Trumps appears to have underestimated the ambitions of the leakers. The campaign against Flynn had been calculated in part to weaken the Trump administration and ensure that the new administration would not dare to reverse the hardline policy of constant pressure on Putins Russia.
Many in Washingtons political elite celebrated the fall of Flynn as a turning point in the struggle to maintain the existing policy orientation toward Russia. The day after Flynn was fired the Posts national political correspondent, James Hohmann, wrote that the Flynn imbroglio would now make it politically untenable for Trump to scale back sanctions to Moscow because the political blowback from hawkish Republicans in Congress would be too intense.
But the ultimate target of the campaign was Trump himself. As neoconservative journalist Eli Lake put it, Flynn is only the appetizer. Trump is the entree.
Susan Hennessey, a well-connected former lawyer in the National Security Agencys Office of General Counsel who writes the Lawfare blog at the Brookings Institution, agreed. Trump may think Flynn is the sacrificial lamb, she told The Guardian , but the reality is that he is the first domino. To the extent the administration believes Flynns resignation will make the Russia story go away, they are mistaken.
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The Phony Constant Contacts Story
No sooner had Flynns firing been announced than the next phase of the campaign of leaks over Trump and Russia began. On Feb. 14, CNN and the New York Times published slight variants of the same apparently scandalous story of numerous contacts between multiple members of the Trump camp with the Russian at the very time the Russians were allegedly acting to influence the election.
There was little subtlety in how mainstream media outlets made their point. CNNs headline was, Trump aides were in constant touch with senior Russian officials during campaign. The Times headline was even more sensational: Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts with Russian Intelligence.
But the attentive reader would soon discover that the stories did not reflect those headlines. In the very first paragraph of the CNN story, those senior Russian officials became Russians known to U.S. intelligence, meaning that it included a wide range Russians who are not officials at all but known or suspected intelligence operatives in business and other sectors of society monitored by U.S. intelligence. A Trump associate dealing with such individuals would have no idea, of course, that they are working for Russian intelligence.
The Times story, on the other hand, referred to the Russians with whom Trump aides were said to be in contact last year as senior Russian intelligence officials, apparently glossing over a crucial distinction that sources had had made to CNN between intelligence officials and Russians being monitored by U.S. intelligence.
But the Times story acknowledged that the Russian contacts also included government officials who were not intelligence officials and that the contacts had been made not only by Trump campaign officials but also associates of Trump who had done business in Russia. It further acknowledged it was not unusual for American business to come in contact with foreign intelligence officials, sometimes unwittingly in Russia and Ukraine, where spy services are deeply embedded in society.
Even more important, however, the Times story made it clear that the intelligence community was seeking evidence that Trumps aides or associates were colluding with the Russians on the alleged Russian effort to influence the election, but that it had found no evidence of any such collusion. CNN failed to report that crucial element of the story.
The headlines and lead paragraphs of both stories, therefore, should have conveyed the real story: that the intelligence community had sought evidence of collusion by Trump aides with Russia but had not found it several months after reviewing the intercepted conversations and other intelligence.
Unwitting Allies of the War Complex?
Former CIA Director Brennan and other former Obama administration intelligence officials have used their power to lead a large part of the public to believe that Trump had conducted suspicious contacts with Russian officials without having the slightest evidence to support the contention that such contacts represent a serious threat to the integrity of the U.S. political process.
Many people who oppose Trump for other valid reasons have seized on the shaky Russian accusations because they represent the best possibility for ousting Trump from power. But ignoring the motives and the dishonesty behind the campaign of leaks has far-reaching political implications. Not only does it help to establish a precedent for U.S. intelligence agencies to intervene in domestic politics, as happens in authoritarian regimes all over the world, it also strengthens the hand of the military and intelligence bureaucracies who are determined to maintain the New Cold War with Russia.
Those war bureaucracies view the conflict with Russia as key to the continuation of higher levels of military spending and the more aggressive NATO policy in Europe that has already generated a gusher of arms sales that benefits the Pentagon and its self-dealing officials.
Progressives in the anti-Trump movement are in danger of becoming an unwitting ally of those military and intelligence bureaucracies despite the fundamental conflict between their economic and political interests and the desires of people who care about peace, social justice and the environment.
A Budget Without Russians: The Empires Nightmare
By Fred Reed
February 25, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Methinks the insane hysteria over Russia needs to stop. It probably will not. For reasons of domestic and imperial politics the American public is again being manipulated into a war frenzy by Washington and New York. It is stupid, without justification, and dangerous.
The silliness over Russia is, obviously, part of the Establishments drive to get rid of Trump. Yes, the man is erratic, contradictory, shoots before he aims, backs off much of what he has promised, and may be unqualified as Presidentbut that is not why Washington and New York want to get rid of him. It is about money and power, as is everything in the United States. Wall Street, the Pentagon, the Neocons, and the Empire run America. Trump has threatened their rice bowls.
Consider:
He has threatened to cut the F-35, a huge blow to Lockheed-Martin and hundreds of subcontractors; to pull US troops out of South Korea, a blow to the Empire; to end the wars, a blow both to the Empire and the military industry getting rich from them; to pull troops out of Okinawa, crippling the Empire in the Pacific; to start a trade war with China with a forty-five percent tariff of Chinese goods, threatening American corporations with factories there; and to chase out illegal immigrants, an important source of cheap labor to businesses. He has called NATO obsolete, when leaving it would be the death knell of the Empire; and threatened to establish good relations with Russia, when the lack of a European enemy would leave NATO even more obviously unnecessary.
Thus New York and its branch operation in Washington resuscitate Russia as a bugbear to terrify the rubes, meaning most of the public. Money. Power. Empire.
What sense does this makeapart from money and power? Russia is an economically challenged nation of 145 million, less than half of Europes population and much less than half of Americas. Its economy is a small fraction of the combined economies of Europe and America. It is not on a war footing. It is not moving forces into position for an invasion. It is not mobilizing. To satellite photography, to NSA these things would be as obvious as leprosy on a prom queen. The Establishment would be screaming to high heaven if there were the slightest trace of preparation for war. The whole business is manufactured.
I frequently see the assertion that Russia hacked voting machines to give the election to President Trump. The majority who are excited about this, I suspect the very great majority, have not the foggiest idea what they are talking about. Hacking to most people means something they saw in a movie, with some bright kid going clickety-click-click on a laptop and penetrating NORAD. It is a vague menace lacking specific content. To them I would say:
If you cannot program in assembly language, you do not know how computers work. If you do not know TCP/IP from DHCP, you do not know how the internet works. If you cannot tell a dictionary attack from stack overflow, you dont have a houseflys idea how hacking works. If you have not investigated the various kinds of voting machines to see what would be involved in changing their vote totals, you probably ought to take up stamp collecting.
This is all orchestrated. So is the constant Putin bashing. His sin of course is that he doesnt knuckle under to Washington. It is also the sin of Iran, China, Cuba, and North Korea.
The con is often silly. From time to time we see screaming headlines headlines, RUSSIAN BOMBER FLIES OFF AMERICAN COAST! Or somebodys coast. Recently it was A SPY SHIP! The bomber is usually a Tu-95 Bear (NATO designation), an ancient four-engine prop job, though a beautiful aircraft, converted for reconnaissance. The idea that Moscow would send one lumbering plane to bomb America is too stupidwell, no, nothing is too stupid.
Tu-95. First flew in 1952. Yes, it can carry nuclear weapons. So can a Volkswagen Jetta.
Then there is the assertion that Russia hacked the DNC and gave its emails to Wikileaks. This is possible, but how would we know? (And would not revealing misbehavior be a service to the voting public?) Note that many people had an incentive to do it, from disgruntled Democratic insiders to anyone who stood to lose by Hillarys election or gain by Trumps, to the Trump campaign itself, to the many talented freelancers who just enjoy raising hell. Maybe .1 percent of the population, certainly not including me, have the expertise and access even to guess intelligently.
If you believe same intel agencies that lied us into Vietnam and Iraq, and that apparently are very much involved in anti-Trumpian machinations, you are the Establishments ideal citizen. For political reasons, specifically hostility to Trump, they will say anything that suits their purposes. and only inadvertently include the truth. If this seems an extreme claim, reflect:
In 1964 the CIA was running various kinds of attacks against North Vietnam, without admitting it. Two intelligence vessels, the Maddox and the Turner Joy, claimed that they had been fired upon by the North. They had not, and if they had been it would not have been unreasonable since the United States was inserting teams of saboteurs into the north. The result, and intention, was to chivy America into wars which devastated three countries and lead to millions of deaths. It worked.
After Nine Eleven, the government, using the intel outfits, deliberately led most of the public to believe that Iraq was developing the dread WMD, and thus get the United States to attack for the benefit of the oil industry, Israel, and the imperial lobby. It was nonsense and Washington had to know it. At the time Iraq was probably the most watched real estate on the planet. The result was destruction of an innocent country and the bloody mess that is now the Middle East. Which, note, had nothing to do with the interests of the United States or the well-being of its people.
All of Americas wars are for the benefit of others than Americans. Do you think you would be made better off by a war with Russia? China? Does the unending butchery in Afghanistan improve your life? Would you feel more secure if NATOWashingtons puppet troupehad bases in Montenegro? Wherever the hell that is?
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The same game is now being played with Russia. Almost daily we read that Washington is sending troops to Poland, Bulgaria, Norway to confront the Russians, who are doing nothing that needs confronting.
US to Send 1,000 Troops to Poland to Deter Russia
Deter it from what?
This morning : Germany Will Send Tank to Russian Border.
A recent move was to send naval forces to the Black Sea, which is not Americas concern. What, precisely, are those ships supposed to do? Steam fiercely in circles, bowwow-grrr-woof? Do they have a purpose other than domestic American consumption? Are they to attack something, defend something in danger of attack, forbid the Russians to dowhat?
Russia is not going to invade Europe, and Washington knows it perfectly well, so why put tiny combat forces on its frontiers? If there is going to be a deliberate war, Washington is going to have to start it. Attacking Russia with minor forces, or at all, is probably an idea nuttier than even Washington can invent. One hopes that Europe would not allow Americans to do what they usually do, get others to fight its wars in other peoples countries.
The danger with letting pasty neocons in New York play with military forces is that brinksmanship, fun for fern-bar Napoleons, can have not-fun consequences. If Washington puts naval forces in Russian waters in the Black Sea, the Russians will feel compelled to shadow the ships, to keep fighters flying overhead. A mistake occursmistakes do occurand one side downs a plane belonging to the other. The wounded side feels obliged to respond. We have a shooting war. In closed waters bordering Russia, the US Navy would not win. Washington would then feel that it had to defend its ego by expanding the war. Wounded ego is important to the vast combative vanities who so often rise to power.
And there is no way to rein in these lunatics. They send the military where they like, attack whoever they choose, and we read about it after it has been done. One could almost wish we had constitutional government.
But I dream.
Fred, a keyboard mercenary with a disorganized past, has worked on staff for Army Times, The Washingtonian, Soldier of Fortune, Federal Computer Week, and The Washington Times.
The Police College, Lagos State is being terribly rocked with a serious scandal relating to abortion and bribery among police officers.
A police syndicate collected money and secretly carried out abortions for female cadets at the Police College, Lagos, to falsify pregnancy tests, OLALEYE ALUKO, who went undercover to the police hospital for two days, reports
A major scandal is brewing within the heart of the nations best-known police college, the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos. Tinuola Akande, a former cadet, is one of the individuals caught in the web of this scandal. The other characters in the drama, which started earlier this year, are other female cadets, senior police officers and an abortion syndicate comprising medical doctors at the police hospital.
Akande and other police cadets were some months into their training at the police college when they were told that they would have to take a pregnancy test. They were also told that female cadets who tested positive would be dismissed. So, when she tested positive during the routine test, Akande knew there was danger. Desperate to save her career, she sought the help of an abortion syndicate in the police hospital. The syndicate promised to abort the pregnancy and also find a way to change the result of the first test and replace it with the new one.
I can recall the day the abortion was conducted. It was Friday, February 3, 2017. The doctor collected N15,000 from me, she said. Akande was smuggled into the hospital in the middle of the night and a medical doctor conducted the abortion.
But after (the abortion), I was still dismissed. I went back to the doctor and he said I should go and be prayerful. Six of us had abortions at the police hospital, Akande told our correspondent last week. The results were not changed.
Our correspondent, who posed as a human rights activist, met with four of the five dismissed cadets. The cadets were reluctant to talk. They were afraid of dismissal. However, when they finally spoke, they gave mind-boggling insights into the activities of an abortion syndicate in the heart of the countrys best-known police college.
Police doctor demanded N35,000 for abortion
Twenty-five-year-old Hafsat Mohammed, a mother of one and a former cadet inspector from Kebbi State, is one of the cadets who tested positive to the pregnancy test.
When the pregnancy test conducted on me showed that I was positive, one of the doctors at the police hospital asked me to bring N35,000 so that I could abort my pregnancy. I told him I had only N15,000. He said N15,000 was not enough. So, from that day, I ignored him and deleted his number, she said.
Mohammed, who was desperate to remain in the school, went for the abortion at a private hospital. She paid N10,000. Yet, she was dismissed. She believed she was dismissed because she refused to cooperate with the abortion syndicate at the police hospital.
Two weeks ago, the commandant called five of us and said a signal from Abuja said we should be dismissed. I have lost my pregnancy. But I know my name was included for dismissal because I did not agree to pay the doctor at the police hospital for abortion. My pregnancy was eight weeks. My husband knew about the abortion. Now we are both pained because the police work I tried to keep is gone, she lamented.
Twenty-four-year-old Adejobi Oluwaseun, who hails from Lagos State is among the dismissed five. He told our correspondent that a senior police officer invited her and asked for a bribe to falsify the pregnancy test results.
Oluwaseun said, I was a cadet constable. My pregnancy was not up to a month. I had the abortion outside the police hospital. I did not initially know the doctors at the hospital were collecting money (to carry out an abortion and change the list).
We were on the field and we having a practice session on a day when I was called to the hospital. A senior police officer said I should bring money so that she could help falsify the pregnancy test results. I told her I would see her later. She then said I should go.
One of the persons that also tested positive to the test later told me that she paid N15,000 to a doctor (name withheld) and had her pregnancy aborted. I was sad that she did not inform me to take that option and now I have been dismissed from the training.
How it all began
Our correspondent learnt that all the cadets at the Police College, Ikeja, started their training on November 31, 2016. The duration of the training is 12 months for cadet inspectors and nine months for cadet constables.
The inspectors were drawn from all 36 states of the federation while the constables were selected from Lagos, Osun and Ondo states. About 2,000 police trainees are currently at the college.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that the pregnancy test is a directive from the Force Headquarters, Abuja, in January 2017. A source at the office of the commandant of the college said over 200 female cadets were tested at the laboratory department of the police hospital.
He said, The test was done till around 9pm. Over 200 ladies were screened. Out of that number, about 15 cadets tested positive to pregnancy. However, 13 names were on the list released from the laboratory department. The source did not explain why the names of two cadets who also tested positive were omitted from the list.
During his visit to the hospital, our correspondent persuaded one of the policemen to share the laboratory report, the document containing the names of the cadets who tested positive. The policeman agreed and supplied the document. The document was signed by the hospitals Medical Director, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Olubunmi Ogunsanwo.
The names on the list are: Otene Josephine, Iboyi Laughter, Helen Ojo, Enveche Gloria, Hafsat Mohammed, Aniyeloye Aderonke, Ilesanmi Omotola, Adejobi Oluwaseun, Adebobola Tolani, John Virginia, Ayo Olamide, Tinuola Akande. However, our correspondent couldnt get the name of the 13th cadet as the source held the document and refused to release it while our correspondent hurriedly copied them. (Our correspondent pleaded to be allowed to photograph the document, but the source also refused.)
Inside the syndicate
A source privy to the events of the period said that a doctor who is a member of the abortion syndicate invited the 13 cadets and advised them to consider aborting their pregnancies.
The source added that the female cadets were warned to keep the abortion as a secret. They were also told to be grateful to the hospital workers for providing an escape route. However, he added that not all the cadets agreed to work with the syndicate.
A hospital worker, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, gave insights into what happened at the hospital.
The nurses at the hospital cannot claim ignorance of the abortions. We knew when the ladies were smuggled into the theatre and taken to the ward thereafter to look like ordinary patients.
Ask them to produce the original pregnancy test list. They cannot because it will put the hospital authorities in trouble. The heads of all the departments in the hospital are aware of the abortion scandal but they have been warned to keep it a top secret. Most of them were shocked at the falsification of the pregnancy test results by the syndicate, she said.
The source said that police officers within the college were unhappy with the injustice meted to the cadets. He added that the officers could not protest because top officials of the hospital were involved in the scandal.
The source said, The dismissed ladies and their states have been shortchanged because the allocation to their states has now been reduced. The five ladies are still lobbying the police authorities in Lagos and Abuja to consider their plight, but whether that will be successful or not, we do not know.
How is it possible that some of the cadets who tested positive to pregnancy test on January 19 suddenly tested negative and were cleared to continue their training? The police hospital must be asked to provide an explanation for that.
We should also ask the commandant of the college how many of the trainees were pregnant and how many names were submitted to him by the medical director? If the police had done a clean job and submitted all the names of the 13 female cadets, there would be no controversy.
NMA demands investigation
The Nigerian Medical Association has lent its voice to condemn the act.
The NMA President, Prof. Mike Ogirima, who was briefed on the saga in the police hospital, told our correspondent that the security agencies must investigate and bring anyone found culpable to face the law.
Constitutionally in Nigeria, abortion is not allowed. Although, we may have some unavoidable situations where there can be loss of pregnancies. But we have always maintained that there is a need to sanitise the medical practice and guard against the activities of quacks.
The government agency which handles this is the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. Therefore, we must beam searchlights on places where these illicit acts are carried out, and we must bring all those culpable to face the law.
There are several branches in the medical practice, and a doctor who is trained to deal with the issues of pregnancy is a gynaecologist. Therefore, my take is that the government must begin to rid the system of all elements perpetrating such illicit practice, he explained.
Well find out about allegation Police
When contacted, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Jimoh Moshood, said he would find out from the commandant of the college, and get back to SUNDAY PUNCH.
The Force spokesperson did not get back with further details as of press time.
When contacted, the Medical Director of the hospital, ACP Olubunmi Ogunsanwo, said he was not authorised to speak on the incident, but denied that abortions were conducted at the hospital.
He said, Can I see you in person? I dont want to be quoted on this. But there is no truth in that allegation.
A police hospital cannot do such thing. What happened was that I was not the coordinator of that screening exercise. It was a woman. She just forwarded the results to me and I did same to my Assistant Inspector-General of Police in Abuja.
The phone conversation was four minutes and two seconds.
A text message was also sent to the Commandant of the college, CP Chris Ezike, which had yet to be replied to, as of press time.
The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Jimoh Moshood, confirmed that 295 female cadets underwent the pregnancy tests and other medical examination, adding that the only the dismissed five tested positive.
The Force spokesman refuted any allegation of abortion at the police hospital, saying it was spurious because abortion is illegal and criminal.
He said, As part of the police process of recruitment, we published the names of all the cadets in the newspaper. We did that so that anyone with questionable character can be identified and asked to go.
Medical tests were conducted, including pregnancy tests for females. There was a second directive that all training schools, including Ikeja should carry out pregnancy tests. Out of 295 female cadets in Ikeja, only those five were found to be positive.
There is no way to bring in a pregnant woman into training. The health of the mother and the unborn child is paramount. So, if anyone among those asked to go is making allegations that some cadets were positive and aborted, we will carry out our investigation.
I have spoken with the commandant and he has confirmed that nothing like abortion took place. There is no ground for spurious allegations. Abortion is illegal and unlawful, and police institutions cannot do that. It was only those five dismissed that were found positive.
Opponents of French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen have launched an Obama17 campaign to draft the former U.S. President to run against her.
Frustrated with the choice of candidates running against the Eurosceptic, anti-Islamisation candidate, organisers are hoping to draft President Obama as a last resort.
One campaign organiser, who chose only to give the name Antoine, told CNN: Its totally crazy, but the cool thing is that once you get past that, you start thinking that maybe its possible. Who cares that hes not French? Hes Barack Obama.
The campaign has so far put up 500 posters around Paris and has launched a website with the slogan Oui on peut! [Yes we can].
They are aiming to get one million people to sign a petition urging the former U.S. President to run, although the organisers admit the prospects are low.
We want to show that people are fed up with the politicians here. People are tired about it and they like this joke. It gives people a little fun amid all these scandals, Antoine said.
France goes to the polls in late April in the first round of the presidential election. If no candidate wins 50 per cent of the vote, the top two go through to a second-round run-off two weeks later.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the populist anti-mass immigration Front National is favourite to win the first round, although she is unlikely to win outright.
Antoine says he is not a fan of the anti-globalist frontrunner:
We are so fed up with what Marine Le Pen is doing, and with the fact that we werent able to find a candidate to vote for, only one to vote against, he said. We started talking about that and it came up that Obama is free so why not hire him?
Although he admits the campaign started as a joke, he said supporters have been getting in touch with serious suggestions as to how they could get around basic problems, such as the fact President Obama is not French.
Weve had some funny emails from lawyers telling us how it could be possible. He would have to be naturalized by the president of the French Assembly.
Ms Le Pen hailed the victory of Donald Trump last November as a victory of the people against the elites and said a global revolution was underway against unfettered globalisation.
President Muhammadu Buhari has scrapped the Tertiary Education Trust Funds special intervention funds for 2017 allocated to tertiary institutions across the country.
This disclosure was made by Abdullahi Baffa, TETFund Executive Secretary, in a chat with newsmen in Abuja.
Baffa recalled that government had approved N213.4 billion for the schools for 2016.
He said the money had not been used yet and since the releases and utilisation of the funds were to be done in 2017, President Buhari directed that the amount earmarked for same purposes in 2017 budget be expunged.
In 2015, over N200 billion was recklessly disbursed as special interventions to some few beneficiary institutions which is against the law which says all institutions must be treated equal, while N50 billion only was shared among all institutions as normal interventions, he said.
Baffa said the agency was still battling with people who are parading themselves as vendors trying to buy, sell and deal with allocation letters.
They now turn special intervention into trade, people running around with allocation letters looking for buyers. We said we are not going to do that. We are going to put the institutions first. Our clients are the beneficiary institutions.
We cant afford to allow those who are entrusted to the business of keeping the fund to be the very ones abusing the fund mercilessly.
We thank God its not going to be buried under the carpet, we are going to pursue that this recklessness be investigated and that any wrongdoing and any misapplication be brought to book.
The allocation for 2016 is more than three times what was given in 2015 because we did not allow the old way of doing things to continue.
The magic in our ability to triple what beneficiary institutions were given is simple; while the previous board of the trustees took 80 percent in 2015 and allocated it to special interventions and used only 20 percent for normal intervention, we refuse doing that.
We used about 80 percent as normal intervention and the remaining 20 percent as what we have to use to pay the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, what we have to keep in the fund and what we have to keep for high impact interventions we are doing in places.
We are appreciative of the president who support our opinion; the president has insisted that the culture of special intervention should be reviewed, that is why we are not talking about special interventions.
We are concentrating on normal intervention and what impact can we make through it. Special interventions should be meant for special cases like new projects, victims of fire incidents schools, among others.
Source: Dailypost
The Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, on Saturday was on hand to rescue victims of a car accident along Akure-Ondo Highway.
The governor, reports said was on his way back from the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, in Akure, when he stopped at the scene of the accident and led efforts to rescue the victims.
It was gathered that the accident involved a Volkswagen car with registration number, Ondo BDR-223XA, painted in the taxi colour of Ondo State and a MAN Diesel truck, which apparently ran the taxi off the road.
Mr. Amosun directed his security team to rush three female victims of the accident who sustained head injuries to the General Hospital in Ondo town.
The victims were later transferred to a private hospital after they were rejected at the government hospital where workers have been on strike.
Nigerian newspaper headlines February 26, 2017.
Punch
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has said that he and members of his national working committee are planning to meet former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Guardian
Members of the Borno State Caucus in the National Assembly have cried to the Federal Government and international donor agencies for help over deteriorating humanitarian crisis in the state.
Vanguard
Apparently shocked by the escalation of attacks in Southern Kaduna despite increased security measures put in place by government, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has summoned the Inspector General of Police, Idris Ibrahim, to Aso Rock Villa for explanations.
The Nation
Violence erupted again yesterday at Etche, Etche Local Government of Rivers State as the re-run election for the Etche /Omuma House of Representatives and State House of Assembly, constituency 2 got underway.
The Sun
Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Mr Justin Okonoboh, Friday evening escaped an assassination attempt in Igueben Local Government Area of the state.
Thisday
An explosion took place at Gari village near Kontagora town of Niger State yesterday, killing three people and injuring four others.
Premium Times
The telecommunication giant, MTN Nigeria, sacked 63 of its employees in 2009 and barred them from securing a job in the sector for four years, court documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES has shown.
"I was a bit surprised by that," says expert
Brexit undermines the Good Friday Agreement according to Sinn Fein.
The party's Pearse Doherty (pictured) says the British government is seeking to reinforce partition through its Brexit agenda.
Sinn Fein is calling on the government act in the best interests of all Irish citizens when it comes to the UK's exit from the EU.
It comes ahead of the Northern Ireland Assembly elections which will be held next week.
Deputy Doherty says concern is growing as Brexit approachs: "Brexit is becoming very very real, business people are very concerned in relation to a hard border.
"Farmers are very concerned in relation to the loss of EU supports and people are looking for leadership and Sinn Fein are providing that.
"But we also recognise that Sinn Fein won't be at the negotiating table it is the Irish Government that will be there and so they must uphold the rights of Irish citizens in the North also."
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Food, drink and conversation were the key ingredients for two social recipes this week, one a scholarship fundraiser for local senior high students and the other a money-maker for four-legged friends.
At Winston-Salem Wine Market, members of the Winston-Salem Jaycees sampled wines selected to complement local chocolate delectables while also adding contributions to the Outstanding Young Leaders scholarship fund. Then just 24 hours later, a small group gathered at Color & Coffee to raise funds for Fur-Ever Friends, an organization dedicated to animal welfare.
Wine & Chocolate
Members of the local chapter of the Jaycees came together at Winston-Salem Wine Market on Thursday to enjoy wine and chocolate for a good cause. Twin City Hive and Black Mountain Chocolate brought sweet delectables to pair with several reds and a bubbly served up by Mary Catherine Jones, who also offered up an overview of each vintage.
These reds are more fruit forward in style since were pairing with chocolate tonight, Jones said. This one, a Robert Mondavi Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, is aged three months in a used bourbon barrel, and youll definitely taste hints of that as well as the Petit Syrah and Malbec.
Sara Butner, 2017 president of the Jaycees, and Brittani Swinford, community fundraising chairwoman, welcomed their fellow Jaycees to the event. As Swinford rang up purchases, Butner talked about recent Jaycee happenings and the OYL funds.
Every spring, the Jaycees identify 10 young leaders in local high schools, public and private, she said. These kids are just extraordinary in what they have done, and this is a way to recognize their accomplishments. Additionally, one of the students is nominated for the North Carolina Outstanding Young Leader award. Were putting out the call for applications for this year; students can start with their guidance counselors and apply.
The local Jaycees chapter was recently recognized with several state awards for their work and member activities. For a local community development project, the Winston-Salem chapter was recognized for their Oyster Roast fundraiser for the Hugh OBrien Youth Leadership Seminar (HOBY) and the Band-Aid for Burn Survivors & Poker Run fundraiser for N.C. Jaycee Burn Center. The Local Economic Development project winner was the 25th Annual WS Jaycees Holiday Parade, a much-loved local tradition. Additionally, the Jaycees were recognized for the Christmas Cheer project, an annual event where members take 50 to 60 kids on a holiday shopping spree.
The Christmas Cheer project is one of my favorite Jaycee activities, said Chris Cestone, who stopped to sample the offerings of Black Mountain served up by Mara Dygert. And the Jaycees meetings are a great place to make new friends.
Jaycees board member Kayla Newman and her friend, Bri Tawse, enjoyed trying different truffle flavors combined with the variety of wines, as did Blake Willcutt and Kate Hosso. Sea Salt Caramel truffles were popular at the Twin City Hive station, manned by Joey Burdette and Terry Miller.
We were both members of the Jaycees until we aged out, Burdette said. Now we continue to support them whenever we can, and they hold their monthly meetings at our place. The Jaycees are a great organization and do a lot of great things for the community.
Paint Your Pet
Bingo, Max and Carly were the portrait subjects for Friday nights Paint Your Pet party at Color & Coffee on Jonestown Road. Nestled in a shopping center with restaurants, shops and businesses, Color & Coffee is a variation on the wine and painting destinations that have exploded in popularity over the past few years, and store owner Heather Jones welcomed the animal lovers who came out for an evening of fun and financial support of Fur-Ever Friends.
Weve been open about a year and a half, Jones said. We wanted to create a family-friendly place where all ages are welcome, and we do a lot of church and kids parties. We also do private parties as well, and people can bring a variety of food and drink for those.
Susan Doran was on hand to represent Fur-Ever friends. She said that the organization is involved in numerous activities to benefit animals including fence builds, spay and neuter services and emergency services.
Our Rico funding helps people with unexpected vet bills, Doran said. Many people can pay for ordinary care, but when extraordinary medical services are needed, it can be a problem. We use our resources to help.
Nevaeh Fears and Erica Fears were both painting Bingo, their 9-year-old family pet. Kaci Shelton had Max, her 5-year-old mutt as inspiration, while Tabitha Joyce planned to pay homage to Carly, her 12-year-old also a mutt friend. Jean Linville was the singular feline painter for the evening, a rendering of Seth, her 6-year-old cat. Libby Adams paid tribute to Chrissy, her much-loved 13-year-old who crossed the rainbow bridge.
Alice Hinson Singh coordinated the event. An animal-rights activist, Singh said that, many times, education is a key component in improving the lives of four-legged friends.
People often mimic the type of care they saw for their pets when growing up, she said.
Sometimes, its just a matter of showing them that there is another way of doing things.
RALEIGH See if you can follow this logic. The Faculty Assembly of the University of North Carolina has just asked a regional accreditation board to investigate recent policy disputes involving the UNC system. If the accreditors conclude that something is amiss, they could sanction individual UNC campuses, which would endanger the ability of those campuses to attract research funding, facilitate financial aid and compete nationally and internationally for faculty and students.
In other words, activist professors are threatening their own livelihoods and the well being of their students in an attempt to embarrass or browbeat the Republican-led General Assembly and the UNC Board of Governors it has elected.
This do what I say or Ill punch myself style of political discourse isnt exactly foreign to North Carolina. It may remind you of the politicians and activists opposing HB2 who encouraged companies not to invest or hold events in our state until the law is repealed and then cited the company boycotts as evidence that HB2 was economically damaging and should be repealed.
But the recent letter from the UNC Faculty Assembly to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges is arguably more egregious, because of its obvious partisan bias. The relationship between the UNC system which is a taxpayer-funded department of state government, after all and the politicians who control state government didnt start in 2010 or 2012.
Did the faculty ever complain to accreditors about Democrats routinely using the university system as an employment service for former Democratic officials? Did it object to the long procession of Democrats hired to run the UNC system and individual campuses while Democrats dominated the General Assembly and UNCs governing boards? Did it complain when then-law school dean Gene Nichol and other UNC-Chapel Hill leaders created a poverty center in 2005 for former U.S. Sen. John Edwards to use as a platform from which to make another run for president?
No. In fact, the later decision of a UNC Board of Governors composed mostly of Republican appointees to close the poverty center was itself cited by the Faculty Assembly in its letter as an example of political meddling in university affairs which was a bit like coming home after a trip, discovering that your house had caught on fire, and then suing the fire department that responded to it for causing water damage to your carpets.
Although university folks talk incessantly about diversity, university campuses are about the least-diverse places youll ever find when it comes to the ideas, inclinations and political affiliations of its employees and contractors. I have no doubt that those active in the UNC Faculty Assembly do not see themselves and their institutions the way many North Carolinians do, as thoroughly suffused with insularity, ideology and no small amount of inanity.
A lack of perspicacity is one of the very real and debilitating consequences of inadequate diversity, properly defined. These faculty activists are the villains of tales they dont hear and the butts of jokes they dont understand.
During recent legislative debate about a bill to reduce the size of the UNC Board of Governors from 32 to 24 members, Democratic senators protested that shrinking it might reduce its diversity. Republican state Sen. Ralph Hise responded by offering an amendment requiring faculty members across the UNC system to reflect the ideological balance of the citizens of the state, plus or minus two percentage points.
GOP lawmakers got the point, as did most of their Democratic colleagues, even if they didnt agree with it. But some academic observers were aghast, and proceeded to question the amendments constitutionality and practicality. Perhaps they will write the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to amend the complaint, citing the Hise amendment as another egregious example of political interference with academic freedom.
All these events suggest, among other things, that some denizens of UNC campuses need refresher courses in irony, sarcasm and parody. Surely the English professors arent too busy with other pursuits to help out.
A small but dedicated group from the Salem Presbytery, composed of area Presbyterian (U.S.A.) churches and headquartered in Clemmons, gathered with friends at the Graham courthouse square Tuesday afternoon to remember Wyatt Outlaw, a black politician lynched 147 years ago today for being a black politician. Heres what he might say to the group and all of us.
Thank you for this honor. Its good to know youre remembering my sacrifice, and that of so many others. I hope others will realize, as your group surely does, that, while freedom-fighters like me are no longer lynched, abuses are still carried out against minorities and the poor by the powerful to keep us from sharing in our government. Dreams are stomped on.
I, of course, know that well.
I was born a slave, the son of one of Alamance Countys wealthiest landowners. In the last year of the alleged end of the Civil War, I escaped and joined the Union Army. I came back to Alamance County and banged nails for the railroad by day. By night, I organized a chapter of the Union League to get out the black vote. I raised money to build churches and schools.
I became active in the Republican Party, in those days, still very much the party of the great Lincoln, whod been slain just a couple of years before. Republican Gov. William Woods Holden, a white man, appointed me to the Graham Town Commission, the first black to serve on this body. I became one of the town constables.
Slavery was over and we freed slaves were fighting hard for our rights. It was an adrenaline rush after all the years of bondage. But the white backlash was just beginning.
Like so many blacks, I was being closely watched.
The White Brotherhood, a group of white supremacists, dragged me from my home on Feb. 26, 1870. I was hanged at the courthouse square, one of more than 100 blacks lynched in your state in the years after the Civil War. I became part of the harvest of strange fruit that the great Billie Holiday would eventually sing and sear into the brokenhearted soul of America.
As your Rev. Frank Dew told the Greensboro newspaper last week, what happened to me was murder.
Arrests were made but none of the hooded men were ever convicted. Gov. Holden called out the state militia to respond to the unrest resulting from my lynching, other troubles and attacks by the Klan. The governor, a generally good man, was impeached, convicted and removed from office for his troubles by the Democrats of his day.
I died in flesh but still my spirit lives.
I live because of Burlington historian Walter Boyd, whos documented my case, and because of Burlington native Dave Wright, whose play tells my story.
I live because of your group and Bryan Stevenson, the activist lawyer from Alabama whose book Just Mercy inspired the Rev. Stuart Taylor of Elkin and others to hold your vigil. Stevenson wants to establish a museum and memorial to all of us lynching victims nationwide, almost 4,000 souls from 1877 until 1950. Your group wants to memorialize North Carolinas lynching victims.
All of that is right and needed, and it will be hard. Many critics say lynchings are part of the past, that we should forget them and move on together.
But we are not moving on together. The memorials are needed. But it should not stop there. We never will be whole until we finally and fully confront the sins of slavery and its aftermath, repercussions that shadow us until this day, and resolve the wrongs of today.
This is not just about African-Americans. Its much bigger than that. I say that as a black man with white blood coursing through my veins.
The river that always ran beneath Americas promise of freedom and equality, the river of bigotry that made possible slavery and so many other sins, still runs strong today, resonating harder than ever from Washington. African Americans are still drowning in that river, but so are poor whites, Muslims, those in the LGBT community, immigrants and the disabled. Voting rights and public education remain under attack, especially in North Carolina from todays Republican leadership. The criminal justice system remains in sore need of reform.
With our country divided on so many issues, including race and states rights, its clear the Civil War never really ended.
Near the end of your vigil, Bryan McFarland of your group sang Amazing Grace, that fine song written by John Newton, the slave-running sailor who found the redeeming light of Christ. McFarland speculated that I might have sung Amazing Grace. Indeed I did. Still do.
We are all wretches standing in need of salvation, now more than ever.
It is for you all, the living, to honor us of the spirit world by finding ways to move us all forward together.
Arts council names new board members
The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County has appointed 10 new members to its board of trustees.
Those appointed for three-year terms are: Nigel Alston, executive director of the N.C. Black Repertory Company; Fred Jorgenson, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary for Inmar; Michael Kelley, dean of the School of Design and Production at UNC School of the Arts and an alumnus; Paula McCoy, executive director for Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods, a neighborhood support organization that connects people and leverages resources to create safe, just and self-determined neighborhoods; Allison Norton-Rimron, vice president, Innerwear Finance at Hanesbrands; Connie Quinn, executive director for Twin City Stage; Sarah Roof, corporate communications coordinator, for Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation; Christina Soriano, associate professor of dance at Wake Forest University; Michael L. Suggs, president of the Goler Community Development Corporation, a faith-based community development corporation; Eric Swaim, co-owner of Hoots Roller Bar & Beer Company.
N.C. State holding
poetry contest
The annual N.C. State University Poetry Contest is accepting entries for its 2017 contest through March 13.
The contest is open only to residents of North Carolina and out-of-state students who are enrolled in North Carolina universities.
The grand prize winner will receive $500. The best N.C. State undergraduate entry will receive $100.
The guest judge is Richard Garcia. A presentation of awards and a reading by Sharon Olds, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, will be at 7:30 p.m. April 13 at Titmus Theatre, Thompson Hall on the campus of N.C. State.
To see complete rules and how to submit, visit https://english.chass.ncsu.edu/creativewriting/ poetry_contest.php.
Winston-Salem Writers
accepting entries
Winston-Salem Writers will be accepting entries for the 2017 Flying South competition from Wednesday through May 31.
There will be $2,000 in prizes awarded. Best-in-category winners will be published in Flying South, a poetry anthology, and will receive $500 each. The Winston-Salem Writers Presidents Favorite will also receive $500.
Entries are accepted for fiction, nonfiction and poetry, and all entries will be considered for publication. Entries must be original and unpublished. The entry fee is $15, $10 for members of Winston-Salem Writers.
For details on submitting entries, visit www.wswriters.org and click on the contests tab.
There are a lot of writers in Winston-Salem, and their ranks are growing.
Thirty people joined Winston-Salem Writers in January, and last weekend a group of Triad playwrights held an organizational meeting at the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts.
There are poets, journalists, fiction writers, romance writers and childrens book writers, but, as far as I can tell, only three writers from Winston-Salem have been on The New York Times bestseller list: John Ehle, the late Maya Angelou, and Charlie Lovett, a local author whose latest book, The Lost Book of the Grail, will be published by Penguin Viking on Tuesday.
That vaunted list works in mysterious ways, Lovett said.
You can have a modest success that gets on the list because you sell a whole bunch of books in a week, or you can sell a respectable amount of books over time and not get on the list at all, he said. His other book to make the list was First Impressions, a book about Jane Austen.
If you like an author and want her to be successful, you should either pre-order her book or buy it in the first week because thats what the publishers consider when they are making decisions about such things as how much they will spend on promotion and how many copies they will reprint.
After a writer has labored for months sometimes years to write and re-write a book, he must then spring into action to promote it, assuming he has a publisher, which is a whole other story. Lovett will begin the promotion process at 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Timothys Episcopal Church, 2575 Parkway Drive.
It will be a multi-media book launch, Lovett said, with laughter in his voice. We thought that because the book is set in a cathedral, it would be appropriate to launch it in an ecclesiastical setting, and there would be an opportunity for choral music. Plus, a lot of people in the congregation have been big supporters of my books.
The event is open to the public. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., which is when the youth choir will sing.
The Lost Book of the Grail is set in an English cathedral library and features a missing manuscript, a bookish protagonist named Arthur Prescott, and a mystery going back hundreds of years and involving the Holy Grail. The book also makes frequent references to music.
When you are writing a novel, you choose from all sorts of different experiences. Some of the background details I learned from daily, weekly and monthly worship at St. Tims, Lovett said. In the book, whenever Arthur goes to a service, I usually mention the music. If the readers are gung ho, they can go listen to music that is in the book and see why I chose it.
Lovett will speak and show slides relating to the book for about 30 minutes and then open the floor for questions.
Q&A is always my favorite part because you get to think, he said. There will be more than the usual amount of children, so I know Ill get great questions. After that, he will sign books, and Bookmarks will have books for sale.
Lovetts publisher is also sending him out to promote the book in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
Its an interesting career in that we have to do these seemingly opposite things, Lovett said. Sit in a room by ourselves for months while were writing and then go out and promote the book to crowds of people.
I am lucky because I like to do both. I have a theater background, and I like the opportunity to talk and speak to a group of people.
Lovett was the writer-in-residence at Summit School for 11 years and has published 19 plays for young people. They have been produced in more than 3,500 productions in all 50 states and more than 20 foreign countries.
I havent started writing the next grownup novel, he said. I spent part of last year, writing a middle grade book. Ive been editing it with my agent the past couple of months, and then shell start shopping that around.
When we were traveling with the choristers this summer, Janice and I took turns reading to the kids at night. Having created an audience, hes got to get the book out there.
He has spent the past few weeks blogging and helping his daughter, Jimmy Lovett, manage his social media accounts all in support of The Lost Book of the Grail.
Now that Ive written a couple of books, I get to connect to readers, he said. At a recent promotional event, some people who had read most of his books took him out to dinner. We were able to have an adult literary-criticism session.
We were psychoanalyzing characters and talking about symbolism, and they were teaching me about my own book.
Lovett liked that. He got to think.
Music and visual art have always played interrelated, sometimes parallel roles in the development of national and regional cultures. The relationship between these two creative fields has taken particularly interesting turns since the early 20th century.
Reflections on the ensuing eras musical and visual-art history are prompted by SoundSeen, an exhibition recently opened at Wake Forest Universitys Hanes Gallery. It brings together unconventional musical scores, recordings and other works related to recorded sound. The artists Anthony Braxton, John Cage and Christian Marclay are world-renowned as leaders in radical creative innovation and experimentation.
The elder among this trio is Cage (1912-1992), the avant-garde music pioneer whose most widely known composition is a piece in which the solo performer doesnt play a single note. Some of Cages most innovative compositions required him to devise completely new approaches to musical notation, yielding scores that sometimes look more like abstract drawings.
An early example is his Williams Mix, which entails the simultaneous playing of eight different quarter-inch magnetic tapes. To create it, Cage collected taped sound sources in six categories: city, country, electronic, manually produced, wind and small sounds. He selected excerpts of varying lengths from these sources using a random-selection system based on the I Ching, an ancient Chinese oracle.
Recordings of the piece can easily be found online. In performance it lasts only four minutes and 15 seconds, but the score is 193 pages long. Cage created the original score by drawing the selected tape fragments directly onto traditional sheet-music forms, as if the bits of tape had been cut and glued in place. Alongside the horizontal lines and rectangles representing the quarter-inch tape fragments are related performance notes in Cages distinctive, calligraphic script.
A version of this document is one of several facsimile reproductions of Cage scores on view in the Hanes Gallerys upstairs space.
Cages influence on artists in multiple disciplines has been widespread, and Marclay younger by four decades is one of those artists. Cages early work with sound-recording tape, for example, is a clear reference point for Marclays Taped Tapes series. These individually untitled pieces are made from unspooled magnetic tape manipulated to fit on standard-sized paper sheets and flattened in place with clear, transparent adhesive tape. By designating these works as drawings Marclay implies a direct relationship between hand-drawn lines and lengths of recording tape manually applied to flat paper surfaces.
Two of Marclays drawings take the form of spirals, while others including one in which the recording tape is affixed to a map of New England are more abstract and free-form in their composition. Marclay employed recording tape in related ways to create his five monoprints and a large cyanotype print also included in his part of the show.
Ten years older than Marclay, Braxton whose work shares the the downstairs gallery is a composer and musician rooted in avant-garde jazz but also strongly influenced by Cage and other experimental composers. Braxton typically titles his compositions as diagrams labeled with number and letter coordinates, and these titles meanings sometimes remain obscure.
Beginning in the 1980s, Braxton started to incorporate other visual elements into his increasingly complex titles and musical scores, including drawings, illustrations, collaged photo reproductions and articles clipped from newspapers and magazines. According to an explanatory wall text by Paul Bright, the Hanes Gallerys director, these unconventional titles and approaches to scoring might strike viewers as arcane, but Braxtons musicians are able to read them as coordinates to play from, move within, and improvise on, asking of each performer and by extension, the listener to make meaningful aural connections.
Examples of Braxtons visually enlivened titles and scores stand out as the most striking works in the exhibition, which also incorporates recordings excerpted from his Echo Echo Mirror House Music series. Facsimile digital prints of 14 such scores are displayed unframed on the gallerys walls, while smaller, original Braxton scores are encased in six vitrines. Rounding out Braxtons part of the show are a video display of his graphic titles and copies of several complete scores that viewers can handle and peruse page by page.
The Hanes Gallery show is the first phase of an exhibition whose second part, SoundSeen: Remix, will open on March 16 at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. Consisting of additional works by the same three artists, the SECCA show is set to run through May 28.
In conjunction with this dual presentation, Braxton is scheduled to make appearances at both venues next month. At 5:30 p.m. on March 15 he will give a public talk about his work at the Hanes Gallery, followed by an improvisation workshop and performance from 6:30 to 8 p.m. At 7 p.m. on March 16 Braxton will join members of his Tri-Centric Foundation for a performance at SECCA immediately after an opening reception that starts at 6 p.m. And on April 12 Marclay will give a gallery talk at 5:30 p.m. at SECCA, immediately followed by a performance of his new composition To Be Continued by the ensemBle baBel.
SECCA loses a curator
Earlier this month, SECCA announced the resignation of Cora Fisher, who has served as its curator of contemporary art since October 2013. A native of New York, where she lived and worked before coming to SECCA, Fisher will leave her post on March 1. She said she plans to continue her work as a writer and curator after relocating back to New York with her husband and their 4-month-old son. She described her tenure at SECCA as a privilege and a life-changing experience.
Gordon Peterson, SECCAs executive director, credited Fisher with bringing a renewed spirit to SECCA, especially around issues of social awareness and justice, as highlighted in the recent group show Dispatches, which closed earlier this month. He referred to the latter exhibition as Fishers masterpiece.
Peterson said SECCA will work with the states Department of Cultural Resources to identify candidates to fill Fishers position.
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By Z. Fareen Parvez | (The Conversation) |
The Trump administration has been using the phrase radical Islam when discussing the war on terror. From his inauguration address to remarks to military leaders, President Trump has been warning against Islamic terrorists.
Many different kinds of individuals and movements get collapsed into this category of radical Islam. A common one that is increasingly being used by politicians and journalists both in Europe and the U.S. to equate with radical Islam is the Salafist tradition.
For example, Michael Flynn, who recently resigned as national security advisor, was clear that what unites terrorists is their belief in the ideology of Salafism. Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president, also describes Salafism as a fundamental understanding of Islam that justifies terrorism.
France and Germany are targeting this movement, vowing to clean up or shut down Salafist mosques, since several arrested and suspected terrorists had spent time in these communities.
As a scholar of religion and politics, I have done research in Salafi communities, specifically in France and India, two countries where Muslims are the largest religious minorities.
Salafists constitute a minority of the Muslim population. For example, in France, estimates range from 5,000 to 20,000 out of a Muslim population of over 4 million. Security experts estimate a worldwide number of 50 million out of 1.6 billion Muslims.
But theres not much understanding of Salafism, its history and its diversity. In fact, Muslims themselves often have different definitions of what it means to be a Salafist.
So, who are Salafists?
Origins of Salafism
The Arabic term salaf means ancestors. It refers technically to the first three generations of Muslims who surrounded the Prophet Muhammad. Because they had direct experience with the original Islamic teachings and practices, they are generally respected across the Muslim world.
Self-identified Salafists tend to believe they are simply trying to emulate the path of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. This might include an array of practices from dress to culinary habits as well as ethical teachings and commitment to faith.
Salafism as a movement is believed to have originated in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some historians claim it started as a theological reform movement within Sunni Islam. The impetus was to return to the original teachings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran a consequence, in part, of social changes and Western colonialism.
They specifically cite the works of Egyptian, Persian and Syrian intellectuals from the 19th century as shaping Salafist movements. One recent study, however, argues that these intellectuals from the past never even used the term Salafism. In other words, there is no authoritative account of how or when exactly this movement originated.
Finally, it is also open to debate as to which Islamic groups, schools of thought and practices may be considered Salafist. This is because groups and individuals who are labeled Salafist do not always view themselves this way. And they disagree amongst each other over what defines authentic Salafist practice.
Heres what my research shows
The vast majority of people who loosely affiliate with Salafism, however, are either simply nonpolitical or actively reject politics as morally corrupt. From 2005-2014, I spent a total of two years as an ethnographic researcher in the cities of Lyon, in southeastern France, and in Hyderabad, in south India. I clearly observed this among these two communities.
Every week I participated in mosque lessons and Islamic study circles among dozens of Salafist women. These communities maintain strict separation between men and women, but I was able to interact with and interview a few men as well.
Based on conversations and observation, I learned that they actually avoided politics. They did not attend protests or do advocacy, and in Lyon many did not vote in elections.
It is the case that there are Muslim women, including many converts, who actively embrace Salafism. They take up strict forms of veiling and work hard to practice their religion every day.
Lets take Amal, a 22-year-old woman who grew up in a working-class neighborhood in southeastern France. I met her during my time as an ethnographic researcher on Muslim minorities in France. Amal identifies with the Salafist tradition in Islam. And if we go by the definitions being floated around, she would be considered a radical Muslim: She prayed five times daily, fasted all 30 days of Ramadan, and wore the jilbab, a loose, full-body garment that covers everything but the face. Steadfast in her religiosity, she also studied the Quran regularly and attended local mosques in the area.
She worked hard to live her life in accordance with the ethical teachings of Islam. This included spending part of her week tutoring Muslim girls in the neighborhood who homeschooled. Amal worried a great deal about their futures in France, since anti-veiling legislation had constrained their opportunities. She also quietly worried about the future of Islam, believing it is under siege both by governments and by the ungodly and destructive work of the Islamic State.
Religious does not mean radical
As anthropologists of religion have shown, Salafi women are not passive adherents. Nor are they forced into strict practices by their husbands. Still, this doesnt mean theyre all the same.
Among the French Salafist women I knew, most were the daughters and granddaughters of immigrants from the former French North African colonies. Almost a third were converts to Islam that chose specifically the Salafist tradition as opposed to mainstream currents of Islam. They were drawn to the clear expectations, rigorous routines and teachings about trusting God.
While some of the women were raised in religious families, many broke away from their Muslim families or earned the wrath of their parents for turning to Salafism. Because the parents practiced a cultural form of Islam, or did not practice at all, they did not want their daughters to wear the jilbab. Despite this disapproval, the women focused a great deal on what it meant to have faith in God, and they emphasized that they had to continually struggle to strengthen that faith.
These struggles included various ethical behaviors including not talking too much, suppressing ones ego and respecting peoples privacy. Along the way, some committed sins, like smoking or lying, and deviated from the teachings by not praying or fasting. Some even doubted their faith, which they considered normal and acceptable.
In my research, non-Muslims as well as other Muslims claimed Salafists were judgmental of those who did not believe or practice like them. In my observation, the contrary was the case: Salafis emphasized that ones faith and piety were deeply private matters that no one but God had the right to judge.
Diverse views
However, like any movement or tradition, Salafism is profoundly diverse and encompasses a number of debates and struggles for legitimacy.
So, there are those self-identified Salafists around the world who join political organizations or participate in political debates. These include, for example, several political parties in Egypt and the Ahl-i-Hadees in India.
A small minority, estimated to be 250,000 in number by security experts, rejects nation-states and embraces political violence. They span continents but are centered in Iraq and Syria.
Different from Wahhabism
In todays climate, however, it has become a political term. This is partly because of its connection to Saudi Arabia.
Salafism is sometimes referred to as Wahhabism, the Saudi Arabian variant of the movement that is intimately tied to the Saudi regime. They share some intellectual roots and theological emphases, but they also differ, especially in how they approach Islamic jurisprudence. While Wahhabis follow one of the main Sunni orthodox schools of law, Salafis tend to think through legal questions independently. So equating the two is a mistake.
For some Salafists, labeling them as Wahhabi is a way to dismiss their faith or even insult them. Identifying with Salafism does not mean one supports the politics of the Saudi state. In my research, in both India and France, people sometimes noted concerns about the Saudi governments political corruption or human rights record.
Yet outwardly, practices might overlap. For example, many Salafist women wear the niqab (that covers the face). Saudi intellectual centers and sheikhs provide literature and training in numerous countries. They circulate lectures as well as money for building mosques and schools.
And of course, Mecca and Medina are the spiritual centers for Muslims more broadly. In this way there is a transfer of intellectual and spiritual resources from Saudi Arabia that supports Salafist communities around the globe.
Avoiding stereotypes, assumptions
Why is it important to recognize the complexity and diversity of the Salafist movement?
It is true that as one part of the global Islamic revival, it appears to be growing. And it likely will remain part of the social landscape in a number of cities for the foreseeable future.
But, it is important not to assume that peoples religious faith and practices are the same as terrorist violence. It fuels fear and hatred like the kind that inspired the recent shootings at the mosque in Quebec or the arson attack that burned down a mosque in Texas.
So, from my perspective, when we hear politicians warn us of the global Salafi threat, or if we see a woman like Amal walking down the street in her jilbab, its vital to remember the dangers of simplistic (and mistaken) stereotypes of radical Muslims.
Z. Fareen Parvez, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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Related video added by Juan Cole:
Dr. Jonathan AC Brown Political Quietism and Non-Violence in Contemporary Salafism
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The New York Public Library | Francis Frith |
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. Gaza (the Old Town) New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed February 26, 2017. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-5c4b-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
Title: Gaza (the Old Town)
Names: Frith, Francis (Photographer)
Collection: Sinai and Palestine.
Date Issued: 1862 (Questionable)
Place: London
Publisher: W. Mackenzie
At this time the population of Palestine was around 411,000, almost all of them Palestinian Arabs of Muslim heritage. Perhaps ten percent of them were Christian. The Palestinian Arab families had lived on this land since time immemorial. In-migration was minor. There were only a few thousand Jews, mostly pilgrims from the Russian Empire who retired to Jerusalem where they lived on pious charities.
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |
Donald Trump was unhappy Saturday that the major media had neglected to report a point made by Herman Cain in an interview on Fox. Cain alleged that in Barack Obamas first month, the Federal budget deficit rose $200 bn., but in Trumps first month it fell to only $12 bn. Obviously, Obama had nothing to do with the deficit in his first month that was a result of the 2008 collapse, which had something to do with Republican policies of deregulating the banks and other mortgage lenders and declining to exercise any oversight over sketchy practices. And Trump had nothing to do with the deficit during his first month in office. That was a result of Obamas 8 years of pulling the economy back out of the toilet to which the Republican Party had consigned it.
Trumps petty attacks on journalists as enemies of America, as the worst people, and as irrationally denying him the credit for his 4 weeks of economic turnaround, are deeply worrisome to many Americans sensitive to the danger of a spiral down into authoritarian rule. William H. McRaven, the retired four-star admiral and former Navy Seal who led the raid against Usama Bin Laden, called Trumps remark on the press as an enemy of the people the greatest threat to democracy he has ever seen.
Trumps immature sidelining of reporters on his enemys list kept rolling on this weekend. White House spokesman Sean Spicer was set to do an on-camera press briefing on Friday, and then Donald Trump spoke at the conservative gathering CPAC. It is a custom that the spokesman doesnt do an on-camera event the same day the president gives a substantial address. So Spicer switched to doing what is called a gaggle, a smaller briefing in his office attended only be a few reporters in a pool who then would convey his remarks to others.
Spicer pared down the invitee list to the bare bones. He excluded the BBC, CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, Buzzfeed, the Daily Mail and Politico, among others. He allowed ABC, Fox News, Breitbart News, Reuters and the Washington Times. Breitbart is not a news outlet, but a propaganda arm of elements of the Ku Klux Klan who wear suits rather than white robes.
The exclusions were so egregious and petty that the Associated Press, USA Today and Time magazine declined to be present. The Washington Post and McClatchy did not know about the disinvitees, and said that if they had been aware of what was going on, they would not have attended, either.
Since Spicer often conveys fake news (the Atlanta Attack) or pro-Trump propaganda at his briefings, it isnt clear that the excluded media were exactly missing anything.
Then Trump announced that he would be the first president since Tricky Dick Nixon voluntarily to skip the annual dinner of the White House correspondents, where in recent decades the president and the press engaged in some good-natured ribbing. Trump appears to have felt humiliated at one of these events by remarks of then President Barack Obama, pushing back against Trumps outrageous lies about Obamas birthplace.
But Spicers and Trumps attempts to exclude so many journalists from a briefing may be all to the good.
Something is broken in American journalism. Maybe it is the inverted pyramid whereby US reporters put the most important thing first in the article. It has been pointed out that this way of organizing the article gives an unfair advantage to a duplicitous administration, since anything the president says goes first in the article. Bush and his people used this principle to game the press all the time. (When the scandal about US personnel torturing prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq broke on a Thursday evening, Bush quickly came out and condemned the practice. The Friday headlines were President condemns torture at Abu Ghraib.)
Or maybe it is access journalism, whereby an administration adopts a few favored writers and feeds them scoops that it suits the administration to go on the front page.
Or maybe it is the news conference. Why privilege an administrations narrative about itself by doing articles based on nothing more than hot air coming from the general direction of the West Wing?
Most major newspapers in the US, when there were major print newspapers, used to have an investigative journalism team. With the decline of ad revenue and the hard times on which journalism has fallen, investigative journalism has often been abandoned. Administrations and the Washington bureaucracy dont like a young journalist nosing around. ProPublica, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and some other independent organizations (often with limited resources) have been left to try to fill the gap left when big media cut back on investigative reporting.
But we need that back, big time, in this administration. Everywhere you dig in Trumps cabinet, you find bodies. So instead of sitting in a room being fed falsehoods by Spicer or Trump, best for the journalists to be working contacts in the White House or at NSC or the Pentagon to get the real story. Enough people in Washington are appalled by the Trump-Bannon attempt to fascize America that they seem willing to leak damaging information all on their own. How much better if a trained journalist got those stories through initiative.
So heres to Trump excluding virtually all the newspapers and cable channels. Let him. Go get the scoops he doesnt want you to have.
Someone (probably not George Orwell) once said, News is something somebody doesnt want printed; all else is advertising. Whoever said it, truer words were never spoken.
We need less advertising (or public relations in some versions), and a helluva lot more journalism these days.
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Related video:
CBS Evening News: Trump wont attend White House correspondents dinner
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By Brian Whitaker | ( Al-Bab.com )
When it comes to reporting the conflict in Yemen, Fox News is exceptionally bad. Fox has been fooling its viewers for years but now, with Donald Trump installed in the White House, the problem is becoming a more serious. Trump is a devotee of Fox News: it tells him what he wants to hear about Iranian influence in Yemen, among other things and he seems to trust it more than he trusts Americas intelligence agencies.
To make matters worse, though, Trump appears to be watching Fox News without giving it his full attention, presumably because he also has his Twitter feed and presidential business to attend to. As we saw from his reference to an incident in Sweden last week an imaginary event which he claimed to have heard about on Fox News he has a tendency to pick up garbled versions of what Fox actually broadcasts.
There was a similar Fox-inspired incident earlier this month involving Iran or, to be more accurate, not involving Iran. On 2 February, White House spokesman Sean Spicer wrongly asserted that Iran had attacked an American warship. Spicer told reporters Irans additional hostile action that it took against our Navy vessel (along with a recent Iranian missile test) was one of the reasons why the US was putting Iran on notice.
The American warship in question was actually Saudi. It had been attacked in the Red Sea at the end of January by Houthi fighters from Yemen who as Fox constantly reminds its viewers are Iranian-backed. The mistaken idea that the ship was American appears to have come from a Fox News report claiming the attack might have been meant for an American warship.
There was no credible evidence to support this claim but Fox was happy to report it on the basis of quotes from anonymous Pentagon officials even though the Houthis had been claiming all along that the ship was Saudi and identified it correctly as a frigate named al-Madinah which had been taking part in a naval blockade along the Houthi-controlled portion of Yemens coastline. Nevertheless, suggesting that the intended target was American helped to raise fears about Iran and allowed Foxs presenter to tell viewers it could have ominous implications for the US military.
Fox is always ready to sound alarm bells about Iran on the slenderest of pretexts. Last October, for instance, it got excited about the supposed threat to the US Navy posed by a single 48-year-old Iranian frigate and its supply ship which sailed harmlessly past Yemen to southern Africa, as Iran had said it would do.
While Obama was president propaganda of this kind didnt have much influence on American policy but it now has a receptive audience in the White House. The danger is that if Trump becomes mired in domestic political conflicts, as seems very likely, he may view confrontation with Iran as a way of rallying Americans around him.
Fox, of course, isnt the only source of the scaremongering but it is one of the more extreme examples. In large sections of the media Irans deep involvement in Yemen is taken for granted: it is assumed to be so obvious that there is no need to consider or even provide any evidence. This is reminiscent of the run-up to the 2003 war in Iraq when it became almost heretical to question whether Saddam Hussein really had weapons of mass destruction.
This isnt to suggest that Iran has no role in Yemen at all but its important not to exaggerate. The Houthis certainly have some religious affinity with Iran and nobody least of all, the Iranians would deny that Iran has given them encouragement. But while describing the Houthis as Iranian-backed is factually correct its liable to be be misleading unless qualified with further explanation. And while it suits Saudi Arabias purposes to characterise the Yemen conflict as a proxy war with Iran, local factors inside Yemen are actually far more relevant.
There is a very noticeable contrast between the sort of Yemen coverage provided by Fox News and discussions among people who follow Yemen closely for professional or academic reasons and have no particular axe to grind. I have attended plenty of discussions of the latter kind since the conflict began and the Iranian angle is rarely given much significance. On one occasion it was 40 minutes before anyone even uttered the word Iran.
One possible explanation for this is that the country with the longest, most extensive and most negative history of interference in Yemeni affairs is not Iran but Saudi Arabia. Its meddling over the years far outstrips anything done by Iran.
As for what Iran is actually doing to support the Houthis, available evidence suggests its not very much though this may be due more to the practical difficulties involved than a lack of inclination. A key question here is whether, or to what extent, Iran might be arming the Houthis (and supporters of ex-President Saleh who are allied with them).
A recent UN report by a panel of experts looked at this in detail and concluded that if Iran is providing weapons it is unlikely to be doing so on a large scale. The report said:
The panel has not seen sufficient evidence to confirm any direct large-scale supply of arms from the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, although there are indicators that anti-tank guided weapons being supplied to the Houthi or Saleh forces are of Iranian manufacture.
One factor here is that the Houthi-Saleh forces may not have had much need (so far) to import weapons from abroad because they already have access to a large part of Yemens national stockpile. The report noted:
The data indicate that the legitimate [Saudi-backed] government has potentially lost control of more than 68 per cent of the national stockpile during the conflict. The panel has been unable to determine the size of the national stockpile before the current hostilities, and thus it is not yet possible to realistically estimate for how long the weapons and ammunition will sustain Houthi or Saleh forces in combat until they need major external resupply.
On the question of external supplies, the report considered various ways arms might be smuggled into Yemen from Iran. It discounted the possibility of delivery by air (since the Saudi coalition controls the skies) and identified three possible maritime supply routes. However, these are fraught with difficulties and are probably only suitable for small-scale arms trafficking, as the report explained:
1. Coastal dhows to Houthi-Saleh-controlled ports on the west coast of Yemen
UN report: Coastal dhows, if en route to Houthi-Saleh-controlled ports on the west coast of Yemen, even if routed via a transit point in Djibouti or Somalia, must pass from the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea through the busy Bab al-Mandab strait, which is 28 km wide. This is well patrolled by the Combined Maritime Forces, the United States Navy Fifth Fleet and the Royal Saudi Navy. If sent in very small consignments on coastal dhows, it is probable that some shipments would arrive, but many would inevitably be interdicted by naval patrols. The panel has seen no evidence of any maritime seizures to date on this route, which strongly suggests that it is not being actively exploited.
2. Coastal dhows to Omani transit ports
UN report: There are only two small Omani ports to the west of Salalah, Dhofar governorate, with road access to the border with Yemen that would be suitable for the offloading of arms. Ship-to-shore transfers across Omani beaches in Dhofar are also possible. The subsequent requirement for vehicles to then transit through the most likely border crossing point at Sarfayt/Hawf carries a higher risk of interdiction by border guards than if ship-to-shore transfers were made directly across a Yemeni beach. Recent land seizures indicate that this route may be in use for small-scale shipments.
3. Coastal dhows to south-eastern ports or beaches in Yemen
UN report: The only suitable port for the direct offloading of weapons in south-eastern Yemen would be Nishtun, but this is under the control of government forces, meaning that its use would imply a level of corruption on the part of officials. The alternative to offloading weapons at Yemeni ports is, however, to operate a covert ship-to-shore transfer from coastal dhows or small boats across the known smugglers beaches at Ghaydah, Haswayn and Qishn. Recent land seizures indicate that this route is also probably in use for small-scale shipments.
Whether weapons are smuggled across the border from Oman or landed on Yemens southern coast, the hazards of transporting them overland to the Houthis through hostile territory are considerable. The UN report commented:
The land routes from the border crossing points with Dhofar, Oman, to the nearest Houthi-controlled territory, or from south-eastern Yemeni ports, pass through more than 600 km of government-controlled territory. The probability of large-scale shipments being able to successively use this route without detection is low, but it is possible. The route is being exploited, as indicated by recent seizures by the government. These were all from large trucks and either hidden under other cargo, for example chicken boxes, or were in false compartments of the trailer units Although anti-tank guided weapons are now being smuggled on the land routes, the panel assesses it as unlikely that the network using these routes could covertly transfer any significant quantities of larger-calibre weapon systems, such as short-range ballistic missiles, into Yemen at the current time. An anti-tank guided weapon is less than 1 m in length and easily hidden in a large truck, while a short-range ballistic missile of 7m in length is much more difficult to conceal.
Seizures at sea: a question of destination
During 2015 and 2016 there were only four confirmed seizures of weapons in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden. All four vessels had sailed from Iran but theres no real evidence that Yemen was their destination. The UN report suggests they are more likely to have been heading for Somalia:
24 September 2015: Fishing vessel Nasir intercepted by Australian frigate HMAS Melbourne.
UN report: The FV Nasir, which departed from Chabahar in the Islamic Republic of Iran, was seized at a position on the most direct and economical track to Hurdiyo, Somalia. This was the destination plotted [and] recovered as evidence by HMAS Melbourne. Mobile and satellite phones were also inspected during the seizure operation and subsequent traffic analysis from data provided by a [UN] member state provided further evidence that the originator was based in the Islamic Republic of Iran and that Somalia was the destination for the shipment The master of the FV Nasir was also in contact with known arms dealers with links to a former pirate, Isse Mohamoud Yusuf (Yullux), and the leader of the ISIL faction in Somalia, Abdulqadir Mumin.
27 February 2016: Fishing vessel Samer intercepted by Australian frigate HMAS Darwin.
UN report: The FV Samer was seized at a position 130 nautical miles south-east of the most direct and economical track from Chabahar, Islamic Republic of Iran, to Boosaaso, Somalia, this being the destination port assessed as likely by HMAS Darwin. This position is further away from the Yemeni coast than the most direct and economical track and suggests that a more likely direct destination was the eastern smuggling ports of Somalia than Boosaaso.
20 March 2016: Unknown fishing vessel intercepted by French destroyer FS Provence.
UN report: The unknown fishing vessel was seized by the FS Provence at a point on the most direct and economical track from Chabahar, Islamic Republic of Iran, to its declared destination of Qandala, Somalia.
28 March 2016: Fishing vessel Adris intercepted by American patrol ship USS Sirocco.
The interception by USS Sirocco was announced in a press release by the American Fifth Fleet and reported in the media but despite two requests from the UN experts, the US has still not disclosed the location of the seizure or provided evidence to support its claim that the shipment was likely bound for Houthi insurgents in Yemen.
This is not the only instance where countries engaged in the struggle against arms smuggling have been less than forthcoming with information for the UN panel. Regarding seizures on the overland routes, for example, the report notes:
The panel has requested detailed information on seizures from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen [i.e. the Hadi government]. Only the United Arab Emirates has responded to date.
Nor have the Saudis been eager to elaborate on reports of a possible fifth seizure of weapons at sea in 2016:
Media reports claimed that two small dhows had been captured by the coalition led by Saudi Arabia off the coast of Salif, with conflicting reports stating that they had been destroyed by air strikes. Saudi Arabia has not responded to the panels requests for more details on the reported incident or incidents.
It does seem a bit odd that governments which readily accuse Iran of arming the Houthis are not more enthusiastic about providing credible evidence. But perhaps they assume the public is already persuaded and needs no more convincing and they could be right about that.
Bombings and air strikes in Syria were committed deliberately to disrupt peace talks between both sides in Geneva, UN Envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Saturday. De Mistura met with officers of the Syrian government and opposition forces in Geneva in efforts to resolve [Reuters report] the ongoing conflict. Suicide attackers killed [NPR report] at least 32 people on Saturday in the city of Homs, including a senior military official. The Syrian government responded with airstrikes against a rebel-held enclave.
The war in Syria [JURIST backgrounder] continues to have a devastating impact. In January, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland condemned [JURIST report] the interruption of water that has left millions of Syrians without clean access to water. Earlier that month Syrian warplanes resumed bombardment [JURIST report] in spite of a ceasefire agreement reached just days before. In December the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to establish an independent panel to investigate possible war crimes [JURIST report] in Syria. That month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein accused Syrian pro-government forces of going door to door and systematically killing civilians [JURIST report] in at least four Aleppo neighborhoods. The Russian/Syrian coalition committed war crimes in Aleppo during September and October, Human Rights Watch said [JURIST report] in early December.
Two sources with contacts in the Trump administration suggested Saturday that the US might be considering leaving the UN Human Rights Council [official website]. One source explained that several requests had come from the US State Department regarding the Council, suggesting that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson [profile] might be reevaluating [Politico report] the US membership of the Council. The notion was further supported by Tillerson expressing skepticism about the work of the Council in a recent meeting, according to sources. The skepticism towards the Council is thought to be based upon its inclusion of countries like China and Saudi Arabia who are accused of systematic human rights abuses, a perceived bias against Israel and questions about the Council general usefulness. Last week Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley [profile] criticized the Council for its treatment of Israel, calling the treatment unfair and its resolutions outrageously biased. The Council was created to replace the UN Human Rights Commission in 2006. Former President George W. Bush refused to join the Council at its creation, but the US joined in 2009 under the Obama administration.
A US decision to leave the UN Human Rights Council would come at a time where human rights are threatened around the world. A report in January showed that the surge in populist leaders in Europe and the US threatens human rights [JURIST report] while inviting autocratic abuse in other nations. Also in January the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights asked business leaders [JURIST report] to use their influence to prevent human rights violations in countries where they operate, citing concerns over the increase in divisive politics and hatred toward those who are already vulnerable to oppression. The possible decision to leave the Council also comes at the heel of UN human rights experts saying that the immigration signed by US President Donald Trump is possibly in breach [JURIST report] of international human rights obligations.
The US Supreme Court [official website] asked both sides of the Gloucester County School Board v. G.G. [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] case on Thursday to submit letters to the court [SCOTUSblog report] discussing how the case should proceed in light of the Trump administrations revocation [JURIST report] of the Obama-era guidance on school transgender bathroom policies. The Department of Education (DOE) interpretation of of Title IX required schools to treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity. Essentially, the question currently before the court [cert. petition, PDF] is whether the DOEs guidance letter be given any legal effect, and, if not, whether the Title IX prohibition against sex discrimination in education should regardless be interpreted in such a manner as to cover transgender students as a protected group. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website], which represents the plaintiff Galvin Grimm, argues that the Title IX definition of sex discrimination is sufficiently broad to cover gender identity while the Gloucester school board counters that the definition warrants a narrow interpretation centering on physiological distinctions between men and women. The Trump administration is not directly involved [Reuters report] in the litigation of this case, but a Supreme Court ruling in favor of Grimm will bind it and school boards across the country to its decision. Both sides have urged the Court to make a determination one way or another and provide the necessary clarity rather than avoiding the issue by remanding it back to a lower court. The court has set a March 1 deadline for both sides to file opinion letters, and the case has been scheduled for oral argument on March 28.
Anti-discrimination laws based on sexual orientation and gender identity has created much controversy in the past several months. The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday ruled [JURIST report] 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. North Carolina lawmakers filed a bipartisan bill [JURIST report] on Wednesday aimed at breaking the impasse over the states bathroom bill (HB2) [text, PDF] that requires transgender people to use public bathrooms that correspond to the sex listed on their birth certificate. A bipartisan agreement to repeal the North Carolina bathroom bill fell apart in December [JURIST report] after each party accused the other of reneging on promises. Two weeks ago, the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] withdrew its appeal of an injunction [JURIST report] preventing the enforcement of the Dear Colleague guidance that schools should allow transgender students to use the restroom of their choosing. Last week the Parliament of Finland [official website, in Finnish] voted 120-48 [JURIST report] to confirm a law allowing same-sex marriage. Earlier this month the UK announced [JURIST report] 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.
A handful of aviation companies are working to bring back supersonic passenger travelwhich has been elusive since the Concorde fleet retiredand one of the newer contenders, Boom, recently completed the first round of wind-tunnel testing, a critical step in the development of a prototype. A scale model, inside a wind tunnel at Wichita State University in Kansas, was used to verify the teams expectations for low-speed aerodynamics, stability, and control. The companys next step is to start assembly of the XB-1 Demonstrator, a technologically representative one-third-scale version of the production Boom airliner, which will ultimately seat up to 45. The first flight of the XB-1 is expected late this year.
Booms efforts were bolstered in November when Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, lent his support to the program. Through Virgin Galactics manufacturing arm, the Spaceship Company, we will provide engineering and manufacturing services, along with flight-test support and operations as part of our shared ambitions, Branson said. Through this relationship, Virgin Galactic has secured an option on Booms first 10 airframes. Booms design features a delta wing, a carbon-fiber fuselage, and three efficient turbofan jet engines by General Electric. It is projected to cruise at Mach 2.2 (about 1,451 mph), allowing passengers to fly from New York to London in about three hours and 15 minutes for a fare of about $2,500 each way. But dont expect to make these hops across the pond anytime soon; the first commercial flights are expected in 2023. (boomsupersonic.com)
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People march in memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, portrait in center, in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017. Thousands of Russians take to the streets of downtown Moscow to mark two years since Nemtsov was gunned down outside the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
BISSAU - Feb 26 (Reuters) - China will invest $184 million dollars into a 30 kilowatt biomass power plant in Guinea Bissau, the Chinese embassy said on Sunday.
"The funds are meant for construction of a biomass plant fed by two generators each with 15 kilowatt capacity," an embassy statement said.
China will foot 93 percent of the bill for the project, while Guinea pays for the remaining 7 percent.
Guinea Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, suffers chronic power shortages that often leave its seaside capital Bissau in darkness.
China has pledged to put about $60 billion into African development projects. In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a multi-billion dollar development initiative at a summit in South Africa, saying it would boost agriculture, build roads, ports and railways and cancel some debt.
China has already built Guinea Bissau's national stadium, main parliament building and a government palace.
(Reporting by Alberto Dabo; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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 ...
* All seven stocks up by 20 percent daily limit
* Appetite for listings is strong, official says
* Companies from other GCC states may list
* Less onerous listing rules aim to attract family firms
* But restrictions on qualified investors may curb liquidity
By Celine Aswad
DUBAI, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Stocks surged as Saudi Arabia launched a secondary equity market on Sunday, creating a new opportunity for smaller and family-run firms but restrictions could make achieving high trading volumes and liquidity difficult.
The new Parallel Market aims to improve companies' access to capital and expose them to market disciplines in an economy dominated by small and mid-sized enterprises, most of which are family-owned.
Many family firms in the Gulf have been reluctant to cede any kind of control to outsiders; the Parallel Market aims to change that by offering lighter listing rules and disclosure requirements compared to the main Saudi Stock Exchange .
Companies require fewer shareholders to issue stock and they do not have to list as large a proportion of their shares. Prices on the Parallel Market can swing 20 percent in either direction daily, versus a 10 percent band on the main market.
On their first day of trade, all seven Parallel Market stocks soared 20 percent.
They included restaurant and bakeries operator Raydan Co , the largest company in the group with an initial market capitalisation of 720 million riyals ($192 million) - larger than a quarter of the 176 companies on the main market.
Yazan Abdeen, head of regional capital markets at Jeddah-based SEDCO Capital, said the new market would prompt many smaller companies to reconsider listing.
"It is an alternative model of financing for such companies, and will provide many family businesses with an initial step towards governance that would ensure future sustainability."
Saudi Stock Exchange Chief Executive Khalid al-Hussan told Al Arabiya television as many as 100 companies had expressed interest in listing on the new market, including some from the five other countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Some companies may see it as a way to raise debt with greater ease, said Farid Samji, head of asset management at Dubai-based Daman Investments.
"Publicly traded companies have the advantage of gaining greater access to debt instruments from more creditors and at lower rates, because their valuation is transparent and their financials are audited," Samji said.
Nevertheless, the new market will have to demonstrate substantial trading volumes to make it worthwhile for many issuers and investors.
On Sunday, traded volume totalled 7.6 million shares worth 256 million riyals - a far cry from the 190 million shares trading on the main market.
"The challenge is to maintain liquidity without speculators," said Mohammad al-Shammasi, chief executive of Riyadh-based Derayah Financial.
Access to the new market will be restricted to professional investors such as institutions and high net worth individuals, to avoid speculative price swings.
The main market is dominated by local retail investors, who accounted for a little over half of trading value last week. Excluding them could deprive the Parallel Market of a key source of liquidity.
Samji said he would monitor the market's performance in terms of trading volume, analyst and news coverage of listed companies, and the quality of information disclosure before deploying money into it.
(Editing by Andrew Torchia and Jason Neely)
William
The father of William "Ryan" Owens, the Navy SEAL Team 6 member who was the first US combat death during US President Donald Trump's presidency in January, urged the Trump administration to not "hide behind my son's death" and provide answers.
In an interview with the Miami Herald, Bill Owens, also a Navy veteran, called for an investigation into the raid that left his son, an eight-year-old girl, and as many as 29 civilians dead.
US military sources told Reuters that the fledgling Trump administration executed the raid "without sufficient intelligence, ground support, or adequate backup preparations."
The Obama administration had originally vetted and approved the raid at the very end of Obama's term, but put off the mission, as military planners thought it would be best to proceed on a moonless night.
The raid, which marked the first use of US ground troops in Yemen's two-year-old civil war, resulted in the destruction of a $70 million dollar MV-22 Osprey helicopter. It was criticized by Sen. John McCain of Arizona as a "failure."
The White House has strongly pushed back on disapproval stemming from the raid.
"It's absolutely a success," said White House spokesman Sean Spicer on February 8 of the raid. Spicer later described it as a "huge success."
"I think anyone who undermines the success of that raid owes an apology and a disservice to the life of Chief Owens," Spicer said. "The raid, the action that was taken in Yemen was a huge success. American lives will be saved because of it. Future attacks will be prevented."
But Owens' father suggested he has plenty of questions about the raid.
mike pence michael flynn steve bannon reince priebus
Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasnt even barely a week into his administration? Why? For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen everything was missiles and drones because there was not a target worth one American life. Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display? Owens told the paper.
Story continues
Furthermore, Owens demanded an investigation.
Dont hide behind my sons death to prevent an investigation, Owens said. "I want an investigation. The government owes my son an investigation."
But the Trump administration's own position on inquiries into the raid may have shifted since Spicer's comments earlier this month. White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on ABC's "This Week" that she imagines Trump "would be supportive of" an investigation into the raid.
Spicer has justified the raid and its heavy losses by saying that the intelligence recovered from the Al Qaeda branch in Yemen would save future American lives.
Marines landing MV-22 Osprey
Bill Roggio, editor of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Long War Journal, previously told Business Insider that Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen does plan international attacks. He said some of the intelligence on these attacks can only be recovered by going in and actually confiscating hard drives.
"This is a branch that's at the forefront of launching plots to blow up airliners and attack airlines," Roggio said.
Roggio said it would be "hard to know" if the mission succeeded or not without seeing the intelligence recovered "and were never going to see it."
Trump made a surprise trip to pay respects to Owens' casket as it returned to the US, but the elder Owens said he declined to meet the president.
"I told them I didnt want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldnt let me talk to him," Owens told the Herald.
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Tracy Watkins writes:
So what to read into the latest poll? All this while we thought it was Key who kept National freakishly high in the polls. It may be a washover of goodwill toward Key. Englishs honeymoon gift. Or maybe the whole truly was always greater than the sum of Nationals parts.
Key has had a very powerful and popular brand. The challenge was always whether Brand Key would become Brand National, and so far it looks like it has. There was more to Key than his likability and communication skills. It was also that he was seen as moderate, competent and trusted. These are the attributes that he has left National with.
Key has been almost invisible since his return to the back bench. There is some strategy behind that. Transitions are awkward and Key doesnt want to hog any of Englishs air. But it is also personal. Keys relationship with the media dramatically soured over the holiday season when a news outlet ran paparazzi supplied shots of the former PM and wife Bronagh poolside on holiday in Hawaii. There are very few times over the years when I have seen Key genuinely, blazingly, angry. The teapot tape debacle was one when Keys usual pragmatism deserted him and the secret recording of him and John Banks blew up into a bigger story than it needed to be. It seems this paparazzi intrusion is another though rather than blow it up Keys response this time has been to retreat from the media instead.
The NZ Herald paid a paparazzi to stalk Key in Hawaii and take long distance photos of him and Bronagh in their togs, and even him filling up a car with petrol. It was shameful behaviour from the Herald of course he was angry. I doubt they would have ever done it while he was actually Prime Minister as they knew he would find it an appalling intrusion of privacy.
We should all hope it doesnt last. Key is one of the worlds most respected politicians (for all that his opponents dwell on pony tails and the John Oliver show). He will be in high demand on the international speaking circuit, his next step after he leaves here in just a few weeks time. But we also need his voice here, helping us interpret and navigate the new world order. And not just Key Helen Clark too. Like Key, Clark has been in retreat since her shot at the United Nations top job. It goes without saying that Clark commands international respect. Theirs are the sort of strong, rational voices the world needs now, more than ever. Former Howard government advisor and Australian political commentator Terry Barnes wrote a thoughtful piece this week comparing Canberra and Wellington. If only toxic Canberra could copy New Zealands ways, he lamented in the NZ Herald.
The Barnes article is an interesting one, which I will blog on separately.
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Stuff reports:
National list MP Paul Foster-Bell will not contest the selection for Wellington Central and will stand down from Parliament at the 2017 general election. His announcement follows reports of a major bid by corporate high-flyer Nicola Willis to challenge Foster-Bell for selection. Willis has been an advisor to former Prime Minister John Key and is understood to have his backing. Foster-Bell said he informed local National Party members of his decision on Sunday.
Ive known Paul since he was a Young National, and it would be hard to find a more likable guy. Paul and I used to share an office in Parliament when we were both staffers, and we were both on the respective national councils of the Republican Movement and Monarchy NZ, which led to some great conversations. Paul went on to a distinguished career in MFAT and to my good fortune was First Secretary in Iran when I was doing a holiday in the Middle East. So Paul hosted me in Iran, which was the start of my love affair with the country and its people (not the Government).
Paul has been an MP for only four years but managed to get a law change through Parliament, allowing RSA clubs to serve alcohol on ANZAC Day without needing a special licence a very popular change that was supported unanimously in Parliament.
While sad to see Paul retire, I am delighted to see Nicola Willis (also a former colleague and friend) standing for Parliament. I think Nicola will be an excellent MP. She was a very forceful and respected staffer in Parliament, and since then has risen up the ranks in Fonterra, where she is currently the General Manager of Nutrient Management. Nicola is also the mum of four young kids.
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11Stuff reports:
Changes to proposed spying laws have tightened the rules around obtaining warrants and placed more responsibility for the actions of New Zealands spies directly on the responsible minister.
The details have been released in a report from MPs sitting on Parliaments Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Select Committee, to Minister for National Security and Intelligence Bill English.
The report from select committee recommends a number of key changes, following a process of hearing submissions from both experts and the general public.
One of the most significant changes is a two-pronged approach to national security in the warranting regime.
MPs have recommended that both the authorising Minister and the Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants must be satisfied the spying warrant is necessary for the protection of national security.
It was a change from the original requirement, which would have seen the Attorney General provide one half of the sign-off, instead of the Minister.
Being responsible for issuing warrants would ensure that the responsible Minister is aware of the day-to-day business of the agency, of which warrants are a significant component, the committee said in its report.
A Type 1 intelligence warrant authorises a spy agency to carry out what would be otherwise illegal activity, to collect information again New Zealand citizens and residents.
Following that two-part sign-off, the warrant would also have to be deemed necessary to identify, enable the assessment of, or protect against one or more of a specific list of harms.
They included terrorism or violent extremism, espionage or other foreign intelligence activity, sabotage, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, serious crime and interference with information or information infrastructures of importance to the New Zealand Government.
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Enforcing the law, or painting Iowa as a racist state? There are two distinct views of House File 265 in the Iowa Legislature. (Iowa CCI Acton Fund)
The 25th Amendment provides guidance for what to do should a U.S. president become incapacitated. (Karen Neoh/Flickr)
Hunger is especially prevalent in African-American households, with more than 1 in 5 in Missouri considered food insecure. (bread.org)
janet yellen
The Federal Reserve said January 22 it is worried about the "low level of implied volatility in equity markets"
The VIX, a gauge of market fearfulness, has been bouncing around at historic lows
That seems at odds with the "considerable uncertainty" the Fed expects in US policy
The Federal Reserve is worried that the stock market might be showing signs of complacency.
The central bank's most recent communication the Fed minutes for the January/February meeting released on January 22 shows that members are split on whether President Trump's agenda will spur economic growth.
That uncertainty doesn't seem to be showing up in the stock market, however. The Chicago Board Options Exchange volatility index, which gauges investor anxiety (technically, implied expectations for volatility in the stock market) and is widely known as the VIX index, has been trending down.
The Fed minutes said: "They also expressed concern that the low level of implied volatility in equity markets appeared inconsistent with the considerable uncertainty attending the outlook for such policy initiatives."
What is implied volatility, and why is it so low?
The VIX is commonly read as a gauge of market fearfulness, and measures the market's expectation of volatility implicit in the price of options on the Standard & Poor's 500.
One way to think of it is like the cost of an insurance policy. When the market is expected to be volatile, there are more buyers of insurance, and so the cost of that insurance rises. When the market is relaxed, nobody's interested in buying insurance against a wild swing, so the protection offered by options is inexpensive.
Lately, the VIX has barely been moving, only breaking 20 on a handful of occasions, and generally trending below 13.
Screen Shot 2017 02 24 at 5.41.06 PM
"The reason the VIX has been so low over the last several weeks is simply because the S&P 500 has experienced practically NO downside volatility in months and the VIX is a reflection of that," Andrew Adams, a market strategist at Raymond James, wrote in an email. "The index has still not fallen more than 2% at any point since the election and has not really struggled since the brief Brexit scare. So, naturally, the VIX is going to be low since its simply confirming there has been no downside in quite a while."
Story continues
There are technical reasons for the low levels of implied volatility, too. Remember that insurance analogy? Right now, writing, or selling insurance, looks attractive. That is driving the price of those insurance policies down.
"Lately it hasnt paid to be long on the VIX, as it has been flat," J.J. Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, told Business Insider. "Those who are buying protection in the SPX [the S&P 500] are investors willing to give up some upside to protect the downside, that is, theyre selling out-of-the-money calls to purchase out-of-the-money puts."
Selling insurance has the potential to backfire, of course. Goldman Sachs strategists said in early February that VIX short positioning, or bets against volatility, have increased to high levels. That "can drive a sharp reversal in the event of a VIX spike," Goldman Sachs said.
That's likely the cause of the Fed's concern, according to Kinahan. He said the reason why the Fed is worried about the VIX is so low, is because they don't want to see a dramatic spike up.
"Because that would go hand and hand with a market sell off," he said.
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pete buttigieg
ATLANTA John Verdejo had never heard of Pete Buttigieg before the Democratic National Committee chair's race. By Saturday's vote, he had only one impression of the South Bend, Indiana, mayor.
"Mind. Blown. Mind. Blown. You ask any of the DNC members here, and he was their second choice. I don't care if you voted for Perez first, Ellison first Buttigieg was their No. 2," the North Carolina DNC member said here at the committee's winter meeting in Atlanta.
Buttigieg ultimately failed to secure the DNC chairmanship: Lacking the votes to secure the role, the 36-year-old mayor dropped out of the race Saturday before anyone got the chance to vote for him, and former labor secretary Tom Perez secured the role in a tight race with Rep. Keith Ellison.
Yet Democrats here were quick to heap praise on the mayor, pointing to a stacked and diverse background and resume: He is a gay, Harvard-educated Rhodes Scholar, a Navy veteran, and an accomplished pianist.
But particularly, many Democrats noted his ability to transcend the rift between the establishment and the ascendant progressive wing of the party.
"He very much is the future of the party," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told Business Insider in an interview on Friday, before the vote. "I expect Tom Perez or Keith Ellison to elevate him."
Many progressive figures in the party were equally impressed by the South Bend mayor.
"I thought he ran an impressive campaign," Jeff Weaver, Sen. Bernie Sanders' former campaign manager, said on Saturday. "He coalesced a lot of support coming from a red state, and I think people were very impressed with his ability convey a powerful message. I think there is certainly a future for him in the party if he wants to have a national profile."
Buttigieg also got the nod from former President Barack Obama's top staffers, including David Axelrod and Dan Pfeiffer, who said they'd be watching the mayor's next moves.
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Perhaps lacking the credibility of a serious challenger, Buttigieg's bid raised his national profile without damaging him in a way that negative press stories bruised Perez and Ellison.
In the final week of the campaign, some media outlets were enamored with the mayor. He attracted local press attention in states like California. The left-leaning outlet Salon said Buttigieg was shaking up the race for DNC chair by airing out the toxicity of the fight between Perez and Ellison. And he garnered positive coverage for his debate performance on CNN.
Still, part of Buttigieg's appeal to many Democrats may also prove to be a liability.
His red-state pedigree is untested outside of a fairly small arena. He's won two elections in a left-leaning college town, and he would face an uphill battle running for higher office in his home state.
Republicans maintained their hold over the Hoosier state last year: US Senate favorite Evan Bayh bungled his attempt to retake his seat, while Republicans also maintained their control over the governorship. Buttigieg's only experience running for state office was a bid for state treasurer in Indiana in 2010 he was pummeled by opponent Richard Mourdock by more than 10 percentage points.
But many supporters feel the DNC race marked the birth of Buttigieg's national career.
"He's using today as a jump-off point to something else," said Verdejo, the North Carolina DNC member.
When asked what that could be, Verdejo replied: "Senator. Or even president, why not? Swing big. He looks good onstage, speaks well. He's a rockstar. He represents all that this party is about."
At least one person close to the mayor agrees with that.
"I've always joked with him like he should run for president," Buttigieg's partner, Chasten Glezman, said in an interview Friday. "Because I think that he's genuine, he's authentic, and he's exactly what this country needs."
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By Nam Hyun-woo
Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai
Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai was grilled by the special prosecutors' team investigating a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her close aide Choi Soon-sil.
The special prosecutors on Saturday summoned Kim to question him about an allegation that a KEB Hana Bank senior executive was promoted in return for helping Choi get loans in Germany.
The executive, Lee Sang-hwa, allegedly assisted Choi and her daughter Chung Yoo-ra to secure "preferential loans" for their businesses and property purchases in Germany.
In 2015, when Lee was the head of KEB Hana's branch in Germany, it lent them 380,000 euros, backed by Choi's land in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, as collateral. The bank is suspected of having offered loans to them at a 0.98 percent annual rate, which is far lower than the average 3 to 6 percent.
Lee returned home last January and took charge of a KEB Hana branch in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, an affluent area and one of the most-favored locations in the metropolitan area. A month later, he was promoted to his current position as head of global sales.
The special prosecutors suspect former presidential secretary Ahn Jong-beom masterminded Lee's promotion through Korea Exchange Chairman Jeong Chan-woo, then-vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission.
The prosecutors' team questioned Hana Chairman Kim for nine hours. Asked whether Ahn's request influenced Lee's promotion, Kim told reporters "everybody knows what happened."
Though he claimed to have been unaware of the "preferential loans," Kim said Lee's suspicious promotion "is regretful anyway."
Another doubt surrounding Lee is that he introduced Choi to Yoo Jae-kyung, who was later appointed as Korea's ambassador to Myanmar. Yoo admitted he grabbed the diplomatic job on Choi's recommendation. The allegation is that Choi sought personal gains worth 76 billion won ($65 million) in state business in Myanmar.
The special prosecutors' team earlier this month summoned Korea Exchange chief Jeong to question him. On Feb. 3, the team searched the financial regulator to focus on finding documents and data related to Jeong.
By Nam Hyun-woo
MetLife Korea CEO Damien Green Lina Korea CEO Benjamin Hong
Korea is notorious for its male-dominated business culture. That is especially the case for the insurance industry, which is regarded as a very conservative area -- but there are exceptions such as MetLife Korea and Lina Korea.
According to data of the Korea Life Insurance Association, Sunday, the country's 19 major life insurers had 473 executives as of the end of last October. Among them only 33, or 7 percent, were women.
This starkly contrasts to their staffs whose numbers are almost the same for both genders at around 12,000 each.
Things are different for two foreign life insurers here, MetLife which has eight female executives and Lina with seven.
In particular, MetLife has put forth great efforts to shatter the glass ceiling following the inauguration of CEO Damien Green in 2014.
As of the end of 2014, women accounted for just 12 percent of the Seoul-based outfit's executives but the figure more than doubled to 29.6 percent last year.
In 2015, the company also elected its first female outside director, Mo Jin, who is chief of Danone Pulmuone.
Such changes were spearheaded by Green, who seems to have a firm belief of the value of diversity and gender equality.
"Our human resources policy is to put the right talent in the right place regardless of their gender, and to ensure that all employees have equal opportunity," he was quoted as saying in recent talks with employees.
"This is essential to creating an environment where all employees can develop to their full potential, and will ultimately bring huge benefits to the company."
Under the stewardship of CEO Benjamin Hong, who took charge in 2010, Lina has also spearheaded bringing a new culture of gender equality to the insurance industry.
Out of its 18 executives, seven are women for a high ratio of 38.9 percent.
Korea Life Insurance Association Chairman Lee Soo-chang praised the two companies.
"Using female resources is very important not only for gender equality but also for our economic growth. That also applies to the insurance business," Lee said.
"In this sense, insurers such as MetLife and Lina are doing very well."
Diplomatic friction between Pyongyang, Asian nations worsens
By Jun Ji-hye
North Korea's alleged use of a banned chemical warfare agent to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother in Malaysia and the North's blatant denial of involvement is straining its relations with Southeast Asian nations and deepening its isolation, analysts said Sunday.
Malaysia, which has maintained friendly relations with the reclusive state since 1973, is now indicating it will sever diplomatic relations, after being apparently shocked that the North brought the highly toxic nerve agent VX into a crowed international airport in Kuala Lumpur.
Criticism for Pyongyang's alleged act is also rife in other Southeast Asian countries that have been friendly to the North or at least have taken a neutral attitude.
"The international community is highly likely to stress the moral issue and highlight the problem of the North's inhumane acts," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul. "The case can isolate the North severely."
Kim Jong-nam, the first son of late leader Kim Jong-il, was poisoned by two women as he was preparing to catch a flight at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Feb. 13.
Traces of the lethal VX nerve agent were found on the face and eyes of the victim named Kim Chol, an alias used by Kim Jong-nam, according to a preliminary assessment released by the Chemistry Department of Malaysia, Friday.
Amid a variety of circumstantial evidence that the Kim Jong-un regime was behind the assassination, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi indicated Saturday that his country would reexamine its diplomatic relationship with Pyongyang.
"Malaysia is not a country that gives birth to criminals or harbors criminals," Zahid was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times after voicing the country's plan to review diplomatic ties with the North.
VX, one of the most toxic chemical substances, is listed as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations and its use is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), of which North Korea is not a signatory.
Exposure to the agent can cause death in minutes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As the North continues to deny involvement in Kim's death and questions the results of Malaysia's police investigation, Malaysia's ministers also said on Sunday the country should severe diplomatic relations. The culture minister said there was nothing to be gained by maintaining relations with Pyongyang, according to the New Straits Times.
Other Southeast Asian countries are apparently joining the criticism. Thailand's Bangkok Post slammed the North in an editorial, saying the assassination was unforgivable. Indonesia's police are investigating possible espionage involving a North Korean restaurant in Jakarta, according to sources.
Anti-North Korea sentiment has also spread in China, Pyongyang's one and only powerful ally, given that the Chinese government had protected Jong-nam
"Once every suspicion involving the North turns out to be true, it will have an impact on Pyongyang-Beijing relations," Korea's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lim Sung-nam said.
The South Korean government is doing all it can through diplomatic channels to isolate the Kim regime further.
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se left for Geneva Sunday to attend a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council and the Conference on Disarmament, Monday and Tuesday, to speak out against the North's human rights abuses and shed light on its use of chemical weapons, the ministry said.
Seoul has usually sent a vice minister to the U.N. meeting, but it raised the level of the country's representative following the alleged use of the VX nerve agent.
Envoys from South Korea, Japan and the United States to the six-party denuclearization talks will also meet in Washington this week, where they are expected to discuss whether to relist the reclusive state as a state sponsor of terrorism.
The suggestion has been growing in the U.S. Congress since the murder, which followed the North's launch of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile.
"Once upon a time, the United States had North Korea on the state sponsors of terrorism list," Rep. Ted Poe said. "It is time to put little Kim back on that list because he is a world terrorist and a threat to world peace, and he has earned that distinction."
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is escorted to the Independent Counsel's office in Daechi-dong, Seoul, Sunday, for questioning. / Yonhap
By Ko Dong-hwan
Special prosecutors questioned Samsung Group's de facto leader Lee Jae-yong for the second straight day Sunday on suspicions of bribery in connection to a massive corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her influence-peddler and longtime friend Choi Soon-sil.
The Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman is in custody over claims that he gave or promised to offer billions of won worth to Choi now in jail in return for business favors.
He was arrested on Feb. 17 amid suspicion that after bribing Choi, he also offered a kickback to Park.
Independent Counsel Park Youn-soo accused President Park of ordering her health minister to press the state pension fund to support a merger of two Samsung units, a key step for smooth management succession to Lee from his ailing father Kun-hee.
Lee has denied that his company gave bribes to Choi, while Park has also denied receiving a kickback from Lee.
Special investigators are scheduled to end their probe into the scandal by the end of February, following parliament's December vote to impeach Park.
If acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn does not approve the probe's extension, the probe will be handed to prosecutors.
The local prosecutors will then decide whether to indict Park if she is ousted. Under the law, incumbent presidents have legal immunity from prosecution.
A local court allowed Lee's detention to be extended until Mar. 8. Investigators said that if the probe deadline was not extended, they planned to indict him within the month.
The Constitutional Court is reviewing the legality of the impeachment motion and plans to listen to final arguments on Monday.
President Park's lawyers said she had yet to decide whether to appear at the court's final impeachment session.
Park Young-soo, leader of the independent counsel team, enters the team's office in Daechi-dong, southern Seoul, Sunday, amid tight security due to threats of violence from supporters of President Park Geun-hye. / Yonhap
Counsel team seeks police protection over safety concerns
By Lee Kyung-min
Supporters of the embattled President Park Geun-hye have come under growing criticism for seeking to resort to violence against the independent counsel team.
Law enforcement authorities remained on high alert over possible attacks by loyalists for Park, Sunday.
According to the team, three security details were assigned, Saturday, to Park Young-soo, the counsel leading the investigation into the influence-peddling scandal involving Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil, as well as to the five senior prosecutors.
The police have increased security near their respective residences and the team's office in Daechi-dong, southern Seoul.
The strengthened security measures came at the team's request as the conservative pro-Park protesters recently have turned notably violent.
During one of the recent daily protests held near the team's office, Park Geun-hye supporters made life-size cardboard cutouts of Park Young-soo and team spokesman Lee Kyu-chul and hanged them in effigy.
The cutouts are still on display near the protest sites with stickers on their chests that read "traitors," hung from the ceiling of a makeshift container with nooses around their necks.
The performance was much more intense than the usual daily protests where they gather to shout "Park Young-soo out!" or "Disband the independent counsel team," without making direct threats to the safety of the team members.
The fear among the team also spiked after some protesters recently initiated sit-ins in front of the home of Park Young-soo after finding out his address.
They vowed to carry out protests against what they consider a treasonous act to oust a sitting President based on a left-wing conspiracy.
The increased security measures for the team came days after the police implemented similar protections for the eight Constitutional Court judges.
Police measures immediately followed a death threat made online against acting court President Lee Jung-mi last Wednesday.
In a message posted on an online community website shared among Park Geun-hye supporters, an internet user said he (or she) is willing to kill Lee Jung-mi to increase the chance of the impeachment being overturned.
"If Lee Jung-mi is out of the picture, we only need two votes to have the impeachment overturned," the message read.
"We can expect at least one dissenting vote in every Constitutional Court ruling, as Cheong Wa Dae could lobby at least one of those judges, so securing one more vote would not be that big of a problem if Lee is gone. I have lived long enough. If I could help save the country, I would gladly die for this cause. I will kill Lee Jung-mi," it added.
Police said it would maintain the highest security positions near the possibly targeted area until after the impeachment ruling is made.
Police questioned a Park supporter, Saturday, who was accused of hitting an anti-Park protester who staged a one-man protest demanding Park's impeachment in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
The supporter, 71, said he took offense to the protester, 48, for having what he believed was a wrong opinion.
Police buses kept pro-President Park and anti-Park protesters apart in central Seoul on Saturday, with people at Gwanghwamun Square (top) demanding the Constitutional Court back Park's impeachment and those at bottom opposing it. / Yonhap
By Ko Dong-hwan
On the fourth anniversary of Korean President Park Geun-hye's administration, there were two large rallies in Seoul, one calling for Park's impeachment over a corruption scandal and the other against it.
Park's supporters waved the Korean national flags, demanding that Park must not be impeached. They demanded that the Constitutional Court, which is deciding whether to impeach Park, reject Park's impeachment, saying the court is trying to deliver the ruling before acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi leaves.
A rally participant was cited by Yonhap News Agency saying, "I am worried about the court's plan to end the hearings on Feb. 27 and deliver the ruling before Lee's departure."
Park's supporters said 3 million participated in the rally as of 2:45 p.m.
Concerns rise over next presidential election
By Jung Min-ho
U.S. President Donald Trump opposes the possible impeachment of his Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye. The Chinese government mobilized 60,000 Chinese students in Korea to join anti-Park protests.
These are some of the fake news items circulating around Korea these days through websites and KakaoTalk, an instant messaging app.
At a special forum held at the Korea Press Center last week, experts shared opinions and possible ways to fight fake news, which is increasingly becoming an issue in the new era of post-truth politics.
"The most difficult part of dealing with the problem is that it is hard to define fake news," said Hahn Kyu-sup, a professor of communications at Seoul National University. "Every news item is somewhere between 100 percent true and 100 percent false. Thus, it is important to draw a clear line between the two, which is proving to be challenging."
Most voters do not have the opportunity to get to know politicians in person. They cast their ballots based on what they read and hear. This is why the problem of fake news is a serious threat to democracy, and the threat is imminent in Korea, which may hold an early election this coming spring for its next president.
"Fake news could influence elections, but it is difficult to clarify who is responsible for it," Hahn said. "More importantly, it becomes almost meaningless after the voting."
One of the presidential hopefuls, former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, had to give up his ambitions partly because of fake news. One fake news story criticized him, falsely citing U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' words, which were used by other politicians to attack him.
The National Election Commission announced last month that it will strengthen monitoring to fight fake news. But few believe the organization can curb the concerning trend.
Lee Jae-jin, a media communication professor at Hanyang University, said the organization's excessive intervention may cause issues of fairness and constitutional appeals for freedom of speech.
"It is not possible to prevent fake news in the first place with the current laws and available technologies," he said. "Besides, many fake news items are produced by overseas-based websites, which make it all the more difficult and complicated to punish these sources."
It is easy to find fake news stories that cite what appear to be overseas news outlets that do not actually exist.
Major media companies share some of the blame, said Park Hong-ki, chief editorial writer at the Seoul Shinmun, a local daily.
"When major news outlets write fake news-cited stories, they spread fast. As competition for clicks becomes a critical issue, media companies compete fiercely for speed at the expense of accuracy," he said.
Experts say the problem may be partly solved with the help of online platforms, where such misinformation can spread. In France, Facebook and Google have recently joined forces with news organizations to launch new fact-checking tools designed to root out fake news ahead of the country's presidential election.
By Choi Ha-young
Kim Moon-soo
Former Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo is a rising star at the pro-President Park Geun-hye anti-impeachment street rallies. "I couldn't help but shed tears seeing the patriotic movement," he said recently after participating in a rally on Feb. 11.
He further broadcasts the rallies on Facebook and encourages people to participate in the far-right protest in favor of the impeached President.
Recently Kim held a press conference to defend Park at the center of the swirling corruption scandal. "As far as I know, Park is the cleanest politician," he told journalists.
Regarding the government-made blacklist of artists, he said, "I also made lists as a governor. That's basic of administration." He also lashed out at the "atrocious" candlelit protesters and voices against the "biased" independent counsel-led investigation team and the media.
Interestingly, he actively pushed for the impeachment motion in November. However, he didn't break away from the ruling party. The rumor has been rampant that he dreams of being a presidential candidate or being the next leader of the Liberty Korea Party which has no strong contenders currently.
"By chasing power, he totally collapsed as a politician," a lawmaker at the minor conservative Bareun Party said on condition of anonymity.
Lenin of Korea
It is more interesting that he was once called the "Lenin of Korea" for his legendary walk of life as a revolutionist. Kim devoted himself to the labor movement in the 1970s to 80s, along with Justice Party Chairwoman Sim Sang-jung and health minister-turned-writer Rhyu Si-min of Seoul National University.
"Kim was my favorite junior colleague, with a warm heart and clear view," said an opposition lawmaker, Kim's university senior who attracted Kim to labor activity, on condition of anonymity.
With his outstanding leadership, Kim established a labor union in a factory and became its leader as a student worker. It is widely known that Kim endured severe torture for not revealing Sim's whereabouts.
Unlike Sim and Rhyu who are still speaking and writing in the boundary of progressive and liberal blocs, Kim chose a different path. After the Soviet Union's collapse, he accepted an invitation from the then-mega ruling party, the Democratic Liberal Party (DLP), in 1994.
"The era of revolution has gone," he said after joining the DLP, formed by an alliance among military dictator Chun Doo-hwan's right-hand man Roh Tae-woo, President Park Chung-hee's former associate Kim Jong-pil and former democratic activist Kim Young-sam.
"Around the late 1980s to early 90s, the socialist regimes' collapse was a palpable shock. Some activists, who dreamed of revolution through the labor movement, lost their perspective, while others who focused on practical labor issues, like Sim, kept fighting," said a historian majoring in modern history on the condition of anonymity.
Branded as turncoat
For a while, Kim was a "fighter" for social minorities in the National Assembly. Representing the reformist faction in the conservative party, he called for a budget to take care of poorly fed children.
As the two-term Gyeonggi governor from 2006 to 2014, Kim was famous for open communication with citizens. Driving a taxi, he listened to citizens' complaints in person.
"For a year, I drove 2,287 kilometers for 166 hours. The importance of field experience is what I learned during my years in the labor movement," he said in his 2010 autobiography.
However, his historical view turned conservative as time went by. In the same book, he said the nation should erect statues of two past dictators Rhee Syngman and Park Chung-hee in central Seoul. Also, he was a key attacker against the liberal President Roh Moo-hyun.
Political pundit Choi Young-il said Kim's back-and-forth moves are the results of his shaky ground in politics, due to his hard-line background. "He has faced doubts from the members of his party over his ideology, and criticism from people outside of his party for being a turncoat," Choi said.
"Praising former presidents Rhee and Park was part of his efforts to dissolve his background and become a political heavyweight."
Kim's other bewildering move over impeachment is in line with his continuous failure to set up his identity as a politician, Choi said. "He should have joined the Bareun Party according to his initial stance against Park or stayed silent in the party on impeachment."
Police stand guard in front of the Constitutional Court in central Seoul, Sunday, ahead of the final hearing for the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye the next day. / Yonhap
Two sides to clash at last impeachment session
By Jung Min-ho
The Constitutional Court will hold a final hearing for President Park Geun-hye's impeachment trial at 2 p.m. Monday, heightening tensions in and out of the courthouse.
According to the court, Sunday, the President will not attend the hearing, foregoing the last opportunity to defend herself in front of eight justices.
Park's lawyers did not give specific reasons for the decision but said they will instead submit her statement to the court.
Now, representatives of Park and the National Assembly are digging in to clash head-to-head at the final hearing.
Park's lawyers fiercely oppose the court's plan to decide her fate before March 13, the retirement date for acting court president Lee Jung-mi. Given this, the trial may take a drastic turn before its end. They will likely repeat their claims that the trial is flawed from the beginning so it has to start all over again.
Kim Pyung-woo, a lawyer for Park, has insisted the impeachment motion shouldn't have passed in the first place because lawmakers did not vote for each of the 13 reasons for impeachment separately.
At the final hearing, Park's attorneys are expected to argue that the motion lacked specific information about the President's alleged crimes and the duties she is accused of failing to perform.
Son Bum-kyu, another lawyer for Park, has claimed that a decision made by eight out of the nine-member bench is subject to retrial, saying the court should suspend all proceedings until it fills the vacancy.
Representatives of the National Assembly have also been busy preparing for the final hearing. They held a meeting to draw up a final statement, which will be read by Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the minor conservative Bareun Party.
The representatives are also making contingency plans for various scenarios.
The sign shows the final hearing schedule for President Park Geun-hye's impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in central Seoul, Sunday. / Yonhap
The court usually makes a verdict two weeks after a final hearing and reveals the date a few days beforehand.
The court reaffirmed Friday that it will proceed with the final hearing Monday as it announced previously, despite plans to appoint a new chief justice, expressing its strong will to close the case before March 13.
To prevent any possible clash outside the court between anti-Park protesters and the supporters of the President, police have beefed up security and assigned officers to guard the eight justices.
Across the country, more than 1 million people also turned the streets into political battlefields Saturday to support or protest the President's impeachment.
Impeachment supporters urged the court to quickly remove her from the presidential office permanently and called on acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn to approve the extension of the mandate for the special investigation of the massive influence-peddling scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil.
Just 100 meters from the anti-Park protest, her staunch supporters took to the streets as well to oppose her impeachment and celebrate the fourth anniversary of her inauguration.
According to anti-Park protest organizers, over 1 million people participated in the rally.
People from both sides will fill the streets again on Wednesday, March 1, the country's Independence Movement Day.
By Joseph Yi
Following the 2015 Korea-Japan agreement, 34 of 46 registered comfort women survivors accepted compensation from the Japanese government. Two decades ago, 61 former Korean comfort women (out of 203) accepted compensation from Japan's 1994 Asian Women's Fund. Korea has the option of building on the 2015 agreement and deepening cooperation with Japan. This seems prudent in the context of uncertainties at home and abroad, including military threats from North Korea and THADD-related sanctions from China.
Activists have chosen an alternative path of confrontation, and placed a new comfort woman statue in Busan. They have been cheered on by China, which uses the comfort women issue to divide its two neighbors. The protesters are motivated by various factors, but key is a Manichean worldview that divides people into innocent victims and evil oppressors, and unawareness of legitimate, alternative viewpoints. In liberal democracies, perspectives of one side are vigorously disputed by another in public debate; but this is lacking in illiberal societies. In the past, South Koreans were taught that North Korea was a puppet of Soviet communists, and that contrary views reflected that of communist traitors. Today, young people are taught that Japan kidnapped and enslaved 200,000 Korean women, and that views to the contrary reflect that of Japanese right-wingers and pro-Japanese traitors (chinilpa).
In the popular 2016 movie "Spirits' Homecoming," Korean girls are kidnapped, abused, and their bodies burned (to destroy evidence) by Japanese soldiers. The Homecoming-style narrative is disputed by some academics as overly simplistic. According to San Francisco State Professor Sarah Soh (Comfort Women' 2008), women initially offered various testimonies for working at comfort stations, such as supporting their families economically or escaping overbearing parents. Some women suffered abuse, others experienced more supportive conditions. Soh argues that women should freely share their experiences, without pressure to conform to the nationalist, anti-Japan narrative.
Soh remains largely unknown among Koreans, because no publisher has translated her English-language book. In 2013, Sejong University professor Park Yu-ha published a Korean-language book (Comfort Women of the Empire'), with findings broadly similar to Soh's. A Seoul court partially censored Park's book and fined her 90 million won ($74 thousand) for defaming survivors of enslavement. Prosecutors also requested a three-year prison sentence.
The trial of Professor Park reflects the prevailing narrative that South Korea is the victim of malicious outsiders, such as North Korea (for political right), USA (left), or Japan (right and left); and that contrary views betray the Korean nation. An alternative, liberal-nationalist perspective would combine deep love of one's country with thoughtful, nuanced analysis and universal, liberal values. A liberal patriot would ask fellow citizens to openly discuss the complexities of their past and present, including the historically ignored, comfort women for the American army in Korea or for the Korean army in Vietnam. A thoughtful, liberal perspective that transcends the victimhood narrative would serve both Korean strategic interests and universal justice.
Joseph Yi is an associate professor of political science at Hanyang University. Write to joyichicago@yahoo.com.
By Kim Haing
Now is the right time to reflect on what we are gaining and losing through President Park Geun-hye's political scandal. To be honest, I am caught between a rock and a hard place because we live in a strange time; nobody can distinguish between fact and fiction and that is the case with me, too.
We must all confess we are subjective rather than objective in dealing with this shameful situation. Nevertheless, we have to accept the final judgment of the Constitutional Court on Park's impeachment, which is due in the weeks to come.
We cannot predict whether President Park will be impeached or not. However, the rifts between people seem to be widening and I wonder how they will react if the result is not what they want.
From a positive point of view, we have had a valuable learning experience about the democratic process. President Park, her political rivals and the Korean people have fought with all sorts of means to enforce our political convictions within the rule of law.
Every Saturday there has been a huge demonstration, and the fact it has taken place without any violence is something we should be very proud of. I am convinced that whatever the result will be, eventually our democracy will be more mature. Hence, politicians will feel pressured to be more responsible, which would be their political asset in regaining the trust of the people.
At the same time we have paid a high price due to this political disaster.
I am very sad that our people are divided into two opposing camps, left and right, for or against President Park. This painful situation will be reproduced in the next presidential election.
Who can heal this deep wound? No one. Everyone is frustrated, and the political leadership vacuum has continued for too long. Despite the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, we have no national leader to meet him.
North Korea has just conducted a nuclear test and China is putting economic sanctions on our country for the decision to deploy THAAD here. Kim Jong-un's half brother, Kim Jong-nam, was assassinated, and Pyongyang's terrorism is feared to be at its most extreme. The economic war between nations is also causing hardships, but still we have no direction.
Who will save our people? We have endured so many difficulties over the past year. I believe our people will overcome this crisis and chaos.
Koreans are resilient. Now let's go back to normal. Whether the impeachment is upheld or not, let us wait. Is not Korea's rapid democratic growth the envy of the world?
The law is not always right, but at the crucial moment, in my opinion, the law shines. I agree with Kim Jong-dae, a former constitutional judge, who said, "I believe the judges will make a decision based on their love for the country and conscience."
Now is the moment. Let us keep calm and carry on. Who can save Korea? It is you. It is me. Not the politicians.
Kim Haing is former spokesperson of the Park Geun-hye administration.
By Tong Kim
News highlights flash and commentaries flood over the problems of North Korea, which on Feb. 12 tested an advanced type of solid fueled, intermediate range ballistic missile from a mobile launch vehicle, harder to detect: the North is squarely suspected of masterminding the assassination of its leader Kim Jong-un's older half-brother at the Kuala Lumpur airport.
On Feb. 20, China suspended all imports of coal from the economically struggling DPRK to punish its missile test in violation of multiple U.N. resolutions. Beijing's relationship with Pyongyang has declined to the lowest ebb in a long time.
KCNA (Korean Central News Agency) on Feb 23 blasted China's measure as "tantamount to the enemies' moves to bring down the socialist system in the DPRK." It also complained about Beijing's assessment of Pyongyang's nuclear technology as only "at the beginning" and accused China of breaching the humanitarian provision of the U.N. resolutions that allows, "trade for the people's living."
A good relationship for decades between Malaysia and the DPRK has drastically soured over the death of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of the North Korean leader. Malaysian police announced several North Korean nationals, including two suspected of hiding at the DPRK embassy, were involved in the assassination.
The North Korean ambassador at Kuala Lumpur and subsequently a legal committee in Pyongyang insisted that the unidentified person carrying a DPRK's diplomatic passport died of a heart attack and demanded the custody of the body. They accused the Malaysian government of violating the 1961 Geneva Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Malaysia recalled its ambassador from Pyongyang, and its tourism minister called the DPRK a rogue state. Malaysia said it would turn over the dead person only to the next of kin after DNA identification. An autopsy was performed but it did not conclude the cause of death. Police said two Southeast Asian women sprayed or applied some kind of lethal poison to the victim's face. Investigations are continuing.
The Seoul government has determined that the killing of Kim Jong-nam was a premeditated act of terror by Pyongyang. However, nobody has yet presented forensic evidence amid various theories for the motivation. Washington has been rather silent on this matter.
The Constitutional Court's trial of the impeached President Park is likely to end before the acting chief justice retires on March 13. From all indications, President Park would likely be convicted and lose her presidency. She might even step down before the ruling. In either case, South Korea will have to elect a new president two months thereafter. More uncertainty for the future.
In Washington, President Trump reiterated on Feb. 16, "I don't have to tell you what I am going to do in North Korea." On Feb. 12 at Mar-a-Lago, Trump simply said he supports Japan 100%, after Japanese Prime Minister Abe denounced the DPRK's latest missile launch. Trump did not comment on the missile test.
Earlier, Trump did say that the United States will deal with the North "very strongly," but again without specifics and as vaguely as when he said, "It won't happen" to Pyongyang's warning that they were in the final phase of preparations to test an ICBM. It did not happen, but not because of a "red line" some had thought Trump had set.
There was no red line set for the North. One month into the administration, Trump's national security team has barely started developing its own North Korea policy reliable assessments are available but viable options are limited. If the State Department issues visas to DPRK officials to attend a track 1.5 talk in New York, planned by the Committee on American Foreign Policy set for early March, it would give a positive signal to the North.
There are rhetorical lines in Trump's statements that Pyongyang might appreciate. "America first" is not bad for the North, if it means isolationism and retrenchment from contested areas of the world. But, it is not turning out so.
On his inauguration, Trump said, "We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone." On the election night, "We do not seek hostile relations with others."These statements are good news to the North that has long feared that the U.S. might seek regime change as part of its goals for democracy and human rights. What's your take?
Tong Kim is the Washington correspondent and a columnist for The Korea Times. He is also a fellow at the Institute of Korean-American Studies. He can be contacted at tong.kim8@yahoo.com.
By Stephen Costello
The decision to refuse visas for North Korean officials to travel to New York for unofficial talks was attributed by the Washington Post to the "State Department." Only unnamed sources were linked to the story. Again without attribution to any individual, the reason was claimed to be the death in Malaysia of Kim Jung Nam, half-brother of the North Korean leader. It was suggested that visas were unlikely to be granted even before the killing, and an official denied that "Track 2" talks were even considered, but that was neither attributed to anyone nor followed up on to discover who made the decision or why.
Whose decision?
Among crucial and pertinent matters that bear on this story, the existence of an ongoing "review of Korea policy" within the NSC at the White House went unmentioned. On the day when front page stories in the New York Times and Post noted that the Secretary of State appeared to be sidelined, and was not consulted on major issues, Secretary Rex Tillerson's participation in Korea policy or nonparticipation was not addressed. Like the story of the death of Kim Jung Nam, this leaves the biggest questions unanswered. Much more needs to be known in order for it to be useful.
In this administration, at this time, it is hard to believe this was a low-level decision. Far more or less had to be going on among the Trump group in order to make this choice. Talks would have been specifically "Track 1.5" since US participants would not have been government officials. If the decision has been made to refuse unofficial talks requiring the least political courage of all possibilities then the biggest questions within the rumored "policy review" at the NSC have now been answered. After this snub by Trump officials, a tricky and difficult beginning has now been made all but impossible. All that's left for the NSC review to decide is whether to escalate military exercises, sanctions, or other coercive measures, or to pursue all three.
Critical timing
The timing of the proposed visit would have coincided with the beginning of US and ROK military exercises, designed to provoke insecurity in the North, among other things. That, in turn, provided a chance for both sides to make small, symbolic gestures to open space for dialogue. Such gestures could have included scaling back, moving or rebranding the exercises on the US and ROK side, and a degree of acceptance of some exercises on the DPRK side. Already, the US released a rare shipment of food to North Korea as one of the last acts of the Obama presidency, and it was noticed in Pyongyang.
It is not a surprise that the Trump administration has embraced the fear of talks' with North Korea, which has helped destroy the possibility for denuclearization, greater economic development or tension reduction on the Korean Peninsula over the past 15 years. Republicans and ideologues who surround the White House are the least likely to notice the long list of opportunities that might open up if a US-DPRK contact were to resume. Still, many professionals, experienced former officials, and knowledgeable specialists have been imploring the new administration to at least listen to North Korean views and explore the possibilities.
Fateful decision
It may well be that the decision to refuse safe, unofficial talks, whether taken by President Trump or low-level officials, will now be as consequential for US policy and the Northeast Asian region as was President Bush's decision to walk away from a working, successful multilateral deal supported by US allies in 2001. That decision was an unmitigated disaster for all parties, as was President Obama's embrace of its core principles in 2009. After Bush's decision to invade Iraq, his abandonment of US commitments and responsibilities in this region was the most costly US foreign policy blunder in decades. It is not a coincidence that broad international support for the P5+1 nuclear deal with Iran may not protect it, either, from Trump and congressional Republicans now.
If Trump's fear of talks with North Korea does not change, he will continue the misunderstanding of China's role that began with Bush and continues today in statements from US figures as diverse as top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer and the anti-diplomacy Republican John Bolton. Both say China must force the DPRK back to talks. They seem unaware of the 15 year history of China's often patient reminders to US leaders that it is the US, not China, that holds the key to productive bargains with the North. The Chinese foreign ministry was explicit about this on Saturday.
Pulling the US away from South Korea
From what we are learning about chaos among the Trump group, the White House probably does not know that it is sliding inexorably toward military confrontation on Korea. Nor does it likely understand that with this decision it will continue the unfortunate separation of US administration interests from those of most South Koreans. Those who embrace the ideological, fearful and dependent view of South Korea's security, shared by Presidents Lee Myung Bak and Park Guen Hye, are a shrinking group. A majority is far more likely to support the next government's return to South-North discussions, and to economic and other interests that overlap. Such a development is quite possible, and would further complicate the US-Korea relationship.
We can hope that either the NSC after a rigorous policy review, or the State Department after taking over diplomatic tasks from the White House, will find new reasons and mechanisms (Track 2, Track 1.5, or even, boldly, Track 1) to engage with North Korean officials and learn their real views on a range of urgent issues. But that does not sound like the government we have. There may never be a good or politically safe time for the US administration to hold talks with North Korea. That is why these arms-length talks, now aborted, were probably the best channel to explore this key political and strategic territory under the new US administration.
Stephen Costello is a producer of AsiaEast, a web and broadcast-based policy roundtable focused on security, development and politics in Northeast Asia. He writes from Washington, D.C. He can be reached at scost55@gmail.com.
Anger cannot be policy; goals need clarifying
The contact between the United States and North Korea slated for March 1 and 2 was abandoned as expected as Washington denied visas for the six-member Pyongyang delegation.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed negative views about the North. He was "angry" at its missile test despite his warning; twice using "late" in referring to talks with dictator Kim Jong-un; revealing an extensive review besides a missile shield to counter its threat and pushing China to do more to make the North behave.
Trump deserves support for his new approach to the decades-old intractable problem because the North's maturing programs on missiles and nuclear weapons are emerging to threaten stability on the Korean Peninsula, the region and beyond.
Still, Trump should learn from the failures of his predecessors such as President Barack Obama and formulate a doctrine on the North to ensure that resolving the North problem can be the key part of his legacy.
Above all, he should know "anger" cannot be a policy.
Obama had given up attempts to solve the North's challenge after a series of quagmire obstacles. So did his Republican predecessor George W. Bush. Bush tried a hard-line policy without success.
Trump may engage in rough and tumble play with the North, but should use cool-headedness rather than emotion. It is like Step 2 of Trump's business primer, "The Art of Deal," _ protect the downside and the upside will take care of itself.
All options for his North Korean policy may be considered as long as these principles are adhered to.
A war should be avoided at all costs. The South's population is 50 million and the North's 25 million, bringing the total to 75 million. During the Clinton administration, a strike was considered to take out the North's nuclear facilities but did not proceed because of a casualty estimate running into the millions. Plus, conflict would be highly contagious, due to the Sino-U.S. hegemonic rivalry.
Second, there could be friction along the road to resolution, but the ultimate goal should be to enable the North to coexist peacefully with its neighbors. If the goal were to bring down the regime, there would be no way to hedge against chaos that could be too enormous to handle _ tens of thousands of refugees spilling into China and the South, for one.
It is important to reconcile with each other the goals of the respective stakeholders: the South for unification; the U.S. and Japan for a nuclear-free North; and China, which wants a buffer from U.S. influence, and the North for security guarantees.
Trump should help set priorities for these goals and give them impetus to move forward in an irreversible manner. That success alone should be good enough to consider Trump for a Nobel peace prize.
Employees of Samsung Electronics' Taiwanese subsidiary and doctors at Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-He Memorial Hospital pose during the opening ceremony of the smart school at the hospital in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, on Jan. 4. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
By Yoon Sung-won
Samsung Electronics is carrying on with diverse corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities not just in Korea but also in overseas countries, the company said Sunday.
The company said, "We are concentrating our CSR activities in four sectors education, healthcare, employment and environment to help societies solve fundamental problems."
Last August, Samsung Electronics' local subsidiary in Taiwan presented a Galaxy S7 smartphone to a leukemia patient named A-Fu. The 15-year-old hospitalized Taiwanese boy wanted a smartphone with a camera to take pictures. Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-He Memorial Hospital delivered the boy's story to Samsung's Taiwanese subsidiary to make his dream come true.
Samsung Electronics expanded the occasion for a bigger CSR project. It collaborated with the hospital to open a smart school for hundreds of young cancer patients in the country on Jan. 4. The smart school has digital devices such as TVs and tablet computers and invites local social workers, arts therapists and volunteer workers to teach young patients, the company said.
On Dec. 12 last year, Samsung Electronics granted 1,000 motorcycle helmets to students in Cambodia.
Through what it calls the "Helmet Campaign," the company said it aimed at tackling a serious traffic safety problem in Cambodia. According to Samsung Electronics, about 70 percent of traffic accident victims are involved in motorcycle crashes. But only 22 percent of Cambodia's motorcycle riders wear helmets, it said.
The company worked with Cambodia's Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport to boost the public perception of traffic safety, especially among young students.
"It is a pleasure to launch the Helmet Campaign alongside the ministry," said Choi Seung-ho, managing director of the Cambodian branch of Samsung Electronics' Thai operations.
Korean employees and executives of Samsung Electronics have also led CSR activities.
On Sept. 2 last year, a Samsung Electronics volunteer team went to Uzbekistan to provide information technology education to high school students and collegians in the country. It was the third consecutive year for the company to send volunteer workers to the country, according to Samsung Electronics.
The Samsung volunteer workers invited some 140 students who had participated in the country's "Intellect2All IT Projects Competition" at Tashkent Professional College of Information Technologies. They had a second session for some 20 collegians at Tashkent University of Information Technologies. The university has been considered one of the top engineering colleges in Uzbekistan.
The volunteer team provided lessons on programming with the subminiature computer module named "Raspberry Pi," virtual reality development, 3D modeling and printing and app development for Google's Android mobile operating system.
"Though we were not professional tutors, we could happily provide lessons thanks to the students who gave us energy," said Jin Eun-young, one of the volunteer team members. Jin works at Samsung Electronics System LSI division's display development team.
Models promote SK Telecom's smart robot Albert in front of the Fira Gran Via exhibition center in Barcelona, Saturday (local time). The exhibition center is the main venue for the Mobile World Congress 2017. / Courtesy of SK Telecom
By Yoon Sung-won
SK Telecom is set to highlight its latest technologies in artificial intelligence (AI) and fifth-generation (5G) telecommunication at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year, the company said Sunday.
Korea's leading mobile carrier said it will also seek global partnerships at the MWC 2017 by inviting over 2,000 enterprises including Intel, Verizon, Ericsson, Nokia and BMW to its exhibition.
SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho has stressed industry-wide openness and cooperation by saying, "We cannot succeed alone in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution."
The mobile carrier will exhibit its AI-based robots and the voice-recognizing personal assistant service NUGU. The latter is compatible with SK holdings C&C's AI system Abril, which is based on IBM's Watson.
SK Telecom said its smart robot has a camera and a screen on its head to follow the user to provide inquired information. The company plans to build a personalized system for the robot by introducing intelligent visual-recognition technology. With this system, the robot will be able to distinguish users by scanning their faces.
SK Telecom will also present a robot for diverse purposes such as childcare, pet care and e-commerce services.
SK's virtual reality (VR) broadcasting service and a connected car system will also be exhibited. Based on the 5G telecom technologies, the 360 Live VR will enable 360-degree ultra high-definition broadcasting.
The 5G-based connected car dubbed T5 will also be demonstrated. SK Telecom and BMW Korea jointly unveiled the T5 in Korea in November last year.
SK Telecom said it has expanded collaboration with promising ventures. It has participated in this year's MWC with eight ventures, doubling the number from last year. The telecom company has picked startups and small businesses to join the international telecom fair together for the eighth straight year since 2010.
KT said it will open an exhibition themed with "the world's first 5G services."
The nation's largest fixed-line operator said it has prepared for an exhibition called "Innovation City" alongside the Global System for Mobile communications Association (GSMA), AT&T, Cisco and Huawei. In this exhibition, KT will release a glimpse of 5G network-based services it is preparing to unveil at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics for the first time in the world.
Among the technologies is Omni View, which is a multi-perspective streaming service that allows users to watch real-time broadcasting in a perspective they want. Time-Slice is another multi-perspective visual service that provides multi-angle replay of an athlete's movements taken by multiple cameras.
The High Speed Train technology will maintain data transmission even when a high-speed train is running through a tunnel, according to KT.
Meanwhile, KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu will deliver a keynote at the MWC 2017. It is Hwang's second MWC keynote following the one in 2015.
This year's keynote, slated for Feb. 27, will be about the next-generation mobile network and 5G technologies, according to the carrier.
By Nam Hyun-woo
POSCO CEO Kwon Oh-joon
POSCO CEO Kwon Oh-joon strives to sharpen the steelmaker's competitiveness through introducing information and communication technology to conventional procedures of iron production.
According to POSCO, Kwon went on a business trip Sunday to Germany and the United States where he would visit the head offices of Siemens and GE, respectively. He would also meet leaders of the two global powerhouses to talk about digitalization and sophisticated ways of operating a factory.
At Siemens, Kwon will meet Klaus Helmrich and Roland Busch, who are members of Siemens AG Managing Board. Then, he will have a meeting with Bill Ruh, CEO of GE Digital. The main agendas would be about the mix of traditional operations and high tech solutions.
Along the same lines, POSCO established a smart solution council last year in order to improve competitiveness and reduce costs via blending the group's core businesses of steelmaking, construction and energy with cutting-edge technology.
The group is already proactive in transforming its facilities into "smart" factories. At a steel plate plant in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, it is setting up data infrastructure which covers the whole process of manufacturing and an analysis system designed to preemptively sense or anticipate malfunctions.
At its hot rolled steel factory in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, POSCO is establishing facilities based on artificial intelligence (AI).
"Kwon's initiative is not only building smart factories but also embracing the concept of smart industry in which POSCO's manufacturing expertise and info-tech converge," a POSCO official said. "The meetings will be great opportunities for pursuing such a plan."
Specifically, POSCO's core affiliates of POSCO E&C, POSCO Energy and POSCO ICT will chip in their efforts to create a smart technology-based business platform wholly encompassing the group's business domains. During the process, the group's business structure will be reorganized.
To do this, the group and Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) jointly opened a curriculum for nurturing AI experts.
Siemens has earned its reputation for embracing smart technology in its business. Its factory in Amberg, Germany, is a prime example of product automation where its IT systems control and optimize all processes to ensure the lowest possible rate of defects.
GE is also looking for a transformation into a software company by bringing together its traditional manufacturing technology and information and communication technology. Recently, it hired a slew of software experts and launched a digitization department to build digital ecosystems in its factories.
Gov't supports LG H&H, KGC in various ways
By Park Jae-hyuk
Mars Petcare, Nestle Purina and Texas Farm Products have long enjoyed dominance in the pet food market here. The oligopoly of the three foreign companies, however, is now facing a strong challenge from Korean rivals.
Recently, LG Household & Healthcare (LG H&H), Korea Ginseng Corp. (KGC), CJ CheilJedang and other large food companies have tapped into the industry with premium quality brands.
The companies want to make their presence felt in the nation's pet food industry by shaking it up. The combined market share of foreign brands approaches 70 percent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The U.S.-based Mars Petcare occupies more than a quarter of the market with its famous Royal Canin, Cesar and Pedigree brands, followed by Nestle Purina with 11.5 percent and Texas Farm Products with 6.9 percent.
CJ CheilJedang with a 6.1 percent market share is struggling to catch up with the foreign brands. Most low-priced pet food makers in Korea, such as Daehan Feed, Daejoo Industrial and Woosung Feed, have failed to take a firm root.
"Korean firms should release premium quality products to expand their presence in the rapidly growing market," said Rep. Park Wan-ju of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea during a parliamentary audit last year. "The Rural Development Administration should boost R&D for pet-based industries, cooperating with related government institutions."
Foods for local' pets
Pet owners attribute local products' lack of popularity to the Dear My Pet brand, which was recalled last year over allegations that it caused deaths and diseases in dogs, although the government confirmed its safety last month. An affiliate of a domestic cosmetics firm manufactured the product at issue.
A spokesman for CheilJedang said there are many difficulties in catching up with foreign firms. The Seoul-based company has produced dog food since 1988, but is still no match to front-running foreign brands.
"Once consumers opt for a specific brand, they tend to keep buying it without paying attention to alternative brands. Vets and shops prefer foreign brands to Korean brands as well," he said. "Overtaking foreign brands may not be easy for the time being."
However, the spokesman said Korean brands have an advantage over foreign ones in terms of nutritional balance for local dogs. "In Korea, most dogs have less time to exercise than dogs in the U.S," he said.
As a pioneer of Korea's pet food industry, CheilJedang launched the O'Fresh and O'Nature premium brands in 2013 and 2014, respectively, earning huge popularity and posting billions of won in sales last year.
LG H&H, which began to produce shampoo for pets last August, launched the Sirius Will premium quality pet food brand last month. The nation's second-largest cosmetics maker aims to develop Sirius into a comprehensive pet care brand.
KGC has continued to foster the GINIPET health food brand since 2015. The nutritional supplements contain red ginseng concentrate as a luxury brand.
Both LG H&H and KGC said their products will satisfy the demands of pet owners who are looking for safer and healthier foods for their "companion animals." Dongwon F&B, Sajo, E-mart and Seoul Milk are also trying hard to compete in the 400 billion won ($348 million) market.
A government survey in 2015 showed that more than one in five households in Korea had a pet. The figure grew from 17.9 percent to 21.8 percent over three years and it is expected to increase further.
Analysts expect more Korean enterprises will enter into the market which is full of potential thanks to the increasing number of single households, the low birthrate and aging population.
Support from government
The government also plans to support the development of Korea's pet food industry. For example, the agriculture ministry recently established a long-term plan to improve the quality of Korea-made pet foods and to boost their exports.
"The government will support big companies because they make most domestic pet foods," an agriculture ministry official said. "Of course we will also find small firms and support them."
By the end of next year, the government will finance improvements of food manufacturing facilities and establish certification standards for the domestic market. It will also look for various supply sources of domestic raw materials.
This year, the Small and Medium Business Administration and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) will help local firms find new overseas markets for exports. The institutions will support Korean firms participate in exhibitions in other countries.
In addition, the government will establish a new team for animal welfare this week. "The new team will correct imperfect laws related to pets, as well as supporting the overall pet industry," the agriculture ministry official said.
This is the third in a series highlighting operations of foreign luxury brands in Korea. ED.
By Park Jae-hyuk
Hermes Korea CEO Han Seung-hun
Hermes has long been regarded by Koreans as one of the three top luxury brands, along with Chanel and Louis Vuitton. The French fashion house, however, has been long-criticized for making ill use of its high standing, given its negligent attitudes toward retailers and consumers.
This month, the Seoul High Court ruled against Hermes in favor of Korean fashion brand PLAYNOMORE in a copyright lawsuit filed by the French luxury brand, reversing a previous ruling.
Last May, a Seoul district court accepted Hermes's claim that the Korean company's Shy Family and Shy Girl bags infringed on the design of Hermes's signature Birkin and Kelly bags and ordered PLAYNOMORE to pay Hermes 100 million won ($87,000) in damages.
However, the appellate court said PLAYNOMORE's unique "cartoon-eyes" design represents the bags' identity, noting the partial similarity in design is not enough to prove the claim that the Korean brand violated the laws regarding fair trade and freedom of competition.
"I hope major brands will not file indiscriminate lawsuits against small local brands anymore," said Kim Chae-yeon, designer and founder of PLAYNOMORE.
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," Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) CEO Whitman told " Squawk on the Street " 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."
Hewlett Packard Enterprise does assemble many products in U.S. cities like Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and Houston, Texas, Whitman said. But the entire supply chain is a different story.
"The border adjustment tax is not good for companies that have a relatively low margin with a supply chain that is outside the United States," Whitman said. "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."
Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise fell on Friday morning after the company reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue and slashed its outlook for the year . One challenge for the company was foreign exchange rates.
"Around the world, I would say the macroeconomic environment is uncertain," Whitman said. "Uncertainty is not our friend."
Still, Whitman said she said the company is on the right track.
"But I'm not terribly worried about that," Whitman said. "I think we've got the right product line, we've got new products. We are now organized to deliver.... we are leaning hard into new technologies."
Story continues
Reuters contributed to this report.
* Glocom sells battlefield radios from a Malaysia base-UN
* Sales violate UN sanctions over North's arms programmes
* Front companies behind Glocom run by North's spy agency-UN
* Glocom's Malaysia contact was a ruling party figure-Reuters
* UN asked Malaysia to freeze Glocom assets, deport North Koreans
By James Pearson and Rozanna Latiff
Feb 27 (Reuters) - It is in Kuala Lumpur's "Little India" neighbourhood, behind an unmarked door on the second floor of a rundown building, where a military equipment company called Glocom says it has its office.
Glocom is a front company run by North Korean intelligence agents that sells battlefield radio equipment in violation of United Nations sanctions, according to a United Nations report drafted for the Security Council seen by Reuters.
Reuters found that Glocom advertises over 30 radio systems for "military and paramilitary" organisations on its Malaysian website, glocom.com.my.
Glocoms website, which was taken down late last year, listed the Little India address in its contacts section. No one answers the door there and the mailbox outside is stuffed with unopened letters.
In fact, no company by that name exists in Malaysia. But two Malaysian companies controlled by North Korean shareholders and directors registered Glocom's website in 2009, according to website and company registration documents.
And it does have a business, the draft U.N. report says. Last July, an air shipment of North Korean military communications equipment, sent from China and bound for Eritrea, was intercepted in an unnamed country. The seized equipment included 45 boxes of battlefield radios and accessories labelled "Glocom", short for Global Communications Co.
Glocom is controlled by the Reconnaissance General Bureau, the North Korean intelligence agency tasked with overseas operations and weapons procurement, the report says, citing undisclosed information it obtained.
A spokesman for North Korea's mission at the U.N. told Reuters he had no information about Glocom.
Story continues
U.N. resolution 1874, adopted in 2009, expanded the arms embargo against North Korea to include military equipment and all "related materiel".
But implementation of the sanctions "remains insufficient and highly inconsistent" among member countries, the U.N. report says, and North Korea is using "evasion techniques that are increasing in scale, scope and sophistication.
Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world which had strong ties with North Korea. Their citizens can travel to each others countries without visas. But those ties have begun to sour after North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns estranged half-brother was murdered at Kuala Lumpurs international airport on Feb 13.
PAN SYSTEMS
According to the "WHOIS" database, which discloses website ownership, Glocom.com.my was registered in 2009 by an entity called International Global System using the "Little India" address. A similarly named company, International Golden Services is listed as the contact point on Glocom's website.
Glocom is operated by the Pyongyang branch of a Singapore-based company called Pan Systems, the draft U.N. report says, citing an invoice and other information it obtained.
Louis Low, managing director of Pan Systems in Singapore said his company used to have an office in Pyongyang from 1996 but officially ended relations with North Korea in 2010 and was no longer in control of any business there.
"They use (the) Pan Systems (name) and say it's a foreign company, but they operate everything by themselves," Low told Reuters referring to the North Koreans at the Pyongyang office.
Pan Systems Pyongyang utilised bank accounts, front companies and agents mostly based in China and Malaysia to buy components and sell completed radio systems, the U.N. report says. Pan Systems Pyongyang could not be reached for comment.
One of the directors of Pan Systems Pyongyang is Ryang Su Nyo. According to a source with direct knowledge of her background, Ryang reports to "Liaison Office 519, a department in the Reconnaissance General Bureau. Ryang is also listed as a shareholder of International Global System, the company that registered Glocom's website.
Reuters has not been able to contact Ryang.
SMUGGLING CASH
Ryang frequently travelled to Singapore and Malaysia to meet with Pan Systems representatives, the draft U.N. report says.
On one such trip in February 2014, she and two other North Koreans were detained in Malaysia for attempting to smuggle $450,000 through customs at Kuala Lumpur's budget airport terminal, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
The North Korean trio told Malaysian authorities they all worked for Pan Systems and the cash belonged to the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, according to the two sources.
The Malaysian Attorney General decided not to press charges because of insufficient evidence. A week later, the trio was allowed to travel, and the North Korean embassy claimed the cash, the sources said. All three had passports assigned to government officials, the sources said.
Malaysia's Customs Department and the Attorney General's office did not respond to requests for comment over the weekend.
The Pan Systems representative in Kuala Lumpur is a North Korean by the name of Kim Chang Hyok, the U.N. report says.
Kim, who also goes by James Kim, was a founding director of International Golden Services, the company listed in the contacts section of the Glocom website. Kim is director and shareholder of four other companies in Malaysia operating in the fields of IT and trade, according to the Malaysian company registry.
He did not respond to requests for comment by mail or email.
The United Nations panel, which prepared the draft report, asked the Malaysian government if it would expel Kim and freeze the assets of International Golden Services and International Global System to comply with U.N. sanctions. The U.N. did not say when it made the request.
"The panel has yet to receive an answer," the report said.
Reuters has not received a response from the Malaysian government to repeated requests for comment about Glocom.
POLITICAL CONNECTION
One of Glocom's early partners in Malaysia was Mustapha Ya'akub, a prominent member of Malaysia's ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Since 2014, he has been listed as a director of International Golden Services
As secretary of the UMNO youth wing's international affairs bureau, Mustapha fostered political connections in the 1990s with countries, such as Iran, Libya and North Korea. Glocom's Little India address once housed a company owned by UMNO Youth.
Mustapha, 67, said he had been a Glocom business partner "many years back" and said it has been continuously controlled by several North Koreans, including Kim Chang Hyok, whom he said he knew. He did not divulge his role in the company, and denied any knowledge of Glocoms current business.
"We thought at the time it might be a good idea to go into business together," Mustapha told Reuters about his first meeting with his North Korean business contacts. He did not say who those contacts were or what they discussed. He denied any knowledge of Glocom's current business.
Glocom advertises and exhibits its wares without disclosing its North Korean connections.
"Anywhere, Anytime in Battlefield," reads the slogan on one of several 2014 Glocom catalogues obtained by Reuters.
An advertisement in the September 2012 edition of the Asian Military Review said Glocom develops radios and equipment for "military and paramilitary organisations".
A spokesman for the magazine confirmed the ad had been bought by Glocom, but said the magazine was unaware of its alleged links to North Korea.
Glocom has exhibited at least three times since 2006 at Malaysia's biennial arms show, Defence Services Asia (DSA), according to Glocom's website.
At DSA 2016, Glocom paid 2,000 ringgit ($450) to share a table in the booth of Malaysia's Integrated Securities Corporation, its director Hassan Masri told Reuters by email.
Hassan said he had nothing to do with Glocom's equipment and was unaware of its alleged links to North Korea.
Aside from the North Koreans behind Glocom, clues on its website also point to its North Korean origins.
For instance, one undated photo shows a factory worker testing a Glocom radio system. A plaque nearby shows he has won a uniquely North Korean award: The Model Machine No. 26 Prize," named in honour of late leader Kim Jong Il, who is said to have efficiently operated "Lathe No. 26" at the Pyongyang Textile Factory when he was a student.
(Reporting by James Pearson and Rozanna Latiff. Additional reporting by Nicole Nee in SINGAPORE, Michelle Price in HONG KONG and Ned Parker in New York.; Editing by Bill Tarrant.)
(Adds advance near Palmyra)
BEIRUT, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The Syrian army and its allies made a sudden advance on Saturday and Sunday into areas held by Islamic State in northwest Syria, a war monitor said, as the jihadist group retreated after losing the city of al-Bab to Turkey-backed rebels.
By taking Islamic State territory south of al-Bab, the army is preventing any possible move by Turkey and the rebel groups it supports to expand southwards, and is moving closer to regaining control of water supplies for Aleppo.
On Sunday, the army took the town of Tadef, just south of al-Bab after Islamic State withdrew from it, state television reported. Earlier this month, a senior Russian official said Tadef marked an agreed dividing line between the Syrian army and the Turkey-backed forces.
The eastwards advance south of Tadef has extended Syrian army control across 14 villages and brought it within 25km (15 miles) of Lake Assad, the stretch of the Euphrates above the Tabqa dam.
Also on Sunday, the Syrian army and its allies made a new advance against Islamic State around Palmyra, coming to within a few kilometres of the ancient desert city that the jihadists captured in December.
Islamic State's holdings in northwest Syria have been eviscerated over recent months by successive advances by three different, rival forces: Syrian Kurdish groups backed by the United States, the Turkey-backed rebels, and the army.
Fighting in the area is continuing as the army and its allies advance, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said on Sunday.
Islamic State's loss of al-Bab after weeks of bitter street fighting marks the group's effective departure from northwest Syria, once one of its most fearsome strongholds, and an area of importance because of its location on the Turkish border.
Steady advances since 2015 by the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish-led alliance of armed groups, had already pushed Islamic State from much of the frontier by the middle of last year and have since then threatened its stronghold in Raqqa.
Turkey's entry into Syria's civil war via the Euphrates Shield campaign in support of rebel groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army was intended both to push Islamic State from the border and to stop Kurdish expansion there.
(Reporting by Angus McDowall; Editing by Mark Potter and Ros Russell)
The gig: Karin Hibma, 65, is co-founder and principal of brand-strategy consulting firm Cronan, based in Berkeley, and is best known for coming up with the names for TiVo and Amazons Kindle. Cronan has done work for Apple, Levi Strauss, Estee Lauder and many others. Hibma and her team plumb a clients history and values to home in on a strategic identity for a new product, a new company or to help focus a major change in corporate direction.
The power of enthusiasm: An art student in the early 70s at the school now known as Cal State Sacramento, she picked three postings on a job wall for part-time work. The one she chose a researcher for a commercial art studio changed my life. There was heavy competition for the position. She figures she was chosen because for other people, it was just a job. For me, it was an adventure. Ive always been enthusiastic about things. I probably communicate that enthusiasm.
Heading west: She soon moved to the Bay Area, following a young man shed met in Sacramento who was designing rock n roll posters: Michael Cronan, whom she would marry. She introduced him to the graphic design community in San Francisco, which she found very collaborative compared with the cutthroat business surrounding the fine arts.
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Can-do approach: Hibma launched her own business, Design Resource. She pulled together props, sets and research for advertisers, documentary filmmakers and others, raising eyebrows when she showed up at one shoot with a flatbed truck piled with wooden lanes taken from a bowling alley.
She was working for the producer of a Del Monte Foods commercial directed at sports moms. He needed a bowling lane. She knew that the Berkeley Bowl bowling center was being gutted to make room for the now-famous grocery store that still bears its name. She saved the bowling lanes from the junk pile. I made my name with that can-do approach, she said. Design Resources mission was poorly defined, she said, but that meant I could adjust to what anybody needed.
Learning from the best: That can-do reputation led to a project researching and writing a Chevron-funded traveling museum exhibit to showcase the creative process of American luminaries in the arts and sciences. She found herself interviewing the likes of Jonas Salk, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Linus Pauling and Judy Chicago.
Collectively, they shared a trait she has consciously applied to her businesses ever since. These people were so curious, so open about learning, so open to their process, she said. When she interviewed Margaret Mead for the project, the groundbreaking anthropologist was intrigued, Hibma recalled, telling her, I want to find out what youre learning from those other people.
Joining forces: Hibma gave birth to the first of two sons in 1980 and closed Design Resource, while her husband opened Cronan Design, a graphic design studio in San Francisco. Some clients werent paying their bills; Hibma came in to collect. She ended up running the business side of the firm. If any guy came in to run the business, everybody would say they were partners, she said. Instead, she was Michaels wife. She didnt think much about it, but on reflection, she said, it illustrates the sexism of the times.
Cash is queen: She made sure the company always had cash to grow. While the firm accepted a bit of equity from some start-up customers, hard cash was the main form of currency. San Francisco and Silicon Valley are littered with small companies that took equity in lieu of cash and didnt survive.
Contracts and therapy: Around 1985, Estee Lauder had launched plans for a retail chain for its Origin beauty products. The firm spent two years on creative work for the project color schemes, designs, packaging. Estee Lauder canceled the project, but the contract Hibma had written prevented Cronan from using the firms work anywhere else, a hard lesson.
For future jobs, Hibma insisted that intellectual property stay with the firm. I still believe contracts are a litany of the hurts each party has experienced, she said. Sussing out whats really at issue in defensive contract language, she said, usually results in a better deal for all parties.
Walking Man: After her second son arrived, Hibma started a catalog company with contemporary modern apparel for larger men under the brand Walking Man. Michael Cronan, who stood 6-foot-5, had trouble finding high-quality clothing. Enough others did too, and Walking Man become a small but profitable success. Along with Banana Republic, among others, Walking Man helped start the now-prolific business of niche clothing retailing by catalog and eventually online.
New identity: At Hibmas suggestion and with some resistance from her husband, the design firm shifted into corporate branding and identity. Eventually the word Design was dropped from the company name. Customers came from many sectors, from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to the U.S. Postal Service to technology companies and banks. Signature work for the firm included not just the names but also the brand identities for TiVo and Amazons Kindle.
On her own: After her husband died from cancer in 2013, Hibma was left to run Cronan herself. She had learned a lot from Michael and had contributed plenty of original ideas. Still, she regrets she hadnt taken the lead more often in client meetings, even as her husband grew more ill. I had been the navigator in the front seat while he drove the car, she said. Now, shes driver and navigator both. She maintains a rotating roster of three to five clients, serves on two boards and as an advisor to five others and is writing a book, Elegant Questions, Design Answers.
She remains, she said, insatiably curious and enthusiastic.
russ.mitchell@latimes.com
Twitter: @russ1mitchell
Dear Liz: If you have never written about the new reverse mortgages, please consider it. Im nearly 90 and this Home Equity Conversion Mortgage sounds too good to be true. Is it? Ive talked to a broker and a direct lender and attended a two-hour seminar on the subject.
Answer: Reverse mortgages once deserved their bad reputation, but changes to the Federal Housing Administrations HECM program in recent years have made them safer and less expensive. Theyre still not a cheap way to borrow, though, because of significant upfront costs. Using a home equity loan or line of credit is often a better option if you can make the payments.
A reverse mortgage may be an option if you cant make payments. These loans allow you to tap the equity in your home if youre 62 or older. The amount you borrow plus interest compounds over time and is paid off when you die, sell or permanently move out. You can get the money as a lump sum, in a series of monthly checks or as a line of credit you can tap.
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The older you get, the more you can receive from your home but you cant get the money all at once, as you could in the past. If you choose the lump sum option, you can only access 60% of your loan amount the first year. This restriction was put in place to keep you from blowing through your equity too fast.
While reverse mortgages have improved, some of the people touting them have not. Investment salespeople and scam artists sometimes try to push older people into reverse mortgages as a way to come up with cash to invest in their schemes.
Youre required to get counseling from someone approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to discuss how reverse mortgages work and how much one may cost you. In addition, consider hiring a fee-only financial planner to give you advice.
More solutions for avoiding probate
Dear Liz: Im wondering why, in your answer about whether to use a will or a living trust, you didnt mention that probate can be avoided by using beneficiaries for assets such as mutual funds and brokerage accounts and now, in many states, homes. This seems quite relevant to the question and the gist of your answer.
Answer: Space limitations, and reader attention spans, prohibit exhaustive answers to many personal finance questions. Nowhere is that more true than in estate planning, which can get complicated quickly.
Its hard to avoid probate entirely without a living trust. So-called transfer on death designations can indeed work for small estates, providing that the rest of the estate the tangible personal property such as furniture and jewelry is small enough to qualify for simplified probate proceedings. (In California, that limit is $150,000.)
Even with small estates, though, transfer on death designations arent necessarily the right solution for everyone. Beneficiary designations are easy to forget, for one thing, which can mean accounts going to the wrong people after life changes. In other words, your ex-wife or your mother may wind up with an account that should have gone to your spouse. People who choose to use transfer on death designations instead of a living trust need to remain vigilant about keeping those designations up to date.
They also need to explore other potential ramifications, especially if theyre taking a do-it-yourself approach. For example, if a beneficiary dies first, or simultaneously, the asset may wind up having to go through probate.
Also, as this column discussed a few months ago, real estate transfers in certain circumstances can cause the property to be reassessed, leading to much higher tax bills for heirs. Thats something an attorney would be able to explain to a client while preparing a will or living trust, but its something a DIYer might miss.
When a living trust can save money
Dear Liz: Heres another advantage to a living trust. If the person owns real estate in more than one jurisdiction and just uses a will, there will be a probate in the resident jurisdiction and ancillary probates the other location or locations, with the attendant time, costs and delays all of which could be avoided with a living trust. All properties would have to be transferred into the trust, of course, and its always wise to have a pour-over will to make sure that anything inadvertently left out of the trust is included and protected from probate.
Answer: Good points. Living trusts are more expensive to set up than wills but can save money in the long run in such situations.
To read the article in Spanish, click here
Liz Weston, certified financial planner, is a personal finance columnist for NerdWallet. Questions may be sent to her at 3940 Laurel Canyon, No. 238, Studio City, CA 91604, or by using the Contact form at asklizweston.com. Distributed by No More Red Inc.
Citing a violation of campaign regulations, the motion picture academy announced Saturday that it has rescinded the Oscar nomination for sound mixer Greg P. Russell from 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.
The decision was prompted by the discovery that Russell had called his fellow members of the sound branch during the nominations phase to make them aware of his work on the film, in direct violation of a campaign regulation that prohibits telephone lobbying, the academy said in a statement.
The remaining sound mixers from Benghazi Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth will remain as nominees.
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The board of governors decision to rescind Mr. Russells nomination was made after careful consideration, academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in a statement. The academy takes very seriously the Oscars voting process and anything no matter how well-intentioned that may undermine the integrity of that process.
The move was made after a recommendation by the sound branchs executive committee. The academys board of governors voted to pull Russells nomination on Thursday, with the academy announcing the decision two days later.
Russell isnt an Oscar newcomer. The veteran sound mixer has 17 Oscar nominations, beginning with 1989s Black Rain and including such films as Con Air, Transformers and Pearl Harbor. He has never won an Academy Award.
Released in January 2016, the war film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi followed a security team defending the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, after terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2012. Michael Bay directed the movie.
glenn.whipp@latimes.com
Twitter: @glennwhipp
Hollywoods public outpouring of love and respect Sunday for actor Bill Paxton was remarkable in its breadth and warmth.
Paxton, who was originally from Texas and had more than 90 acting credits under his belt by the time he was 60, died Saturday at 61 from complications after surgery, according to his family.
Actor Bill Paxton, 61, dies after complications from surgery
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Such a funny, talented, loving human, said Jamie Lee Curtis, who worked with Paxton when he played a memorably cheesy romantic con man in True Lies. Arnold Schwarzenegger chimed in as well.
Bill Paxton could play any role, but he was best at being Bill - a great human being with a huge heart. My thoughts are with his family. Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) February 26, 2017
Nooooo. Bill Paxton is gone. Such a funny, talented, loving human. Louise & the children & family my & support 2 u. #truelies pic.twitter.com/d4zleWdOrR Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) February 26, 2017
Rob Lowe was devastated by the loss of a close friend.
Devastated by the sudden loss of my close friend and one of the finest actors in the business, Bill Paxton. Renaissance man, raconteur and Rob Lowe (@RobLowe) February 26, 2017
uniquely American national treasure. His filmography speaks for itself. His friendship was a blessing. My love to Bunny, James and Lydia. Rob Lowe (@RobLowe) February 26, 2017
In memory of Paxton on Oscar Sunday, Lowe suggested watching One False Move or A Simple Plan to see this lovely leading man, at his finest.
Get Out director Jordan Peele explained part of the Titanic, Aliens and Big Love actors appeal, labeling him notoriously one of the nicest people in the industry, and noting on Twitter, He also gave us some of the all-time most iconic movie moments.
Aaron Paul backed up Paxtons reputation, proclaiming him Hands down one of the greatest guys I have ever met. Tom Hanks agreed.
Bill Paxton was, simply, a wonderful man. A wonderful man... Hanx. Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) February 26, 2017
I met w/Bill Paxton about a film he was directing & it was 1 of the most enlightening convos. A man whos seen it all. So sad #RIPBillPaxton, tweeted Glee actor Harry Shum Jr.
He was one of the good guys... said Jason Priestley, who wrote that he was shocked and saddened to hear about his Tombstone castmates passing.
Chrissy Metz of This Is Us called out the way Paxton spoke: One of my favorite voices, ever. May your transition be full of love and light, Bill Paxton. Thank you for all youve given us.
Lou Diamond Phillips noted that hed recently worked with Paxton and called him a warm and beautiful soul and a talented actor.
As skilled with comedy as he was with drama, said Zach Braff.
My friend Bill Paxton got cast in the Big Picture yesterday.I always enjoyed being in his company.He was a gracious man.Wrapped 2 soon man Peter Henry Fonda (@iamfonda) February 26, 2017
He gave me some of the best advice Ive ever received. A great actor, said Chris Klein, who worked with Paxton on 2007s The Good Life. A mentor. A friend. Forever grateful for my time with you.
Tweeted Vincent DOnofrio, Bill Paxton is 1of my favorite actors. I was able 2tell him so when we met yrs ago. Paxton was wonderful in everything he did. He inspired us.
Aliens producer Gail Anne Hurd and Twister castmate Cary Elwes praised their former colleague.
Very sad to hear about Bill Paxton. His talent, enthusiasm and energy were unique. Our thoughts are with his family pic.twitter.com/W4IVuILHxv Cary Elwes (@Cary_Elwes) February 26, 2017
I always knew you were an angel, Bill. Heaven just got a lot more fun with you in residence. Love you always... #RIP #BillPaxton https://t.co/gVV2SskfYg Gale Anne Hurd (@GunnerGale) February 26, 2017
Finally, The Good Wife and The Walking Dead actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Paxtons Texas Rising costar, spoke from the heart.
To know him was to love him. I loved him, Morgan said, offering condolences to his friends wife and children.
Bill Paxton was simply one of the greatest people ever. To know him was to love him. I loved him. Huge love to Louise, Lydia and James. Xo Jeffrey Dean Morgan (@JDMorgan) February 26, 2017
cdz@latimes.com
@theCDZ
It all started with a James Turrell art exhibit. The artists geometric light projections and sensory deprivation installations served as inspiration for director Denis Villeneuve and production designer Patrice Vermette, even before receiving the script for 2016s Arrival.
Villeneuves cerebral film about alien invaders earned eight Oscar nominations including best picture, director and adapted screenplay. Behind the haunting, yet serene look of the film are Canadian production designer Vermette and set decorator Paul Hotte both nominated for a production design Oscar.
In Arrival, the centerpiece of the film are the spaceships. Tell me about the design.
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Vermette: We tried many shapes for the ship. During our research, we saw an oval-shaped exoplanet [similar to] Venus, so we started playing with that. Then we decided to position the ship vertically because it was an intriguing shape. We decided to not have it land on Earth, but hover over the ground by 28 feet, because we thought it was interesting that these extraterrestrials would travel millions of light years to meet us but we still need to put the extra effort.
We wanted to stay away from any antennas, frost on the windows. We wanted something different and aesthetically pleasing, but far away from the aesthetics of the spaceships weve seen in the past. Theres also the idea of putting in contrast between alien technology with our own modest technology on Earth.
What is your process for creating a films look?
Hotte: When you first do a read through of the script, you have images in your mind. Then you do a second reading, talking with people around, then a third and fourth. Thats the way our imagination works. Theres not only two people on this, theres hundreds of people having something in mind. Thats what is magic about movie-making. It takes months of research, talking and a lot of visuals to be creative. Creativity comes with your day-to-day surrounding, it comes with having a meal with someone at home who doesnt work on this movie.
Shout out to Patrice Vermette and his wife for taking my early designs and building a real alien language from them. https://t.co/cwphGeJXGw Eric Heisserer (@HIGHzurrer) November 3, 2016
How did you break into the industry? Were there any mentors helping you out?
Vermette: I started doing music videos when I came out of university. In 1999, I met someone who actually changed my perspective in movie-making. His name is Guss Roy, he was a French production designer. We had the opportunity to work together on commercials, and he passed away in 2010. He was my mentor.
Hotte: It was the same for me. When I was out of university I did my own movie and met people in the industry. At first I didnt like the industry, so I went traveling for one year and came back. I tried it again and found someone who took me in for three years. Thats the way I started years ago.
Do you mentor anyone now?
Vermette: I try to bring one or two new people, if I can, on each project that I do. It doesnt mean theyre going to stay with us but its just a way of helping like I was helped by different people.
Hotte: I think its important to give to the next generation, we are privileged enough to get where we are now.
Tell us about being nominated.
Vermette: Its spectacular, its something you can never expect. Its a wonderful gift, and we feel privileged. Usually we imagine the recognition is only for the stars, the actors, the director and the producer that get this treatment.
Hotte: Its something magic, just the way we are treated. We feel like stars.
What are you wearing to the Academy Awards?
Hotte: Im wearing a creation from Montreal from a designer called Philippe Dubuc.
Vermette: He copied me. Im also wearing it, hes a good friend of ours.
More on Arrival . . .
Kenneth Turan reviews Arrival directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma, and Mark OBrien. Video by Jason H. Neubert.
Full coverage: Oscars 2017
makeda.easter@latimes.com
Twitter: @makedaeaster
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Gay storylines on network television arent always frivolous, but its rare when they embody themes that are universal to us all no matter if you identify as LGBTQ, SWM, SWF or any other acronym.
ABCs four-part miniseries, When We Rise, chronicles the gay rights movement as a shared part of Americas history, from its early protests against police brutality in 1970s San Francisco to the same-sex marriage ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015.
When We Rise, which premieres Monday, is a history lesson wrapped in a human drama. It takes half a century of struggle and compresses it into a powerful and moving story set during the last wave of the civil rights movement.
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Based on the life stories of LGBT activists Cleve Jones (Guy Pearce), Ken Jones (Michael Kenneth Williams) and Roma Guy (Mary-Louise Parker), When We Rise juxtaposes their fight for equality and representation with their longing for love and stability.
The personal is political here, and that makes the series feel as intimate as it does topical. The discriminatory practices that spur the protests depicted in When We Rise are again being pushed at the highest levels of government, and again resulting in resistance movements. If only it was a cinematic deja vu.
Each two-hour episode never misses an opportunity to reiterate, in subtle and not so subtle ways, that none of us is equal until we all share the same protections and freedoms. Its a running theme of writer Dustin Lance Black, who won an Oscar for his biopic Milk about the first openly gay elected official in California, Harvey Milk.
The series kicks off in the early 1970s, when antiwar activist Cleve Jones leaves his repressive life in Phoenix for the liberal San Francisco hes read about in Life magazine. Vietnam vet and sailor Ken Jones has been reassigned by the Navy to San Francisco where, as an African American, hell head a desegregation program. Roma Guy is an East Coast member of NOW, but when the feminist organization rejects lesbians, she too moves west to join a more progressive arm of the cause
The peace movement kids, the womens rights movement, the civil rights fighters, all the outsiders and outcasts, says Cleve during a narrated interlude. Everything we read told us that San Francisco is where we, the uses, could find safe harbor.
But the Summer of Love has given way to the winter of heroin. The activism of the 60s has faded, gay men are being abused by police and victimized by those perpetrating hate crimes. Lesbians are considered even less worthy of rights than women.
Cleve, Ken and Roma all played in their youth by the relatively unknown actors Austin P. McKenzie, Jonathan Majors and Emily Skeggs, respectively become organizers who pool their leadership skills and followings to rally in unison for lesbian and gay causes.
Cultural touchstones such as turkey-baster babies and bath houses are referenced here, as well as legislation like Proposition 6, meant to ban gays and lesbians from working in California public schools. The characters successfully lobby against the bill, and for the election of Milk for city supervisor. When hes murdered in office, they find even more cause to rally for fair treatment in the eyes of the law.
By the 1980s, the Castro neighborhood is a safe haven for the LGBT community, hate crimes are down and the police are protecting instead of harassing the community. But the AIDS epidemic hits, and being young and gay once again proves a deadly combination.
Cleve and Ken, who both find theyre HIV positive, watch their longtime partners succumb to the disease. The government ignores the growing epidemic, partly because its considered a gay disease. Cleve creates an AIDS quilt to memorialize those whove died and to draw national attention to the crisis. Its also the militarys dont ask, dont tell era, and as a gay man, Ken has trouble accessing the healthcare he needs. Roma uses the clout shes gained lobbying for previous causes to push for low-cost and free healthcare. As all three civil rights veterans move into the 2000s, the once unthinkable victory of same-sex marriage becomes a reality.
Though the star power doesnt arrive until the last two episodes, its the first half of When We Rise that is riveting. The early years are passionate and filled with urgency, mirroring the excitement and promise of an era still basking in the glow of the optimistic 60s. The grind of adulthood, and its responsibilities, is sometimes all too real in the second half.
The abrupt transition from the younger cast to the older actors is also jarring because they look and act like different people, so its up to the viewer to forget the past and make that leap. Still, the love scenes throughout not just sex, but intimacy as well artfully push the boundaries of what network TV is usually willing to show between same-sex couples.
When We Rise is the most impactful LGBT-centric series since HBOs Angels in America more than a decade ago. Sure, its a small playing field, but a notable one given the challenges of today.
When We Rise
Where: ABC
When: 9 p.m. Monday
Rating: TV-14-DLSV (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14 with advisories for suggestive dialogue, coarse language, sex and violence)
lorraine.ali@latimes.com
@lorraineali
In Los Angeles for the 89th Academy Awards , lead actress nominee Ruth Negga stepped into Bungalow 1 at Chateau Marmont on Friday night for a party hosted by Gemfields to celebrate a partnership with the actress and her stylist, Karla Welch.
Through awards season, Negga has worn jewelry crafted with Gemfields rubies and emeralds. The London-based company supplies an array of jewelry designers (including L.A. brands Kimberly McDonald, Sarah Hendler, Loree Rodkin, Jacquie Aiche, Hoorsenbuhs and Spinelli Kilcollin) with responsibly-sourced colored gemstones.
At the soiree, Neggas classic black trousers and ethereal sequined, bell-sleeved top by L.A. label Rodarte were punctuated by a 23-karat heart-shaped Gemfields ruby pendant by Fred Leighton strung on an ivory velvet ribbon.
Party guests, including Rodarte co-designer Laura Mulleavy, local jeweler Irene Neuwirth and actresses Michelle Dockery, Kat Graham, Busy Philipps and Zelda Williams (daughter of Robin Williams), toasted with Perrier-Jouet Champagne.
As the party started, Negga, nominated for her role in the interracial love-story biopic, Loving, talked jewels, fashion, style icons, her Hollywood future and whats always in her handbag.
Ruth Negga, shown at Gemfields pre-Oscars party at Chateau Marmont, has become a red carpet favorite this season. (Billy Farrell / BFA.com) (Billy Farrell / BFA.com)
I like things that are different. Innovative. Maybe some people see that as risk, but I see it as exploring. Ruth Negga on her fashion style
I dont wear jewelry, Negga said. I mean, I hadnt [until recently] because I read about how diamonds are sourced and was so horrified by it. Gemfields is attractive to me, because they are notoriously sustainable. Karla has taught me that anything is possible, but it can be done well, with the best intentions. Fashion doesnt have to be about slaying things left, right and center.
Pointing out that Neggas ears arent even pierced so she requires clip-on earrings, Welch said, Our main goal is to not use diamonds and to use color with stones that are ethically sourced. I love that Gemfields works with young, cool, indie designers, so there are so many options. For everyday looks, Ruth loves a ton of rings. She will wear five rings. That was something she totally brought into my vernacular.
But the duos top-line approach to red carpet jewelry appears to be that less is more. Shes a very petite person, so we dont overdo it, Welch said.
At the 2017 Golden Globes in January, 35-year-old Negga accessorized her custom Louis Vuitton column dress with a single Fred Leighton cuff bracelet, embellished with a 25.5-carat Gemfields ruby. Negga will wear jewelry designed with Gemfields stones to the Oscars, but wouldnt offer further details about her look before Sundays main event.
The fashion world has really embraced Ruth, and I think thats amazing; shes a dream girl, said Welch, who also counts Olivia Wilde , Sarah Paulson and Justin Bieber as clients.
Fearless and fashion-forward is how she described Neggas style philosophy. And she is a sleeve girl, Welch declared, noting the crazy-amazing Rodarte bell-sleeved top as evidence. Theres always a little bit of embellishment. Shes not a minimalist. But theres an elegance to her, as well.
A look at the sketch of a Fred Leighton ribbon choker similar to the necklace Academy Award nominee Ruth Negga wore to Gemfields pre-Oscars event on Friday evening in West Hollywood. (Andrew Werner) (Andrew Werner)
However, Negga confessed she feels more aligned with Tulip OHare, the gun-wielding badass she plays in the comic-book-inspired AMC television series Preacher (Negga is currently filming Season 2 in New Orleans) than with Mildred, her quiet, demure character in Loving.
I would aspire to be Mildred, but I am a bit of a Tasmanian devil in my energies, she said, noting that her hotel room was already a mess a 1 1/2 days into her stay. I definitely think Im more like Tulip in how I present myself to the world, but Im sort of Mildred on the inside.
Her go-to uniform off-set if she has to get dressed in 10 minutes, is a long batwing dress that you can wear over jeans when youre feeling a bit bloated, she said. Then I knock on some heels and these Abyssinian lion head drop earrings that a friend made for me.
And her off-duty wardrobe tends to be devoid of bright color.
In my everyday life, Im afraid to say I stick to black, Negga says. Im quite somber in what I wear because its most flattering. But I quite like Lou Doillon and Charlotte Gainsbourg [Jane Birkins daughters] and the French look, which is a bit androgynous. Im not tall and slim but I think it can work. Like the styles on Jean Seberg in Breathless, those kind of looks. And if I go out and have to dress up, I [channel] Dorothy Dandridge in the 50s or Eartha Kitt, who Im obsessed with. They are my style icons.
And what does she always have with her?
Negga mentioned that her handbag is always filled with wrappers of various things, including pomegranate-flavored Pur chewing gum. And she wont leave home without Le Labos Santal perfume, Lancome lip balm, under-eye concealer and her cellphone (I would love to have it wheeled over by a 40-ton truck! she joked).
When it comes to collaborating with Welch for her red carpet looks, Negga said they rarely disagree.
She knows that Im not a mainstream commercial person, to put it bluntly, Negga said. I like things that are different. Innovative. Maybe some people see that as risk, but I see it as exploring.
The same might be said of her work. Asked if shes working on any future film projects, Negga exclaimed, No, none! My agent is standing right there, but I tell him that I just want to go on the straight and narrow. So much of being an actor is thinking about, Oh my next role and my next role and my next role. Im really enjoying being present at the moment. And this is so rare. To be in the moment where you actually have a job thats paying you. I want to just be here and now. And be grateful for that.
image@latimes.com
@latimesimage
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The body of a 14-year-old boy who disappeared from San Fernando during a powerful storm earlier this month has been found on an island in the Los Angeles River, authorities said.
The body of Elias Rodriguez was recovered about 1:15 p.m. Saturday along a stretch of the river in Los Feliz, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Victoria White, a senior police representative at the LAPDs Mission Division, said an unknown person reported seeing a body on the island and police and fire personnel subsequently responded.
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White said the Sylmar boy may have been swept away by the Pacoima Wash that feeds into the L.A. River.
There is nothing more painful than the loss of a child, and the thoughts and prayers of all Angelenos are with the loved ones of Elias Rodriguez, Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement released Sunday morning. Words cannot capture the agony that Elias grieving family has felt since his disappearance.
Elias was reported missing Feb. 17, when he failed to return home after school.
At a news conference Saturday night, police said the L.A. River was flowing at 70 mph at the time of the storm and that the body appeared badly battered. That means it could take some time for the coroner to make an official identification.
Elias distraught family members went to the scene of the discovery.
The Los Angeles River is often bone dry, but during rains, it can become dangerous.
In 1992, the infamous televised drowning of 15-year-old Adam Bischoff in the rain-swollen river prompted efforts to improve swift-water rescues in Los Angeles.
Last year, two teenage boys drowned in a section of the river near Highland Park. In 2006, a 14-year-old boy drowned after falling into the river while fishing with his friends in Glassell Park.
Elias was last seen about 1:30 p.m. Feb. 17 after he left Cesar Chavez Learning Academies in the 1000 block of Arroyo Avenue in the city of San Fernando, police said. He borrowed a friends cellphone and left a message for his mother, saying he was walking home to Sylmar, authorities said.
Surveillance video in the area showed Elias walking in front of businesses along Glenoaks Boulevard as powerful winds and pounding rain pummeled parts of Southern California.
Police earlier this week scoured the river and found no sign of the teen. On Friday, local and federal officers canvassed business owners along Glenoaks Boulevard, handing out photos of the missing boy.
Authorities had offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his recovery.
ben.poston@latimes.com
Twitter: @bposton
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UPDATES:
11:25 a.m.: This article was updated with background on the river.
10:10 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Feb. 26, 7:54 a.m.: This article was updated with information from a police news conference.
This article was originally published on Feb. 25 at 5:45 p.m.
A group of North Hollywood High School students were reveling in victory over the weekend after winning the schools 18th regional title in a science-based academic tournament.
Showcasing an outstanding grasp of advanced science, math and technology concepts, quick reflexes and grace under pressure, the high schools A team won the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Science Bowl regional competition, the LADWP said in a statement. The contest was held Saturday in downtown Los Angeles.
Team members each receive the $1,000 Hitachi Scholarship and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, where they will represent L.A. in the U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl from April 27 to May 1.
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The team will compete in a field of 70 high school champions from 40 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A total of nine teams from California will participate.
Each year, the LADWP Science Bowl tests the regions sharpest students reflexes, teamwork skills and knowledge, using a television game show format that involves tossup and bonus questions, buzzers and timed responses, the utilitys statement said.
This year, North Hollywood High Schools B team placed second in the competition. Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies took third, and Palisades Charter High School placed fourth.
Science Bowl is a proud LADWP tradition and an example of the Departments commitment to the Los Angeles community, the LADWP said.
The National Science Bowl is among the nations largest science-based academic competitions and the only one sponsored by a federal agency, according to the utility. Since it began in 1991, more than 265,000 students have participated in the program.
To read the article in Spanish, click here
brittny.mejia@latimes.com
Twitter: @Brittny_Mejia
The Pentagon is pushing ahead with an expansion of the nations homeland missile defense system, despite a newly recognized deficiency that affects nearly all the systems rocket interceptors, a Los Angeles Times investigation has found.
The problem threatens the performance of small thrusters attached to the interceptors. In the event of a nuclear attack, the thrusters would be relied on to steer interceptors into the paths of enemy warheads, destroying them.
If a thruster malfunctioned, an interceptor could fly off-course and miss its target, with potentially disastrous consequences. The interceptors are the spine of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, or GMD, the nations primary protection against a missile strike by North Korea or Iran.
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The problem affecting the thrusters came to light as a result of the systems most recent flight test, on Jan. 28, 2016, when an interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The test was designed to show whether a redesign of the thrusters had solved persistent problems with the component.
It did not go as planned. One of the interceptors four thrusters shut down during the test, causing the interceptor to veer far from its intended course.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and its lead GMD contractors nevertheless touted the exercise as a success, making no mention of the malfunction. The Times disclosed the mishap in an article published July 6.
If theres a foreign object in one unit, its sort of whistling past the graveyard to assume that thats a once-in-a-lifetime event. L. David Montague, retired president of missile systems for Lockheed Corp.
Now, the first public explanation for the thruster malfunction has emerged in Pentagon documents and from interviews with missile-defense specialists.
A review board formed by the missile agency linked the failure to a circuit board that powers the thrusters. The most likely explanation, the panel said, was that a foreign object in the interceptors internal guidance module came loose, fell onto the board and caused a short circuit.
The review board did not say what the foreign object was, but government and independent scientists say it could have been a wire fragment, a piece of soldering material or other debris.
Of the GMD systems 37 operational interceptors, 34 are equipped with older circuit boards vulnerable to the same kind of incident, according to missile defense specialists, including former and current government officials.
The missile agency is in the midst of expanding GMD to a planned total of 44 interceptors by the end of this year. The 10 newest interceptors will have circuit boards made with improved manufacturing processes, an agency spokesman said.
But agency officials do not plan to retrofit or repair the older circuit boards, which were manufactured differently. Spokesman Christopher Johnson, in written responses to questions from The Times, said that based on the review boards analysis, no corrective actions are needed.
Independent missile defense experts, however, said the review boards findings signal a weakness in the 34 older interceptors, which now make up more than 90% of the fleet. When the expansion is finished, they will still account for three-fourths.
If theres a foreign object in one unit, its sort of whistling past the graveyard to assume that thats a once-in-a-lifetime event, said L. David Montague, a retired president of missile systems for Lockheed Corp.
Montague, who was co-chairman of a National Academy of Sciences panel that assessed U.S. missile defense systems in 2012 at the request of Congress, said each GMD interceptor should be subjected to rigorous ground testing to simulate the intense vibrations experienced during flight. The aim would be to see whether more foreign objects shake loose.
Laura Grego, a physicist who led an in-depth study of GMD published last year by the Union of Concerned Scientists, questioned why the missile agency was not pausing its expansion of the system to address the issue.
What is the point of using tests to identify problems if you dont fix those problems afterwards? Grego said by email. At some point you have to decide if you mean to build something that works or something that simply looks like it works.
One way to protect circuit boards from tiny foreign objects is to spray the boards with a thin layer of plastic. The process, known as conformal coating, has long been standard in both commercial and military manufacturing.
After the test-flight failure, an expert consultant to the Missile Defense Agency pointed out the availability of this remedy in a closed-door meeting at the agencys headquarters at Ft. Belvoir, Va. The agencys senior engineering staff members were present, according to individuals with knowledge of the session.
It is unclear whether the improved manufacturing process for circuit boards in the newest interceptors includes conformal coating.
Johnson said he could not detail how the newer circuit boards differ from the older ones because both are part of an active weapon system.
Johnson did say that agency officials are absolutely confident in [their] ability to defend the homeland from ballistic missiles.
Former Assistant Defense Secretary Philip E. Coyle III, who led the Pentagons office of operational testing and evaluation for six years, said the January 2016 test failure was cause for serious concern about GMDs reliability.
If the circuitry caused a failure, thats a bad thing, Coyle said. One out of four [thrusters] failed, and thats important. I dont think anybody should whitewash that.
A kill vehicle on display at Ft. Greely, Alaska, with its silver thrusters protruding. (Al Grillo / Associated Press)
The nations defense against a massive nuclear attack by China or Russia relies on deterrence: the Cold War doctrine that none of the major nuclear powers would ever strike first, for fear of massive retaliation.
The GMD system, in contrast, was designed to thwart a limited strike by a non-superpower such as North Korea by intercepting and destroying incoming warheads.
The interceptors are multistage rockets, each with a 5-foot-long kill vehicle at the tip. In the event of an attack, interceptors would climb from their underground silos at Vandenberg and Ft. Greely, Alaska, and soar beyond the upper atmosphere.
In space, the kill vehicle would separate from its boost rocket. The thrusters would fire rapidly to keep the vehicle on course during the final approach to its target.
The first GMD interceptors were made operational in 2004 by order of President George W. Bush, whose administration warned that America was at imminent risk of attack.
To accelerate deployment, then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld exempted the missile agency from the Pentagons normal procurement and testing standards. The systems persistent reliability problems have been traced to the rapid pace at which it was developed and fielded.
In flight tests, which are scripted to maximize the chances for success, GMD interceptors have failed to destroy their targets about half the time.
The thrusters have been at the center of several of those failures.
After a January 2010 test in which a thruster shut down, officials blamed a missing fastener in the thruster assembly. In December of that year, an interceptor again missed its target, and the failure was attributed to severe vibrations caused by the thrusters rough combustion of fuel.
In 2011, Lt. Gen. Patrick J. OReilly, then the missile agencys director, shut down production of interceptors in an effort to correct technical shortcomings exposed by the test failures.
OReilly retired in late 2012, and production resumed under his successor, Vice Adm. James D. Syring, as the Obama administration prepared to expand the GMD fleet a decision supported by bipartisan majorities in Congress.
The downside of this approach has been diminished reliability. In light of the systems spotty performance in tests, the missile agency projects that four or five interceptors would have to be fired at any single enemy warhead an imbalance that could quickly exhaust the fleet.
A rocket interceptor soars toward space from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Jan. 28, 2016. It veered far off-course after one of its thrusters shut down. (Gene Blevins / Zumapress.com)
In the January 2016 test, the interceptor that was launched from Vandenberg, on the Santa Barbara County coast, was supposed to perform maneuvers before making a close fly-by of a mock warhead in space.
As the flight unfolded, one of the thrusters stopped firing. Project engineers had planned for the interceptor to fly within a narrow miss distance of its target. In fact, the closest it came was a distance 20 times greater than expected, according to Pentagon scientists who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The review board, appointed by Syring, was made up of officials and engineers who oversaw the test and stood to share responsibility for any deficiencies in the interceptors performance.
The panel was led by the missile agencys chief engineer and included representatives from the lead GMD contractors: Boeing Co., Raytheon Co. and Aerojet Rocketdyne, maker of the thrusters. Consultants from two academic research centers also participated.
Syring declined to be interviewed for this article.
Johnson, the missile agency spokesman, said the review boards report remains classified. The findings, however, are summarized in the most recent annual report of the Pentagons Office of Operational Test and Evaluation. The voluminous survey of U.S. weapons systems is prepared for Congress and the secretary of Defense.
The latest edition, released last month, rates the reliability of GMD and the day-to-day availability, or readiness, of its interceptors as low, and says that tests have revealed unspecified new failure modes.
Regarding the January 2016 exercise, the report said all four of the interceptors thrusters turned on and off as commanded at the outset. But one thruster could not be restarted after the circuit board that powered it experienced a short, the report said.
The report cited the review boards finding that foreign object damage was the most likely cause.
The test offices reports are tracked closely by congressional aides and can influence support for a defense system. Although the office writes the reports, its analysts typically depend on the relevant agency or service branch to confirm technical details.
Tensions arose over how the office would characterize the January 2016 flight test.
The missile agency insisted that the report say the redesigned thrusters technically known as alternate divert thrusters or ADTs worked flawlessly, and that the mishap stemmed from an unrelated problem with the interceptors electronics.
They made a big deal about, The ADTs worked as designed. And in fact, when you look at it, no, they didnt, said a government official familiar with the matter. Because the one thruster didnt fire.... If this was actually an intercept, it probably would have missed.
The test office report ultimately said the suspect circuit board was associated with the thruster. But the report accommodated the missile agency by saying the circuit board is not considered part of the ADT subsystem.
In fact, though the thruster itself was not found to be at fault, it needed the circuit board for power and could not function without it.
GMD has cost taxpayers more than $40 billion to date. In a report last year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said the systems performance had been insufficient to demonstrate that an operationally useful defense capability exists.
The Pentagon is studying locations for a possible third GMD site in the eastern half of the United States. The site would house 20 to 60 interceptors and cost billions of dollars.
david.willman@latimes.com
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Whenever U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement insists it is just doing its job, Americans should take a closer look at what is happening.
With an executive order signed in his first week in office, President Trump has taken the shackles off ICE and Border Patrol officers, according to the White House, expanding the priorities for deporting immigrants. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly claims his agents will focus on those convicted of or charged with crimes, but immigrant advocacy groups and the news media already have documented arrests, detentions and deportations of immigrants who in no way represent a threat to public safety.
From 2006 through early 2010, I reported on Immigration and Customs Enforcement. What I learned was that no matter the ostensible priorities of federal agencies or even settled law ICE was an agency prone to overreach.
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In those days, immigration agents liked to roll out press releases touting the successes of their fugitive operations. The releases detailed how violent gang members, sexual predators and other criminals were taken off the streets. Time and again, I pressed the agency for detailed information on those arrested only to discover the detainees were neither fugitives nor serious criminals.
Some people will shrug and say that if youre in this country illegally you should be...sent packing. But enforcement is always a matter of priorities.
Instead, I found longtime green card holders who had been convicted decades earlier of minor offenses. Or who were ordered deported in absentia, in some cases because they had moved or the wrong paperwork had been filed. Among the detainees without green cards, many simply didnt come close to fitting the description danger to society. They were street vendors, construction workers, janitors and small business owners, albeit without papers.
Enforcement efforts outside the fugitive program had problems as well.
One case I reported on involved a U.S. citizen who had once before been wrongly deported to Mexico. When I met him, he was a candidate for deportation after hed been convicted of drug possession. Again and again he told ICE he was an American, born in Californias Madera County. His family produced a birth certificate, but neither the agents nor the immigration judge were convinced. Instead he was threatened with an added charge: impersonating a U.S. citizen. It took publishing a newspaper story about his plight to gain his release.
In another case, agents attempted to deport a Senegalese man who had a legal stay from a federal court allowing him to remain in the U.S. while his case was adjudicated. ICE dealt with him under a covert program that forcibly drugged immigrants with powerful psychotropics so they wouldnt resist as they were loaded onto commercial airliners for the trip home. At LAX, airline officials refused to transport him. He eventually succeeded in court and is now a legal permanent resident.
Victoria Arellano, a 23-year-old HIV-positive transgender woman, was stopped at a DUI checkpoint and eventually turned over to ICE. She was held in a federal detention center and denied the life-saving drugs she took daily despite clear case law that says denial of care is unconstitutional. When Arellano died, she was bound to a hospital bed even though she was too weak to raise her arms to hug her mother, who had feared visiting her daughter because of her own immigration status.
ICE also detained green card holders with mental illnesses and sent them to a network of private hospitals where they were illegally held incommunicado. Once they were deemed stable in the cases I covered, such judgments were questionable they had to appear in immigration court, often without representation despite laws that require the state to provide the mentally disabled with legal help. One such green card holder was detained because of a domestic violence conviction. I spoke to him shortly before his hearing. He couldnt focus, he told me, because of the voices in his head. Days later, his mother called sobbing. Her son had been deported to Mexico, a country he barely knew and where no one could take care of him.
I found another case in Haiti. David Gerbier, a green card holder with two U.S. citizen children, was deported to the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, in 1999 after an immigration court illegally bumped up a minor drug charge to an aggravated felony. A federal appeals court ruled that Gerbiers offense was indeed a misdemeanor and tossed out his deportation order. Nonetheless, U.S. officials in Port-au-Prince repeatedly denied Gerbier reentry into the United States. It took 10 years and a pro bono lawsuit before he was finally reunited with his family.
Given ICEs disturbing track record for ignoring legal limits, the excesses were hearing about now shouldnt come as a surprise. Theres the young man in Washington state with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status. He was rousted from bed and accused of being a deportable gang member. His lawyers say the charge is only supported by doctored documents. On Wednesday, federal agents removed a Salvadoran woman, reportedly scheduled for emergency brain surgery, from a Texas hospital bed.
Some people will shrug and say that if youre in this country illegally you should be detained and sent packing. But enforcement is always a matter of priorities. The Trump deportation guidelines are extreme in their scope compared with the priorities set as far back as the late 1990s. And anyone on U.S. soil citizen or not ought to be entitled to due process. The president says he will keep our country safe. ICE appears to have decided that when it cannot find serious criminals, it will protect us from the depredations of students, nannies and strawberry pickers.
Sandra Hernandez is the vice president for communication at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. She covered criminal justice and immigration for the L.A. Daily Journal.
Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
Former President George W. Bush says his recent remarks have been misconstrued as criticism of Trump
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Former President George W. Bush on Wednesday pushed back at the notion that his recent remarks about the media were criticisms of President Trump.
Im asked the question, Do I believe in free press? and the answer is absolutely, I believe in free press because the press holds people to account, he said. Power is very addictive and its corrosive if it becomes central to your life and therefore there needs to be an independent group of people who hold you to account. And so I answered that question and of course the headlines were, Bush criticizes Trump. And so therefore I needed to say, There should be a free and independent press, but it ought to be accurate.
Bush made the remarks at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley during an hourlong question-and-answer session promoting Portraits of Courage, his new book that features his paintings of veterans. While doing media interviews about the book in recent days, he has raised eyebrows by making comments about the media, immigrants and allegations of Russian interference in the November presidential election that were widely viewed as criticisms of the new president.
He said that he decided once he left the office not to second-guess his successor, former President Obama, and that the same holds true for Trump. Doing so would undermine the office, Bush said, adding that he wants all of his successors to succeed because it is good for the nation.
I dont want to make the presidents job worse, no matter what political party it is. Its a hard job, Bush said. Sometimes my remarks can be construed as criticism. Theyre certainly not meant to be, and after I finish this book tour you probably wont hear from me for a while.
But he was willing to offer advice to those who follow him.
Know what you dont know and find people who do know what you dont know and listen to them, he said. My advice is that the job is different once you get in. It looks one way and then you get in the Oval Office and it looks different. Trust me.
Bush also made an implicit criticism of Obamas foreign policy when asked whether the world is more dangerous than it was four years ago.
This may be taken as criticism of one of my successors and I dont really mean it to be. There is a lesson however when the United States decides not to take the lead and withdraw, he said. Vacuums can be created when U.S. presence recedes and that vacuum is generally filed with people who dont share the ideology, the same sense of human rights and human dignity and freedom that we do.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Aside from a handful of serious moments, Bush was jovial and self-effacing as he described how he became an oil painter after leaving the White House. Seeking ways to fill his time, he said he read an essay by Winston Churchill about painting.
I basically said, What the hell, this guy can paint, I can paint, Bush said.
He hired an instructor and started painting a cube and a watermelon before moving on to portraits. Former First Lady Laura Bush was not pleased with his depiction of her, so when he painted his mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush, he decided to depict her from behind.
Barbara Bush and former President George H.W. Bush are doing well despite their recent hospitalizations, the younger Bush said.
Theyre both great given their limitations. Dad cant walk, hes confined to a wheelchair and yet his spirit is joyful, Bush said. Moms doing fine. Shes shrinking, and as she does, her voice gets louder. But shes a, shes a piece of work is what she is.
Bush has been reclusive since leaving office, but said he wrote the book and is publicizing it to raise money for veterans and to draw attention to the invisible wounds many of them suffer.
I think when you read [their stories] youll be moved by stories of courage, injury, recovery willingness to help others, he said. Ive got a platform its not as big as it once was and I intend to use it to help our veterans for the rest of my life, and this is one way to do so.
The Democratic Party put its faith in its old guard Saturday to guide it out of the political wilderness, choosing as its new leader an Obama-era Cabinet secretary over the charismatic congressman backed by the progressive wing of the party.
Tom Perez, a former secretary of Labor with strong ties to unions, persuaded the spirited assembly of party delegates in Atlanta that he can best help harness a grass-roots outpouring of anti-Trump protest and anger into a Democratic resurgence at the ballot box.
We are suffering from a crisis of confidence, a crisis of relevance, Perez told delegates before they chose him in a down-to-the-wire contest with Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, whom the Bernie Sanders wing of the party had rallied around.
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We need a chair who can not only take the fight to Donald Trump. We also need a chair who can lead a turnaround and change the culture of the Democratic Party, Perez said.
President Trump tweeted his congratulations to Perez, adding I could not be happier for him, or for the Republican Party!
The ascendance of an establishment liberal is certain to renew tension between Democratic Party stalwarts and the unruly progressive movement aligned with Sen. Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who both backed Ellison.
Some Ellison supporters erupted in protest as the final vote was announced.
Perez quickly sought to unite the party by naming Ellison his deputy chairman, a move unanimously approved by the 435 assembled delegates.
They had earlier supported Perez 235-200 in a second round of voting after several other candidates dropped out. Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., had appeared a potential challenger but dropped out before the first round of voting.
Ellison urged supporters not to waste even a moment going at it about who supported who. We dont have the luxury of going out of this room divided.
Perez, who takes over from Donna Brazile and is the first Latino to lead the Democratic National Committee, will become the new face of the beleaguered party on cable news networks and at campaign rallies after a year that saw not only heavy losses at the ballot box but Russian government hacking aimed at DNC computers.
But tending the talk show circuit will be overshadowed by a much tougher and less glamorous job: repairing a party tattered by bickering factions, muddled messaging and neglect after eight years of the Obama administration.
Following the stunning GOP wave in the 2016 election, the Democratic Party is weaker than it has been in decades.
Republicans now hold not only the White House and both houses of Congress; they control 69 of the countrys 99 state legislative chambers and 33 governorships including 25 states where they control both the governors office and the state legislature.
Perez was the favored choice of the Obama White House and the party establishment. He is a steady hand whose reorganization plans are ambitious but are not threatening to longtime party operatives.
Obama White House alums worked their connections in the states to garner delegate votes for him. Perez himself campaigned with a message similar to what Hillary Clinton used in her primary race against Sanders: He argued he was not just a progressive, but one who has gotten things done.
His victory was nonetheless a disappointment to the energetic movement Sanders inspired, which will be crucial to any successful effort at rebuilding the party and winning elections.
Progressive activists had seen the leadership race as an opportunity to take control of a party apparatus that has been hostile to their political vision. They had put their faith in Ellison to rebuild the party around the grass-roots organizing model Sanders harnessed during last years Democratic primaries.
Many were inspired by Ellisons personal story as a minority politician whose majority-white, working-class district in Minneapolis elected him as the first Muslim member of Congress in 2007.
Sanders congratulated Perez in a statement that also warned, It is imperative that Tom understands that the same-old, same-old is not working and that we must open the doors of the party to working people and young people in a way that has never been done before.
The uneasiness of progressives was underscored by a floor fight that played out just before the chairperson vote, in which delegates voted against reinstating a ban on corporate donations to the party.
The advocacy group Move On also put Perez on notice that it expects him to change a party that has become too Washington-insider, too beholden to the same big donors and consultants, and too timid on issues of social, racial, and economic justice.
The leadership election did little to quiet the raging internal debate about what happened in November. There is no consensus about how Donald Trump smashed the so-called Blue Wall of Democratic strongholds and won state after state that the Democrats assumed were out of his reach.
Many progressives attribute the loss and the erosion of power on the state level to a weak message and failure to aggressively embrace a populist economic agenda, as well as a reluctance to embrace the identity politics that could energize minorities.
They say the white working-class Rust Belt voters who had backed Obama marked their ballots for Trump, or for third-party candidates, because they wanted big economic change, not more moderation.
Others in the party argue thats a misreading of the election results, and that the path back to power for Democrats is not on the hard left.
Where Democrats fall in this debate guides how they approach upcoming elections. The party is grappling over how heavily to invest in recapturing voters it lost in the Midwest versus parts of the Southern states where minority populations are booming, and where Republicans are holding congressional seats in districts that Trump lost or just barely won.
But much of the work before Perez is even deeper in the weeds. He will have to rebuild the badly frayed network of state and county parties that form the backbone of the organization. Their disconnectedness to the Democratic National Committee and, in some cases, lack of persistent, steady management has become a major vulnerability.
He takes over the party at a difficult but also opportune time, amid the erupting anger over the direction Trump and the Republican-led Congress are taking the country.
Live updates from Washington
Perez will need to move quickly to build the infrastructure needed to channel all that energy, and to keep it brewing through the next big election, which is still two years away.
Considering the partys state of disarray, the leadership race was notable for its lack of public bloodletting.
The candidate forums were congenial, the campaign messaging polite a reflection of the nature of this particular election, which is decided by party officials more preoccupied with nuts-and-bolts party business like resource allocation and how conventions will be run than with heady issues of ideology.
But simmering beneath the surface were tensions over how badly the party fared during the Obama years and who might be at fault. Perez was encouraged to run against Ellison by some Obama allies who stood to lose lucrative party contracts in a takeover by the Sanders faction.
evan.halper@latimes.com
Follow me: @evanhalper
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Every president since 1981 has attended the annual White House Correspondents Assn. dinner.
That year, President Reagan missed out. The reason? He needed to recover after a would-be assassin fired a bullet into his chest a few weeks earlier.
On Saturday, President Trump announced he will not be attending the annual dinner in April, long considered the premier social event of the Washington press corps and typically an evening of good-natured bantering between presidents and the Fourth Estate.
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Trumps announcement added to the ratcheting tensions between his administration and the media. Almost daily, in speeches or on Twitter, he calls particular news outlets fake, disgusting or dishonest and news organizations have responded by digging in, standing united and devoting more resources to covering a president who has branded the press the enemy.
I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017
On Friday, the White House barred reporters from several major news organizations, including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, CNN and Politico, from attending an off-camera press briefing.
The banned reporters stayed behind in the White House press room and the image was striking a few huddled reporters, staring at smart phones, in a mostly empty room.
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.
Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief and publisher of the Los Angeles Times, said, 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.
Regardless of access, The Times will continue to report on the Trump administration without fear or favor, Maharaj added.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who held the off-camera briefing, has said he wants to be transparent and have a good relationship with the press. In December, while speaking on a panel in Washington, Spicer said open access for the media is what makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship.
The action from the White House on Friday came hours after Trump once again castigated the media as the enemy of the people, this time while speaking before supporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.
I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. Its fake, phony, fake, he said.
Trumps public complaints about the media have been bolstered by his aides.
At CPAC, Stephen K. Bannon, Trumps senior aide, who once oversaw the conservative-leaning Breitbart News which was invited to Fridays briefing framed the administrations battle with the press as an ideological war. He consistently called the media the opposition party throughout a panel discussion at the conference.
Theyre corporatist, globalist media that are adamantly opposed to an economic nationalist agenda like Donald Trump has, he said. Every day it is going to be a fight.
Is Trumps message getting through? In some ways, yes.
An Emerson College poll released this month found 49% of voters believe the Trump administration is truthful, compared to 48% who do not. By contrast, 53% of voters find the news media untruthful, compared with 39% who find the media truthful.
The poll was split along party lines especially when looking at the media. Ninety-one percent of Republicans believe the news media is untruthful, and 69% of Democrats believe the press is honest.
As the president faces, among other things, questions about his aides and associates making repeated contact with senior Russian officials during the 2016 campaign, the hashtag #NotTheEnemy has gone viral on Twitter. Its regularly used to highlight journalists who have lost their lives while reporting and to remind the administration that the press should not be viewed as an adversary.
For Trump, barring news organizations that he perceives as unfair is nothing new. Last year, his campaign refused to issue press credentials to some media outlets for his events.
Watching the back-and-forth between Trump and the press are the American people.
In recent weeks, Saturday Night Live has poked fun at Spicer, with Melissa McCarthy playing him in spoofs of press briefings.
A Gallup poll released this month showed 36% of Americans think the media have been too tough on Trump, while 31% think the treatment has been about right and 28% say the press has not been tough enough.
Within the poll the partisan divide is stark. Seventy-four percent of Republicans believe the media have been too tough on Trump, compared to 49% of Democrats who believe the press needs to be tougher.
Watch what Trump does about the media, not what he says
On Saturday, Trump also used Twitter to blast the news media again, complaining it failed to highlight a dip in the national debt.
The media has not reported that the National Debt in my first month went down by $12 billion vs a $200 billion increase in Obama first mo., he wrote. (Although the numbers are accurate, Trumps tweet suggested he deserves credit for something that is largely beyond his control, especially since he hasnt yet given Congress any proposals to change tax laws or the financial industry.)
Even as Trump, who has been a frequent guest at the White House Correspondents dinner in the past, says he will not attend, the association is forging ahead.
At the annual dinner, the president usually delivers self-deprecating jokes and often is roasted by a high-profile comedian. The president also greets students who win journalism scholarships and awards, a major part of the evening.
Jeff Mason, president of the White House Correspondents Assn., said the dinner has been and will continue to be a celebration of the 1st Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic.
As for Reagan back in 1981, though he missed the dinner, he still called in to offer a few remarks by phone. And in keeping with the evenings tradition, he still got a laugh as he recalled the day he got shot.
If I could give you just one little bit of advice, Reagan quipped, when somebody tells you to get in a car quick, do it.
To read the article in Spanish, click here
kurtis.lee@latimes.com
Twitter: @kurtisalee
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Over two years, developer Geoffrey Morgan lined up investors, partnered with a medical clinic and found a manufacturer in Idaho to build 135 apartments for formerly homeless residents near downtown San Jose.
Everything was on track for the project to break ground by the end of last year. Then election day happened.
I got Trumped, Morgan said.
President Trumps election has thrown a wrench into low-income housing development across the country, especially in California. His promise to cut business tax rates has large banks and other investors backing away from a tax credit program that reduces what companies owe in taxes in exchange for investing in low-income housing projects.
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After election day, affordable housing projects across the state immediately saw multimillion-dollar budget gaps and future dollars are now at risk. The tax credit program is the largest source for funding for low-income housing in California, and the market downturn could mean a reduction in state low-income housing funding by $250 million this year, said Matt Schwartz, president and chief executive of California Housing Partnership, a nonprofit advocate for low-income housing.
Its caused a huge amount of distress, Schwartz said.
The market slump comes at a trying time for housing in California. One-third of California renters spend more than half their income on housing costs, and the state is producing at least 100,000 fewer homes each year needed to meet demand for residents at all income levels, according to a recent state report. At the same time, the California Housing Partnership estimates that state and federal funding for low-income housing in California dropped 67% to $892 million annually between 2009 and 2015.
The federal program, along with a similar state effort, has provided $32 billion in funding for housing for low-income residents in California over the last three decades.
But Trumps pledge to reduce the corporate tax rate from its current 35% rate to 15%, as well as similar plans by the Republican-controlled Congress, means that companies might no longer need as many credits to pay less in taxes. Since election day, investors have fled the low-income housing tax credit market, according to Peter Lawrence, a director at Novogradac & Co., a national accounting and consulting firm that specializes in affordable housing. Those who have stayed are typically only willing to pay 10% to 15% less for tax credits in California than they were beforehand, Lawrence said.
The plummeting market blew holes in the budgets of some projects that were close to breaking ground, including Morgans Second Street Studios in San Jose. After election day, Morgans tax credit investor balked at paying the $26 million previously committed to the development, and was willing to shell out only $23.5 million, he said. Days before the project had to meet financing deadlines, the city of San Jose pumped in the extra $2.5 million needed to close the gap. Without the citys help, Morgan said, the development would have fallen through.
For folks like us to have something like this come up at the last second, its terrifying, Morgan said.
Developers are asking housing agencies in San Diego and Los Angeles to make up for similar shortfalls. The developer of a 52-unit project in San Diego for low-income disabled veterans has asked the city for an additional $1 million. Los Angeles has agreed to shell out an additional $2 million to make up a funding gap for two projects with a combined 93 units for low-income families in South Central and Hollywood.
While were concerned about potential long-term impacts on the program, we remain committed to supporting our partners in affordable housing development, who are instrumental in making housing available to the most vulnerable Angelenos, Rushmore Cervantes, general manager of Los Angeles Housing and Community Investment Department, said in a statement.
In response to the market uncertainty, the state treasurers office, which administers the federal and state tax credit programs, has extended its deadlines for low-income housing projects to complete their deals. The treasurers office is unaware that any of the 269 low-income projects funded with $3.3 billion in tax credits last year has failed so far, a spokesman said. Developer applications for this years first round of major funding are due in March.
The new projects seem likely to continue to receive less interest from investors. Lawrence, who is monitoring corporate tax reform in Washington, D.C., said its unclear when the president and Congress are going to introduce legislation and what the ultimate result might be.
We may have some indefinite period of volatility going forward, Lawrence said.
Low-income housing developers remain on pins and needles.
The practical matter is were all facing extraordinary levels of uncertainty and trying to make changes in real time, said Daniel Falcon, a vice president at McCormack Baron Salazar, which received a tax credit last year for an 81-unit project for low-income families in Los Angeles Westlake-MacArthur Park neighborhood. Every time I see a CNN or L.A. Times update on my phone, Im like, What happened? Whats that going to do to my project now?
liam.dillon@latimes.com
@dillonliam
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The race for California attorney general in 2018 has been shaken up by the so-called Trump factor, with the states newly appointed top lawyer, Xavier Becerra, seeing his profile boosted to the national stage by legal challenges to the Republican president.
What was shaping up to be a free-for-all with several strong candidates before Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Becerra last month is now looking to be a much narrower race, with some candidates signaling they may drop out.
Becerra, 59, was a Democratic congressman from Los Angeles when he was picked to fill out the remaining two years of the term of Kamala Harris, who resigned the post after she won election to the U.S. Senate last year.
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Because California supported Democrat Hillary Clinton for president by a wide margin over Trump, most voters are likely to see Becerra as heroic if he continues to stand up to the new president, said Larry Gerston, professor emeritus of political science at San Jose State.
In Becerras case, his appointment instantly made him the favorite to gain election to a full term in 2018 anyway, Gerston said. His anti-Trump stance can only help that election effort, particularly in terms of discouraging any potentially noteworthy opponents.
Reflecting his role as a leading national figure opposing Trump policies, Becerra gave the keynote speech Friday at the Democratic National Committees winter meeting in Atlanta, where hundreds of party activists from all over the country cheered his biting verbal attacks on Trump, whom he called an imposter.
Politicians that have campaign committees to raise money for the attorney generals race include three Democrats: state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, former Assemblyman Dario Frommer and former state Sen. Ellen Corbett.
Campaign committees have also been formed by Republicans including San Bernardino County Dist. Atty. Mike Ramos.
Ramos, 59, said the governors decision to appoint Becerra means the attorney general will benefit from being the incumbent in the contest.
Its a huge advantage, said Ramos, who is reconsidering a run for attorney general because of Becerras appointment.
Ramos said he hopes to meet with Becerra. He also is watching what Becerra does in the next month and may drop out of the race if the new attorney general demonstrates support for victims rights, public safety and the continued use of the death penalty.
If he is going to be that attorney general, then because I love what Im doing now I would continue to be the district attorney of San Bernardino County, Ramos said.
During confirmation hearings, Becerra said he supports the death penalty but wants more reforms and resources to make sure it is fairly applied.
Frommer, a Democrat from Glendale, is also weighing whether to fold his campaign committee for attorney general which holds $650,000 now that his friend holds the job.
Hes on the right side of the issues that I care about, Frommer said of Becerra. Even though he has not run statewide before, when your title on the ballot is attorney general for the state of California, its going to be very hard for someone else to prevail.
Among others who pundits say would make competitive candidates, those who have indicated they do not plan to run for attorney general in 2018 include Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey and Alameda County Dist. Atty. Nancy OMalley.
Jones, 55, said Becerras announcement has not affected his long-standing plans. He has $800,000 in his campaign account.
I announced in October 2015, and I am continuing ahead with our campaign and seeking the office of attorney general, Jones said.
Updates from Sacramento
As state insurance commissioner, Jones said he has eight years of experience running a consumer protection and law enforcement organization. He also cited his work as a special assistant to then-U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and service in the state Assembly.
Im running to make our streets and communities safer, to continue the work thats been done on criminal justice reform, to go after the underground economy, protect our environment and fight public and private corruption, he said.
Jones declined to offer any judgement of the work Becerra has done so far as attorney general, including his filing of multiple friend-of-the-court briefs challenging Trumps travel ban and immigration crackdown.
However, Jones said he himself would be a strong force against Trump directives that erode the rights and policies of Californians.
Theres going to be ample time after the March [candidate] filing to draw distinctions in approach and emphasis, Jones said. Right now, I believe all of Californias statewide officers are united in our efforts to try to protect immigrants in California, to protect our implementation of healthcare reform, to block the presidents Muslim ban and any number of things [Trump] is doing.
Becerra has been traveling throughout California to introduce himself and assure residents that he will be aggressive in defending the state and its policies from encroachment by the Trump administration. Last week, he spent one day addressing the California Newspaper Publishers Assn. and the 5th Annual California Business Roundtables Business Leaders Luncheon.
What I hope is I can work hard to demonstrate to the people of California that I will be an attorney general who represents everyone in the state and protects the interests of the state so we can continue to move forward as the top economy in the nation and the sixth top economy in the world, Becerra told reporters outside the luncheon.
He has not reported raising any money yet for his state campaign, but his congressional campaign account has $1.4 million in it. Becerra can transfer that money to a state campaign as long as no individual contributor to his congressional fund gives more than $7,300 to his state fund.
Asked about Trumps threat to withhold federal funding from cities that provide sanctuary to immigrants in the country illegally, Becerra said that he would not allow that to happen.
I will be darned if were going to let someone take money away from us because they dont like that California is doing things that make us the most successful state in the nation, Becerra said. We are going to fight for what is ours, but we are going to work with our partners in Washington, D.C., so we can have a mutually beneficial relationship.
Using fighting words against Trump will particularly resonate with the states large bloc of progressive voters, according to John J. Pitney Jr., a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College.
Anybody who makes an effective fight against Trump will gain political and financial support from the progressive community, Pitney said.
There is only one thing that could help more, he added.
Mr. Becerra would benefit if Trump attacked him, Pitney quipped.
patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com
Twitter: @mcgreevy99
Updates on California politics
Updates from Sacramento
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As the states new top lawyer, Xavier Becerra says he will defend Californias policies against attacks by Trump
As the healthcare vote looms, Trump sees opposition from conservatives, both on Capitol Hill and in the media By Kurtis Lee Its a really important vote in President Trumps fledgling first term. Will House Republicans pass a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act a promise from Trump on the campaign trail or reject it? (House Speaker Paul D. Ryan rushed to the White House on Friday morning for a last-minute meeting with Trump as both attempted to corral enough votes.) Trump spent much of the week trying to win support from members of the Freedom Caucus, among the most conservative lawmakers, some of whom are holdouts because they believe the bill does not go far enough. After seven horrible years of ObamaCare (skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare), this is finally your chance for a great plan! Trump tweeted Friday. But even some in conservative media arent all that thrilled about the bill. Here are some of Fridays headlines: Polls: Ryancare even more unpopular than Obamacare and Hillarycare (Breitbart) So, its been clear in recent weeks that the right-wing website Breitbart does not like the new healthcare proposal. The news site has dubbed the current bill Obamacare-lite or Ryancare an homage of sorts to Ryan, who helped craft the legislation and argued it does not go far enough in its overhaul. Most conservatives want to repeal the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare, they just differ on what the replacement should look like. For example, some on the far right want to see so-called essential health benefits, such as maternity and newborn care, stripped from the bill.) This piece highlights several of the dismal polls the legislation has received. Among them: A recent Fox News survey that showed 54% oppose the bill, compared with 34% who support it. The article also references an analysis of polling and data by FiveThirtyEight.com, which shows the GOP legislation is more unpopular than Obamacare and President Bill Clintons healthcare reform bill were when they were first introduced. A modest immigration proposal (Weekly Standard) Trumps recent immigration orders have left many immigrants on edge. Through social media and pop-up legal clinics, immigrant rights groups have doled out around-the-clock assistance, as families fear being separated. In this piece, Irwin Stelzer notes that at some point, our border will be secure, resistance to deporting felons will collapse, and we will have accepted the fact that Dreamers will be allowed to stay in this country, probably on a path to citizenship. He lays out his views of immigration reform, citing, among other things, setting an annual immigration limit and adopting a system that has the effect of enriching our citizens by filling that annual quota with immigrants who are likely to increase the well-being of the existing citizenry. Jeff Sessions is Rip Van Winkle on drug policy (American Conservative) Its clear from polls that most Republicans oppose marijuana legalization, while Democrats support it. However, libertarian-leaning Republicans often tend to support legalization. This piece highlights Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions recent comments in opposition to states legalizing pot. The attorney general regurgitates simplistic cliches right out of the 1970s and 1980s about marijuana use. I dont think America is going to be a better place when people of all ages, and particularly young people, are smoking pot, Sessions told reporters on February 26, the author, Ted Galen Carpenter, writes. He adds, Such comments confirm that critics may be right when they label him a drug war dinosaur. He seems either oblivious or scornful about the trend in public opinion regarding marijuana. Facebook
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FCC Chairman Pai wants to halt Internet privacy rules before they begin taking effect this week By Jim Puzzanghera (Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images) The nations new top telecommunications regulator wants to halt tough Internet privacy rules before they begin taking effect this week, arguing they would unfairly impose tougher requirements on broadband providers than on websites and social networks. Privacy advocates and a key Senate Democrat vowed Monday to fight the move as well as a separate effort in Congress to overturn the regulations, which were approved in October on a party-line vote by the Federal Communications Commission when it was controlled by Democrats under President Obama. Following President Trumps inauguration, control of the commission passed to Republicans and Ajit Pai took over as chairman. All actors in the online space should be subject to the same rules, and the federal government shouldnt favor one set of companies over another, a spokesman for Pai said Friday. Read More Facebook
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Trump says Hollywoods obsession with him led to best picture Oscar gaffe By Michael A. Memoli (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) President Trump is often loath to accept responsibility when things go wrong, but in the case of Sundays Oscars broadcast, he made an exception. As he explained it Monday, it was Hollywoods obsession with attacking him that contributed to the botched best picture announcement, calling the embarrassing episode sad, of course. Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has apologized for the mix-up that led Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway to announce La La Land as the winner of the top Academy Award prize, instead of Moonlight. But in Trumps eyes, the blame falls more broadly on an entertainment industry so preoccupied with politics that they didnt get the act together, he told Breitbart News. It took away from the glamour of the Oscars, Trump told a reporter from the website, which was once led by his chief White House strategist, Stephen K. Bannon. It didnt feel like a very glamorous evening. Ive been to the Oscars. There was something very special missing, and then to end that way was sad, he added. The ceremony did contain a number of slights at Trump during its telecast, some more subtle than others. Host Jimmy Kimmel openly at one point begged the president to weigh in by tweeting at him. Trump spent part of Sunday night hosting a black-tie dinner at the White House honoring the nations governors, who were visiting Washington for their annual winter meeting. But it appears from excerpts of the Breitbart interview that he may have spent at least part of the evening watching. Facebook
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Justice Department shifts course in closely watched Texas voter ID case By Del Quentin Wilber The Trump administration has scaled back its assault on a strict Texas voter identification law that federal courts have ruled discriminated against minorities, portending a shift in how the Justice Department plans to pursue allegations of voter suppression. The government revealed its decision in court papers filed in federal court Monday, dealing a blow to civil rights advocates who have relied on federal support to help them knock down the controversial Texas statute. Its a very concerning signal to American voters about the Department of Justices commitment to enforcing the Voting Rights Act, said Danielle Lang, deputy director of the voting rights unit of the Campaign Legal Center, which is suing Texas in the case. The administrations partial retreat in the dispute highlights how Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, a conservative Republican who has championed voter identification measures, is expected to handle such cases. The Obama administration had joined civil rights groups in aggressively challenging the Texas law and other such measures around the country. At issue in the case was how the Justice Department would proceed in a federal lawsuit that alleged the Texas legislature discriminated against minority voters when it enacted the strict voter identification law in 2011. Known as SB 14, the measure requires voters to present a specific form of government-issued photo identification - such as a drivers license, military ID card, U.S. passport or citizenship certificate - to be permitted to cast a ballot. The Obama administration and civil rights groups argued the state pushed the law, in part, to suppress the power of the states minority voters, who frequently dont drive or have a passport. State officials and lawmakers countered that the law was aimed at preventing voter fraud, though there is scant evidence that the problem exists. The law was challenged in court by civil rights groups and the Justice Department under provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was intended to help overcome legal barriers erected at the local and state level to keep African-Americans from the polls. Last July, a federal appeals court ruled that the Texas law had a discriminatory impact on minority voters. It told U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos to craft a temporary remedy in time for the November elections. Ramos subsequently ordered Texas to permit voters to present other forms of documentation to verify their identities. The judges order is expected to remain in force until she imposes a permanent remedy or Texas addresses the judges concerns. According to the court papers filed Monday, the Justice Department will continue to work with civil rights groups to address those issues but will seek to withdraw from another important aspect of the suit. In the same decision that found the Texas law had a discriminatory impact, the appeals court reversed Ramos finding that Texas legislators had intended to harm minority voters. It ordered Ramos to reconsider the evidence of that finding. If the judge determines discriminatory intent in crafting the voter ID requirements, she could throw out the entire law. Civil rights groups will continue to press that claim. In its court filing, the Justice Department asked Ramos to permit it to withdraw its claim that Texas acted with intent, arguing that it is best to give the Texas legislature time to address the matter. With the loss of their key ally in court, civil rights groups will argue on their own in an effort to prove that Texas acted with a discriminatory purpose in passing the law. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. Voting advocates complained that the Trump administration was backing away from a key safeguard of voting rights. The Justice Department decision defies rationality and stands diametrically opposed to positions they have taken at every stage of this litigation, Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said in a statement. This reversal of position was taken despite years of work and effort that the government has invested in fighting the Texas Voter ID law, one of the most discriminatory voting restriction of its kind. Facebook
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House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes warns against witch hunt over Trump-Russia ties By Sarah D. Wire House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) talks to reporters about his committees Russia investigation. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes said on Monday he has seen no evidence from the intelligence community that there was contact between Russia and the Trump campaign. I want to be very careful, we cant just go on a witch hunt against Americans because they appear in a news story, said Nunes (R-Tulare). We still dont have any evidence of them talking to Russia. He said the committee has been briefed on the highlights of what the intelligence community has found, but is still collecting evidence. The committees ranking Democrat, Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), quickly responded, saying the committees investigation is in its infancy and its too soon to reach conclusions about the evidence. We havent obtained any of the evidence yet, so its premature for us to be saying weve reached any conclusion about the issue of collusion, Schiff said. The most that weve had are private conversations, the chair and I with intelligence officials. Thats not a substitute for an investigation. The House and Senate Select Intelligence Committees are conducting separate investigations into Russias reported attempts to influence voters in 2016 in an effort to curtail Hillary Clintons chances and boost Donald Trumps. A leaked U.S. intelligence report on the attempts did not look at whether the effort succeeded. The House committee has expanded a previous ongoing investigation of Russia cyberhacking to include a look at efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, Nunes told reporters Monday. Though it is still in its early stages the leaders of the committee are still discussing the investigations scope Nunes said he expects the findings to be made public. Schiff and Nunes spoke separately to reporters Monday. Schiff said the two agreed privately that they would jointly address reporters about the investigation going forward. Nunes, who served as a member of Trumps transition team, said he continues to be concerned about leaks of classified and sensitive information from the White House and intelligence communities. The leaks one of which resulted in a report about the FBI investigating Trump campaign officials will be part of the committees investigation. A government cant function with massive leaks at the highest level, Nunes said. Facebook
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Appeals court denies Justice Department request to put appeal of travel ban on hold By Jaweed Kaleem (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the
Justice Departments request to pause proceedings in an appeal of President Trumps travel ban. The court in a filing Monday said its schedule for the governments appeal of a lower courts halt on the travel ban will proceed, with the first brief due to the appeals court on March 10. In early February, the Justice Department appealed a Seattle-based federal district judges order blocking enforcement of Trumps executive action. which established a series of immigration and refugee restrictions aimed at preventing potential terrorists from entering the country. Last week, government lawyers asked the appeals court to stop proceedings in the case because the president planned to issue a new executive order and rescind the original one. A three-judge panel of the court previously denied a request from the government to reverse a nationwide stay on the travel ban. The same panel on Monday ruled that the appeal will proceed. Trump has said he will sign a new executive order tailored to deal with court decisions that have largely gone against him. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said he expected the order to be issued mid-week. Spicer has said Trump wants to fight for the current order while also issuing a new one, but the Justice Department has said in multiple court filings that the the current order will be undone after a new one is issued. The states of Washington and Minnesota, which brought the case in Seattle now under review, have pushed for courts to move forward on a review of the constitutional issues. Facebook
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No random ICE stops on streets of America, Homeland Security chief tells governor By Lisa Mascaro Gov holds closing media briefing on Capitol Hill to wrap up @NatlGovsAssoc Winter Meeting. pic.twitter.com/3mZMBA4S0o Ralph Northam (@GovernorVA) February 27, 2017 President Trump received some unsolicited advice at dinner with the nations governors when Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe told him he needs to do a better job explaining his policies regarding deportations. McAuliffe, a Democrat and chairman of the National Governors Assn., told the president that there has been a chilling effect going on as businesses stay away from his state and as immigrants fear being rounded up. If theyre not going to be deported, we need to hear that from the president, McAuliffe said, recounting his conversation from the governors Sunday night dinner with Trump. What I told the president is these actions are hurting us. McAuliffe, a longtime ally of Hillary Clinton, said Trump agreed in large part. McAuliffe also met privately with Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, and said the secretary assured him during an hourlong talk that Trumps enforcement actions were only targeting criminals -- despite widespread reports of otherwise law-abiding immigrants being detained for being in the U.S. illegally. He assured me there will be no random ICE stops on the streets of the United States of America, McAuliffe said, referring to the raids being conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. If thats the case, McAuliffe said, Trumps policy does not sound much different than the operations under former President Obama, whose administration deported more immigrants than its predecessors. Obama, however, explicitly put a priority on deportations of criminals, a distinction the Trump administration has done away with as part of the presidents executive action. My advice to him was he needs to let the American public know what theyre doing, McAuliffe said. Facebook
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Trump: I havent called Russia in 10 years By Brian Bennett President Trump rejected calls for an independent investigation of his ties to Russia, telling a group of business leaders Monday that he hasnt called Russia in a decade. At the start of a White House meeting with healthcare executives, a reporter asked Trump whether a special prosecutor should be assigned to investigate allegations of Russian meddling during the election. In response, Trump mouthed the word no to the executives. As reporters were led out of the room, Trump said: I havent called Russia in 10 years. Democratic lawmakers have ramped up their calls for additional investigations into allegations that Trump allies had been in contact with Russian officials during the election and inappropriately discussed U.S. sanctions against the Moscow regime during the transition. White House officials have denied reports that Trump associates were frequently in touch with senior Russian intelligence officials during the election. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded last year that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had authorized an operation to damage Hillary Clintons campaign and tilt the 2016 election in Trumps favor. Facebook
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Trump: Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated By Michael A. Memoli View Twitter post President Trump promised the nations governors Monday that his yet-to-be-revealed replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act would give states greater flexibility and thanked some Republicans in the room who advised him on healthcare. Its an unbelievably complex subject, he said. Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated. The remark likely surprised state leaders; spending on Medicaid alone was the second-biggest driver of increased state general fund spending, according to the 2016 Fiscal Survey of States conducted by the National Assn. of State Budget Officers. And it was just eight years ago that Washington dove head-first into a raging debate over healthcare reform under President Obama, which simmered long after his signature health law was enacted. But the finer points of healthcare policy are likely new to Trump, who is immersed in discussions with Republican leaders and his senior staff on that and other subjects ahead of his high-profile address Tuesday to a joint session of Congress. Trump offered no hint as to the details. Republicans have vowed to repeal and replace Obamacare, but their effort has stalled as they debate how to do so and await word from the White House on what Trump wants to do. The president seemed keenly aware of the political ramifications of whatever steps he takes. As soon as we touch it, if we do the most minute thing, just a tiny little change, whats going to happen? Theyre going to say its the Republicans problem, Trump said after telling the governors the easiest thing for him to do would be nothing, and, in his view, watch Obamacare collapse. But we have to do whats right because Obamacare is a failed disaster. Facebook
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Trump wants to add $54 billion to defense budget while slashing domestic spending and foreign aid By Brian Bennett President Trump is proposing a massive increase in defense spending of $54 billion while cutting domestic spending and foreign aid by the same amount, the White House said Monday. Trumps spending blueprint previewed a major address that he will give Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress, laying out his vision for what he called a public safety and national security budget with a nearly 10% increase in defense spending. We never win a war. We never win. And we dont fight to win. We dont fight to win, Trump said Monday in remarks to the nations governors. So we either got to win or dont fight it at all. Trump noted that the U.S. has spent nearly $6 trillion on fighting wars since the Sept. 11 attacks but said that cutting military spending was not the answer. Instead, the increase he is proposing would be offset by cuts to unspecified domestic programs and to foreign aid, which would in turn be made up for in part by demanding that other countries pay more for security alliances that have historically been underwritten by the U.S. This budget expects the rest of the world to step up in some of the programs that this country has been so generous in funding in the past, an official from the Office of Management and Budget said, demanding anonymity to discuss the presidents spending plans. Foreign aid makes up about 1% of the budget. This budget speaks for itself, the official said. I dont think this budget has anything to do other than putting Americans first. Trumps call for deep cuts to spending at home is likely to set up major battles on Capitol Hill, where Democrats and even House Republicans will likely be reluctant to pass a spending bill that includes such major reductions in programs for their constituents. Facebook
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Trump says businesses cant borrow because of Dodd-Frank. The numbers tell another story By Jim Puzzanghera President Trump was preparing the first step in a key campaign promise dismantling the 2010 DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act when he repeated a frequent criticism of the law. We expect to be cutting a lot out of Dodd-Frank because, frankly, I have so many people, friends of mine that had nice businesses, they cant borrow money, Trump told leading corporate chief executives, including Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Larry Fink of money management giant BlackRock Inc., meeting at the White House earlier this month They just cant get any money because the banks just wont let them borrow it because of the rules and regulations in Dodd-Frank, Trump said. Shortly afterward, he ordered a wholesale review of the landmark act, which was passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. But a main reason for dismantling Dodd-Frank often cited by Trump and critics of the law that its slew of tougher financial regulations have significantly restricted bank lending isnt borne out by the data. Read More Facebook
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Another Trump nominee withdraws nomination to top national security post due to business interests By W.J. Hennigan Philip M. Bilden, President Trumps pick for Navy secretary, withdrew from consideration late Sunday, becoming the second White House nominee to bail on a top Pentagon position due to problems untangling his financial investments. After an extensive review process, I have determined that I will not be able to satisfy the Office of Government Ethics requirements without undue disruption and materially adverse divestment of my familys private financial interests, Bilden said in a statement. He did not detail the issues but he said he fully supported the presidents agenda to modernize and rebuild our Navy and Marine Corps. Bildens withdrawal comes after billionaire investor Vincent Viola dropped out from becoming Army secretary after he decided his extensive financial holdings would hamper his ability to win Senate confirmation. The White House shot down reports that surfaced two weeks ago that Bilden was considering stepping down. Just spoke with him and he is 100% commited [sic] to being the next SECNAV pending Senate confirm, White House spokesman Sean Spicer tweeted on Feb. 18. Bilden, a venture capitalist and Army veteran, was a surprise selection from Trump but had the backing of Defense Secretary James N. Mattis. This was a personal decision driven by privacy concerns and significant challenges he faced in separating himself from his business interests, Mattis said in a statement. While I am disappointed, I understand and his respect his decision, and know that he will continue to support our nation in other ways. Bilden served ten years in the U.S. Army Reserve as a military intelligence officer from 1986 to 1996. He then co-founded private equity firm HarbourVest Partners LLC and spent 25 years there, mainly in the companys Hong Kong headquarters. He also serves on the board of directors of the United States Naval Academy Foundation and the board of trustees of the Naval War College Foundation. Mattis said he intends on recommending a replacement nominee to Trump in the coming days. The withdrawal marks another setback for Trumps national security team, which has struggled to find its footing since the fledgling administration began. Earlier this month, National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was forced to resign after it became public that he held secret talks with a Russian ambassador and then misled Vice President Mike Pence about it. Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster took the job last week after Trumps first choice to replace Flynn, retired Navy Vice Adm. Robert Harward, passed on the opportunity. Facebook
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New DNC chairman Tom Perez ridicules Trump tweet over rigged vote By Laura King Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez was chosen to lead the Democratic Party over a congressman backed by the progressive wing. (Branden Camp / Associated Press) President Trump claimed Sunday that the race for Democratic National Committee chairman had been rigged -- drawing a quick riposte from Tom Perez, who narrowly won the partys leadership race. Trump insinuated that Perezs DNC victory on the second ballot at a party conference in Atlanta on Saturday was because Hillary Clinton had backed Perez, a former Labor secretary in the Obama administration who was seen as representing the partys establishment forces. Clinton did not make a formal endorsement, but Perezs rival, Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, was backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the partys more liberal wing. Bernies guy, like Bernie himself, never had a chance, Trump tweeted early Sunday morning. Clinton demanded Perez! Perez, appearing on CNNs State of the Union on Sunday, told host Jake Tapper that he and Ellison got a good kick out of that, adding: Donald Trump, up in the morning tweeting about us. Sanders, appearing on the same show, said Trump doesnt have a point about the DNC vote. Moments after Perez beat Ellison by 35 votes out of 435 cast, he named Ellison as the deputy chairman of the party, leading to widespread applause. Perez is the first Latino to lead the Democratic Party, and he faces the challenge of trying to rebuild a party that suffered devastating losses in the 2016 election. Republicans now control not only the White House and Congress, but 33 governorships and dozens of state legislatures. In his CNN interview, Perez sarcastically suggested that Trump should address questions about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign rather than concerning himself with the DNC leadership battle. Frankly, what we need to be looking at is whether this election was rigged by Donald Trump and his buddy Vladimir Putin, he said. Facebook
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White House again bats away call for special prosecutor on Russia By Laura King A White House spokeswoman said Sunday that it was too soon to say whether a special prosecutor should look into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, while President Trump again inveighed against coverage of Russia-related queries as FAKE NEWS. Calls have grown louder from Democrats in Congress for U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the issue because of his role as a prominent Trump supporter during the campaign, and to appoint an independent special prosecutor to carry out a Russia probe. A few Republicans have joined in that chorus some reluctantly. Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista, appearing on HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher, voiced support Friday for naming of a special prosecutor to probe the Russian connection, though he also said congressional intelligence committees should continue their work. He also said he considered Sessions a friend, but pointed to his role as a political appointee who had worked on the Trump campaign. Issa, who narrowly won reelection, was a vociferous critic of the Obama administration during his former tenure as head of the House Oversight Committee. In that post, he spearheaded an array of investigations on topics from Benghazi to bank bailouts. Some Republicans pushed back against the notion of Sessions needing to recuse himself. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said on NBCs Meet the Press that he had seen no credible information about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russians and no allegations that rose to the level of criminal activity. If we get down that road, thats a decision that Attorney General Sessions can make at the time, said Cotton, who is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian intelligence agencies hacked Democratic Party computers and used other tactics last year to interfere with the election. The FBI is separately investigating whether anyone on Trumps campaign had improper contacts with Russian authorities during the campaign. On Sunday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said congressional investigations on Russia and the campaign should be allowed to go forward before a special prosecutor appointment was considered. I dont think were there yet, Sanders said on ABCs This Week. Lets work through this process. Echoing the previously stated White House stance, Sanders said the Trump campaign had not colluded in any Russian meddling. We had no involvement in this, she said. The president is known to keep a close eye on surrogates performances on the talk shows, and Sanders repeated a prime administration talking point: that questions about possible Trump campaign contacts with Russia amounted to Democratic excuses for losing the election. If Democrats want to continue to relive their loss every single day, by doing an investigation or review after review, thats fine by us, she said. We know why we won this race. Its because we had the better candidate with the better message. Trump himself underscored that notion with an afternoon tweet denouncing media coverage of the ongoing Russia investigations as FAKE NEWS put out by the Dems, and played up by the media, in order to mask the big election defeat and the illegal leaks! Facebook
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Whose news is fake? Heres the latest in Trumps war with the press By Kurtis Lee Every president since 1981 has attended the annual White House Correspondents Assn. dinner. That year, President Reagan missed out. The reason? He needed to recover after a would-be assassin fired a bullet into his chest a few weeks earlier. On Saturday, President Trump announced he will not be attending the annual dinner in April, long considered the premier social event of the Washington press corps and typically an evening of good-natured bantering between presidents and the Fourth Estate. Trumps announcement added to the ratcheting tensions between his administration and the media. Almost daily, in speeches or on Twitter, he calls particular news outlets fake, disgusting or dishonest and news organizations have responded by digging in, standing united and devoting more resources to covering a president who has branded the press the enemy. Read More Facebook
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Crucial group of Americans like Trumps stands, not him, poll finds By David Lauter Trump still gets dismal ratings on temperament but is above water on economy, decision-making, promises of change. pic.twitter.com/Md0H096n9m Carrie Dann (@CarrieNBCNews) February 26, 2017 With the public deeply split in its views of President Trump, one potentially key group stands out -- those who dislike the man, but approve of the direction in which hes moving. Thats a central finding of a new nationwide survey by NBC News and the Wall St. Journal. The new poll confirms what other major surveys have shown: Trump starts his administration with less support than any president in the seven decades of presidential polling. Asked if they approve or disapprove of the job Trump is doing, 44% approve, 48% disapprove. No previous president has begun his tenure with a net negative job approval. Trump has held onto the support of his ardent backers. At the other end of the spectrum, he gets almost no approval from Democrats. In the middle, the poll found, are many Americans -- just over a third of those polled -- who either voted for Trump with reservations, voted for a third party candidate or did not vote at all in 2016. Just over half of that group gives Trump positive marks, the poll found. Their support is enough, currently, to keep Trumps standing from collapsing, and holding them is likely key to his future. Just under one third of Americans say they like Trump and approve of his policies, the poll found. Another one in six approve of most of his policies even though they dislike him. Well over half, 59%, said they did not like him personally. On a separate question, only 43% of those surveyed have a positive view of Trump -- up from the low points of the campaign, but still far below the standing of most new presidents. By contrast, 86% agreed with one of the central lines of Trumps inaugural speech, that government insiders had reaped the rewards of government, while the people have borne the cost. On other issues, the public is more closely divided. The public splits evenly, for example, on Trumps proposed temporary ban on travel from seven mostly Muslim countries. Just over half of those surveyed, 52%, said that the problems Trump has encountered in his first month were unique to this administration and suggest real problems; 43% said they were growing pains similar to those other administrations have had. And by 51%-41%, the public thinks the press has been too hard on the new administration. The NBC/WSJ poll, run by a bipartisan team of two polling firms, was taken by phone, using cell phones and landlines, Feb. 18-22 among 1,000 American adults. It has a margin of error for the full sample of 3.1 percentage points in either direction. Facebook
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Trump appears to think Perez at head of Democratic National Committee is good news for Republicans By Evan Halper Congratulations to Thomas Perez, who has just been named Chairman of the DNC. I could not be happier for him, or for the Republican Party! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017 The Democratic Party put its faith in its old guard Saturday to guide it out of the political wilderness, choosing as its new leader an Obama-era Cabinet secretary over the charismatic congressman backed by the progressive wing of the party. Tom Perez, a former secretary of Labor with strong ties to unions, persuaded the spirited assembly of party delegates in Atlanta that he can best help harness a grass-roots outpouring of anti-Trump protest and anger into a Democratic resurgence at the ballot box. Read More Facebook
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Trump to Washington reporters: Not going to your dinner By Kurtis Lee I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017 The annual White House Correspondents Assn. dinner will be missing a key guest this year: President Trump. On Saturday, Trump tweeted he will not attend the April 29 dinner, considered the premier social event of the Washington press corps -- and typically an evening of good-natured bantering between presidents and reporters with a mix of celebrities watching. His announcement comes amid growing tensions between his administration and the media. Trump has decried stories he doesnt like as fake news, and described unnamed news groups as an enemy of the people. A day earlier, the White House barred reporters from several major news organizations, including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, CNN and Politico, from attending an off-camera press briefing. In a sign of the growing rift, several media organizations that traditionally sponsor lavish parties around the black-tie dinner had announced they would not do so this year. At the annual dinner, the president usually delivers self-deprecating jokes and often is roasted by a high-profile comedian. The president also greets students who win journalism scholarships and awards, a major part of the evening. Trump has been a frequent guest of media organizations at the dinner in the past, but he always sat at a table in the crowded ballroom, not up at the front dias. President Obama singled Trump out during the dinner several years ago, mocking Trump for raising doubts about whether Obama was born in the United States. This year, as we do every year, we will celebrate the First Amendment and the role an independent press plays in a healthy republic, the White House Correspondents Assn. said in a statement earlier this month about the upcoming dinner. Facebook
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Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez named Democratic Party leader By Evan Halper Newly elected Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez (Branden Camp/Associated Press) The Democratic Party put its faith in its old guard Saturday to guide it out of the political wilderness, choosing as its new leader an Obama-era Cabinet secretary over the charismatic congressman backed by the progressive wing of the party. Tom Perez, a former secretary of Labor with strong ties to labor unions, persuaded the spirited assembly of party delegates in Atlanta that he can best help harness a grass-roots outpouring of anti-Trump protest and anger into a Democratic resurgence at the ballot box. We are suffering from a crisis of confidence, a crisis of relevance, Perez told delegates before they chose him in a down-to-the-wire contest with Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, whom the Bernie Sanders wing of the party had rallied round. We need a chair who can not only take the fight to Donald Trump. We also need a chair who can lead a turnaround and change the culture of the Democratic Party, Perez said. The ascendance of an establishment liberal is certain to renew tension between veteran party stalwarts and the unruly progressive movement aligned with Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, both of whom backed Ellison. Some Ellison supporters erupted in protest as the final vote was announced. Perez quickly sought to unite the party by naming Ellison his deputy chair, a move unanimously approved by the 435 assembled delegates, who had supported Perez 235-200. Read More Facebook
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Trump chastises media for not reporting minor dip in national debt By Del Quentin Wilber President Trump took to Twitter on Saturday morning to blast the news media for not highlighting a minor dip in the national debt. The media has not reported that the National Debt in my first month went down by $12 billion vs a $200 billion increase in Obama first mo., he tweeted at 8:19 a.m. The media has not reported that the National Debt in my first month went down by $12 billion vs a $200 billion increase in Obama first mo. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017 Trumps tweet came shortly after Herman Cain, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, made a similar comment on Fox News. While the numbers are accurate, Trumps tweet suggests he deserves credit for something that is largely beyond his control, especially since he hasnt yet given Congress any proposals to change tax laws or the financial industry. Considering that Trump hasnt enacted any fiscal legislation, its a bit of a stretch for him to take credit for any changes in debt levels, Dan Mitchell, a libertarian economist at the Cato Institute, told the fact-checking website Politifact. President Obamas first month in office in 2009 was largely taken up with spending bills aimed at easing the massive recession that he had inherited. Trump inherited an economy with low inflation, low unemployment and a booming stock market. The national debt, which stands at just under $20 trillion, is expected to rise by more than $500 billion in the fiscal year ending in September. Facebook
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Mexico rejects U.S. plan to deport Central Americans to Mexico By Patrick J. McDonnell Mexico has informed the Trump administration that it cannot accept non-Mexican nationals whom U.S. authorities arrest along the border and seek to remove from U.S. territory, the nations internal security chief said Friday. Earlier this week, the Trump administration rolled out a broad immigration crackdown that included a proposal to send non-Mexican detainees apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border back to Mexico while their immigration cases were pending in the United States. The vast majority of non-Mexican nationals detained along the U.S.-Mexico border are Central Americans. They often travel overland through Mexico to reach the United States. In a fact sheet released Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security said that releasing detained, third-country nationals to the foreign contiguous territory from which they arrived would save on detention and adjudication resources. The idea would be to keep them out pending their hearings on deportation, the fact sheet said. However, Mexican authorities have reacted coolly from the outset to the notion. Now, they appear to have formally nixed the idea. On Friday, Mexicos interior secretary, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, told a radio interviewer than Mexican authorities had informed a pair of visiting U.S. Cabinet officers Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly that Mexico could not oblige the U.S. request. We told them that our legal framework doesnt allow this, Osorio Chong told Radio Formula, referring to the visit this week of the two Trump Cabinet officials. We told them it is impossible. There is no way, legally, nor is there capacity. In recent years, non-Mexicans, mostly Central Americans, have become a larger proportion of illegal immigrants apprehended along the Southwest border as the relative number of Mexican nationals has declined. In fiscal year 2016, according to U.S. Border Patrol statistics, agents recorded apprehensions of almost 191,000 undocumented Mexican citizens along the Southwest frontier. In the same fiscal year, the Border Patrol said it registered 218,000 detentions of non-Mexican nationals, most of them Central Americans. Cecilia Sanchez of The Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report. An earlier version of this blog post misspelled Miguel Angel Osorio Chongs name as Osorio Chung. Facebook
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Trump blasts FBI over Russia leaks after a brief Twitter hiatus By Kurtis Lee (Alex Wong / Getty Images ) After several days of relative silence on Twitter, President Trumps feed came alive Friday with a direct attack on the FBI. Yes, hes done this before. But recent news reports that suggest his administration pressed the FBI to quell claims that members of his campaign had contact with Russians throughout the 2016 election appear to have inspired a response. The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time, he tweeted. And conservative news was all over it. Here are some of todays headlines: Trump blasts FBI leakers (Fox News) Trump has assailed everyone from Democrats to intelligence officials for the leaks which he often refers to as fake news about his ties to Russia. Reports from several news outlets this week, citing anonymous sources, claim Trumps chief of staff, Reince Priebus, asked FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to publicly dispute media reports that Trumps campaign advisors frequently were in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election. While some reports made it appear Priebus had contacted McCabe, this piece disputes that. Fox News has learned that McCabe indeed had initiated the conversation, asking to speak with Priebus for a few minutes at the end of an intelligence meeting last week, their article reports. Ed Schultz at CPAC: Trump promised Americas heartland a deal (Daily Caller) He was once among the top liberal voices in the country. Now, Ed Schultz, the former MSNBC anchor, is speaking glowingly about President Trump. Between covering high-profile speeches at the Conservative Political Action Conference from Trump and his aides, the Daily Caller popped into a panel at which Schultz provided commentary. Shultz, who now works with the Russian government-funded RT television network, blasted the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, asserting that Trumps claim that it would cost U.S. jobs was a game changer in the 2016 election. Trump went into Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin and he took down the progressive firewall, because he talked to the American people about a deal, Schultz said. It was a Wall Street deal, it was not a Main Street deal, he said, referring to the TPP. Trump is about blowing up Washington as it exists (Rush Limbaugh) Remember when Trump talked about draining the swamp? Since he entered the White House, some conservatives have wondered if Trump means business. Many members of his cabinet including Priebus and Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions are the ultimate Washington insiders. Still, Rush Limbaugh, one of the firebrand conservatives out there, is certain the president will blow up traditional Washington. Whats Trumps No. 1 obstacle? I have concluded that the media is the No. 1 obstacle because of the success they have, he said on his radio show this week. The people in Washington, media is every bit as big a part of the establishment as anybody else is. He added: The media is creating this narrative, if you will, and this picture this series of pictures, this overall image that Trump is stalled, that everybodys opposing him, that his agenda is backlogged. Facebook
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After Trump calls media an enemy of the people, White House bars many news outlets from briefing By Noah Bierman Fridays White House press briefing, normally an on-camera affair open to all reporters with press credentials, was turned into an exclusive event for certain outlets hand-picked by the administration. The action came after President Trump on Friday described the media and what he terms fake news as the enemy of the people."On the list were Trump-friendly outlets such as Breitbart News, the Washington Times and OANN, a conservative television network that employs former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as a commentator. Off the list were some of Trumps favorite targets, including the New York Times and CNN. The Los Angeles Times was also excluded. The off-camera briefing with Sean Spicer, the press secretary, was not solely for conservative outlets. Several mainstream reporters were also allowed in, including the three major broadcast networks and wire services, such as Bloomberg News. Also allowed in were pool representatives who transmit news events to a far larger group of reporters. The Associated Press and Time magazine were also invited but declined to participate in solidarity with other news organizations that were denied entry. The White House Correspondents Assn. protested, as did editors at several of the organizations that were excluded. In a statement, Times editor Davan Maharaj said that it was unfortunate that the Los Angeles Times has been excluded from a White House press briefing today. The public has a right to know, and that means being informed by a variety of news sources, not just those filtered by the White House press office in hopes of getting friendly coverage, Maharaj said. Regardless of access, The Times will continue to report on the Trump administration without fear or favor, he added. 12:30 p.m.: This post was updated with a statement from Times editor Davan Maharaj. Facebook
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Its a Russian flag! Trickster strikes CPAC before Trumps speech By Matt Pearce Crowd at CPAC waving these little pro-Trump flags that look exactly like the Russian flag. Staffers quickly come around to confiscate them. pic.twitter.com/YhPpkwFCNc Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) February 24, 2017 As the crowd waited to hear President Trump speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference, little red-white-and-blue flags appeared without warning, handed down the aisles by a man with a green bag, according to a witness. The flags said Trump. They also happened to be the flag of the Russian Federation. He was dressed like any one of us, said Tyler Dever, 20, a student at the University of South Florida in Tampa, who was wearing a suit. He passed them to me and was like, Pass them down, pass them down. Dever, caught up in the moment, passed them down, before someone sitting next to him said, Oh, its a Russian flag! CPAC staff quickly recollected the flags. If it was just a red-white-and-blue flag, I would have picked it out, Dever said. He said it was his first time attending an event like CPAC and was surprised to see a provocateur in the audience, especially beyond the cordon set up by the Secret Service. Someone tried to victimize me, Dever said. You have Secret Service out here, and Id expect it to be fully screened. ... Thank God someone noticed. Facebook
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Trump still loves the USC/L.A. Times poll: What it got right and what it got wrong By David Lauter Throughout the fall campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump and his allies loved the USC/L.A. Times Daybreak poll -- the only major survey that consistently showed him winning. A couple polls got it right. I must say Los Angeles Times did a great job, shocking because, you know, they did a great job, Trump declared in his speech this morning at CPAC, the annual gathering of conservative activists. But did the poll get it right? In the simplest terms, no, and after considerble analysis, we know why. Read More Facebook
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A celebration, and wake, for a campaign legend and a Republican Party that is no more By Mark Z. Barabak (Steve Lopez/Los Angeles Times) It was a cool and rainy day when elders of the Republican tribe recently gathered to honor one of their own. The honoree, Stuart K. Spencer, was unmistakable in his white duck pants and a lime-green sport coat so bright it almost hurt to see. A reformed chain-smoker, he snapped merrily away on a wad of chewing gum. The event marked Spencers 90th birthday, but the mood beneath the surface conviviality was unsettled and gray, like the clouds fringing the mountains outside. If the occasion was intended as a personal celebration, it also had the feel of a wake for a time in politics long passed. Along with former Vice President Dick Cheney and former California Gov. Pete Wilson, veterans of the Reagan years turned out in force. It was Spencer, more than anyone, who took a political long shot and washed-up B-movie actor and helped transform him into the Reagan of legend. Read More Facebook
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CPACs reaction to President Trumps speech: Two thumbs up By Matt Pearce Supporters cheer President Trump as he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Friday. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump loves CPAC, and CPAC loves Trump. As hundreds of Conservative Political Action Conference attendees spilled out into the hallways Friday after Trumps speech to the group, they had glowing reviews of the man who has been tormenting Democrats and the media and transforming the Republican Party. It was fantastic, unbelievable, absolute truth, said Shia L. Lome, 84, a retired Air Force colonel from Deerfield Beach, Fla., appraising Trumps remarks. If he carries through [his promises], this will be the greatest country ever. Lome added that there is no question about it, Trump is his own type of Republican. Whether its conservative or whatever you want to call it, Lome said he is happy as long as [Trump] causes the Democrats heartaches. Kayne Robinson, 73, a former chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, said Trump was simply taking the party in the direction that people want it to go. I think the party is every bit as united behind him as it was behind either of the Bushes, Robinson said. Trump led a revolution in the party, very much like Reagan. ... I think Trump is doing just fine. Frank March, a 50-year-old Army retiree from Fairfax County, Va., emerged from the ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center wearing a red Make America Great Again cap, which carried Trumps jagged signature on the bill. Marchs daughter had gotten the hat signed when she previously met Trump, and he proudly showed off photos of that event. I recognize the signature! a woman exclaimed as she saw the hat. March praised Trumps follow-through and his commitment to workers as incredible. Hes bringing in new people to the party, March said. The hope is, by his follow-through, doing what he said he was going to do, then the non-Republicans who voted for Trump will stick. Helping workers will be one of the ways Trump can make that happen, he said. In politics, youre supposed to help people, March said. Workers are the people. Theyre people who earn money to take care of their families. Republicans should support those people because theyre the ones who make America run. Facebook
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Donald Trump shows up at conservatives most prominent gathering and defines a new GOP By Noah Bierman President Trump shows up at conservatives most prominent gathering and defines a new GOP. President Trump made one of his strongest pitches Friday to unite the Republican Party and the conservative movement behind a nationalist, anti-globalist ideology that until recently would have been unthinkable for many Republicans. There is no such thing as a global anthem, a global currency or a global flag, Trump said to great applause from thousands of conservatives. Im not representing the globe. Im representing your country. He echoed ideas he has espoused in the past -- denouncing trade deals as the antithesis of economic freedom, warning that the great cities of Europe have been ruined by mass immigration, denouncing intervention in the Middle East by both parties. But while many of the words were familiar, the venue and the passion made Fridays speech remarkable. The comments came at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, just outside of Washington, D.C., the most prominent gathering of right-leaning groups and activists in the country. Such a speech would have been shocking from a conservative, much less the president, at almost any other time in the conferences history. Trump has been popular at CPAC in the past. He credits a speech there with launching his political career. But he snubbed last years event amid a heated primary in which many conservatives rejected his tone and the direction he was trying to move the GOP. I would have come last year, but I was worried that I would be at that time too controversial, Trump said in his speech, which lasted nearly an hour. Trump, the first president since Ronald Reagan to address the group during his first year in office, made clear that he is moving those once controversial ideas to the movements center. In addition to his usual critiques of the media and frequent references to his electoral success, Trump spoke directly of his ambition for reshaping the Republican Party to attract blue-collar voters, the forgotten men and women who helped propel his electoral victory. Im here today to tell you what this movement means for the future of the Republican Party and for the future of America, Trump said. The core conviction of our movement is that we are a nation that [must] put and will put its own citizens first. Later, he added that the GOP will be from now on also the party of the American worker. While Trump tried to unite conservatives, the speech made little effort to bridge the countrys larger political divide. For example, Trump dismissed people who have shown up at town halls around the country to protest reversal of Obamacare. Theyre not you, he said. Theyre the side that lost. Facebook
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Justice Department rescinds order phasing out use of private prisons By Del Quentin Wilber Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions has jettisoned an Obama administration order to phase out the use of private prisons to hold federal inmates. The new order reverses one issued by former Deputy Atty. Gen. Sally Yates in August that sought to eliminate the departments use of private for-profit prisons, which hold just over 10% of the current prison population. The Obama administration order changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the bureaus ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system, Sessions wrote Thursday to announce the reversal. Civil rights and prisoner rights groups decried the Sessions decision, saying private prisons are not as cost-effective or as safe as government-run facilities, citing numerous abuses in the past. The Bureau of Prisons houses about 21,000 of its 190,000 inmates in a dozen private prisons, including one near Bakersfield. Atty. Gen. Sessions has shown that he is not taking the mass incarceration crisis seriously, said Wade Henderson, who heads the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Continuing to rely on private prisons for federal inmates is neither humane nor budget conscious, Henderson added. We need a justice system that can work better for all people. Yates order did not affect facilities used to detain people in the country illegally. The use of private prisons is expected to surge under President Trumps promised crackdown on illegal immigration. Trump has signed an executive order calling for expansion of immigrant detention facilities and authorized the use of private contractors to construct, operate, or control facilities. Stocks in private prison companies have jumped on Wall Street since Trump won the presidential election, and they continued their rise on news of Sessions order. Facebook
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CPAC and conservative media prepare for Trump By Kurtis Lee The future path of the Republican Party is being debated in the halls of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland this week. Will it be the party of Donald Trump, an outsider of the GOP establishment, or House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, the definition of establishment? Or, perhaps, of Richard Spencer, a white nationalist leader of the so-called alt-right movement? (Spencer was kicked out of CPAC on Thursday.) Trump is set to address the conference on Friday, and the conservative media are ready for the much-anticipated address. Tomorrow it will be TPAC when hes here, Kellyanne Conway, a senior advisor to Trump told reporters Thursday. Here are some of todays headlines: Go Big, Go Bold: Walker, at CPAC, pushes GOP to carry out agenda as party controls Congress, White House (Fox News) Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, once a Trump foe, is urging conservatives to use the November election as a mandate. Do what you said you were going to do, Walker said to attendees. In the Fox News piece, which leads its website, it notes that leaders at the conference are hoping to use it to strategize about what they can accomplish and to better articulate their values at a time when the very definition of conservatism has seemed to waver. Sweden Democrats: Trump was right (Fox News) Remember last weekend when everyone including many Swedish politicians were really confused about Trumps comments at a recent rally? You look at whats happening last night in Sweden, Trump, at a rally in Florida on Saturday, said about the Scandinavian country that has accepted large numbers of refugees. Sweden. They took in large numbers. Theyre having problems like they never thought possible. Actually, not much happened in Sweden on Friday night. Trump said later that he had been referring to a broadcast on Fox News on that night. Still, recent riots in the country were covered extensively by conservative media. This post notes a recent op-ed penned by Jimmie Akesson and Mattias Karlsson, both leaders of the Sweden Democrats, in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday supporting Trumps characterization of a Muslim immigrant-led crime crisis in Sweden. In it they write, Trump did not exaggerate Swedens current problems. If anything, he understated them. Trump Is Letting DREAMers Stay, And Rush Is Fine With That (Daily Caller) Hes an immigration hard liner, and, apparently, hes OK with Trump allowing DREAMERs to remain in the country. This piece highlights comments by Rush Limbaugh this week. A lot of people think that Trumps caving because if you allow the DREAMers to stay, were talking 750,000 DREAMers, kids, who each have two parents who could come in. Look, this is a-no-win, Limbaugh said this week. Nobodys gonna win anything by deporting a bunch of kids that we let in. Facebook
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Trump advisor Steve Bannon rails at corporatist, globalist media By Noah Bierman Steve Bannon to the #CPAC crowd: "If you think they're going to give you your country back without a fight, you're sadly mistaken" pic.twitter.com/ryw7iO0Snr POLITICO (@politico) February 23, 2017 The two men with the most heavily dissected relationship in President Trumps White House held a rare public appearance together Thursday and agreed on one common enemy: the media. Reince Priebus, the chief of staff who is often described as embattled, said he has grown conditioned to the media counting Trump out: during the presidential campaign, the transition and the first month of the presidency. The biggest misconception is everything that youre reading, Priebus said. Steve Bannon, Trumps chief strategist, framed his complaint as an ideological war. He consistently called the media the opposition party throughout a 20-minute joint interview on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference just outside of Washington. Its not only not going to get better, it gets worse every day, Bannon said. Theyre corporatist, globalist media that are adamantly opposed to an economic nationalist agenda like Donald Trump has. If you think theyre going to give you your country back without a fight, he added. You are sadly mistaken. Bannon, former executive chairman of the far-right Breitbart News, seldom speaks in public. His nationalist rendering of Republican ideology is often seen in contrast to Priebus, the former chairman of the GOP, who is viewed as the more mainstream conservative advocate within the White House. The two men said the tension between them portrayed in the media is inaccurate. But as they praised each other, the men made clear that Bannon sees his role as dominant in shaping Trumps policy. Bannon praised Priebus for doggedly keeping the trains running -- one of the toughest jobs Ive ever seen in my life. Bannon talked about being in the first inning of shaping a new political order and beginning the deconstruction of the administrative state. Priebus used more prosaic language and spoke of Bannon as the one who pushes Trump to maintain his bold vision. He is very dogged in making sure that every day the promises that President Trump made are the promises were working on, Priebus said of Bannon. Facebook
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In Mexico, Homeland Security chief says there will be no mass deportations of people in U.S. illegally By Patrick J. McDonnell Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, left, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Mexico City on Thursday. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP/Getty Images) Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, on a visit to Mexico, said Thursday that there will be no mass deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally. Kelly also said U.S. military forces would not be used in deportation efforts and that any deportation cases would go through the U.S. legal system. No. Repeat, no use of military force in immigration operations, Kelly said at a news conference at the Foreign Relations Ministry in Mexico City. None. Well approach this operation systematically, in an organized way, in a results-oriented way, in an operation and and in a human dignity way. Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are in Mexico City to discuss a wide variety of issues, including immigration and security, with Mexican government officials. Kellys remarks came the same day President Trump called recent raids in the U.S. an unprecedented enforcement effort. You see whats happening at the border. All of a sudden for the first time, were getting gang members out, he said. Were getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a rate that nobodys ever seen before. Read More Facebook
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Mexico bracing for long battle with Trump administration, foreign minister tells lawmakers By Patrick J. McDonnell Mexico Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray (Brian Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) Mexico is preparing for a long battle with the administration of President Trump, its foreign minister reportedly told lawmakers in private comments, adding that the country was prepared to retaliate with new tariffs if necessary. We are here preparing for a battle that is going to be long, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told federal deputies Wednesday, according to the newspaper La Jornada, which said it had obtained a copy of the comments. This is not going to be resolved in three days. In the reported remarks, Videgaray said Mexico was prepared to retaliate with new tariffs on U.S.-made goods should the Trump administration follow up on its threats to slap an export tax of 20% or more of goods imported from Mexico to the United States. There was no official response from the Mexican Foreign Ministry on Videgarays reported remarks. Videgaray was among the Mexican officials, including President Enrique Pena Nieto, who met this week with a pair of visiting White House Cabinet members, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly. The private remarks were apparently made on Wednesday, when the two Trump envoys were scheduled to arrive in Mexico City. Read More Facebook
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Homeland Security tried to downplay immigration raids as routine. Now Trump says theyre unprecedented By Michael A. Memoli (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) After nationwide immigration raids this month in which more than 680 people were arrested, the Department of Homeland Security issued a nothing-to-see-here statement downplaying the sweeps as strictly ordinary. ICE conducts these kind of targeted enforcement operations regularly and has for many years, the agency said last week, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But President Trump had a different take Thursday, labeling the raids an unprecedented enforcement effort. You see whats happening at the border. All of a sudden for the first time, were getting gang members out, he said before a roundtable on manufacturing. Were getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a rate that nobodys ever seen before. Under President Obama, deportations peaked at 400,000 people in 2012, touching off widespread criticism from immigration advocates, which prompted Homeland Security to scale back deportations. Last year, deportations fell to 240,000 as the Obama administration focused on targets similar to what Trump described in the raids conducted under his authority: criminals, repeat immigration violators and recent arrivals. Trump also called the sweeps this month a military operation, even though no military resources were involved and the White House has pushed back aggressively on reports that the administration was considering seeking National Guard forces to assist in deportations. Homeland Security said the raids were conducted by ICE agents, U.S. marshals and state and local law enforcement agencies. What has been allowed to come into our country, when you see gang violence that youve read about like never before, and all of the things much of that is people that are here illegally, Trump said. Theyre rough and theyre tough, but theyre not tough like our people. So were getting them out. Of the 680 arrests last week, 161 occurred in Los Angeles and surrounding counties. Three-quarters of those detained in the Los Angeles-area sweeps were from Mexico. Trump noted that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly traveled to Mexico this week on a tough trip. We have to be treated fairly by Mexico, Trump said. Facebook
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White nationalist leader Richard Spencer booted from Conservative Political Action Conference By Matt Pearce Reporters surround white supremacist Richard Spencer during the first day of the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 23, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) One of Americas most prominent white nationalists, Richard Spencer, was kicked out of the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday after conference organizers gave him credentials to attend and then wavered on whether to let him stay. Spencer, who coined the term alternative right to describe his far-right views on separating the races, came to CPAC to attend a speech that was critical of the alt-right. CPAC organizer Matt Schlapp took pains to distance CPAC from the fringe Spencer represents. The alt-right does not have a legitimate voice in the conservative movement, said Schlapp, adding that nobody from that movement is speaking at CPAC. Read More Just talked to CPAC organizer Matt Schlapp. Said he didn't endorse Richard Spencer's ideas but won't kick him out of the conference. Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) February 23, 2017 Basically their line on this is, if they actually agreed with his ideas, they'd put him on stage, but they don't, and it's a free country. Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) February 23, 2017 Change of plans. Richard Spencer just got kicked out of CPAC. Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) February 23, 2017 Facebook
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Obamacare 101: Are health insurance marketplaces in a death spiral? By Noam N. Levey (Don Ryan / Associated Press) Its been a rocky few months for the health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act. Even if youre not one of the roughly 11 million Americans who rely on these online markets to get your health insurance, youve probably seen the headlines about rising premiums and insurance companies pulling out of the system. Last week, national insurance giant Humana announced it would stop selling plans on the marketplace. Aetnas chief executive claimed the marketplaces are in a death spiral. Republicans say the marketplaces are Exhibit A that Obamacare is collapsing. So whats the real story? Are these things really kaput or can they be fixed? Heres a rundown of where things stand. Read More Facebook
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Trump administration wants tax reform done by August, Mnuchin says By Jim Puzzanghera The Trump administration wants to overhaul the tax code by August, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday, laying out an aggressive timetable in his first significant public comments since taking office last week. Our economic agenda, the No. 1 issue is growth, and the first most important thing that will impact growth is a tax plan, Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC. So we are committed to pass tax reform, he said. We want to get this done by the August recess. Read More Facebook
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Loud and angry, protesters turn congressional town halls into must-see political TV By Mark Z. Barabak (Bill Pugliano / Getty Images) They came by the hundreds, in big cities and rural hamlets, to heckle, plead, badger and, in some instances, to protest the protests themselves. Congress is in recess this week, and a citizenry suddenly spurred to action used the opportunity to let their returning lawmakers know just how they feel about the tempestuous last month in Washington. Winners make policy and losers go home, a taunting Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, told an invitation-only gathering in his home state of Kentucky, as about 1,000 protesters gathered outside. Not exactly. The town hall meeting, a throwback to a time of more intimate connection, has become a political organizing tool in the social media age a piece of performance theater and a worldwide stage. Obamacare, immigration, environmental regulation, Social Security, Russian meddling in the 2016 election and Trump, Trump, Trump all poured forth this week in the form of questions, loudly and heatedly. Read More Facebook
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Trump administration rescinds guidelines on protections for transgender students By Michael A. Memoli The Trump administration rescinded an Obama-era directive Wednesday aimed at protecting transgender students rights, questioning its legal grounding. Under the guidelines, schools had been required to treat transgender students according to their stated gender identity, and either allow access to restrooms and locker rooms for the gender they identify with or provide private facilities if requested. The Obama administration had said that students gender identities were protected under Title IX requirements, which prohibit federally funded schools from discriminating on the basis of sex. But officials in the Education and Justice departments said that their predecessors failed to make their case, citing significant litigation spurred by the policy. Read More Facebook
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Americans in Mexico protest Trumps inflammatory rhetoric during Tillerson visit By Kate Linthicum A group of Americans living in Mexico is planning a protest Thursday to send a message to visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Their gripe? President Trumps inflammatory rhetoric. Thats according to a draft of a letter that several groups organizing the protest hope to deliver to Tillerson, who is in town along with Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly for talks with top Mexican officials. The letter, which will be cosigned by the Mexican chapter of Democrats Abroad, as well as other groups, complains about Trumps hostile attitude toward Mexico, which it says is engendering nationalistic sentiments in Mexico. Among Trumps hostile acts, the letter says, is Trumps vow to build a border wall and force Mexico to pay for it. The idea of building a wall ... frames Mexico and Mexicans as foreign invaders, the letter says. It also criticizes Trump for pledging to renegotiate NAFTA, saying, The U.S. and Mexico are deeply connected economies and it is in the interest of the United States to strengthen the regional production network to boost manufacturing employment in the U.S. and ensure the long-run competitiveness of manufacturing in the region. There are more than a million U.S. citizens living in Mexico, and many have been vocal since Trumps election. Last month, thousands turned out for a womens march outside the American Embassy that saw crowds chanting anti-Trump slogans. Facebook
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Mexico will never accept unilateral American immigration rules, foreign secretary says By Patrick McDonnell Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray said defending the rights of Mexican immigrants is the first point in the agenda for talks with U.S. officials. (Christian Palma / Associated Press) Mexico will reject any unilateral effort from the United States to impose immigration or other policies on the Mexican government, the countrys foreign secretary said Wednesday. I want to make clear, in the most emphatic way, that the government of Mexico and the Mexican people do not have to accept measures that, in a unilateral way, one government wants to impose on another, Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray said in public comments. That we are not going to accept. He spoke a day after the Trump administration unveiled tough new measures to enforce immigration laws and deport people who are in the country illegally proposals that were widely portrayed in the Mexican media as a prelude to massive deportations. On Wednesday, two top Trump administration cabinet members Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly were arriving in Mexico for talks with that nations officials, including Videgaray. Immigration, trade and law enforcement issues were expected to be discussed at a tense moment in U.S.-Mexican relations. In his reported comments, the Mexican secretary did not single out any specific U.S. proposal as objectionable. Mexican officials have acknowledged there is little they can do to counter U.S. immigration policies. Among other things, the Trump administration has proposed sending non-Mexican citizens detained along the U.S.-Mexico border back to Mexico. Mexican officials would presumably have to sign off on such a plan. Mexico already detains and deports thousands of Central Americans annually who cross Mexican territory with the hope of entering the United States illegally via the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. authorities have worked with their Mexican counterparts to halt the Central American influx. The Mexican foreign secretary made it clear that immigration would be at the top of the list of items to be discussed during meetings with the U.S. Cabinet secretaries. Defending the rights of Mexican immigrants is the first point in the agenda, said Videgaray. He also said Mexico could take the issue of the rights of Mexican immigrants to the United Nations and other international agencies. Facebook
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Both in power and in turmoil, conservatives head to Conservative Political Action Conference to see whats next By Matt Pearce Josh Platillero (Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times) The eyes of men in crisp blazers darted toward passing faces and identification badges, looking for a familiar face, a famous name. As Fox News host Sean Hannity prepared to broadcast a live show from a ballroom, a brief chant burst out from the audience: U-S-A! U-S-A! Its that time of year again: Hundreds of Republicans began arriving Wednesday at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Md., just south of Washington, for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. CPAC, as its best known, is a place for conservative political figures and activists to gather, schmooze, hammer out new ideas and audition for starring roles in the Republican Party. And this year, CPAC attendees have a lot to talk about. Their party is in control of Congress, the White House and dozens of state governments across America, and yet not at all at peace with itself. President Trump is expected to address the conference later in the week after winning on a platform of populist nationalism that some conservatives have accused of not being conservative at all. Breitbart News, the brash rising star of right-wing media, is one of the conferences top promoters, but one of its staffers, Milo Yiannopoulos, lost his speaking slot at CPAC and resigned from the news organization after video circulated showing him appearing to promote pedophilia. Some conservatives had backed Yiannopoulos and cried censorship when the provocateur offended liberals at college speaking events, but now they had become offended themselves. Still, as CPAC began on Wednesday, the mood was upbeat. This was a victorious movement, after all. Many new guests were greeted by the sight of Josh Platillero, 23, wearing a cartoonishly large stovepipe hat and a suit the colors of the American flag. I love networking, said Platillero, who recently lived in Knoxville, Tenn., before moving to the D.C. area to work with a conservative nonprofit, the Leadership Institute. Its his second year attending CPAC, and he was excited about the lineup of speakers, which include some of the White House staff. I think our new president is not perfect, but I think hes doing good things, he said. Ariel Kohane, 45, who came from the Upper West Side in Manhattan, stood in the lobby holding signs that read, Jews for Trump, in both English and Hebrew. I love the fact that I can get together with many of my fellow conservative friends and colleagues and we can all be very proud of ourselves with all our accomplishments and the fact that we get to strategize and plan ways to further expand conservatism across America and across the whole world, Kohane said. Facebook
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Pence condemns Jewish center bomb threats and visits desecrated cemetery in Missouri By Jaweed Kaleem (Michael Conroy / Associated Press) Visiting Fenton, Mo., on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence condemned a string of bomb threats against Jewish community centers around the nation and the desecration of a St. Louis-area Jewish cemetery over the weekend. Speaking just yesterday, President Trump called this a horrible and painful act. And so it was. That along with other recent threats to the Jewish community centers around the country, said Pence, who was visiting the headquarters of the Fabick Cat machinery company. He declared it all a sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil. We condemn this vile act of vandalism and those who perpetuate it in the strongest possible terms. The vice president said it was inspiring how the people of Missouri have rallied around the Jewish community with compassion and support. Among those showing solidarity with the Jewish community is a group of Muslims who launched an online fundraising campaign to help repair the cemetery. Donors had pledged more than $90,000 by Wednesday afternoon. Pence later visited the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City, Mo., where nearly 200 tombstones had been toppled over the weekend. Facebook
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Trumps move on transgender bathroom access sparks interest By Kurtis Lee (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) For President Trump, commenting on social issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion has never seemed much of a priority. Indeed, throughout the campaign, Trump hardly discussed the topics. When asked about transgender bathroom access at a town hall in April 2016, Trump said people should be able to use whichever bathroom they choose. He then moved on from the question, offering little else. Now it appears his administration is set to wade into the controversy. Its a topic the conservative media loves to explore. Here are some of todays headlines: Return to normalcy: Trump readies reversal of transgender bathroom lunacy in public schools (Daily Caller) What will the Trump administration do about transgender bathroom access? The Caller highlights White House Press Secretary Sean Spicers pronouncement on the issue: This is a states rights issue and not one for the federal government, Spicer told reporters. The lunacy referred to is the federal guidance President Obama issued prior to leaving office directing schools that receive federal funding to allow transgender students to use restrooms and other facilities that match their gender identities. Several states filed suit to overturn the directive, and a federal judge issued a temporary injunction barring its enforcement, which remains in place. Several states, following the lead of North Carolina, are seeking to implement legislation that bans transgender people from using the bathrooms of the gender with which they identify. 66 percent of Trump voters change the channel when awards shows get too political (Daily Caller) When Meryl Streep criticized President Trump last month in her Golden Globes speech, he replied quickly. Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesnt know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes, Trump tweeted. Well, Trump can probably expect more barbs as actors (in overwhelmingly liberal Hollywood) take the stage at the Oscars on Sunday. Lots of Trump voters can be expected to change the channel, according to this piece, which highlights a new poll on the subject. The Hollywood Reporter says that 66% of Trump voters said they have stopped watching an awards show because a celebrity started talking about politics while accepting an award. By contrast, only 19% of Hillary Clintons supporters have done so. Trump talks tolerance, decries anti-Semitism, but media remain skeptical (Fox News) Well, Trump finally did say something to condemn the anti-Semitic vandalism and threats that have taken place since his presidential victory. Anti-Semitism is horrible, Trump said in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday. In the Fox News piece, Howard Kurtz argues the media should give the president more credit for speaking out. I always think its unfair to blame a political leader for violence or vandalism carried out by people who support him, he writes. I felt the same way about critics who blamed Barack Obama for urban riots or shootings of police officers. Facebook
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Among Republicans, Trump is more popular than congressional leaders By David Lauter Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) walk together. (Matt Rourke / Associated Press) Amid strain between the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress, the White House holds the high ground, a new survey indicates. Among Republicans, President Trump has greater popularity than the partys congressional leaders. Asked specifically who they would trust if the two sides disagreed, most Republicans chose Trump over their partys leadership. The findings, from a new survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center underscore Trumps continued sway with the Republican congressional majority. Although the president has historically low job approval ratings among the public at large, he remains highly popular among Republican partisans and in Republican districts. As for Democrats, theyre strongly in an oppositional mood. Asked if they were more worried that Democrats in Congress would go too far in opposing Trump or not go far enough, more than 70% of Democrats said they feared their party would not go far enough. Only 20% said they worried the party would go too far. Republicans in Congress have eyed Trump warily on several fronts. His positions on trade and entitlement reform break with years of the partys positions. His reluctance to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin has generated tension. And the administrations lack of clarity on healthcare and tax policy have Republican leaders guessing which way to turn on major issues. But Republican partisans have fewer reservations than their elected representatives. Eighty-six percent to 13%, those who identify as Republicans or as independents who lean Republican have a favorable view of Trump, the Pew survey found. By comparison, 57% have a favorable view of Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, with 22% unfavorable and 21% having no opinion. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is slightly better known, with 65% of Republicans holding a favorable view, 23% an unfavorable view and 13% having no opinion. Asked who they would trust if the two sides disagreed, 52% of Republicans said they would side with Trump and 34% with the Republicans in Congress. Republicans younger than 40 were the only major exception; 52% to 36%, they said they would side with Congress. At the same time, Republican partisans now have a warmer opinion of their party leadership than they had during most of President Obamas tenure. Republicans' approval of their congressional leaders has more than doubled since 2015 https://t.co/KSo1hRMhJj pic.twitter.com/WHTHxCNEFq Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) February 22, 2017 During the Obama years, GOP partisans tended to be frustrated that their side could not reverse the presidents initiatives, even with a majority in the House, starting in 2010, and then in the Senate for Obamas last two years. Their view of the GOP leadership has rebounded strongly since the election. Democrats view of their congressional leadership has been more stable. And both sides widely dislike the other partys leaders. Facebook
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Supreme Court rejects use of racial stereotypes in death penalty cases By David Savage The Supreme Court rejected the use of racial stereotypes in death penalty cases Wednesday, reopening the case of a black man in Texas who was sentenced to die after his jury was told African Americans are more likely than whites to commit crimes. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said this testimony had no place in a sentencing hearing and appealed to the racial stereotype that black men are prone to violence. Our laws punish people for what they do, not for who they are, the chief justice said in the courtroom. The 6-2 decision faults Texas authorities for refusing to give a new sentencing hearing to Duane Buck, a Houston man who was convicted of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend and seriously injuring her new boyfriend in 1995. Buck was found guilty of murder, but when his jury was debating his fate, his court-appointed defense attorney put on the witness stand an expert who cited statistics showing blacks are more likely to commit future crimes than whites. After hearing this testimony, the jury decided to sentence Buck to death. Years later, Texas state attorneys set aside the death sentences for six other black defendants whose juries heard similar testimony, but they refused to reopen Bucks case. In Buck vs. Davis, the high court said that was a mistake. The jury was deciding the question of life or death, and this is no place for the introduction of a particularly noxious strain of racial prejudice, Roberts said. The court sent the case back to judges in Texas to reconsider the death sentence. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, along with Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Thomas said Buck was properly sentenced to die for a brutal murder, and he insisted the court should not have heard the case for procedural reasons. Having settled on a desired outcome, the court bulldozes procedural obstacles and misapplies settled law to justify it, he wrote. Facebook
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At Rep. Tony Cardenas town hall, Democrats worry about what Donald Trump may do By Kurtis Lee (Kurtis Lee/Los Angeles Times ) They arrived with soggy jackets, hats and umbrellas. The topic was supposed to be the Affordable Care Act. But many who attended Democratic Rep. Tony Cardenas town hall meeting Tuesday night in a crammed auditorium at the Cesar E. Chavez Learning Academies came with a question: What can we -- as Democrats -- do to help you? Show up and vote, said Cardenas, who represents a slice of the staunchly liberal San Fernando Valley. (Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in this district by nearly 60-percentage points in the fall election.) Sign people up, get people involved, he said. At times the meeting had the feel of a therapy session for Democrats, wondering aloud how to function under a Trump administration. Where is the anger among Democrats? asked one man. I want to see more anger. Cardenas, standing at a lectern on an elevated stage, offered a stern look and nodded in agreement as rain could be heard splattering on the roof above. The complaints included Republicans efforts to repeal Obamacare and Trumps new immigration mandates. Trust me, Im pissed. Im upset, Cardenas said. But we have to act constructively. We have to be responsible. Last month, Trump signed executive orders directing the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize the removal of people in the U.S. illegally who have criminal convictions. In addition to speeding up the deportation of convicts, Trumps orders also call for quick removal of people in the country illegally who are charged with crimes and waiting for adjudication. And in recent days, a handful of people who have received protection under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents nationwide. Cardenas said that for him, the issue is personal. His parents were immigrants from Mexico, who lived in the San Fernando Valley for decades, raising 11 children, he said. Today his district is nearly 70% Latino. Im going to fight for you, he said. Im going to fight for the people who are my immigrant father. When a young man, a DACA recipient, asked him, via Twitter, if hell be safe in the weeks ahead, Cardenas seemed at a loss. I pray that [Trump] doesnt go after you, he said. Facebook
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Killing with kindness, GOPs McClintock faces down hostile questioners as town hall goes into overti
Laguna Beach staff members are proposing a host of strategies that stand to shake up the citys public transportation system, which currently includes trolleys and a free van service for seniors.
The council on March 7 will weigh in on suggestions that include contracting with Uber, an on-demand ride service company, for a trial period and reducing the hours of the citys mainline bus service, according to a city staff report.
The council was scheduled to discuss the topic Tuesday, but city staff adjusted the agenda after Mayor Toni Iseman voiced concern about the number of items scheduled to be discussed.
I was worried about the length of the meeting, Iseman said. We dont make good decisions after 11 p.m., and that looked to be a meeting that lasted until 1 a.m.
We try to balance out the meetings because it is very hard for members of the public to participate so late in the evenings especially on weekday nights, Assistant City Manager Christa Johnson added.
City staff posted the original agenda on the citys website Thursday. By 3 p.m. Friday, a revised agenda was listed, ahead of the required 72-hour notice to the public, City Clerk Lisette Chel-Walker said.
Also scratched from Tuesdays agenda was a matter involving pedestrian access in the Temple Hills neighborhood, according to the citys website.
Among the items scheduled for this Tuesday is an application from former city planner Monica Tuchscher to open a 23-seat tea and coffee house called Harmony Tea Bar at 305 Forest Ave., a spot previously occupied by shoe retailer Quattro Passi.
Laguna hired an outside company, IBI Group, to study the effectiveness of its public transportation, including buses and trolleys.
The city is proposing to eliminate mainline bus service on Saturdays and drop routes altogether in north and South Laguna, primarily because of lagging ridership, according to the staff report.
Buses currently travel through portions of Laguna from 6:50 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 9:50 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturdays.
Under the proposal, buses would run from 6:30 to 9 a.m. Mondays through Fridays and 2:15 to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.
While the city has not significantly altered the bus service in recent years, ridership steadily declined from a high of 97,000 in 2010 to 84,137 last year, according to the staff report.
As for senior transportation, the city currently contracts with the nonprofit Sallys Fund to provide rides for passengers at least 60 years old.
About half the rides per month take seniors to the Laguna Beach Community & Susi Q Center; the seniors also use the van service for trips to grocery stores and medical appointments as well as visits with friends and family, the staff report said.
The van service is an important but costly asset, and so the city is searching for ways to augment it, such as using Uber, according to the report.
Based on 2015 ridership results, it cost the city $26.04 per passenger using Sallys Fund. The report says an Uber fare would be considerably less.
City staff members are recommending that the neighborhood trolley program which began last summer on a trial basis, serving Top of the World, Bluebird Canyon and Arch Beach Heights areas for 15 weeks continue on weekends.
Laguna officials have said trolleys offer greater flexibility because riders can flag them down, whereas buses have fixed stops.
The neighborhood trolley program was supposed to end Labor Day, but the council unanimously voted in late August to extend the service into the fall to more fully gauge its popularity.
The residential service was separate from the off-season weekend trolley program, which covers North and South Coast Highway from Labor Day through the third week of June.
In the summer, trolleys run daily on North and South Coast Highway and along Laguna Canyon Road, ferrying visitors to the citys acclaimed art festivals.
bryce.alderton@latimes.com
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
A petition signed by about 100 downtown Huntington Beach business owners demanding the removal of the nine current members of the Downtown Business Improvement District board was emailed to the city Wednesday, the Daily Pilot has learned.
The move comes amid controversy surrounding the finances of the Downtown BID and the councils vote Tuesday to have the citys Finance Commission launch an audit.
The petition alleges that the BID a public-private partnership that aims to revitalize the downtown area has kept two sets of books since 2011 and that one of the accounts, totaling $271,000 as of September, was kept secret from the council.
Some signatures are repeated, but Susie Smith, former BID president and one of the organizers of the petition drive, said Thursday thats because some signers have more than one downtown business and have to pay BID dues for each, which grants them multiple votes when electing BID board members.
Smith said the BID board gives the City Council an annual financial report but omits the secret account. Smith owns Makin Waves Salon, at 320 Main St.
Steve Daniel, president of the Downtown BID, said Friday that there is no secret account. Daniel said the account referred to by petitioners contains the revenue from Surf City Nights, a popular Tuesday night street fair sponsored by the BID, and that the money is being saved for major projects, like new lighting in the area that could cost as much as $1 million.
He said the account has never been concealed from the council and hasnt been submitted in the annual financial statement only because the city hasnt requested it.
Assistant City Manager Ken Domer echoed Daniels sentiment Friday, saying the account is not secret.
That this full information was not included in previous renewal documents is less their fault and more a continuation of past practice and that we didnt request it, Domer said in an email.
Domer said that when the BID presents its financial report this year, the group will be required to include all revenues. Daniel said the BID would provide what the city requests.
Smith said these funds should not be sitting dormant in an account when the downtown has what she termed major problems.
According to the petition, downtown is in dire shape, facing street people and public safety issues. It includes pictures of pill bottles and trash.
The petition quotes an unnamed restaurant manager referencing problems with homeless people who have caused a few bad situations at the persons property. The document states that a new board of directors is needed to improve the situation.
Daniel said the BID is currently working with police on the homeless issue.
Domer said he was aware of plans for new lighting and that it was his understanding the money come from the Surf City Nights account.
Smith said a primary reason BID stakeholders want a leadership overhaul is to fill the board with business owners. Currently, employees of downtown businesses make up some of the members. Smith said employees do not have enough stake in improving downtown.
The petition includes the names of 21 downtown business owners, Smith included, who are willing to serve on the board until the BID elections are held in September, which marks the end of its fiscal year. Board members are elected by district business owners.
Smith said she held a meeting with about 40 downtown business owners in early December, informed them of the issue and began collecting signatures.
Mayor Barbara Delgleize said Friday that she wants the Finance Commission to move forward with the review of the BIDs financial statements, which is supposed to be completed within 60 days.
We have to do a review to have our facts first, she said.
Daniel said Friday that he requested the review to disprove the allegations against the BID.
Council members Erik Peterson and Mike Posey have sought the appointment of three council members to the BID board to ensure that the DBID is efficient, transparent and operating in the best interests of all downtown businesses, according to a document submitted to the council a few weeks ago.
Posey and Peterson decided to pull the item from the Feb. 6 council agenda.
Posey said Friday that the proposal was premature and he wanted to wait after the financial review.
benjamin.brazil@latimes.com
Twitter: @benbrazilpilot
A Thai ice cream shop could be rolling into Costa Mesa soon, if the Planning Commission signs off Monday.
Commissioners will discuss whether to approve a conditional use permit for Rollin Deep Ice Cream at 891 Baker St.
Rollin Deep proposes to occupy a 904-square-foot space in the commercial center at the intersection of Baker and Bear Street, which is already home to a number of restaurants, as well as a bar and lounge.
The addition of an ice cream shop will be ideal for the plaza, Rollin Deep co-founder Chadwick Lee wrote in an application to the city. It will seamlessly complement and be substantially compatible after finishing their meals, the restaurants customers can stroll into the ice cream ship to top off their meals with a delicious, contemporary dessert.
Proposed hours of operation are noon to 11 p.m. daily. Staff is recommending approval of the application.
The Planning Commission meeting starts at 6 p.m. in City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.
luke.money@latimes.com
Twitter: @LukeMMoney
Helen Timpe was standing on her Newport Beach homes cork wood floor in front of her television on Oct. 11 when she watched a broadcast that would change her life.
PBS NewsHour aired a segment about Greece. Parents there were pushing back against efforts to provide education to children living in a refugee camp. The parents cited concerns that the refugees, many from Syria and Afghanistan, carried infectious diseases and would present cultural problems for the native Greek children.
This struck a nerve with Timpe, a former schoolteacher, as did a haunting image released months before of Omran Daqneesh, a 5-year-old Syrian boy pulled from the rubble of crumbling Aleppo. In the picture, which has become emblematic of the Syrian conflict, a stunned Omran quietly sits alone in the back of an ambulance, his body covered in dust and an open wound on his forehead.
After hearing about children being denied an education, Timpe had heard enough. She decided to do something.
In the months that followed, the 77-year-old founded a nonprofit, Global Schools Without Walls, and crafted the immediate goal of moving to northern France for the next three to five years to educate 150 orphaned refugee children.
The children, ages 3 to 13, are in La Liniere, a refugee camp in Grande-Synthe, a community near Dunkirk and Frances border with Belgium.
Timpe has put her home a waterfront, seventh-story condominium at 601 Lido Park Drive on the market and gifted or stored her possessions. She has received a lot of feedback from her friends and family, many of whom were eager to help.
I love it, Timpe said of her condo during a recent interview there. But there is nothing I cant live without for a few years.
Timpe left Friday for San Francisco, where shes staying with relatives for a few days before hopping on a plane to France. She doesnt have a permanent place to live there yet and will stay in a bed and breakfast at first. Timpe hopes to soon lease a farmhouse property that she can live in and use as a base for her nonprofits volunteers.
The whole endeavor has been serendipitous, she said, with pieces falling together happenstance.
Its such a huge project, she said.
This isnt the first time Timpe decided to drop everything and move to another country to help. In 1963, she and her husband, Conrad, agreed to move to Malawi through a Catholic lay missionary program.
From 1964 through 1967, Timpe taught chemistry and biology in the African country. Conrad, a rocket scientist whom she met while both attended Iowa State University, taught math.
Moving to Malawi was no easy feat for the young couple she was 25 and he 29. They had a child and owned a home. Both had jobs. But they didnt let that stop them.
Conrad now lives in an assisted-living complex in Costa Mesa. But he is supportive of Timpes move to France, she said.
You go, girl, Timpe recalled Conrad saying. Youre the woman for the job.
Though the mother of three started out as a teacher, she later became a financial advisor and portfolio manager.
On Thursday, Timpe hosted a retirement party where friends, relatives and clients gathered at the Balboa Bay Resort to send her off.
She requested donations for Global Schools Without Walls, which is sponsored by the Edward Charles Foundation.
We have the first five donors, but you could be No. 6 through 100, she joked to the crowd.
The Rev. Canon Cindy Evans Voorhees of St. James the Great Episcopal Church in Newport Beach was among the first people Timpe spoke to about her plans. Timpe has been a member of the St. James congregation, and Voorhees attended her party.
Voorhees, who runs a nonprofit that gives aid in Africa, could relate to Timpes dream to help abroad. She initially told Timpe that to make the project work, she needed to plot her course and get her research in order.
Timpe visited France late last year and met with camp directors at La Liniere. She began making the necessary connections for Global Schools Without Walls.
Voorhees said she has no doubt Timpe will succeed.
She is a force of nature, Voorhees said.
bradley.zint@latimes.com
Twitter: @BradleyZint
The Newport Beach City Council will decide Tuesday whether voters can weigh in on the contested Museum House condominium tower.
The council will decide whether to place the proposed, 100-unit, 25-story project on a ballot either late this year, or in 2018, or rescind its earlier approval altogether.
The vote comes after the county registrar certified an activist groups referendum petition last month that challenged Related Californias development.
In December, Line in the Sand gathered nearly 14,000 signatures to bring the project to a potential vote.
Line in the Sand, the political arm of Still Protecting Our Newport (SPON), has called the project a bad precedent for more high-rises in Newport Center and a potential generator of additional traffic.
Related California has contested those claims, calling the traffic argument unfounded and the tower a world class addition to Newport Center that will generate more than $20 million in various fees for the city and schools, all of which Related would pay.
Museum House is slated to replace the Orange County Museum of Art in the shadow of Fashion Island at 850 San Clemente Drive.
City officials estimate that should the council call an election for Museum House, at $95,000, the November 2018 general election would be the lowest-cost option for taxpayers. The June 2018 primary would cost $120,000, and a special election about three months from now, $300,000.
However, if the city were required print all of the various documents related to Museum House in the sample ballots, such as its environmental documents, the taxpayer costs would significantly escalate to more than $4 million to have the matter placed on any election ballot.
Line in the Sands signature effort was marked by tension. Both sides hired campaign consultants.
Related Californias was accused of aggressively dissuading people from signing Line in the Sands forms, and a project supporter said some opponents acted inappropriately as well.
It got heated enough that the Irvine Co. filed a lawsuit against Related, contending that its team was creating a hostile environment at Irvine Co. commercial properties.
The lawsuit was dropped. Related called it meritless to begin with.
Related spent more than $435,000 fighting the referendum drive, according to recent campaign filings. Comparatively, Line in the Sand allocated about $91,000 for its effort.
About half of that amount came from an in-kind donation from Citizens Against High Rise Urban Towers, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit whose backers have never been made public. Irvine-based Related has repeatedly called Citizens a dark money group, given its mysterious origins.
Looming over the councils decision is a lawsuit filed by OCMA, which is looking to sell its property to Related and construct a new museum at the arts complex in Costa Mesa.
OCMAs case, filed Jan. 6 in Orange County Superior Court, alleges that Line in the Sands referendum didnt comply with state elections code.
Earlier this month, Newport officials urged the council to delay its vote on Museum House in light of the lawsuit, which is progressing, though a briefing schedule has not been set.
Tuesdays meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers, 100 Civic Center Drive.
bradley.zint@latimes.com
Twitter: @BradleyZint
In 1940, Congress passed the Alien Registration Act, a national security measure that required all noncitizen adults to register with the government. In addition, the act also known as the Smith Act set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government.
Registration was done through the U.S. Postal Service. In the image above, newspaper publisher Toyosaku Komai is fingerprinted by Gordon Green with Frank Huber, left, assistant superintendent of mails at the Los Angeles post office, looking on.
The next morning, the Los Angeles Times reported:
Registration of Los Angeles estimated 125,000 aliens, as required by the Alien Registration Act of 1940, began yesterday at the registration headquarters for the city, established at 660 E. 22nd St. by Postmaster Mary D. Briggs.
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Long before the doors of the building opened at 9 a.m., the first persons arrived to tell Uncle Sam all about themselves in compliance with the law.
By late afternoon more than 500 aliens had registered, given the government the required information about themselves and been fingerprinted in compliance with the law.
They ranged from Mexicans, Japanese and Chinese to Poles, Finns, Germans, English and Canadians. Many of them had lived in the United States for years, some as long as 20 years. Many of them, too, had taken out their first citizenship papers.
Registration is in charge of Frank Huber, assistant superintendent of mails at the Los Angeles post office, who had a staff of more than 50 clerks, fingerprint men, stenographers, interpreters and other workers on hand for the job.
Registration will extend for four months, at which time it is expected that all the nations 3,600,000 noncitizens will be listed.
In a Nov. 27, 1940, article, The Times reported that 80,000 noncitizens had registered in Los Angeles.
This post was originally published on Feb. 14, 2012.
As Myanmar opens up to modern world, historic buildings are at risk
The former Rowe & Co. building was constructed in 1910. The structure once housed what was Asias biggest and oldest departmental store. It now serves as an immigration office.
Over cappuccino at a crowded conference on real estate in one of the world's last frontier markets, one investor turned to another and said breezily, "I'm here to get rich."
They had paid more than $2,000 each to attend panels with titles like "Futurescape in Myanmar" and "Opportunities in Hotels and Resorts." The seminar's sponsors, which included a prominent local construction firm, handed out business cards and glossy brochures highlighting the shining new condos and shopping malls they hope to build.
Thant Myint-U stood out amid the suits. Dressed in sandals and a traditional sarong, the academic-turned-preservationist stepped to the lectern and asked the financiers and developers who had come to take advantage of Myanmar's future to pause for a moment and consider the past.
FOR THE RECORD: Myanmar buildings: An article in the Jan. 7 Section A about preservation efforts in Myanmar said the Strand Hotel was on the banks of the Irrawaddy River. The Strand is on the Yangon River, which is a distributary of the Irrawaddy River delta.
Decades of self-imposed isolation and international sanctions against this longtime pariah state have left Myanmar in limbo, with three-quarters of the population still without electricity. But the lack of Western investment had an unexpected benefit for preservationists: Much of Yangon was left an architectural time capsule.
Thant Myint-U flashed through a PowerPoint presentation highlighting the scores of Victorian, Art Deco and neoclassical buildings that still line downtown Yangon's noisy streets. These relics tell the story of Myanmar's modern history, he said, of its decades under British colonial rule and fight for independence.
Now, as Myanmar's former military leaders open up to countries that once banned investment here, such buildings are at risk.
Hundreds of colonial-era structures have been destroyed in recent years to make way for modern ones like the Centrepoint tower. Completed last year, the glassy 25-story skyscraper looms over a historic block that includes the dilapidated 100-year-old Supreme Court building and City Hall, which, with its white paint and intricately tiered roof, draws easy comparisons to a wedding cake.
The condition of many older buildings makes them targets for tear-down. The Corinthian columns have crumbled at the building that once housed Sofaer's department store, and mildew has sprouted from its domed tower. Other once-grand buildings have been subdivided into crowded apartments, with residents stringing laundry across staircases.
Thant Myint-U, 47, is worried that Yangon could lose even more of its cultural heritage and become just another Southeast Asian metropolis crowded with soulless office buildings and boxy apartment towers.
"Are we going to destroy this heritage in the next few years, or are we going to incorporate it into a modern fabric?" he asked the investors in English, each word chiseled with perfect pronunciation. "If there is a will, we still have the critical window to get things right."
The Cambridge-educated scholar has written extensively about Myanmar's history. Now he is trying to shape it.
Thant Myint-U was born in Myanmar, also known as Burma, but grew up far from here in a sprawling home on the banks of the Hudson River in New York City. The estate in an upscale neighborhood was the official residence of U Thant, a former secretary-general of the United Nations and Thant Myint-U's grandfather.
The compound was "a small slice of Burma," Thant Myint-U remembers, a gathering place for expatriates with a Buddhist altar on the first floor and a kitchen that smelled of curry.
In the summer, Thant Myint-U and his family would travel to Yangon, the British-built city also known as Rangoon, to visit relatives and make offerings at temples. Because of his pedigree, the visits weren't always easy.
There is a place for high-rises and there is a place to not have them." Thant Myint-U, Myanmar preservationist
U Thant had been a close advisor to the first prime minister of independent Burma, who was overthrown in a 1962 coup. Despite his position as the country's top diplomat, U Thant was distrusted by the military leaders, and when he died of cancer in 1974, they decreed that he be buried without an official ceremony.
After a junta took power in 1988, Thant Myint-U stopped his trips to Myanmar. By then he was a student who was working with the country's political exiles to call for international sanctions. In 2006, after a stint with the United Nations, he wrote a bestselling book that told the story of Myanmar from the days of its earliest empires to its modern period of self-imposed isolation.
The book mentions some of the buildings that Thant Myint-U's nonprofit, the Yangon Heritage Trust, is now working to protect. One is the Pegu Club, a teak-built mansion that served as an all-white gentlemen's club for officers in the British army. There's also the Secretariat, a sprawling Victorian marvel that was the site of the assassination of Gen. Aung San, the architect of Myanmar's independence and father of current opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Drawn back to Myanmar to do aid work in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, the 2008 storm that took more than 100,000 lives, Thant Myint-U took on new roles when the country's military leaders finally started to loosen their grip on power in 2010.
Over the last year, his organization has surveyed and collected the stories of hundreds of structures in Yangon: banks, schools, theaters and a large collection of government-owned buildings that were abandoned in 2005 when Myanmar's leaders abruptly moved the country's administrative capital away from Yangon.
The group has helped place many of the structures on a list of protected heritage sites, making it more difficult for developers to knock them down. Recently it helped stop construction of a 40-story office tower downtown and save an architecturally significant hall dedicated to Mohandas K. Gandhi from the wrecking ball.
Thant Myint-U and his team, which includes a well-known local architect and an urban planner from Italy, know that new development is inevitable. An estimated 10 million people are expected to move into Myanmar's large cities in the next decade and a half, drawn by opportunities for work, and they are going to have to be accommodated somehow.
But the preservationists insist smart development is possible. New housing should be built apart from the several square miles in downtown Yangon where most of the city's colonial structures are clustered, they say, and older buildings should be renovated.
"There is a place for high-rises and there is a place to not have them," said Thant Myint-U, who lives in an older apartment building downtown. "A lot of buildings have gone up that have no harmony with the built architecture."
He was sipping a cold drink in the 22nd-story lounge of a modern, fortress-like hotel on the edge of downtown. It was sunset, and light poured in from a wall of windows. A mile away, the golden dome of the Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar's most important religious site, shone amid a cluster of modern apartments.
Developers from Thailand and China helped lead a building boom here in the 1990s, when sanctions against the ruling generals kept European and American firms out. Those strictures were dropped in 2012 after President Thein Sein loosened government reins on the media and free speech and released Suu Kyi, who had been confined to house arrest.
A gold rush has followed, with investors seeking to profit from Myanmar's oil and natural gas riches. In Yangon today, rent in air-conditioned office buildings is higher than in downtown Manhattan as international firms flock to build power plants, develop telecommunications networks and improve Myanmar's notoriously bad roadways. Coca-Cola and Nissan are among the major brands opening plants.
Dinis Madaleno Rodrigues, a Portuguese hotelier with slicked-back hair and a booming baritone, relocated to Yangon this year to explore investment opportunities. Over drinks in the smoky bar at the Strand Hotel, he cited a recent report from McKinsey & Co., a U.S.-based consulting firm, that predicts nearly 20% growth in the tourism industry in coming years.
"There's a certain excitement to go to a place nobody has ever gone to before," Rodrigues said. "Basically this is the last frontier. If you want to be modern, you want to go somewhere nobody has ever been."
Rodrigues had listened to Thant Myint-U's presentation on preserving Yangon's historic buildings and came away inspired. He said he wanted to renovate one of downtown's colonial buildings to turn it into a boutique hotel.
The Strand, on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, is proof that such a project is possible. Formerly a rotting Victorian-era building known as the place George Orwell and Rudyard Kipling once stayed, it was transformed several years ago into an elegant luxury hotel. The cheapest room goes for more than $400 a night.
Thant Myint-U cites the hotel as evidence that the effort to preserve the downtown blocks isn't obstructionist.
Speaking to the investors, he made his pitch in terms they could understand.
"If we can make Yangon the most attractive, beautiful, livable city in Southeast Asia," he told them, "this is an asset worth billions of dollars."
This article was reported with a grant from the International Reporting Project.
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Some fled with little more than the clothes they were wearing, terrified that the militants of Islamic State would come for them next.
For a fourth day on Sunday, Coptic Christians one of Egypts most vulnerable minorities sought safe haven after a series of sectarian killings in and near the town of El Arish, in Egypts rugged Sinai Peninsula.
About 95 families have arrived in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, church officials said. Frightened, hungry and tired, they are being sheltered in private homes and belatedly at government accommodations in Ismailia, 75 miles east of Cairo.
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There were many killings and threats of further violence, said Kirollos Ibrahim, a priest at the Coptic Church of Ismailia, which has aided the displaced. God has helped us, and we are finding brothers and sisters to stand by us.
Some of those who fled El Arish said Muslim neighbors had helped shield them from terrorists, hiding them in their homes or helping them find other shelter.
I was too scared to sleep, and spent the night at my Muslim friends, said a homemaker who asked to be identified only by her nickname, Um Mina, or mother of Mina, because she was afraid of being targeted for further violence.
They insisted they said, Well take you in; anything that happens to you happens to us.
Um Mina, who had lived in El Arish for 17 years, said the militants kill the men and leave the children. Then they burn the house, so they make sure we have nothing to go back to.
She and others said the extremists sometimes masked and driving pickup trucks flying Islamic States black flag distributed threatening pamphlets in Coptic areas of the town. The militants seemed to have detailed information about Coptic families, including mens names and home addresses, she said.
The latest attack on the beleaguered Coptic minority has raised questions as to whether the government of President Abdel Fattah Sisi is doing enough to protect them. Copts were targeted in a devastating Christmas-season bombing of a major church in Cairo.
Some of the displaced Copts said they thought the government was doing its best to help. But a teacher named Maher, who said an uncle and a cousin were killed last week by militants, said he believed the security forces had been infiltrated by extremists.
The slain men, whom he identified as Saad Hakim and his son Medhat Saad, lived only about 500 yards from a security checkpoint, the teacher said. Militants killed the pair and then ransacked the house, looting valuables like home appliances, he said. His relatives bodies were burned, he said.
There is simply no security, said Maher, who asked that his last name not be used because he feared for his life.
Youssef Shokry, another priest at Ismailias Coptic Church, said donations of cash and supplies like mattresses and cooking utensils were helping authorities cope with the influx at least for the moment. For the longer term, he is uncertain.
Some families have said they will never return; others say they do want to go back home once its safe, the priest said. We still dont know what will happen.
After initial difficulties in finding accommodation, some of the fleeing families were sheltering at a former youth hostel in Ismailia, an arrangement brokered by Christian leaders and a government ministry. Two doctors were offering medical services, and clerics from other Christian denominations arrived in a show of solidarity.
The northern Sinai Peninsula has long been the scene of a simmering Islamist insurgency, but Islamic State fighters have dramatically raised the level of violence over the last three years. The militants consider Sinai to be one of the groups self-proclaimed provinces.
The Copts of El Arish have been terrorized by a series of brazen killings at least seven in recent weeks. The latest victim was a plumber who was shot dead in his family home Thursday as helpless relatives looked on.
Islamic State has not issued a claim of responsibility for the killings, but it released a video last week saying that Copts whom it regards as infidels would be targeted. The group claimed responsibility for Decembers Cairo church bombing.
Previously, Islamic State militants had focused their attacks on military installations and security forces. But now the group has turned to soft targets such as the Copts, whose numbers in northern Sinai have been rapidly shrinking over the last five years.
Coptic Christians, thought to make up about 10% of Egypts population, were officially protected under the rule of President Hosni Mubarak, who was forced from power six years ago. When Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in a 2013 coup, many of his followers believed the Copts had colluded in his downfall, and launched a concerted campaign of revenge attacks.
Egypts indigenous Copts are one of Christianitys oldest branches, dating to the 1st century. But they have long suffered from persecution and discrimination.
Some of those who fled the violence in El Arish said they hoped to return, but did not know when it would be safe to do so. A native of El Arish nicknamed Um Marmar said they feared Ismailia was already overburdened by those who had fled, as she and her family did.
The citys infrastructure cannot contain all these families, she said. And more are on the way.
Special correspondent Medhat reported from Ismailia and Times staff writer King from Washington.
UPDATES:
12:25 p.m.: This story was updated with staff reporting throughout.
This story was originally published at 10:55 a.m.
Mohammad Abdul Yaseen sat cross-legged beside a tree, hunched over a smooth marble slab. He moved a metal straightedge into position, making a gentle scraping sound, and drew a small line on the marble with a pencil.
He has done this for half a century, carefully etching the stones that mark the final resting places for members of Mumbais dwindling Bene Israel Jewish community.
Behind him, the small graveyard unfolded across a quiet grove of trees in the citys central business district. More than 6,500 tombstones, most adorned with the Star of David, rose in neat rows from patches of uneven grass. The blare of car horns and thrum of construction crews, the persistent soundtrack of Indias financial capital, seemed to fade inside the tidy cemetery.
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Abdul Yaseen, 76, adjusted his glasses and wiped his brow with the sleeve of a crisp button-down shirt that he wore above a loose-fitting cotton dhoti. A small notebook lay in front of him, a stone holding open the page that bore the English epitaph that a family had asked him to sketch, for an 84-year-old woman who died in January:
Till memory lives
and life departs,
You will live
forever in our hearts.
At the top of the stone Abdul Yaseen had written a brief prayer in Hebrew. As a boy growing up in the northern agricultural state of Uttar Pradesh, he did not learn how to read or write in any language. When he moved to Mumbai in 1968 to look for work, he met Aaron Menasse Navgavikar, a Bene Israel Jew who engraved the communitys tombstones and was looking for an assistant.
Working with Navgavikar, Abdul Yaseen learned not only Marathi, the language of Mumbai and its surroundings, but also Hindi, English and Hebrew. When Navgavikar moved to Israel in the 1970s, Abdul Yaseen took over the practice.
He arrives at the cemetery, marked by a blue sign along a metal archway, around 9 a.m. and works until 1 p.m., except on Fridays, when he leaves earlier in order to attend prayers at his mosque.
The cemetery in central Mumbai, India, houses the remains of the citys Bene Israel Jews. (Shashank Bengali / Los Angeles Times)
Abdul Yaseen is an unassuming symbol of Mumbais polyglot heritage: a Muslim engraving Jewish headstones in a city that, like the rest of the country, is overwhelmingly Hindu. Although tensions between Hindus and Muslims have sometimes devolved into communal violence in India, there is less strife surrounding the smaller Jewish and Christian communities.
India should always be mixed like this, Abdul Yaseen said. It doesnt matter that I am Muslim. It only matters that the community has taken us in and treated us well.
He brought his son, Islam, into the trade. Now it is the younger man, 53, who operates the heavy stone cutter and chisels the stone by hand. Abdul Yaseens body has grown frail, though his hands remain steady enough to sketch out the letters, which he does with the precision and concentration of a surgeon.
Their work may not pass to another generation. The Bene Israel Jews, who have lived along Indias western coast for two millennia, numbered 20,000 in the 1940s. But with Indias independence in 1947 and the creation of Israel the following year, many began migrating. There are roughly 2,000 Jews left in Mumbai and the surrounding state of Maharashtra, and fewer than 5,000 in all of India.
Islam led a visitor to the oldest grave marker at the cemetery, a simple white slab erected in 1927, and more recently encased in protective concrete. In Hebrew and Marathi, it memorializes Levy Isaac Charikar, who died almost exactly 90 years ago, at the age of 5.
Nowadays, Abdul Yaseen and his son get requests for only two or three headstones every month. Occasionally, a Christian church in one of Mumbais suburbs will give them some work. Hindus cremate their dead and Muslim graves rarely feature elaborate markers, so the market for their expertise is limited.
Abdul Yaseen, too, has been invited by community members to move to Israel, where he could continue to work. His wife died 15 years ago and his children another son and two daughters all have families of their own.
But he has not seriously considered leaving. He has never been outside India. These days, his life is confined to his small apartment, the cemetery and a mosque, all just minutes from one another on his bicycle.
Im as good as retired, he said.
Islam, who joined the trade at age 19, has his fathers fine, slicked back hair and solemn eyes. Sweat gathered on his forehead as he maneuvered the stone cutter, noisily carving the granite into small squares that would adorn the 84-year-old womans grave.
His two sons never gave a thought to working at the graveyard. One got into a four-year training program at an outsourcing company that handles technical support for U.S. businesses. Another works as an engineer in Saudi Arabia and was recently married. With pride, Islam said his son had taken his bride on a honeymoon to Singapore and Malaysia.
With his own money, he said, smiling. That is what boys these days want to do. We worked with our hands so that we could educate them, but it doesnt mean we should do this forever.
shashank.bengali@latimes.com
Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia
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When Erika Moura made her debut as Brazils Carnival muse in 2015, she wore nothing but strategically placed swirls of glitter paint and matching heels as she sambaed across TV screens to promote the annual celebration for the countrys biggest broadcaster, Globo.
This year, the station has done an about-face, dressing the muse it calls the Globeleza a combination of its name and the Portuguese word for beauty in more demure Carnival costumes that represent the countrys numerous local celebrations.
The piece also shows the 24-year-old, who got her start in Sao Paulos parades with the Mocidade Alegre samba school, dancing alongside performers who represent Brazils racial diversity and regional differences.
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This shift in Carnival culture came as a surprise for many Brazilians, although not an unwelcome one. Some chalk it up to Brazils moves toward a more conservative society, citing voting patterns in its most recent municipal elections and the growing number of evangelical Christians in the country. Others say its a sign that Brazil is becoming more conscientious of its multiculturalism and its roots.
Patricia da Silva Souza, a 27-year-old office assistant who was heading out with her girlfriends Saturday night to celebrate Carnival at one of Sao Paulos street parties, said she loved Globelezas new look.
It is much more creative and inclusive, she said. They put in other representations of Carnival too, not just what it looks like in Rio. It finally shows what Carnival is all about, and thats not just body paint and glitter.
Every year since Globeleza was created in 1990, a black woman has been chosen to dance partially nude for viewers, leading to accusations that Globo was objectifying black women and perpetuating a stereotype that they are there only to entertain others.
I think the change is very positive, because it alters the way black women are represented by Carnival, said Claudia Adao, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo who studies violence against black youth and has participated in the citys parades as a flag bearer.
It calls into question the objectification of black women and the perspective that we are just sexual symbols, and shows that black women can be represented in other ways.
The Globeleza says she never saw the videos as objectifying black women or women in general but rather looks at her role with an artistic eye.
Ever since I watched the vignettes as a viewer, I was enchanted with the talent of the dancers, Moura said in an email.
Despite all the criticism, Globo maintains that its casting decisions were never based on race.
The characteristics that we take into consideration when choosing the dancer who will represent Globelezas Carnival are her charisma, grace and talent, said Sergio Valente, that stations communications director and co-creative director of the promotional video. Globo has a historical and permanent positive action plan against all forms of prejudice.
He cited Globos collaboration with several United Nations organizations, including U.N. Women, as an example of how the station is fighting discrimination against vulnerable populations.
While the culture of Carnival may be starting to change, there were still plenty of scantily-clad dancers out in the streets as the five-day festivities got under way in Sao Paulo on Friday night.
This years Carnival isnt expected to be quite as elaborate as in years gone by. Brazils economic crisis has taken a toll on the funds allotted to celebrations across the country.
Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles recently declared the recession over, but said we still live with the consequences of it in many respects.
In Sao Paulo, Brazils largest city, a new mayor who made his name in business has slashed the city Ministry of Cultures budget by more than 43%. Other departments have also experienced budget cuts, including education (28%), healthcare (21%) and the environment (44%).
The city has reduced the prize money that will be handed out to the Carnival court. This years king and queen will each receive 2,000 reais ($642), down from from last years 20,000 reais ($6,427). Those receiving prizes in a category that pays homage to the samba schools longest-standing members will receive 1,000 reais ($321), as opposed to the 8,000 reais ($2,571) they were given in 2016.
The city of Rio de Janeiro declared itself in a state of financial emergency last year when it could no longer pay its employees on time, leading to violent protests by public servants who were afraid of losing their homes and not being able to feed their families.
The city is expecting fewer visitors during this years Carnival, as cash-strapped Brazilians cut back on travel. That will hurt the hotel and tourism sectors.
The city of Parnamirim, in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte, cut its Carnival budget by more than half, saying there were other budget priorities. Olinda, a coastal town in northeastern Pernambuco state known for its street parties, giant papier-mache dolls and frevo music, also halved its Carnival budget, despite a reputation for putting on one of Brazils most traditional celebrations.
Other cities canceled their celebrations altogether. Nova Lima, in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, said it needs the money for basic services like healthcare, infrastructure, security and education. Capivari, located in the state of Sao Paulo, also wants to invest in healthcare, particularly the prevention of dengue fever.
But for all the financial woes, Brazilian revelers are still managing to enjoy the festivities and celebrate the changes to the culture of Carnival and the Globeleza.
The parties might be smaller this year, but many Brazilians feel more pride than ever now that their muse has become more representative of the nation as a whole.
Langlois is a special correspondent.
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President Trump has repeatedly said he wants to renegotiate NAFTA and railed at U.S. companies that moved operations to Mexico. His administration has suggested imposing punitive tariffs, and he continues to say hell make Mexico pay for a wall on its norther border.
South of that border, Mexicos foreign secretary reportedly told Mexican lawmakers in private that the country is prepared to impose tariffs of its own. According to news reports, Luis Videgaray said the Mexican government is bracing for a long battle with the Trump administration.
Such cross-border talk has raised fears north and south about possible bruising effects on various industries, such as automobile manufacturing and agriculture.
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But many analysts agree that in at least one sector energy the two countries still share opportunities for financial gain and have less incentive for conflict. Even if some terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement change, they say, energy can remain a boon for both countries economies, along with that of Canada.
Ixchel Castro, the manager of oil and refining research in Latin America for the consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, said the involvement of former Exxon Mobil Chief Executive and current Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who visited Mexico City last week, was a good sign.
Someone from Exxon Mobil understands very well how this mutual collaboration has been a win-win in the last few years, Castro said.
Castro was referring to the changes that President Enrique Pena Nieto signed into law in 2013, opening the Mexican oil industry to foreign investment. It was a groundbreaking move. Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, had been a state monopoly since 1938, and has long been beset by mismanagement, corruption and nepotism.
Pemex has always worked as an appendix of the government and Ministry of Finance, and worked less as an oil company, said Ariel Ramos, a partner at Mayer Brown, a legal services firm in Mexico City, and a NAFTA and energy expert. Most decisions it made were more politically driven and driven by the federal budget than operationally driven.
For decades, Pemex has been the federal governments piggy bank and crutch. Critics say that because profits havent been well-invested, its infrastructure and technology are tired and its production down. And when the government eased gasoline subsidies in December, prices jumped 20% for premium gas (and 14% for regular) the next month. Protests, sometimes violent, broke out nationwide.
But for foreign investors, Pemexs problems and Mexicos resources present opportunity.
In the U.S., theyre still discovering new reserves, but theyre more difficult for production, Ramos said. It would be easier to just cross the border and start operation on the Mexican side than to go to areas of the U.S. with more complexity and cost.
For example, consider the Eagle Ford Shale, the oil-rich geological formation that has been tapped in Texas thanks to fracking and other technology. The formation continues into Mexico, but has not been developed there because of lack of technology, investment and infrastructure, according to Ramos.
NAFTA, which took effect in 1994, eliminated most tariffs among the United States, Mexico and Canada. Energy wasnt its prime focus, but the deal grandfathered in Mexicos laws at the time concerning foreign companies working in the energy sector, Ramos said.
Ellen R. Wald, a U.S.-based energy and geopolitics analyst, explained the exceptions made for Mexico that remain in NAFTA with the example of a Texas company that produces energy in Mexico and sells it back to its customers in Texas. Under NAFTA, the company would be required to sell any excess power to Mexicos federal electricity commission and at a rate set by the commission.
But Ramos said that rule and ones like it have essentially fallen from use since Pena Nieto opened the oil industry to foreign investment three years ago. He says that, because these rules are no longer in effect, they would not constitute a major part of renegotiations.
Wald takes a somewhat different view. Again, consider this example of the Texas company in Mexico. Pena Nietos more liberal policies benefit such companies, but future presidential administrations could, hypothetically, backtrack, she said.
What if next year the Mexican government decides its done with liberalization? she asked. A new NAFTA could put Pena Nietos open energy policies more firmly in place, she said.
Wald stressed the importance of creating regional stability when it comes to energy. You can decide where to plant your field of wheat, but you cant decide where oil and gas will be. Having the ability to work together as neighbors is more efficient when providing energy security, she said.
Mexico-based energy analyst David Shields said that it would be unlikely for Trump to pursue tariffs on energy. Thats because the U.S. sells more energy to Mexico than it imports.
If Trumps main intention were to hurt Mexicos economy, he could stop buying crude from Mexico and buy it from somewhere else, but thats not good business. We understand Mr. Trump to be a businessman, Shields said.
Ramos suggested that, when it comes to energy, Mexico can use certain regulations that still represent barriers to investment as bargaining chips with the United States.
For example, Mexican law requires that companies engaged in energy initiatives use at least a certain percentage of Mexican contents that is, raw materials and workforce.
Ramos suggests that Mexico could relax such requirements, allowing U.S. and Canadian firms greater freedom in whom to hire and what sort of material to use. Such an offer could improve the odds of Mexico getting a better deal in other sectors, such as agriculture.
Regionally, the United States, Canada and Mexico have a lot to gain from collaborating in the market for fossil fuels.
Energy reform in Mexico represents a possibility of creating an energy hub that would have almost no rivalry worldwide, Ramos said. Still, he said, that doesnt make this a good time to revisit NAFTA.
Any revision of NAFTA would not be done under ordinary trade negotiations, because of the stance the U.S. is taking on other issues as well binational security, drug smuggling and immigration, Ramos said. Unfortunately, all of these other issues would contaminate a discussion and revision.
Tillman is a special correspondent.
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An avalanche swept down a climbing route on Mount Everest early Friday, killing at least 12 Nepalese guides and leaving four missing in the deadliest disaster on the worlds highest peak. Several more were injured.
The Sherpa guides had gone early in the morning to fix ropes for other climbers when the avalanche hit them at about 6:30 a.m., Nepal Tourism Ministry official Krishna Lamsal said from the base camp where he is monitoring rescue efforts.
An injured survivor told his relatives that the path up the mountain was unstable just before the avalanche. As soon as the avalanche hit, rescuers, guides and climbers rushed to help.
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Photos: Avalanche on Mt. Everest
Four survivors were injured badly enough to require airlifting to a hospital in Katmandu. One arrived during the day, and three taken to the foothill town of Lukla could be evacuated Saturday. Others with less serious injuries were being treated at base camp.
Rescue workers pulled out 12 bodies from under mounds of snow and ice and were searching for the four missing guides, Lamsal said. Officials had earlier said three were missing.
The avalanche hit an area nicknamed the popcorn field for its bulging chucks of ice and is just below Camp 2, Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association said. Camp 2 sits at an elevation of 6,400 meters (21,000 feet) on the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) mountain.
One injured guide, Dawa Tashi, lay in the intensive care unit at Grande Hospital in the capital late Friday after being evacuated from the mountain. Doctors said he suffered several broken ribs and would be in the hospital for a few days.
Tashi told his visiting relatives that the Sherpa guides woke up early and were on their way to fix ropes to the higher camps but were delayed because of the unsteady path. Suddenly the avalanche fell on the group and buried many of them, according to Tashis sister-in-law Dawa Yanju.
Hundreds of climbers, guides and support crews are at Everests base camp preparing to climb to the summit when weather conditions will be at their most favorable early next month. They have been setting up camps at higher altitudes, and guides have been fixing routes and ropes on the slopes above.
The Sherpa people are one of the main ethnic groups in Nepals alpine region, and many make their living as climbing guides on Everest and other Himalayan peaks.
More than 4,000 climbers have summited Everest since 1953, when it was first conquered by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Hundreds have died attempting to reach the peak.
The worst recorded disaster on Everest had been a snowstorm on May 11, 1996, that caused the deaths of eight climbers. Six Nepalese guides were killed in an avalanche in 1970.
Earlier this year, Nepal announced several steps to better manage the heavy flow of climbers and speed up rescue operations. The steps included the dispatch of officials and security personnel to the base camp at 5,300 meters (17,380 feet), where they will stay throughout the spring climbing season that ends in May.
Asus has rolled out an update that will let their latest release, the ZenFone 3 to comply with VoLTE support. In a press release, Asus mentioned that the update will be rolled out as a part of a routine OTA update which will then unlock voice-calling features through LTE bands.
Asus ZenFone 3 is one of the company's primary releases for its Indian customer base. Currently, India's only carrier to support VoLTE is Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio program which proved to be one of the most influential voice calling and data access services offered to Indian users. The list of devices will include pretty much all models under the 'Zenfone 3' branding from the Chinese firm. The complete list of the covered devices can be seen on Tech Radar.
The following details also revealed that Asus plans to roll out the same updates to their older models like the ZenFone Max and Zenfone 2 Laser along with the ZenFone Go 5.0 which is supposed to be the LTE variant. The Chinese manufacturer has also confirmed that VoLTE is pretty much guaranteed for their 'ZenFone Selfie' and ZenFone 3 Ultra, which is a recently released model by Asus.
Apart from the update, Asus will be releasing yet another model for the 'ZenFone 3' series, with the introduction of ZenFone 3 Go that's expected to be unveiled at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month. The following report from The Indian Express mentions that the phone will be sporting capacitive touch buttons on the front panel of the phone.
The leaked images sourced to the website from an Italian daily, reveals a unibody metal design with the antennae bands present on the top and bottom of the rear portion of the device. The color choices for the new phone suggests that the ZenFone 3GO shall be offered in black, gold and pink variants.
ZeTime the first hybrid smartwatch introduced by MyKronoz, a better known as a watchmaker for luxury timepieces is now on the table. The company offers an electronic wristband that is virtually flavorful, from its fitness trackers and heart rate screens to full shading smartwatches that will be available at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year.
According to TC, ZeTime has an activity tracker, an optical heart rate screen, notification and all the rest. The company said that the movement will last 30 days, yet there is no exact information on how long the battery will give power to the color touchscreen. The ZeTime boasts its physical smart crown and a 44mm waterproofs stainless case that are inspired by the finest Swiss outline.
The components of its mechanical hand mounted in a tiny hole in the watch's 240 x 240 pixel TFT round display. Because of MyKronoz's restrictive Smart Movement technology, they automatically modify the time based on time zone.
Digital Trends reported that the inspiration of Boris Brault, CEO, and founder of MyKronoz, is to combine the best of Swiss legacy in traditional watchmaking with the key elements of the smartwatch to convince the majority of the customers to adopt the wearable technology. It combines the best of the worlds that the watch hands of an elegant of a traditional timepiece with a full shading touchscreen.
The ZeTime technology is more than just an analog watch. It boasts with a three-axis accelerometer and optical heart rate sensor that can track a movement measurements like steps, distance, calories, and minutes of dynamic sleep. Additionally, it can be paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth 4.1 and will serve as a music playback controls and notifications of incoming calls, messages, weather forecasts, and even calendar arrangements.
The ZeTime will ship in early September 2017 with the starting price of $200, along with the silicon, natural leather, carbon-fiber, and other styles of convertible straps. The ZeTime internal battery has 200mAh that charged wirelessly via an included dock.
Feb 26, 2017, 1:26pm ET
Tesla, SpaceX employees getting first Model 3s
Elon Musk expects his employees will be more tolerant of issues.
Tesla has confirmed it will hand-select the customers that will receive the first examples of the Model 3.
Named Founders Series, the first examples will be given to reservation holders who work for Tesla or SpaceX, according to enthusiast website Teslarati. Company co-founder and CEO Elon Musk explained his employees are familiar with Tesla products, and he expects them to be more tolerant of the issues that often plague new cars early in the production run.
"It's good to have a feedback loop before customers experience them," he said during a conference call.
Deliveries to customers outside of Tesla and SpaceX will begin once the kinks have been ironed out. The first cars will be sent to motorists who live in California. Those who live on the east coast will have to wait a little bit longer, but early reservation holders are nonetheless expected to get their car before the end of the year.
Musk has previously explained the Model 3 will be much simpler to build than the S and the X in order to avoid costly delays. The Fremont, California, factory will churn out about 1,000 examples per week when production starts in July. The plant will manufacture 4,000 examples per week the following month, 5,000 per week in September, and reach a cruising speed of 10,000 vehicles per week at some point in 2018.
Chief Littlecrow Bagby actually looks forward to going to the doctor.
The 52-year-old didn't always feel that way.
And he's seen a lot of doctors after having two heart attacks and two strokes. Many docs he encountered lacked a warm bedside manner, he said.
But the doctors and physicians assistants he encounters in the DeSales Free Clinic at the Allentown Rescue Mission are a different sort. They joke with him and listen to his concerns when he comes in for bi-weekly blood pressure checks and medicine refills.
When he sought treatment for a pinched nerve in his neck, he discovered the source of his chronic neck pain.
"I've come to find out I have arthritis," Bagby said.
The care he's received has been an unexpected upside to finding himself homeless following the condemnation of his Quakertown rental home in December. Friends in his church's purity group suggested he turn to the mission.
"It's a lifesaver to come here," Bagby said. "Guys are hurt and they come in and get taken such good care of. These people are afraid to go to the regular doctor because they are not personable. Here it is different."
10 years of 'transformative' care
The free DeSales University student-run clinic is celebrating its 10th anniversary operating at the Allentown Rescue Mission this year. The clinic provides shelter residents primary and acute care, lab services and medications, all for free.
Physician assistants Corinne and Brett Feldman dreamed up the idea for the clinic at their dinner table while Brett Feldman, who is now director of Lehigh Valley Health Network's street medicine program, was a student in DeSales' physician assistant program.
Corinne Feldman had already graduated from PA school in Chicago, where she'd been required to spend time in a homeless shelter providing free medical care. They looked for similar opportunities in the Lehigh Valley, but didn't find anywhere providing primary care to the homeless.
"I saw at a very early stage in my education how many people were not sitting in our waiting rooms in our doctor's offices," Corinne Feldman said, adding it sparked a curiosity as to why those patients were uncomfortable. "Establishing clinics in homeless shelters removes that barrier of a sterile office because we come to their turf."
So, Brett Feldman approached the DeSales administration with their "crazy idea," said Corinne Feldman, who is now an associate professor in DeSales' physician assistant program.
And after a year of stops and starts, the clinic opened for its first evening at the Allentown Rescue Mission. A year-and-a-half ago, they expanded their work to the Truth Home for Women in Bethlehem, which helps women recovering from sexual exploitation.
The clinic at the mission now opens at 6 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday.
"Patients are given individual attention," said Nancy Davidson, 23, a second-year student in the program. "We are here from six until the last patient is seen."
On Thursday, the clinic saw seven patients, a manageable number for the five students, supervising doctor and physician assistant, Corinne Feldman said. Two weeks ago, they saw 23 patients, who were all quite sick, in one evening.
"They are a huge blessing to us," said Hillary Spear, Allentown Rescue Mission director of operations.
Prior to the DeSales clinic, the mission only could send clients to the emergency room, she said.
"If you don't have insurance, you don't have access to a doctor," Spear said.
Students take the lead at the clinic, getting hands-on experience working as physician assistants who can treat patients and prescribe medicine as long as they remain under the supervision of a doctor.
"The students are not there to shadow a provider," Corinne Feldman said.
All first and second-year DeSales physician assistant graduate students must work in the clinic, which is an unusual requirement, she said. They fundraise to help keep it afloat. It also has a $500,000 endowment from DeSales.
Only 85 U.S. medical schools have student-run clinics, a handful of which are in homeless shelters, and only four require it as a part of the curriculum, Corinne Feldman said.
"I think it makes a big difference in terms of the students we graduate because they are raised on this as part of their medical education," Corinne Feldman said. "It is humanizing a part of our society that is often dehumanized in so many ways."
Some are initially hesitant about working in the clinic. But it ends up being transformative for both patients, who get reliable care, and students, she said.
"It takes what they think they know about themselves and it forces them to apply it to real patients who have real, complex social issues and real, complex medical issues," Corinne Feldman said. "They are forced to decide who they are going to be, how they are going to handle these difficult situations."
Humans with complex lives
Delroy Osborne is one of those complex patients.
The 29-year-old lost his left leg from the knee down in a car accident 11 years ago in his native Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. His left femur and hip are shattered, which he dreams of getting repaired.
"I would love to be able to walk again," Osborne said.
He recently sprained his right ankle, but he can't follow the conventional advice of staying off his foot to let it heal. He walks to and from the bus stop on crutches each day to get to his job in a telecommunications center in Bethlehem.
The swelling of his ankle on Thursday showed the purple ace bandage he got on his last clinic visit isn't cutting it. None of the braces the clinic has in-stock fit his size 15 feet, but providers plan to get him one.
Osborne arrived in the area about a month ago, driven out of New Jersey by the high cost of living.
"This is where the bus stopped, literally," Osborne said.
He's grateful for the care and shelter he receives at the mission. And he isn't frustrated that his ankle is taking long to heal.
"They are trying their best," Obsorne said. "It is a free clinic and they offer the best care they can."
Thursday evening DeSales student Davidson worked alongside first-year student Sophia Chen, evaluating Fernando Mendoza, 61, who came in complaining of both chest and tooth pain.
Davidson questioned him about his long list of ailments with occasional Spanish translation help from volunteer Korrinne Yurick, 21, a Muhlenberg College senior, who will be enrolling in the DeSales PA program.
Despite a language barrier, Mendoza kept them laughing, cracking jokes about how he was an old car that was falling apart.
Davidson found working in the clinic so inspiring and humbling that she is headed to Tanzania next year to learn about the African nation's medical system, working alongside a doctor.
"This opened my eyes," she said. "I wasn't even aware of the prevalence of the homeless population in Allentown."
About 10,000 people find themselves homeless in the Lehigh Valley each year. The DeSales Free Clinic sees about 1,000 men each year, providing ongoing primary care and breaking the cycle of relying on emergency rooms for basic care.
On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, DeSales nursing students go to the rescue mission and check 'the guys' blood pressure. Those students often refer patients to the clinic at night.
"It really closes that loop of flagging something in a screening but not having an avenue to get that care," Corinne Feldman said.
If one of the men doesn't show up for the evening clinic, they will seek them out in the shelter and that can be quite meaningful for some of the men, she said.
"A lot of their interaction with our health care system has been pretty dismissive," Corinne Feldman said. "I think it tells them how much we do care about them. And that is an unusual feeling for many of these guys."
DeSales' program is unique because it really challenges students to think about the responsibility of a physician assistant to reach those who don't have health care, Davidson said.
"What really sticks with you is how grateful each patient is for what we are providing," she said. "Some want to pray with you and say God bless after."
Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A family-owned New Hope, Pa., caramel corn shop is opening up a store on Main Street in Bethlehem.
Clusters, a caramel corn shop, is scheduled to open in March at 530 Main St. in Bethlehem.
Clusters, 530 Main St., is expected to open in March, according to a sign posted in the window.
The storefront has been vacant since the women's boutique Shuze closed in 2013 after a five-year run.
Clusters owners Linda and Jules Sghiatti dreamed up the idea to open a popcorn store after watching fireworks in New Hope one evening and discussing the lack of snack shops other than ice cream, according to the store's website.
As they chatted about how they loved hitting caramel corn shops on the boardwalk, the idea for Clusters was born. Jules Sghiatti, a residential builder, got to work designing and building the shop while Linda and the kids started testing recipes.
Years later, the shop is thriving with a brick-and-mortar and online retail business and Clusters is expanding to a Bethlehem location.
The Sghiattis did not return messages left at the New Hope location seeking more details about their plans for Bethlehem.
Clusters now offers a dizzying array of flavors, ranging from buttered, blue cheese and dill pickle to the gourmet options such as cookie explosion and white cheddar chipotle.
And here's an insider tip: when the staff at Clusters asks if you want your bag open or closed, always answer open. You'll get an extra scoop.
Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Jairo Orellana, of Easton
Jairo Orellana, a 17-year-old senior at Easton Area High School, says he had a difficult time when he first emigrated from Ecuador but he has grown to love his new home in the Lehigh Valley. (Courtesy photo)
When 12-year-old Jairo Orellana immigrated to the United States five years ago, he was frightened and lonely.
He spoke no English but was determined to find a way to make the most of his experiences away from his native Ecuador.
Now 17, Orellana is due to graduate from Easton Area High School in June. He said he loves the city, the school system, his teachers and his friends.
His success story was highlighted by the Easton Area School Board, which invited him to speak in January and gave him a certificate to recognize the obstacles he's overcome.
Orellana spent his childhood in Gualaceo, Ecuador, living with his mother Diana Pina. When he was 2 years old, his father Rolando Orellana moved to the U.S. in search of work. His father would send back money to his family in Ecuador but living without a father was tough for a boy, Orellana said.
After years living separately, Orellana's parents divorced and his mother remarried Santiago Pina, an American citizen.
The family moved to New York State and young Orellana found himself in a place where he didn't understand anybody and few understood him. The language barrier put him in difficult situations, Orellana said.
"I was the Hispanic kid sitting in the corner afraid to ask permission to use the bathroom because I was embarrassed I might mispronounce a word," Orellana said.
After three months, the family moved to Patchogue, N.Y., which has a large Spanish-speaking population. While communication with his neighbors and school peers was easier, Orellana said he felt living in an area where he wasn't challenged to learn English would ultimately be a detriment.
"I wanted to learn English. I wanted to get educated and be a better person," Orellana said. "I told my mother we need to move."
The family again moved --this time to Elizabeth, N.J. -- but Orellana said his limited English and a Spanish accent led the students there to bully and tease him. In 2014, Orellana and his parents moved to Easton.
That's where Orellana said he began to blossom. At the end of his freshman year, he started working with Easton Area High School's English as a Second Language, or ESL, department.
Through Easton's teachers and his fellow students, he said, he began to feel at home and believe he could be a success in America.
"They are really good people in Easton," Orellana said. "You can hang out with the American people here. They will help. If you say anything wrong, they will correct you and not laugh at you."
Orellana breezed through his ESL classes in two years and was able to add college preparatory classes to his course selection.
"A compelling story," said schools Superintendent John Reinhart at the Jan. 24 school board meeting where Orellana was introduced.
After graduation, he plans to attend community college and then apply to Penn State University, where he would like to pursue a medical degree and some day become a doctor, Orellana said.
"Congratulations to you Jairo," Reinhart said. "We're really glad to know that's something that you're gong to take advantage of. Best wishes to you."
The teen and his mother have attained their citizenship and are grateful for their experience in Easton, Orellana said.
"In Ecuador, you don't have the opportunities and the education," Orellana said. "Over here, in this high school in Easton, they want to help you. They want to see you be something in life."
John Best is a freelance writer. Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook.
The fifth cellphone store robbery across the Lehigh Valley and northwest Jersey Saturday evening mirrored the same chain of events as the previous four incidents, police said Sunday.
Lopatcong Township Police Lt. Scott Bisci said a male clerk was alone at 6:34 p.m. when two male robbers wearing all dark clothing and ski masks entered the AT&T Spring Mobil store, 760 Memorial Parkway, across from the Hillcrest Shopping Center.
The robbers showed a gun and forced the employee to the back of the store, where he was restrained and told to stay put. The robbers at some point placed the gun at the employee's back, Bisci said.
The thieves then stole several cellphones, merchandise and an undetermined amount of cash, Bisci said. The employee was unsure where the robbers fled and in what direction.
There were no patrons in the store at the time and no reported injuries with the exception of minor injuries the clerk suffered while being restrained, Bisci said.
The robbers fled in a stolen 2003 silver Infiniti G-35, which later was recovered in Easton. Bisci said the vehicle is believed to have been stolen from New York, but came back registered to a New Jersey car dealer. It also had a stolen license plate out of Allentown, he said.
More evidence is being recovered in a joint investigation by the Lopatcong Township Police Department and Warren County Prosecutor's Office. Store surveillance footage showed one of the robbers wearing denim jeans and both wearing black hooded sweatshirts and gloves.
Police are investigating all five robberies -- in Lopatcong Township, Forks Township, Bethlehem Township, South Whitehall Township and Wind Gap -- and trying to determine if they are connected. There are similarities in all five incidents and no suspects have been caught in any.
A Verizon store robbery in Forks Township on Oct. 29 was tied to the Nov. 21 killing of Michael Davis outside his Palmer Township home.
The 25-year-old worked at the store, 301 Town Center Blvd. The store manager reported he was assaulted and abducted Nov. 22 outside his home, also in Palmer. In both Palmer incidents, the assailants were two men.
Then the night of Jan. 5, the AT&T Authorized Retailer at 3859 Nazareth Pike in Bethlehem Township was robbed by two men, one of whom brandished a handgun, according to police. Police after that robbery said they were investigating to see if it was tied to the Forks Township crime.
On Jan. 16, two men armed with handguns and dressed in dark clothing entered the Cellular Connection store about 8:06 p.m. p.m. at 3075 Tilghman St. in South Whitehall, police said. The men there also forced employees into an office area and made off with an undetermined amount of merchandise, police said.
They fled to Easton's West Ward but were able to walk away from a silver Hyundai, which was parked in the Spruce Street alley.
A Wind Gap Verizon store was robbed at 10:48 a.m. Feb. 9, with Slate Belt Regional police confirming it involved two robbers and a clerk who was tied up in a back room.
The suspects in the Wind Gap robbery are described as one being 5 feet, 8 inches in height and the other, 6 feet, 2 inches in height. Both wore ski masks over their faces.
Store surveillance footage shows one suspect wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and light pants and the other, a green sweatshirt with a dark hood.
Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
ATT store Lopatcong.jpeg
Lopatcong Township police on Saturday night investigate a robbery at an AT&T store on Memorial Parkway. (Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleyliuve.com contributor)
At least the fifth robbery since late October of a cellphone store in the Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey was reported Saturday evening, this time in Lopatcong Township.
Township police Lt. Scott Bisci confirmed the robbery at an AT&T store at 760 Memorial Parkway, across from the Hillcrest Shopping Center.
He wasn't able to go into great detail, but said the robber or robbers got away and the car they were driving was recovered in Easton.
He said he couldn't confirm or deny there were two robbers who wore ski masks and tied up the clerk in a back room.
That is what happened in at least four other robberies in recent months -- one of which is tied to a Palmer Township homicide.
An investigator with another department who was listening to emergency radio reports said it "sounds identical to our incidents."
Bisci said he might be able to provide more information later once it's cleared by the Warren County prosecutor.
Warren County Prosecutor Richard Burke didn't immediately respond to a text and voicemail.
Cellphone stores in the Lehigh Valley have been tied to a number of crimes in recent months, including the Nov. 21 killing of Michael Davis outside his Palmer Township home.
The 25-year-old worked at Verizon at 301 Town Center Blvd. in Forks Township, which was robbed at gunpoint Oct. 29. The store manager reported he was assaulted and abducted Nov. 22 outside his home, also in Palmer. In both Palmer incidents, the assailants were two men.
Then the night of Jan. 5, the AT&T Authorized Retailer at 3859 Nazareth Pike in Bethlehem Township was robbed by two men, one of whom brandished a handgun, according to police. Police after that robbery said they were investigating to see if it was tied to the Forks Township crime.
On Jan. 16, two men armed with handguns and dressed in dark clothing entered the Cellular Connection store about 8:06 p.m. p.m. at 3075 Tilghman St. in South Whitehall Township, police said. The men forced employees into an office area and made off with an undetermined amount of merchandise, police said.
They fled to Easton's West Ward but were able to walk away from a silver Hyundai, which was parked in the Spruce Street alley.
A Wind Gap Verizon store was robbed at 10:48 a.m. Feb. 9, with Slate Belt Regional police confirming it involved two robbers and a clerk who was tied up in a back room.
Authorities have not announced arrests in the Palmer, Forks, Bethlehem Township, South Whitehall of Wind Gap incidents.
ony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Thousands of small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs expected to attend over 380 events during Local Enterprise Week in March.
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Ms. Mary Mitchell O Connor T.D. has welcomed plans by the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) to host more than 380 inspiring events around the country for an estimated 14,500 start-ups, aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners during Local Enterprise Week 2017.
The focus of Local Enterprise Week is to increase awareness of the range of LEO supports and services available to micro and small enterprises.
Running from March 5th to 10th, all 31 LEOs, including LEO Laois will be celebrating Local Enterprise Week with a range of events for start-ups, aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses in their area.
Entrepreneurs of all ages will have the opportunity to participate in workshops, seminars, advice clinics and one-to-one mentoring in areas such as: starting a business, how to turn social media leads into sales, figuring out your finances, growing a business through sales and marketing, intellectual property, and being Brexit-ready.
Highlights of Local Enterprise Week in Laois are expected to include:
- Kickstart your Business in 2017 One-to-one Mentoring clinic 6th March 10am 4pm Local Enterprise Office, Portlaoise
- Get your Business Brexit Ready InterTrade Ireland event (Midlands) 7th March The Radisson Hotel Athlone 8am 9.30am
- Get Social Media Savvy One-to-One Mentoring 10am 4pm Local Enterprise Office
- Student Enterprise Awards County Final event 8th March Portlaoise Heritage Hotel 9.30am
-Starting Your Own Business The Challenges and Rewards with speaker Kelly Ging, Kelly Lou Cakes and Niamh Callinan, SME Automation Specialist AIB on Electronic services hosted by AIB Bank 8th March 2pm 4pm The Killeshin Hotel
- Celebrating International Womens Day with Laois Enterprising Womens Network 'From Likes To Leads - How To Turn Your Social Media Into Sales' 8th March 8pm-10pm The Killeshin Hotel
- Portlaoise Enterprise Centre Open Day 8th March 2pm 5pm Portlaoise Enterprise Centre
- Top Tips for Marketing One to One Mentoring Clinic 9th March 10am 4pm Portarlington Enterprise Centre
- An Overview of Intellectual Property 9th March 2pm 4pm Local Enterprise Office Laois
Local Enterprise Week officially kicks-off on Sunday, March 5th with the national final of Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition in Google Headquarters in Dublin.
IBYE, which is an initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices and supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland, achieved an unprecedented number of entries across all 31 LEOs with more than 1,800 young people competing for the 2 million IBYE investment fund.
Local Enterprise Office Laois is represented in the IBYE competition by Francis Cosgrave, Sonrimor Ltd. Best Business Idea Category, Alan Meredith, Alan Meredith Studio, Best Start up Business Category and Kelly Ging, Kelly Lou Cakes, Best Established Business Category. Kelly Ging, Kelly Lou Cakes is also going on to represent Laois in the National Finals on March 5th in Google Headquarters.
Welcoming the extensive range of events planned by the LEOs for Local Enterprise Week, Minister Mitchell O Connor said:
I am very impressed with the comprehensive programme of events organised by the LEOs for Local Enterprise Week 2017.
I would encourage every start-up and small business owner to make it their business to check out and participate in the events taking place in their locality.
It is important that anyone starting or growing a business is fully aware of the extensive range of enterprise supports that are available to them.
As set out in the Action Plan for Jobs, 2017, I also want to encourage more micro and small businesses to grow international sales and diversify into Europe and beyond. The LEOs are the first-stop-shop on hand to help entrepreneurs and small business owners embark on this journey.
Evelyn Reddin of the Local Enterprise Office Laois said that Local Enterprise Week was the ideal shop window to show the wide range of supports on offer to start-ups, sole traders and small businesses in Laois.
She said: Local Enterprise Week, which takes place from March 5th to 10th, is a collaboration on a local and national scale between LEOs, local business communities, Government Departments, other units within Local Authorities, and State support agencies.
We hope these events will inspire and motivate hundreds of entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs in Laois. Small businesses continue to be the backbone of our local economy, with huge potential to grow and create jobs.
Details for all events can be found at www.localenterprise.ie/laois or contact 057 86 61800 and Local Enterprise Office Laois are strongly advising businesses to book well in advance.
The furore over Enda Kennys leadership and when and if he intends to announce his date of departure has shifted the attention somewhat from what has been an utterly sordid episode in Irish public life.
Our recently history is, of course, replete with incidents which are truly unedifying but, in its breadth and scope, the controversy surronding the treatment of Sgt Maurice McCabe threatens to eclipse many of them.
Whats at stake here is whether organs of the State knowingly, or otherwise, set out to discredit McCabe and other Garda whistleblowers.
If so, this amounts to a gross abuse of power, more suited to the machinations of a Stalinist regime than a supposedly enlightened parliamentary democracy.
What emanated from Government last week did little to reassure anyone as to what really transpired.
Enda Kennys admission in the Dail that he had provided inaccurate information regarding his contacts with one of his own Ministers regarding Tusla and Sgt. McCabe was truly jaw dropping.
The treatment of Garda whistleblowers has been a simmering and contentious issue ever since this story erupted some years ago.
It has now morphed to another level with the allegations of child sexual abuse and the involvement of Tusla.
It has taken on all the classic trophes of a political crisis, descending into a who said what and who knew what and when scenario.
Basically the ingredients of your conventional political bloodbath.
At least, the Government has had the wherewithal to set up a commission, which has now expanded into a tribunal, with expanded terms of reference, in order to deal with the main issues arising from the Sgt McCabe imbroglio.
In a week of political high wire acts, that was probably an achievement in itself.
And now we are left with the unedifying spectacle of a succession contest for leadership of the country and Fine Gael.
We have heard much over the past few days of giving the Taoiseach the requisite space and time to do his own thing. He is a decent man, and few could probably argue with this.
However, its time to get on with the government of the country and to do what it must do to be in some way effective.
We are facing a host of unprecedented internal and external challenges, and our response and reaction to them is going to shape much of our history in the 21st century.
The world at the moment is a fraught place, and this will continue to be the case for quite some time to come.
Pussyfooting over the leadership of the government, or a political party, is something we can ill afford.
We need a strong government as we face into the challenges of Brexit, and as the EU braces itself for what is shaping up to be an inherently turbulent time.
Its not a time for internal, domestic squabbles.
It's not a time for personality politics.
The man on the street, or the patient on the trolley is not too concerned with anyone's political legacy, or making political records.
They probably have their own ideas on that.
What they are concerned with are the fundamental issues and challenges which continue to beset the country, regardless of who is leader.
Laois TD Charlie Flanagan has embarked on his furthest trip away from Ireland since becoming Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The Minister began an official visit to the Land of the Rising Sun, Japanm on Sunday at the invitation of the Japanese Government.
The visit follows the successful visit to Ireland in January of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Mr Fumio Kishida.
Ireland enjoys increasingly strong trade and investment ties with Japan, and bilateral trade totalled 9.8 billion in 2015. Japan remains Irelands largest export market for goods in Asia and it is Irelands largest source of Foreign Direct Investment from Asia. There are currently 79 Japanese companies operating in Ireland, supporting over 4,000 jobs.
The Mountmellick native looked forward to engaging with business groups in Japan and promoting Irelands key messages in the Japanese media, particularly in the context of Brexit.
The visit offers a valuable opportunity for me to convey key messages on Irelands response to Brexit to a Japanese audience, and to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the European Union," said the Portlaoise-based Minister.
"It is important to reinforce that following Brexit, Ireland will remain at the heart of the EU, offering an English speaking gateway to an EU market of 440 million people, and that we possess a talented and flexible workforce and a provide a welcome home to investors.
The Fine Gael Minster will visit Hiroshima to learn first-hand of the devastating impact of the Atomic Bomb on the city and its surroundings.
He will have bilateral meeting with the Japanese Foreign Minister in Tokyo as well as addressing to Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce in Tokyo and Osaka.
He gives a keynote address to the Japanese Business Federation and also address to joint IDA Ireland & Enterprise Ireland event for Japanese business executives on Irelands Financial Services Strategy.
The Laois TD will also deliver a lecture at the Japan Institute of International Affairs address Japanese media at Japan National Press Club.
There will be hopes in the minister's native county that he can drum up some interest among Japanese firms in Laois which, by some distance, as the lowest level of IDA backed jobs and investment of any county in Ireland.
The Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, TD, has met the local finalist who will represent Kildare at the National Final of Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition.
Also joining the Taoiseach at the recent meeting in Dublin were Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell OConnor T.D., Minister of State for Employment and Small Business, Pat Breen T.D, Sheelagh Daly of the Local Enterprise Offices and Martin Corry of Enterprise Ireland.
Jenny Reynolds (33) of Topper Technology travelled to meet the Taoiseach at Government Buildings in Dublin, representing Local Enterprise Office Kildare.
A record 1,842 young entrepreneurs, aged between 18 and 35, have taken part in this years IBYE.
The competition has progressed through county and regional stages where 24 young entrepreneurs have now emerged as national IBYE finalists and will compete for the prestigious title of Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur.
The IBYE Final takes place at Googles European Headquarters in Dublin on Sunday next, March 5.
The IBYE competition is run by Local Enterprise Office Kildare.
A winner and runner-up will be selected in each of the three IBYE categories, and along with the overall winner, will share the 100,000 national final investment fund at the awards ceremony.
Looking ahead to the national final of IBYE on March 5th, we are very proud to be represented by Topper Technology and we will continue to support them through every step of their journey, said Jacqui McNabb of Kildare LEO.
Naas-based Topper Technology has developed an app providing SMEs with a simple payment processing system which will help overcome their biggest problem getting paid. For more information, visit topper.ie.
People like those in Tusla must be in charge of that particular section, said Cllr Des Guckian (Independent), referring to the exit off the Dromod-Rooskey Bypass at Fearnaught which he said was left in a deplorable state.
At the February meeting of Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District, Cllr Guckian called on Leitrim County Council engineers to advise the TII (formerly the NRA) of the problem.
He also said there is excessive speeding on the bypass. The two lanes are suddenly merged and speeding traffic on the right-hand lane often rushes to get past those on the left, he said.
Shay O'Connor, Senior Engineer, Roads, replied, The Dromod-Rooskey Bypass has been subject to the required safety audit inspection and has passed these inspections. Excessive speeding is a matter for the Gardai and we will pass on the councillors concerns at our next meeting with the Gardai.
Cllr Guckian said he was not happy at all with the response and accused the council of washing its hands of the matter.
He said the Gardai are never on the bypass and there are never any checkpoints on it.
He described the bypass as being 10km long, very narrow, with no hard shoulders for people to pull in, in an emergency.
It was an experiment from day one and it has been abandoned at the Fearnaught end, he said.
Cllr Guckian said there was something completely wrong with the arrow directing converging traffic into the left hand lane and he said some sort of advance signage was needed to cut down on speed.
Mr O'Connor said the Roads Department has regular meetings with the TII and will raise the matter again. He stressed the council was not just washing its hands of it.
Cllr Sinead Guckian pointed out that advance signage on approach roads advertising what Carrick-on-Shannon has to offer for visitors is now four years in discussions.
At this month's meeting of Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District, Cllr Guckian asked when will the proposed new signage be erected.
"This 'advance signage' is needed to highlight the many attractions, businesses and services within the town centre. It is a necessary marketing and information asset to encourage visitors into the town and it's provision is long overdue," she said.
Director of Service, Community Development, Joseph Gilhooley, said the matter of advanced signage continues to be under discussions with the Chamber through the town team process.
Cllr Guckian said she has responses from 2014, 2015, 2016 and now 2017 that discussions are ongoing regarding the signage. "Every year we lose it, it's having a detrimental effect on the town's business. We can't let 2017 pass without advance signage, it's too important to the town," she said.
Cathaoirleach, Cllr Finola Armstrong-McGuire seconded the motion and explained that money was the problem in regard to the signage.
She took aim at the 'paid parking' signs recently erected on approach roads into the town which she said were "incredibly big and went up without anyone's permission."
She said people were interpretting that Carrick is paid parking and they are moving on elsewhere. She suggested the signs should be "handed back" and replaced by smaller ones.
Mr Gilhooley said the paid parking signs are a statutory requirement.
He explained there is a cost sharing arrangement in this matter and it was important to get these signs right.
Cllr Guckian asked if the signs will be up in 2017 and he replied that it is "not in that stream of funding."
Political representatives have welcomed news that Minister for Housing, Jan OSullivan has created a list of 40 unfinished housing estates earmarked for demolition.
Political representatives have welcomed news that Minister for Housing, Jan OSullivan has created a list of 40 unfinished housing estates earmarked for demolition.
But questions have been raised over the legality of such a proposal in light of planning regulations as well as the cost that the taxpayer will incur as a result.
The Department of Environment confirmed that Minister OSullivan is due to publish the 2013 annual survey on unfinished housing developments in the coming weeks but said they could not comment on whether any Co Leitrim estates were included in the list of those to be demolished.
A spokesperson for Leitrim County Council said that they were aware of the Ministers initiative to raze unfinished estates but stressed they were unable to comment on the situation in Co Leitrim at this time.
Cllr John McCartin however welcomed the possibilty of demolishing unfinished estates pointing out that there was no possibility that the county would be able to attract the population required to fill thousands of vacant homes.
The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, were bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. Thats no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobodys going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future.
Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and its right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future.
Barbaras theme was the effect of Brexit on young people and businesses in her home town of Bristol and the need to recognise the worries of those who voted Remain and not to forget about them.
My Lords, I wish to speak about some of the issues that have been raised by people and organisations in my own city of Bristol. The first thing to say is that the moralistic argument that the people have spoken has a rather hollow ring in my city, where a large majority voted to remain in the EU. They have spoken too and they feel that no one in government is listening to them.
Bristol is a highly successful city with an economy driven by an innovative business community which is based on strong links with the EU, particularly aviation and its supply chains throughout the south-west. Through the partnership of its two world-class universities, it is also a test bed for technological and environmental development and a trailblazer in the creative, media, digital and microelectronic industries. It is Britains leading smart city and was the European Green Capital in 2015. Bristol is a city of small companies. Having read some of the case studies in a local chamber of commerce survey, I do not recognise the description that I heard from the noble Lord, Lord Cavendish. The small firms in Bristol very much value working with the EU. Due to the skills shortages in this country many of them are dependent on recruitment from the EU and EU workers freedom of movement. They feel that the constraints that may be put in their way may well lead some of them to consider operating from Europe, where access to skills and freedom of movement fit much more with the kind of businesses they run.
Bristol is a city of young people. Many noble Lords have mentioned that the remain vote was much stronger among young people. There is a very strong tradition of internationalism in Bristol, which has a young peoples culture. It has one of the highest graduate retention rates in the country and is part of a very innovative, international culture, in partnership with EU countries and colleges. One thing that I have not heard mentioned today is the importance of those shared cultural heritages.
As an international port, Bristol welcomes people from other countries. It has many diverse communities and is not a homogenous city. We need to acknowledge that many cities, particularly in this country, are in the same position. When talking about divided communities, we need to think about the difference between our cities, which are sometimes defined as the economic powerhouse of our country, and other areas. Bristol is a city that welcomes people from outside the UK, and the distressing plight of the EU nationals there is a matter of great concern. The barriers that have been put in their way as they have tried to apply for residence are legendary. I had a group of them here yesterday. They told me that the form they have to fill in consists of some 85 pages. It is the longest of any EU country. For these people, many of whom have lived here for 40 years, worked here and paid their taxes, surely this is a most distressing state of affairs. Not only have barriers been put in their way, they have been subject to hate crime. Many of them tell me that they have lived here for 40 years. They came to this country because they valued its qualities of fairness, justice, constancy and a culture where they feel at home and where people from other countries feel welcome. Their experience since the vote has been quite the contrary. I spoke to people yesterday who told me that they are not sleeping; they are depressed, and their families are suffering as a result. All they want is reassuranceto know that they are welcome and will have the rights they have had over the last 40 years. I will most certainly support an amendment to the Bill that will give them those rights.
To come back to the argument that the people have spoken, when I talk to young people, more and more of them tell me that they are quite shocked to find that the only political party they have to support them is the Liberal Democrats. They have spoken to other parties and they are not
That is borne out by the increasing numbers of people who are joining the Liberal Democrats for that very reason. If you read their reasons, you will understand why.
There was also a challenge to the point that somehow the punters are not interested. They are very interested in my city, and they were very interested in Richmond Park, where that was a key issue in the by-election. Maybe some people are not interested, but many are.
The outcome of the referendum was a huge shock and disappointment to people who have devoted their lives to co-operation and peace, internationalism, shared common values and beliefs. These will not be dismantled so easily. Despite this, we respect the right of others to differ. We do not say, They got it wrong; I know it is a jolly good phrase that gets passed around, just like The people have spoken and Brexit is Brexit, but we do not say that at all. None of us in this Chamber or in this country can know what the outcome of the negotiations will be. We also know that things will change. How many people on 23 June would have believed that Donald Trump would be elected? We know that circumstances can change, which is why we in this party are absolutely committed to the idea that people should vote and should have the final say on any deal that emerges. Two years is a long timeeven a week is a long time in politicsand so much can change. As others have said, this started with the people, and so it must finish with the people.
The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, were bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. Thats no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobodys going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future.
Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and its right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future.
Andrew Stunell started by pointing out one irony. The Lords making the most noise about democracy and how the Lords had to do what the Government had said because it was the will of the people were the very ones who argued against the Lords being reformed and elected.
His main point was about the effect on the construction industry of Brexit. Government plans require it to grow by 35%, yet the many combined effects of Brexit would cause it to shrink.
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Davies, has given me a wonderful introduction to what I was going to say in any case. Leaving the European Union is strongly against the long-term interests of the United Kingdom and it will hit hardest those citizens who rely most heavily on public services for the well-being of themselves and their families, and for whom economic prosperity is crucial for their job, the roof over their head and the money to pay for the services on which they depend. Several noble Lords have urged us to surrender the best interests of those hard-pressed citizens without a fight, misusing words like democracy and accountability to do so. But it is not anti-democratic to speak up for the views and interests of the 16 million people on the remain side of the debate, and it would be anti-democratic to leave their voices unheard in Parliament.
However, I also note a paradox. The same noble Lords who complain so bitterly about those of us in the House who have the temerity to speak up and say that Brexit will leave Britain weaker and poorer, diminished abroad and shrivelled at home, are also, almost without exception, against this House actually being representative of public opinion. While my noble friends have consistently advocated and fought for the democratic accountability of this place, our critics in this debate have argued over the years that a representative and accountable second House is the last thing they want to see.
The paradox is that those calling for our surrender to populism today do not believe that this House should represent the public, and have often set out their view that the Lords role is best understood as moderating the headstrong impulses of the mob with a strong dose of rationality and expertise. Indeed, just a few moments ago the noble Lord, Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury, said that we are famous for our evidence-based approach to issues that come before us. That is exactly what I and my colleagues are doing and will continue to do throughout this whole damaging and self-harming process.
That is why I will use the remainder of my limited time to focus on one very important but so far ignored sector: the construction industry. I remind the House that the Conservative Government are committed to delivering, among other things: 1 million new homes by 2020; large-scale school expansion and prison-rebuilding programmes; the three Hs of Hinkley Point, Heathrow 3 and High Speed 2; the northern powerhouse and a massive rail electrification programme; and, of course, a boom in exports across the world, needing new factories, workshops, laboratories, roads and ports.
Last November, the Exiting the EU Select Committee in the other place took evidence from the Brexit Infrastructure Group, led by Sir John Armitt, the past president of the Institution of Civil Engineers that to deliver all those things in a timely fashion, the construction industry needs to expand its capacity by 35% over the next decade. To deliver the Governments investment programme, the construction industry has to grow by 35%. But to deliver the Governments hard Brexit policy, cutting all access to EU 27 workers, would cause it to shrink by 9%.
Construction is bigger than aerospace and vehicle manufacture combined, contributing around 8% of UK GDP, but of course enabling far more. According to the ONS it employed 200,000 EU 27 workers in 20169% of its labour force. In London, EU 27 workers form 54% of the construction workforce, at every level, from top engineers and designers to site labourers. Just to maintain current construction output, EU 27 labour is essential, and the first step must therefore be to safeguard the position of those already here if output is not to decline steeply. To deliver the Governments infrastructure and housing targets will require more migrant workers, not fewer.
However, that is not all. UK construction projects benefit from the tariff-free flow of goods from the EU 27, with one-third of all materials and construction products, including 90% of timber, imported from them. Therefore the mutual recognition of standards and qualifications, and a zero tariff, should be taken as givens in maintaining frictionless trade with the EU, and as essential if the construction sector is to grow in capacity and deliver the Governments investment programme. A hard Brexit will certainly not be frictionless for the construction industry.
The Governments response to this so far has been to downgrade construction in their negotiating strategy. In a list of 50 industrial sectorswhere the grades are essential, important and low priorityconstruction appears as low priority, while the Governments industrial strategy White Paper is silent on how to recruit and skill up the UK workforce needed to replace the 70,000 construction workers who retire each year, let alone how to plug the 200,000 gap when the EU 27 workers leaveand the 35% increase in capacity to deliver the Governments infrastructure and housing objectives comes on top of that. A hard Brexit will cripple the construction industry and will leave the UK diminished and hamstrung. This Bill should go no further.
The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, were bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. Thats no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobodys going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future.
Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and its right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future.
As a former Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Brian Paddick knows his stuff when it comes to matters of crime and security. He talks about the process of inter-country information sharing taking weeks or months rather than instantaneously as present. So much for Brexit making us safer.
My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, is in his place, I will thank him for the opportunity to debate this legislation which we might not have had if he had not played such a good role in the Supreme Court. As our party spokesman on home affairs I want to make absolutely clear that I support the protection of the rights of EU citizens resident in the UK and of UK citizens living in the EU.
This afternoon I seek to make only one point and to use one example to illustrate that point. The British people did not know the full consequences of leaving the EU at the time of the referendum and did not therefore make an informed choice. They are entitled to a vote on the final deal. As the noble Baroness, Lady Murphy, said, none of us, on either side of the argument, knew what the full consequences of leaving the EU were going to be at the time of the referendumand, of course we will not know definitively until the negotiations are complete, although there are some things of which we are certain and which I will come to.
Let us be honest: no one, least of all the Conservative Government, thought much about the consequences of a leave vote because they never believed it would happen, as the noble Lord, Lord Darling, has just said. That is why the people need to decide, once they can make an informed choice, whether to accept the final deal negotiated by the Government. One thing is for sure: it is the people who started the process that will lead to the negotiations to leave the EU. Therefore, it is only the people who should decide, by means of a referendum, whether they want to go through with it once they have all the facts.
I come to my example. As the noble Baroness the Lord Privy Seal said yesterday, the Governments White Paper sets out in detail the 12 objectives for the negotiations, one of which is to continue to co-operate with our European partners in important areas such as crime, terrorism and foreign affairsthe noble Lord, Lord Blair of Boughton, clearly articulated how important such co-operation is. My noble friend Lord Wallace of Saltaire pointed out yesterday:
The White Paper also pledges to maintain close co-operation on internal security, intelligence and crime, but without accepting judicial oversight of such sensitive issues. That will not be possible.[Official Report, 20/02/17; col. 30.]
A major plank of the leave campaign was to make the UK Parliament sovereign and for law to be decided by British courts. But, as I shall seek to demonstrate, essential co-operation with the European Union on issues of terrorism, serious and organised crime, policing and justicematters that are the primary role of any Government to keep their people safecannot be achieved without ceding sovereignty. To be effective in combating terrorism and serious and organised crime, such as people trafficking and child sexual abuse, and to bring to justice criminals who flee from the EU to the UK or vice versa, there needs to be a mass exchange of information between the countries of the EU and the UK.
At the moment there are shared electronic databases, with more due to come on stream in the coming months. They enable a police officer who stops a suspect in the street in the UK to check instantly whether they are of interest to the security services anywhere in Europe and whether they are wanted under a European arrest warrant. Fingerprint and DNA samples found at the scene of a crime can be checked across the EU in seconds, minutes or hours, rather than in the weeks or monthsif it could be done at allthat it would take using Interpol.
These EU databases are subject to data protection law agreed by EU member states. Compliance is overseen by the European Court of Justice. At the moment we have a say as to what these EU data protection laws are. When we leave the EU, we will not. If we are to continue to have access to these vital databases, we will have to comply with EU data protection law over which we will no longer have any say.
The Government have also said that they will no longer be subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. So who will adjudicate on our compliance with EU data protection law? The Government may say that there should be a bespoke body specifically to adjudicate on such matters, as it suggests in its White Paper. This will obviously duplicate the work currently undertaken by the ECJ. Who is going to pay for this bespoke body that will ensure that the UK complies with EU law over which we will have no say? One thing is for sure: it is not going to be the Mexicans.
The British people believed that we would be safer outside the EU. They believed that we would no longer be subject to EU law and that we would no longer have to pay anything to, or for anything to do with, the European Union. That is what they were told during the referendum debate, whether in good faith or not. The reality is that we will either be much less safe if we no longer have access to the information held on these EU databases, or we will have to give up sovereignty by complying with EU law over which we will no longer have any say. We will either still be subject to the ECJ or we will have to fund an alternative body to adjudicate on these issues. Not many people realise this, and even fewer realised it at the time of the referendum.
This is why we are proposing an amendment to the Bill which will enable the British people to decide on the final deal when they know exactly what the consequences of leaving the EU are. This is not necessarily because they were misled or did not understand, but because it is only now beginning to dawn on all of us what the full consequences are going to be. As the noble Lord, Lord Butler of Brockwell, said, what is not democratic about giving the final say to the British people?
The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, were bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. Thats no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobodys going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future.
Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and its right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future.
David Chidgey spelled out some of the consequences of Brexit on our trading partners in Africa.
My Lords, from the Prime Ministers 12 point plan, the clear intention is that the UK should be destined to leave the single market and the EU customs union. It does not require too much scrutiny to work that out. That is in order to pursue bilateral trade agreements with faster growing economies outside the EU. In considering this Bill, it is not therefore unreasonable to consider the impact on the economies of the countries with whom we trade within the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific groups and beyond.
In the Prime Ministers 12 point plan, point 8 refers to the establishment of free trade into the European market through a free trade agreement, and point 9 is about concluding new agreements with other countries. It is blindingly obvious that this means that the UK will leave the EU customs union and the single market, while assuming it can establish a free trade agreement with the EU that is unlike any existing agreement.
I was fortunate to secure a debate on Africa and the EU economic partnership agreementsthe EPAson 17 November last year, recorded in Hansard Volume 776. In his response to that debate, the Minister of State commented that UK leadership had secured,
the worlds most generous package of market opening for developing countries,
of which, 44 are in Africa, in which I have a special interest.
With Brexit, the Minister stressed that, while the UK remains part of the EU,
we remain governed by the EPA arrangements,
and,
all rights and obligations will apply, including our commitments to developing countries through the EPAs.
He said that we enjoy,
strong trading relationships with many developing countries, and we will look to strengthen those ties in future. That will be part of the negotiation package as we move forward.
I repeat:
That will be part of the negotiation package, as we move forward.[Official Report, 17/11/16; col. 1642-44.]
At the same time, the Government have set as a priority a target of increasing trade and investment with the Commonwealth, estimating that Commonwealth trade will surpass $1 trillion by 2020. However, until Brexit is completed, the UK is bound by EU regulations, which forbid members from negotiating trade agreements with others, including the Commonwealth nations. That is, of course, where the dichotomy liesbetween ambition and reality, emphasising clearly why the outcome of these negotiations must be sanctioned by Parliament before any deal is ratified.
In its paper for the Commonwealth secretariat, well-known economists Mohammad Razzaque and Brendan Vickers confirm that,
Once the UK has formally exited the EU, however, all rights and obligations under these various agreements will cease to apply.
They also point out that, between 2000 and 2015, sub-Saharan Africa merchandise trade with the UK increased from $6.5 billion to $12 billion. Significantly, the same countries achieved far greater expansion in trade into the rest of the EU over the same period, with their exports far more than doublingfrom just over $30 billion to $71 billion over the same period. Despite its relatively low market share of EU trade with Africa overall, the UK remains an important destination for countries such as Botswanawe take 40% of its exports here in the UKwhile for Kenya we take 29% and for South Africa 26%. The impact of Brexit is bound to include a decline in exports to the EU from these and other African countries if the EPAs exclude the UK in the future.
Furthermore, any erosion of preferences in the UK market for the many current value-added products could have an adverse impact on the continents plans for structural economic transformation, as set out in the African Unions development plan, Agenda 2063. More than 20 ACP countries face most favoured nation tariff increases on the value of their total exports to the UK, amounting to some $250 million. South Africa would have to pay the largest import duties, of about $80 million, while its neighbours Swaziland and Namibia would face a potential tax bill of 8% of the value of their exports.
As Razzaque and Vickers point out, there are a number of policy options that the Government could pursue for EPA countries. For the least developed countries, or LDCs, the UK could devise its own generalised system of preferences, or GSP, building on and improving arrangements for the worlds poorest countries. The UK could also reduce non-tariff barriers and introduce more relaxed and more generous rules of origin. It could follow the Australian and Canadian models, which require recipient countries to add only 25% to the local value for goods to qualify for duty-free access. A UK offer of trade preferences could extend to services in line with the agreed least developed countries waiver under the World Trade Organization, or WTO.
A key issue is whether the UK can accede separately to existing EPAs or whether it can install replicas for ACP countries that have signed the deals with the EU. The Government will have to consider not only whether the replication of EPAs is possible but whether it is worth pursuing at all.
As we can see, Brexit will have a profound and far-reaching impact on our trade with African countries, in or out of the Commonwealth. I look forward to the Governments response in terms of negotiating Brexit with the EU prior to further deliberation by Parliament and before asking the people to endorse that decision.
The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, were bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. Thats no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobodys going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future.
Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and its right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future.
Alan Watson recounted his experience working for Roy Jenkins in the Commission decades ago. He talked about the importance of building a positive partnership with the EU something there is little sign of at the moment.
My Lords, I declare a historic interest and note that I have no contemporary interest. I worked with the lateand greatLord Jenkins in the European Commission for just over four years, at the end of which period I decided to come home. It was an interesting revelatory moment with regard to working within the European Commission, because when I attempted to resign, the head of personnel, who as it happens was an Englishman, said, You cant possibly do thatyou are a fonctionnaire permanente!. He meant every word. However, I persisted, and came home. I took my pension agreement with me at that point and I no longer have one from the European Commission. I make that clear.
On 15 June, a number of days before the referendum, we had a debate in this House on the referendum itself. By then, it was already clear that the referendum was in many ways dangerous, certainly divisive, and likely to be damaging. But for me, the most important thing about it was its folly. It was an unnecessary referendum, a miscalculation, and a high price has been paid. However, for the time being, as many noble Lords have said, this is water under the bridge. Cruel events over the next two years may well change the electorates perspective, but meanwhile, what can be done? I find three imperatives compelling and possibly hopeful.
First, over the next two years, we have the opportunity and the obligationto change the narrative on Europe. I remind the House that the White Papers title is The United Kingdoms Exit from and New Partnership with the European Union. We should take that title seriously. There is a positive experiencea number of themon which to base a more positive narrative. First, it is factually correct that on the overall economic balance, membership has been good for the United Kingdom. Look, for example, at the role of the City, which has enormously benefited in its standing and prowess, and in particular its transactions related to the euro. Look at what a Minister called recently the beacons of success in manufacturing; namely, the car industry. Why are we the recipients of this huge flow of inward investment? From South Korea, India and Japan, the cars that are being manufactured make Britain numerically one of the greatest car manufacturers and exporters in the world, and that is because we have this access to the single market. Look at research and development and at our universities. I say, as a Cambridge man, how interesting it is that Oxford is to make the first move in terms of situating itself in part on the continent.
Our membership has also been very good for the European Union. Reference has been made to the role of English, so let me share something with noble Lords. One of the things that I am proud of during my four years in the European Commission was a certain battle for the English language. I well remember going to a meeting, having had it explained to me beforehand by a Frenchman in the Groupe du Porte-Parole that if I submitted a paper on Mondays for a decision on Wednesdays in English, it would not appear for three weeks. If I submitted it in French, it would be dealt with that week. An Italian was in the chair at the meetingit was a Council meeting but I was there for the Commissionand everyone began to speak in French. The contributions were being made in alphabetical order and Watson is at the end of the alphabet. As it came near to my turn I thought, What on earth am I going to do? Well, I can speak German. But then I thought to myself, How stupid. English is a European language. So I went into English and the Irishman who was sitting next to me said, Oh begorraI should not say sweet Jesus in this Housethank you for doing that. He too immediately went into English and from that moment on everyone else did. So that was quite gratifying.
The second imperative is that when we trigger Article 50, which we will, we will also trigger the so-called new partnership. On 10 October last year I put down a Question for Written Answer asking what the Government were going to do to respect and take fully into account the votes of the millions who voted for remain. I received this reply:
Our guiding approach is to deliver the best deal for the British people working constructively with our EU partners going forward.
I would therefore like to ask the Minister what plans Her Majestys Government have for going forward constructively with our new partners in Europe. We have heard all about the opposite, but let us hear a bit on this side. I also think that this House has a key role to play and Parliament clearly so in terms of scrutiny and above all in ensuring that this new relationship is, in the end, voted on by both Houses of Parliament, and that the vote is important and decisive so that there is no legitimacy to this outcome unless that vote takes place.
Thirdly, I want to refer to a contribution made yesterday to the debate. The noble Baroness, Lady Hooper, is in her place. In her speech she used a wonderful analogy. She said that when marriages break up, there is usually a messy divorce and the only people to benefit are the lawyers. I have a horrible feeling that that is exactly what we are going to replicate over the next two years. But she went on to say that quite often after a divorce has happened, there is a reconciliation and an amazingly large number of partners remarry. Is that la-la land? One thing I can say is that it is a much better prospect than its alternative of division, disaster and maybe catastrophe.
The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, were bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. Thats no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobodys going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future.
Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and its right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future.
Jeremy pointed out that out of nearly 200 speakers, only 3 were, like him, born after we joined the EU. He talked about how younger people would have to live with the consequences of Brexit, despite being against it. The Governments hard brexit approach harmed their future.
My Lords, it remains a remarkable piece of good luck if you are born in our country and a remarkable judgment if you choose to make our country your home, but I am fearful about our union of nations and I am especially fearful for the views that our young people have about their future.
The Leader of the House and I have at least one thing in common: with our birthdays 18 months apart, we have lived all our lives in a country that has been a member of the EU. We are, I understand, two or only three Members taking part in this debate, of 190 speakers, for whom the UKs membership of the EU is older than we are. The majority of the people of our country of our age and below voted to remain; the Leader of the House is in a minority. Britains youngest voters will have an average of 60 years to live with the consequences of the Governments decisions in the coming two years. Sixteen and 17 year-oldsthose with the most at stakewere denied a say, and very many of them are now frustrated that they are denied a voice. If with some good fortune I am now at the halfway point of my life, I fully acknowledge that I may need to come to terms with living in a country that I passionately believe is going on the wrong path. I may have to come to terms with that and we may not be able to turn back.
We use our best judgment in this House on legislation for the futures interest, but we know that we cannot easily bind our successors. However, with this Bill the Government are explicitly telling us that we are binding our successors, who will be living with the consequences long after most of us are dead. So I refuse to be silenced on having a say if my say is different from that of the Government of the day, and I refuse to be intimidated about having a vote in Parliament on what kind of agreement is in the best interests of the country and its future. Indeed, as this is of such seismic importance, the people of the futurethe next generations to comeshould have a real say as to what is in their best interests, especially since we are now having to bear down on the reality of the commitments and promises, many of which were known to be mistruths, given to us during the referendum campaign. I am reminded of what Sir Walter Scott said:
Faces that have charmed us the most escape us the soonest.
We are now having to pick up the pieces for the next generation.
So far, the Government believe that the future is for them, and them alone, to decide. It was their decision that we should have no formal participation in the common economic market or a free trade area or the customs union or the regulatory bodies. These decisions were based on new Conservative Party policiesmade only in monthsand there was little mandate for them, not to mention any cross-party consensus. As I say, these were seismic choices made by one party according to what it defined as the will of the people. A Government elected by not even 25% of the electorate made choices based on a referendum won by a narrow majority of those who voted but a minority of the electorate as a whole.
The Government have set extreme parameters which months earlier they argued passionately would be highly damaging to the country. I agreed with them then and still agree with their previous position. The recent White Paper is weak in comparison with its pre-referendum predecessor. The economic facts and realities have not changed. Indeed, the challenges ahead are immense, and I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, that some are perhaps insurmountable. How unkind history would have been if Keynes had been reputed to have said, When I change my mind, I change the facts. What do you do, sir?
The Government are approaching this alone, and they should not do it alone. In Scotland after the referendum I sawas we all knew it wouldthat a winner-takes-all approach would be wounding and perpetuate a deep division in the country, which is hard to heal and continues to be hard to heal. That is why there was a Scotland Bill as a result of cross-party consensus and a commission, with a radical transfer of fiscal and welfare powers after it. But even with the Scotland Act, many people in Scotland on the losing side of referendum feel aggrieved. In many respects, the response by the Government to the EU referendum simply confirms the suspicion that we now have a UK Government which is effectively an English Government playing for an English audience. They play the lines of the unionists when it suits the play, but when they retire for the curtain call the real personality of their character as an English-only party comes to the fore. Party first will not do now. You respect the result of a referendum not by courtesy but by action.
What has been quite hard to accept in the debate so far has been many on the government side saying that they would not even countenance the people having a say on the deal. I ask myself why the Government have not ruled out a second Scottish referendum. All of the rhetoric in this debate suggests that they would never countenance a referendum after the previous one for Scotlandwhen the margin was much stronger and the issue much clearerbut the Government do not say this. They say that the people have a right to decide, and in fact, in confidential briefings to the press before Christmas, the Scotland Office floated the idea that it may well consider another referendum, but only after a Brexit deal is arranged. Is this perhaps for political imperatives? We cannot afford political imperatives any more.
People of my age and younger, who will have to live with the consequences of the next two years for the rest of their lives, and perhaps come to terms with this in the context of a whole different world order, will perhaps agree with the American comedian and commentator who came up with the term truthiness: the notion that if I feel something to be true, it must be legitimate. This may well be the new Trump doctrine, but surely it cannot be the Brexit mantra. Our next generation will live with the consequences of this. They need to have a say on whether it is in their best interest, and I will refuse to deny them a voice whenever I have an opportunity to vote in this Parliament.
The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, were bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. Thats no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobodys going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future.
Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and its right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future.
Martin Thomas compared the rush towards Brexit to the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade. He also highlighted the huge cost of leaving the EU. Where would we find the tens of billions? The Government seems to have no plan on how to deal with this.
My Lords, the Telegraph reports today that the EU Bill for a Brexit divorce is 60 billion. It is made up of existing annual budget commitments until 2019, pension obligations and other longer term liabilities. The European Commission concedes that the United Kingdom should be allowed to offset against that Bill its share of the assets of the EU, perhaps between 15 and 20 billion, so we are left with a net hefty 40 billion or so to stump up as the price of divorce.
What does the Governments White Paper say about this prospective liability? Absolutely nothing. Do the Government agree we have a price to pay? If so, how much? We do not know. This is not a poker game, and this is just one card in a whole stack of cards. The Governments argument is that to disclose our negotiating position on any issue would harm our national interest. I do not believe for a moment that that is the reason for their reticence. If you do not disclose your hand, and keep your cards close to your chest, there is no measure by which the public can judge whether your negotiations are a success or failure. Whatever deal can be dragged out of the negotiations can then be termed victory. That is exactly what David Cameron did a year ago. The Government cannot be seen to fail. Where they create a desert, they call it peace.
My noble friend Lord Campbell of Pittenweem pointed out yesterday that if the deal goes pear-shaped, as we believe it will, the members of the public who voted for leave will look the other way, and everybody will blame the politicians. Yet Brexiteers heap scorn on our suggestion that the people of this country should be given ownership of the deal that is negotiated by ratifying it in a referendum. Let them own it. No, the Government say, You gave us the mandate to start the process, so you must accept the result. Well, fair enough. Press the Article 50 button and let the Conservative Party take the consequences. This is where I enjoyed the intervention of the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, yesterdayI regret to say that he has just deserted his post. Like a good general, as Jo Grimond once reminded us, he marched his troops towards the sound of gunfire. There is no longer any point in attacking Her Majestys Opposition. It is rather like the fall of France in June 1941, when the leadership had deserted and left behind strong pockets of courageous resistance; the Free French have become Free Labour.
The noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, spends his six minutes attacking the Liberal Democrats. He is a latter-day Earl of Cardigan, leading the charge of the Brexit brigade. He bellows at our Benches: Yours not to make reply, yours not to reason why, yours but to do and die. The Russian gunners thought the Light Brigade charged the guns at Balaclava because they were drunk. I think the Brexiteers are, for the moment, intoxicated, but merely by the success of their campaign. Unfortunately, it is we in Wales who will share the depths of their hangover.
Wales is a net beneficiary of European funding to the tune of 680 million annually. Importantly, EU funding is based on need, not on a calculation of population share, like the Barnett formula. For example, Welsh farmers receive 274 million each year in direct subsidies under the CAP. These are significantly above the Barnett share of UK receipts. It reflects the marginal nature and low incomes of much Welsh farming. Are the farmers going to receive this support after 2020? Will they face the destruction of their industry by cheap imports or by a trade deal with New Zealand, as the noble Baroness, Lady Cohen, spoke of a moment ago?
Take the support for the poorer parts of Wales. The European Social Fund is due to invest 800 million in Wales in tackling poverty, supporting people into work and increasing skills among young people and the most disadvantaged. Will the Government commit to replacing this funding after 2020? Take economic development. The current ESIF programmes are investing more than 1.1 billion in research and innovation, business, renewable energy and urban development in Wales. We have spent years creating a single market, removing barriers to trade, standardising our regulations and creating a level playing field for us all to serve a market of 400 million people. It is not good business to abandon it all. Progressives believe that it will lead to the impoverishment of the people of this country.
The noble Lords, Lord Forsyth and Lord Robathan, who indulged in some light skirmishing earlier today, are both right. We are the enemyto Brexiteers, to Trumps vision of America and to populist politics everywhere. We are progressives. We stand instinctively for co-operation, not conflict, in Europe; for universal human rights; for social welfare and the health service; for the solution of environmental issues across borders; and for a common standard of justice throughout Europe. We have been led along these paths by Lloyd George, Keynes, Beveridge, Attlee, Nye Bevan, Roy Jenkins and many others. The wheel will turn again.
Thirty-six years after Balaclava, Rudyard Kipling reflected on the aftermath of the famous charge in his poem The Last of the Light Brigade:
O thirty million English that babble of Englands might,
Behold there are twenty heroes who lack their food to-night;
Our childrens children are lisping to honour the charge they made
And we leave to the streets and the workhouse the charge of the Light Brigade!
The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, were bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. Thats no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobodys going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future.
Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and its right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future.
Sue Miller talked about her worries about peace and security and that Brexit would hasten the rise of nationalism and populism in Europe. She also highlighted concern for EU nationals and the distraction that Brexit causes from other issues which need to be dealt with.
My Lords, one effect of growing up as a post-war child was hearing the amount of discussion and determination among the political classes that we would never have another war in Europe. At the top of my list of worries about Brexit is that we shall see an insular, narrow-minded nationalism taking hold and turning us from an outgoing, internationalist nation into an inward-looking nation.
We have heard much in the past day and a half about interdependence, which has to be one of the keys when we think about what we should do next. Brexit is not all about trade, although to listen to the Government you might think that it was. I firmly believe that, first and foremost, it should be about peace and security. I agreed strongly with the noble Lord, Lord Carlile of Berriew, when he said yesterday that endangering peace and security in Europe would be grounds to reject the deal. Incidentally, although I agreed with some of the speech made by Tony Blair, I thought it ironic he should tell everyone to rise up. When more millions than were ever seen all rose up and marched when he was Prime Minister, he took not a blind bit of notice.
Many of your Lordships will know that I spend a lot of time in France when I am not here. My experience of reaction to the UK decision to seek Brexit is that it has been one of extreme concern that it will accelerate the rise of extremist nationalist parties. That is happening all over Europe now. Europe and its member states therefore have many concerns and worries other than negotiating a Brexit deal with the UK. Those whose job it is will of course concentrate on it but, politically, any deal will have to be negotiated against a fast-changing political picture in Europe. It is not as though our negotiating partners will stay unchanged. By the end of two years the Europe with which we are negotiating will be very different. It may be a much longer timescale than the Government are thinking.
In the meantime, I worry what we are going to do about the day-to-day legislation we should be looking at. My noble friend Lord Bruce of Bennachie put it so eloquently yesterday when he said that day-to-day life will be sacrificed. We will be spending time on the great repeal Bill and not on all the other incredibly important issues. There are so many pressing issues in the area which I concentrate on in this Housethe environment, agriculture and foodyet the immense changes that are going to happen as a result of Brexit will be a threat to our food quality, animal welfare standards, family farms and landscape. If at the end of this we have a hard deal where WTO rules apply, we will see our food production driven down to the lowest common denominator. It would be a disaster in so many ways. It would not be accompanied by lower food bills: another day-to-day effect will be people seeing those go up.
Over the course of this debate it has bothered me that in the Governments mind there appears to be a direct trade-off between UK citizens living in the EU and European citizens living here. In fact, UK citizens living in the EU face 27 different sorts of issue and their position is not necessarily equivalent to that of EU citizens here. The Government should, therefore, settle the situation of EU citizens herethereby creating some good willbut at the same time do far more to help British citizens abroad, who have been left with no information, not even a helpline. The Government could decide now to give much more information about the future to those people who have to plan to relocate and find new jobs, schools for their children and care for their elderly. This would be about not the result of the negotiations but what their rights are now. That has been put on the sidelines because of this so-called trade-off.
There has been much talk of patriotic duty: I believe mine is to try and do what is in the best long-term interests of this country. As my noble friend Lord Newby said at the beginning of this debate, it is unconscionable to sit on our hands. If there is no deal, or the final deal is appalling, or it threatens peace and security, there is an absolute duty on us as parliamentarians to call a halt. I hope we will amend the Bill in order that we can offer that safety net to the Government and the country.
The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, were bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. Thats no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobodys going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future.
Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and its right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future.
Roger Roberts pointed out that the most famous phrase from the campaign, the one which the Leave campaigns director credits it with winning, the 350 million a week for the NHS, was a blatant lie and that alone justifies the people being given a vote on Brexit. He also added that the Government could not be trusted on its reassurances as it had already broken promises on refugees.
My Lords, when we are told that the people have spoken, we are referring to the one-third of the electorate who supported the Leave campaign. I would say that the people have not spoken. They were taken on a ride in a bus built in Poland by a German company. On its side it said, When we are out of the EU, we will have 350 million a week to spend on the NHS. That was the promise, yet in Arron Bankss recently published book, The Bad Boys of Brexit, he says that from the beginning they knew that it was a blatant lie. One of the biggest donors, giving 5 million to the Leave campaign, has said that they knew from the beginning that it was a blatant lie.
If it was a lie, is it not possible that the result of the referendum was because of a lie on the side of a bus? In all probability, by the Leave campaigns own admission, the referendum was won on a blatant lie. If that was so, we have every right to ask the people to consider it again when the time comes. It will determine the future of every one of usour children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. This House can either go along with a lie or it can decide that we are going to stop this here.
People say that we can rely on the Government. I have heard it argued that we can sort out the minutiae of this. I hope that the Governments promise to do this is firmer than their promise to bring 20,000 Syrian refugees to the UK and to provide a home for 3,000 unaccompanied children. I do not trust this Government to keep their promises.
The difference between 23 June and today is that we have a different Administration in the United States. When people voted, Obama was President of the United States. Today we have a very different presidency a Trump presidency. Every day we recoil in disbelief at the news from the US, the daily edicts of an Administration who are totally unpredictable. We only have to go the other wayto Russiaand, again, we have questions.
I am not going to speak at great length but, at this time of tremendous instability in the US, in Russia and perhaps in other states in Europe, I suggest that this is the very worst time for us to weaken the European Union. We are the basis for stability. We have our faults. We know that the European Union has its faults, but our own UK Parliament and Government also have their faults. What could be worse than for us to withdraw from Europe? It could be the beginning of the unravelling of the European Union at a time when we need it more than ever before. I would urge this House, at every opportunity, to secure not only our own future but the future of other countries in the world by voting to stay, strongly committed, at the heart of the European Union.
The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, were bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. Thats no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobodys going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future.
Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and its right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future.
Lindsay Northover concentrated on the cake and the eating of cake that is inherent in the Governments position and points out that Government is unlikely to get what it wants. She looks at the effect on trade and universities.
My Lords, with 190 of us speaking, there are about 23 of us for every line of this short Bill, but that shows how important the Bill is. There were powerful speeches yesterday, including from the noble Lord, Lord Malloch-Brown, who spoke at 12.07 last night. There was even unprecedented applause from the Public Gallery for my noble friend Lady Smith of Newnham after her passionate defence of EU citizens living here. There have been brave and passionate speeches today, such as those from the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, and the noble Lord, Lord Liddle. But, for me, the most moving speech yesterday was that of the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy, who likened the debate to an elegy. The UKs involvement in the European project might turn out to be, he said,
a fine, if ultimately doomed, cause.[Official Report, 20/2/17; col. 74.]
We appear to be on course for much more than a Lord Patten Hong Kong moment.
In the UK, we rarely learned about the EU as a project for peace, even though in recent memory on our continent there have been conflicts in the Balkans, Northern Ireland and Cyprus, with freedoms brutally suppressed in eastern Europe. Nor was it often pointed out in the UK that almost half of our trade is with the EU. We look at the US and marvel at how it could possibly have elected Donald Trump. Round the world, including in the Commonwealth, I have found that people wonder at how we could have voted to leave the largest, wealthiest and strongest trading bloc in the world.
So how does this Bill chart our way forward in the light of the referendum result? There are indeed different routes, and I seek clarification in the Prime Ministers speech. She prioritises controlling borders over our membership of the single market. She rejects the European Court of Justice, which adjudicates that single market, yet she wants the maximum,
freest possible trade in goods and services,
for British companies in the EU. She says that we may wish to retain elements for our strong industriesfor example, the financial services and automotive industries. However, as the noble Lord, Lord Hill, pointed out yesterday, we are not the only ones negotiating; there are 27 others. What will they make of the words we may wish to retain?
Recently, in Berlin, I spoke on a panel with two Brexiteers to German businesspeople. Like Merkel, to a person they said, No cherry picking, even if it damaged their immediate interests, lest the EU as a whole be undermined. Our Prime Minister agreed in France that she would not cherry pick. In which case, what then for the financial services and automotive industries? How does the UK prioritise sectors of its economy? What about the pharmaceutical industry or high-tech? What happens as our economy changes? Any privileged access for certain sectors must mean some kind of equivalence in regulation. Do we invent another ECJ? Theresa May wants us to have a customs agreement with the EU but does not want to be in the customs union. What would this mean, given our interconnected supply chains? What would be the threshold for it being possible to have deals elsewhere?
Our trade with the rest of the world has been growing, seemingly unhampered by our being in the EU. However, in 2015, India took only 1.4% of our goods and desires a trade agreement that prioritises freer access to the UK, and New Zealand took only 0.2% of our goods. Yes, we must redouble our efforts, but we must also recognise the significance of the EU market to us and our greater ability to secure good trade deals via the EU.
We understand that there will not be a hard border in Ireland, but how is that to work? Are we about the see people trafficking displaced from Calais to Ireland?
We gather that we will not be paying what are described as vast amounts to the EU. It is not mentioned that the net amount is under 1% of GNI.
We wish to maintain our lead in science and the universities, but we already see EU students looking to Canada rather than the UK. We hear that Oxford and Warwick are considering campuses in Paris so that they can access EU funds.
We are told that we will have no cliff edge but transitional arrangements. However, the Government also make it clear that we are willing to walk away. That means that risk remains.
The Prime Ministers speech appeals to those who voted for Brexit and seeks to address the concerns of those who oppose it. The problem is whether the two strands are compatible at all. My noble friend Lord Marks described this as the biggest foreign policy mistake in decades, so let us look at our position in the world. Justin Trudeau apparently feels lonely on the world stage, and one can see why. The EU is still the champion of liberal democracies and the rule of law, though populist movements even now challenge that. Populism has achieved an extraordinary result in the USA. We see a revived Russia active on Europes borders, in Crimea and Ukraine, threatening the Baltic states. The global world order is shifting eastwards. By 2050, China will be the largest economy in the world, with India in second place and Indonesia in fourth. Being part of the EU gave us disproportionate impact in global affairs. We are all members of NATO and, with France, we serve as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. We have indeed served as a bridge between the US and the EU; others will now become that bridge. The world is an unstable place and we must all be aware of populist, simplistic movements across our continentnot surprising in the wake of profound economic crisis.
This short Bill presages a long and complicated process. Parliament must be fully engaged, including meaningful votes at the end. If, at that end, we judge that what has been negotiated turns out not to be those sunlit uplands and is not in the interests of our now divided country, we must not be afraid to say so.
The Lib Dem Lords have made some cracking contributions to the debate on the Article 50 Bill. Ahead of its next Lords stages, were bringing you all the Lib Dem contributions over the course of this weekend. Thats no mean feat. There were 32 of them and cover more than 30,000 words. You are not expected to read every single one of them as they appear. Nobodys going to be testing you or anything. However, they will be there to refer to in the future.
Our Lords excelled themselves. Their contributions were thoughtful, individual, well-researched and wide-ranging and its right that we present them in full on this site to help the historian of the future.
Malcolm talked about Scotlands situation and argued that independence was an even worse prospect than it was before. As someone who has extensive experience in international development, the Governments plans to use the aid budget to sweeten Eastern Europe really upset him despicable, he called them.
My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes. I am pleased to say that, although I do not always agree with him, I agreed with every word that he said.
I want to focus on two things, involving two people: the Prime Minster and the First Minister of Scotland. Before the referendum, Theresa May was billed as a reluctant remainerbut a remainer. Since the referendum she has become an enthusiastic Brexiteer leading a Government barely distinguishable from UKIP. The referendum was conducted on both sides in a climate of misinformation. A Government elected with under 37% of the vote on a 66% turnout, under a Prime Minister who was not the leader of the party or an obvious prime ministerial candidate at the last election, have decided that their interpretation of the result should be sovereigneven trying to exclude Parliament from the process.
How dare they lecture us about democracy? As Ken Clarke said, had the result gone narrowly the other wayor even substantially the other waythe Brexiteers would not have stayed quiet but now would be in full cry for a rerun, as are the nationalists in Scotland, who also pledged that this was a once-in-a-generation vote. For the Prime Minister to say, definitively, that the people have voted to leave the single market, all or part of the customs union and the European Court of Justice, as well asand probably more importantlyother institutions of the EU, is a denial of democracy and an abrogation of leadership.
Let me turn to Scotland. Before the independence referendum, the SNP declared that it was a once-in-a-generation vote. Unfortunately for Mr Alex Salmond, he said that on television and it is being broadcast every day on Facebook. Yet now the SNP is threatening another referendum, despite the fact that the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to run one. The circumstances have changed as a result of the EU referendum. They sure havebut not in a way that makes Scottish independence a better option. The SNP traded on the slogan Independence in Europe for decades. However, that was based on the assumption that the UK would remain a member of the EU. For Scotland now to leave the UK, for an uncertain future, is anything but appealing. That probably explains why the prospect of a second referendum is unpopular in Scotland and why the likely outcome looks no different from the result before.
Let us face reality. The idea that Scotland can remain in the EU as a residual part of the UK as the rest of the UK leaves is pure fantasy and cannot happen legally or politicallywhatever Elmar Brok, in his mischievous way, may wish to think. The independence campaign failed most especially on its inability to give any credible steer on the currency that an independent Scotland would use and the ensuing friction and uncertainty in terms of engaging with the rest of the UK. That problem would be repeated in spades, should Scotland choose to leave the UK without an agreement on using the pound, which would anyway belie the concept of independence. Even allowing for the fact that Scotland, as part of the UK, has already adopted the acquis, it does not meet any of the essential fiscal criteria. It has no currency, no central bank and no track record. It stands to inherit an uncertain and unsustainable share of the UK national debt and, outside the UK, would be running a current account deficit that would not meet EU criteria under any circumstances. Even with a benign EU membership, therefore, it would take years in limbo before Scotland could aspire to full membership of the EU. That is even before consideration of the veto rights of the other member states.
As the UK obsesses with Brexit, which it will, Scotland obsesses with independence. Both those obsessions mean that day-to-day life is sacrificed and standards fall in education, health, skills and investment while we engage in this distraction. It is a form of self-destructive, collective insanity. Of course, we will campaign to minimise the damage and prevent the disintegration of our shared values, but it requires voters to turn away from an SNP that puts independence above the real interests of the people of Scotland and to stand up to a UKIP-leaning Conservative Party, which is leading us over a cliff. Every day it becomes more apparent than ever that more of our daily activities are threatenedculture, science, research, environment protection and workers rights are all now in the mix.
Now Brexiteers want to decorate their own Christmas tree. At the weekend we were told that we should use our aid budget to sweeten the trade deal by spending it in Europe and not Africa. How hard-faced to take money away from the poorest in Africa and south Asia to try to win votes from eastern European member states. How despicable. No doubt this will also mean as we proceed in this that we will not speak out on human rights abuses in all the countries that have problems and with which we are trying to negotiate trade and investment deals. I hear it in Iran; I hear it in Burma: Soft pedal. Dont upset them. We may want a trade deal. Dont stand up for British citizens. Dont stand up for human rights. In other words, our long-held and proud liberal values risk being traded away for Brexit. Not if I can help it.
LIMERICK City and County Council has unveiled over 15m of spending on local roads for 2017.
Members of the travel and transportation strategic policy committee were this week given a presentation outlining the spending estimates for 2017.
A total of 7.3m is being made available from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) on major roads projects, including 1m for the much-vaunted Limerick to Cork motorway, and 2.3m for the proposed Foynes-Limerick link.
Meanwhile, the feasibility of adding a junction to the M7 is also to be looked at, with 30,000 allocated for a study.
And a pavment strengthening scheme in Adare will see 600,000 allocated to it.
In the event of a winter of extreme weather, 160,000 is in the pot for necessary works, and this is benchmarked by 285,000 for ordinary roadworks across the county.
Elsewhere, 15.9m is being allocated for various restoration grants including 428,000 for bridge rehabilitation works, mainly across rural Co Limerick.
Controversially, 200,000 is to be spent on the Limerick Footbridge project, but when councillors questioned this, they were told it was a standard grant the same as last year.
Some 288,000 is being planned for safety improvement works at various roads.
Separately, 1.4m is in the budget from the National Transport Authority this year.
Of this, 1m is to be spent on the improvements to Parnell and Davis Street, with 50,000 allocated to city centre junction upgrades, and a further 250,000 on the improvements planned for Catherine Street and Roches Street.
Sinn Fein councillor Seighin O'Ceallaigh said he was surprised at what he saw as a low amount of spend on the M20 project.
Is 1m really enough to progress this? The scheme will cost 1bn in total. I think [Transport Minister] Shane Ross is just fobbing off the people of Limerick and Cork here, he said, pointing out 1m is a tiny percentage of the roads overall value.
Transportation director of service Vincent Murray said: We are looking at four years before contracts can be put in place. I think 1m is more than enough to get this process under way.
He said it is imperative the proposed motorway is included in the governments capital spending review, out later this year.
Fianna Fail councillor Sean Lynch said he was disappointed the N69 upgrades did not appear to be included in the review, and asked if a representative of the TII can be invited to address the next meeting.
Independent councillor John Loftus called for a timeline around the safety repair works at Thomond Bridge.
Mr Murray told him that designers for this have been appointed, and a contract is expected to be in place by late spring.
THE EVER popular Foynes Air Show is expected to soar to new heights this July as part of Aviation Ireland, which is supported by the Irish Aviation Authority.
For the first time ever the Foynes air show will join forces with the long established Bray Air Display in Wicklow, bringing more aircraft, thrills and visitors than ever before to Foynes on Saturday July 22 this year.
And it is not just the new partnership with the east coast that Foynes will be celebrating this year.
The fourth Foynes Air Show will also commemorate the 80th anniversary of the first transatlantic flights to Foynes in July 1937.
We are so delighted to be part of this new initiative by the Irish Aviation Authority - Aviation Ireland, and look forward to working with Bray Air Display to bring two outstanding air displays to the general public, said Foynes Air Show director Margaret OShaughnessy.
Foynes Air Show is a free event to be enjoyed by all, while helping to preserve our aviation history for future generations, she added.
Aviation Ireland founded by the Irish Aviation Authority supports both Foynes Air Show and Bray Air Display and provides two spectacular air shows over the same weekend Foynes on the Wild Atlantic Way and Bray on the Ancient East, explained Ms OShaughnessy.
We will start announcing the lineup over the coming weeks. We can assure fans of the show that there will be so much more to see and do this year, it should provide a huge attraction to Foynes and west Limerick, she said.
The show will coincide with the Irish Coffee Festival, which will take place on Sunday, July 23.
IT WAS Sir William Gladstone that said, Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land and their loyalty to high ideals.
The high ideals of communities across the county was highlighted at the annual Burial Ground Awards in the Woodlands House Hotel last week.
Voluntary parish committees, community councils, groups and individuals from across Limerick participated in the ninth event, which is organised by the community support services section of Limerick City and County Council.
St Josephs Burial Ground in Knocklong and Ardpatrick Burial Ground were selected as the overall winners in the modern and ancient categories at the gala ceremony.
The awards are divided into two categories, ancient and modern, with individual winners selected for the four areas of Annacotty, Kilmallock, Rathkeale/Adare and Newcastle West, which cover all of the city and county.
In presenting the awards, Deputy Mayor Noel Gleeson congratulated all the nominees, saying: Everyone is deeply thankful for the time and effort that you all spend in the upkeep of the burial grounds.
I want to pay tribute to the communities, burial ground committees, burial ground caretakers and parish councils who look after the upkeep and maintenance of Limerick's 250 cemeteries and especially the winners - Knocklong and Ardpatrick.
Gordon Daly, director of services, said: Limerick City and County Council greatly appreciates the hard work and commitment of those across Limerick who maintain their local burial grounds.
They are a key part of our community infrastructure. I have witnessed first hand the pride when a new cemetery or extension is opened. Equally I am aware of the care, respect and sensitivity shown to our ancient burial grounds, many of which have been part of our communities for hundreds of years, he added.
The community spirit and endeavour of all those nominated was rewarded at the Limerick Burial Ground Awards for 2016.
The full list in the modern section in Annacotty is: 1. Castlemungret; 2. Ballinure/ Mongfume 3. Taylors Cross, Community Burial Ground, Carnane.
Kilmallock: 1. St Josephs Burial Ground, Knocklong; 2. St Marys Burial Ground, Meanus; 3. St Patricks Burial Ground, Anglesborough.
Rathkeale/Adare: 1. St Marys Community Burial Ground, Ballingarry; 2. St Kyrans, Community Burial Ground, Coolcappagh; 3. Shanagolden Burial Ground.
Newcastle West: 1. Aughlish Burial Ground, Feohanagh; 2. Calvary, Newcastle West; 3. Springfield Burial Ground, Broadford.
In the ancient section, Annacotty: 1. Raheen; 2. Killeenagarriff; 3. Carrigparson.
Kilmallock: 1. Ardpatrick; 2. Kilflyn; 3. Temple.
Rathkeale/Adare: 1. Croagh; 2. Ballinakill, Kilfinny; 3. Shanbotha.
Newcastle West: 1. Templeathea; 2. Castletown Conyers; 3. Monegea.
At the following days Cappamore-Kilmallock Municipal District meeting, councillors congratulated Knocklong and Ardpatrick on their success. It is a wonderful night to celebrate everybody involved in the upkeep of our graveyards, said Cllr Donegan.
Cllr Brigid Teefy said it is important to mark the fact that so many volunteers give up their time.
NASA is sending the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft to within 4 million miles (6 million kilometers) of the sun in 2018. And the agency is taking every precaution to keep the craft from melting.
Humans have sent spacecraft to the moon, Mars and even distant interstellar space, but could we send a spaceship to the scorching sun?
The answer is yes, and it's happening soon.
In 2018, NASA plans to launch the Solar Probe Plus mission to the sun. Earth is about 93 million miles (149 million kilometers) from the sun, and Solar Probe Plus is slated to get within 4 million miles (6 million km) of the blazing star. [What Will Happen to Earth When the Sun Dies?]
"This is going to be our first mission to fly to the sun," said Eric Christian, a NASA research scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "We can't get to the very surface of the sun," but the mission will get close enough to answer three important questions, he said.
First, the mission aims to reveal why the surface of the sun, called the photosphere, is not as hot as the sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The surface of the sun is only about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit (5,500 degrees Celsius). But the atmosphere above it is a sizzling 3.5 million F (2 million C), according to NASA.
"You'd think the farther away you get from a heat source, you'd get colder," Christian told Live Science. "Why the atmosphere is hotter than the surface is a big puzzle."
Second, scientists want to know how the solar wind gets its speed. "The sun blows a stream of charged particles in all directions at a million miles an hour," he said. "But we don't understand how that gets accelerated."
People have known about the solar wind for years, as early observers noticed that the tails of comets always pointed away from the sun, even if the comet was traveling in another direction. This suggested that something that is, the solar wind was coming off the sun faster than the comet was moving, Christian said.
Third, the mission may ascertain why the sun occasionally emits high-energy particles called solar energetic particles that are a danger to unprotected astronauts and spacecraft.
Researchers have tried to figure out these mysteries from Earth, but "the trouble is we're 93 million miles away," Christian said. "[The distance makes] things get smeared out in a way that makes it hard to tell what's happening at the sun."
But flying to within 4 million miles of the sun has its challenges. The main challenge, unsurprisingly, is the heat. To deal with the extreme temperatures, NASA scientists have designed a 4.5-inch-thick (11.4 centimeters) carbon-composite shield, which is designed to withstand temperatures outside the spacecraft of 2,500 F (1,370 C), according to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, a NASA collaborator working on the Solar Probe Plus.
In addition, the probe will have special heat tubes called thermal radiators that will radiate heat that permeates the heat shield to open space, "so it doesn't go to the instruments, which are sensitive to heat," Christian said.
If these protections work as expected, the instruments in the probe will stay at room temperature, Christian said. [Is There Gravity in Space?]
The Solar Probe Plus will also be protected from radiation, which can damage the probe's electrical circuits, especially its memory, he said.
The spacecraft will be unmanned, but if given enough time and money, NASA scientists could probably develop a spacecraft that could safely carry an astronaut to within 4 million miles of the sun, Christian said. However, the cost of a human life is great, and that's a risk uncrewed missions don't carry, he noted.
If all goes as planned, the Solar Probe Plus will be the closest that a human-made object has ever made it to the sun. Until now, the closest spacecraft were Helios 1 (launched in December 1974), which flew to within 29 million miles (47 million km) of the sun, and Helios 2 (launched in April 1976), which flew to within 1.8 million miles (3 million km) closer to the sun than Helios 1.
More recently, Messenger (launched in August 2004) explored Mercury, which is about 36 million miles (58 million km) from the sun.
Original article on Live Science.
Hundreds gathered Saturday at Lake Casa Blanca for the Krizia Keiser Memorial 5K to raise awareness on the critical need for organ donors while highlighting the legacies of life of its namesake Krizia Keiser and her cousin.
Nearly four years ago, Krizia died but gave to others through organ donation.
Inspired by Krizia's decision, her cousin signed up to the Donate Life Texas registry and recently she too became an organ donor following her death. At the close of the event, Texas Organ Sharing Alliance, the organ procurement organization that provides organ donation and recovery services for families in Central and South Texas, presented the families of the heroes with Gift of Life medals signifying their generous decision to sign up on the Donate Life Texas registry providing others a second chance.
"It's been a rollercoaster, so sad of our recent loss," said Krizia's mother, Martha Keiser. "Krizia's passing is still so present but what a legacy my niece leaves in her honor."
The Keisers expressed that knowing the girls live on in those given a second chance at life has helped their family tremendously and that is why they eagerly educate the community on the importance of donation. The Donate Life Texas registry celebrated its nine-millionth registration in December, however, the need for organs far exceeds the supply, especially among minorities.
Only 40 percent of those living in Webb County are registered organ, eye and tissue donors. Participants at the run walk had the opportunity to sign up and save lives. One donor can save up to eight lives and more than 75 through tissue donation. Texans are encouraged to register their decision to become an organ, eye and tissue donor by going online at DonateLifeTexas.org or when renewing their Texas driver license or vehicle registration.
Danny Zaragoza/Laredo Morning Times
A young male was found dead Saturday after authorities responded to a structure fire in a neighborhood in central Laredo.
The fire was reported at about 5 p.m. at an apartment near East Montgomery Street and North Arkansas Avenue. A Fire Department official said it appeared the male did not die as a result of the fire.
Lester Cohen/Contributor
Team Coco is traveling south of the border and spending some time in Mexico.
And, if the initial clip is any indication, Conan O'Brien won't be shying away from President Donald Trump's quest to build a border wall between America and Mexico. Traveling to Mexico City, O'Brien tries (unsuccessfully) to raise funds for the proposed wall.
When Nokia bought French fitness technology company Withings last year, it was unclear exactly what the former smartphone maker had in mind. Withings makes smart scales, activity-tracking watches, and other devices to monitor your wellness, and it continued to update those even after the sale. But now Nokias plan is clear: The company will relaunch every Withings product with the Nokia name, overhaul the corresponding Health Mate app, and launch a platform for doctors and patients to share data from Nokias health devices. Its ambitious, to say the least.
Nokia will announce its health roadmap at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at a press conference on Sunday, but the rebranded products wont launch until summer. In a promotional image that Nokia provided to IDG, the Body Cardio scale, Steel HR smartwatch, and smart thermometer look the same as they did under Withings, but with Nokias logo emblazoned on each device.
The Health Mate app is getting a redesign, if the promotional image is any indication, though its unclear what new features Nokia will add.
Syncing data from device to doctor
Caitlin McGarry Withings new Steel HR activity tracker, which will be rebranded under Nokias name, monitors your heart rate in real time.
The biggest health initiative Nokia is undertaking is the Patient Care Platform, which is Apple-like in its aim to connect doctors and patients. The HIPAA-compliant platform allows health care providers to tap into patients Health Mate app, so they can see data synced from your wireless blood pressure monitor and Body Cardio scale. All of the data is encrypted and you have to consent to share it with your doctor.
Nokia has been testing the platform in the U.S. and U.K., where the National Health Service is using it to monitor hypertension in a 69,000-person clinical program. In the States, the American Medical Group Association used it to see if patients who measure their own blood pressure are more likely to have success lowering it than those who dont. The platform allowed doctors to see data from the Withings wireless blood pressure monitor.
This is a next-level version of Apples CareKit and ResearchKit initiatives, which help medical researchers and doctors see data from iOS apps. But whereas many of the ResearchKit and CareKit apps rely on users to self-report data on their medical conditions, Nokias Patient Care Platform gets its data directly from the Withings health devices that are now fully in the Nokia fold. This could be a game-changer.
The great Gold Rush Music Festival returns to the township of Waihi, with the first nuggets of gold dropping for the highly anticipated return of the 2023 festival.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Twitter that an Indian doctor who was abducted by the Islamic State in Libya has been rescued.
Dr.Ramamurthy Kosanam, hailing from Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh, was abducted 18 months ago. The Minister also said that all the six Indians abducted by the IS in Libya have been rescued.
We have rescued Dr.Ramamurthy Kosanam in Libya. Dr.Kosanam has suffered a bullet injury. We are bringing him to India shortly, the Minister tweeted.
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Trump Relinquishes Control of Foreign Policy
The war party is back in power and the odds of normal relations with Russia have dropped to zero.
The appointment of Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster to the position of national security adviser indicates that Trump has done an about-face on his most critical foreign policy issue, normalizing relations with Russia. General Michael Flynn who recently stepped down from the post following allegations of lying to Vice President Mike Pence was the main proponent of easing tensions with Moscow which is a position that had been enthusiastically embraced by President Donald Trump. But McMaster does not support normalizing relations with Russia, in fact, McMaster sees Russia as a hostile revisionist power that annex(es) territory, intimidates our allies, develops nuclear weapons, and uses proxies under the cover of modernized conventional militaries. So, whats going on? Why has Trump put a Moscow-hating hawk like McMaster in a position where hell be able to intensify the pressure on Russia, increase the provocations and, very likely, trigger a conflagration between the two nuclear-armed superpowers?
The appointment of McMaster is an attempt by Trump to placate his enemies in the Intel agencies and foreign policy establishment. Trump is signaling to his adversaries that he will cooperate in carrying out their strategic agenda provided they allow him to finish his term. Trump doesnt want to end up like Flynn nor does he want to do battle with the all-powerful deep state operatives who can launch one demeaning propaganda blitz after the other followed by years of excruciating investigations leading inevitably to a lengthy and humiliating impeachment that leaves Trump a broken, discredited shambles. Thats not how Trump wants to end his career in politics. He wants to end it on a high note, riding a wave of burgeoning affection and love.
Thats why he picked McMaster. The neocons love him, the liberal interventionists love him, the media loves him and the entire political establishment loves him. Everyone loves him. Hes the warrior-scholar who speaks truth to power and writes futuristic books on generation warfare, information superiority and predictive battlespace awareness all of which delight his devoted admirers. The downside of McMaster is that he is a hard-boiled militarist with a driving animus towards Russia. Judging by his writing on the topic, I would expect a broader and more lethal conflict to flare up in either Syria or Ukraine as soon as he gets settled in his new job.
Bottom line: The removal of Flynn has convinced Trump that powerful elements within the national security state have him in their crosshairs. As a result, Trump has relinquished control of foreign policy and handed the whole mess over to gladiator McMaster who will coordinate with Sec-Def General James Mattis on a new strategy to deploy US troops to East Syria and West Iraq to establish a permanent military presence in occupied Sunnistan. (The area will also be used for natural gas pipeline corridors connecting Qatar to the EU) The strategy in Ukraine will focus primarily on luring Russia into a long and resource-draining war that will further depress the ailing Russian economy precipitating political instability, social unrest and regime change. That is the hope at least, that Russias wars abroad will lead to the ousting of Vladimir Putin.
Heres a few clips from a presentation McMaster gave at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on May 4, 2016. They help to clarify the mans ominous world view:
what Id really like to talk to you about is (the) period were in right now, a period of increasing risksrisks to our nation, to our allies, and really all of humanity. globally the situation in connection with U.S. vital interests and security .. is changing really in a direction thats going to raise additional challenges to the U.S. and U.S. national security. what were seeing is a shift in geopolitics in a way that imposes great dangers and has elevated the risk of a major international military crisis to the highest level in the last 70 years. A number of scholars are writing about this Jakub Grygiel and Wess Mitchell in particular in their great recent book Unquiet Frontier, where they describe revisionist powers, Russia and China in particular on the Eurasian landmass, that are surrounded by weak states which are now becoming battlegrounds, areas of competition at the far reaches of American power. (Harbingers of Future War: Implications for the Army with Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, The Center for Strategic and International Studies)
We have discussed the pivot to Asia ad nauseam in this column. McMasters comments help to underscore the fact that the struggle to control the Eurasian landmass, the center of economic growth for the next century, is at the heart of the US imperial crusade which is now entering a new and more dangerous phase.
McMaster: I also think Margaret MacMillans great essay written in 2014 making the analogy between 2014 and 1914, and really making the point that geopolitics is back; maybe our what we might call our holiday from history in the post-Cold War period is over.
So in McMasters mind, another global conflagration on a par with World War 1 is now in the making. Unlike most people, he sees this as a challenge rather than an apocalyptic event that should be avoided at all cost.
McMaster: I think what might have punctuated the end of the post-Cold War period is Russias invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. Now, this was this was not really a new development in terms of Russian aggression. I think you can go back to the denial-of-service attacks on the Baltic states in 2007, certainly the invasion of Georgia in 2008.
McMaster is extremely well read and follows the news closely. He knows that Georgia attacked South Ossetia and that Putin who was at the Olympics at the time merely responded. Why is McMaster deliberately misleading his audience about the details? And why doesnt he explain how the elected government of Ukraine was toppled in a CIA-State Department coup? Those facts are readily available to anyone who has seriously researched the incident.
It seems obvious that McMaster is twisting the truth to make his case against Russia.
McMaster:
even though it may have been apparent at least since 2008 that Russia was changing its geostrategic behavior what were seeing now is weve awakened to, obviously, this threat from Russia, who is waging limited war for limited objectives annexing Crimea, invading Ukraine at zero cost, consolidating gains over that territory, and portraying the reaction by us and allies and partners as escalatory.
The threat from Russia? In other words, NATO is not responsible for its relentless push eastward expanding its grip on all the former Soviet satellites in east Europe, deploying its tanks, heavy artillery, troops and missile systems right onto Russias doorstep. No. Instead, Russia should be blamed for its fictitious invasion of Crimea.
McMaster is basing his argument on fake facts and a convoluted interpretation of events that doesnt square with reality. Russia is the victim of US-NATO aggression not the perpetrator.
McMaster then offers a remedy for so called Russian aggression: what is required to deter a strong nation that is waging limited war for limited objectives on battlegrounds involving weaker states is forward deterrence, to be able to ratchet up the cost at the frontier, and to take an approach to deterrence that is consistent with deterrence by denial, convincing your enemy that your enemy is unable to accomplish his objectives at a reasonable cost rather than sort of an offshore balancing approach and the threat of punitive action at long distance later, which we know obviously from recent experience confirms that that is inadequate.
Forward deterrence? This needs to be clarified.
What McMaster is saying, is that, instead of threatening to retaliate at some time in the future, the US should use deterrence by denial, that is, make it as hard and as costly as possible for Russia to achieve its strategic objectives. By defeating ISIS in Eastern Syria and establishing permanent US military bases, McMaster intends to prevent Russia from restoring Syrias sovereign borders which is one of the primary goals of the mission. The safe zones that Trump has talked about recently, fit perfectly with this same strategy as they undermine Moscows efforts to reunify the state and bring the conflict to an end.
This appears to be the plan that McMaster will pursue as national security adviser. Expect US ground troops to be deployed to Syria as soon as the details are worked out.
More from McMaster:
what Russia is employingis a sophisticated strategythat combines conventional forces as cover for unconventional action, but a much more sophisticated campaign involving the use of criminality and organized crime, and really operating effectively on this battleground of perception and information, and in particular part of a broader effort to sow doubt and conspiracy theories across our alliance. And this effort, I believe, is aimed really not at defensive objectives, but at offensive objectives to collapse the post-World War II, certainly the post-Cold War, security, economic, and political order in Europe, and replace that order with something that is more sympathetic to Russian interests.
The Russian strategy employs criminality and organized crime to effect perception and information?
This is just more demonization of Russia intended to make the case for war. Putin does not want a war with the US nor does he want to collapse the post-World War II order and replace that order with something that is more sympathetic to Russian interests.
Putin is a firm believer in capitalism and still participates in the G-20 and WTO. What Putin objects to is the US using its extraordinary power to topple regimes it doesnt like spreading death and instability across the planet. Thats what he opposes, the persistent meddling that undermines global security. Is that so unreasonable?
McMaster:
So what do all these conflicts have in common is theyre about the control of territory, people and resources. .what we need is that synergy between the joint force, where our forces have the capability and the capacity to deter conflict and, if that fails, to resolve conflict in our interest to protect our security and our vital interests. And that may entail imposing outcomes without the cooperation of the enemy, and that has significant implications for the Army in particular.
In other words, we are going to continue to fight for oil and markets (our vital interests), were going to go it alone if necessary, and if somebody tries to stop us, were going to annihilate them.
Isnt that what hes saying?
You know it is. Theres not going to be normal relations between Russia and the US on McMasters watch. The man believes we are in a life or death struggle with an evil enemy that wants to do us harm. Thats not the basis for building peaceful relations. Its a justification for war.
By Mike Whitney
Email: fergiewhitney@msn.com
Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition. He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com.
2016 Copyright Mike Whitney - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.
Mike Whitney Archive
2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.
Iran Holds Large Scale Naval Exercises
Iran is threatened by Israel and Americas regional military presence. In areas around the Persian Gulf, it has bases in every country except Iran - plus numerous others in North Africa and Central Asia.
Its actions destabilized much of the Middle East. It supports the regions worst despots.
The late Chalmers Johnson said the United States has been inexorably acquiring permanent military enclaves whose sole purpose appears to be the domination of one of the most strategically important areas of the world.
Since Jimmy Carter falsely claimed Soviet Russian forces in Afghanistan posed a grave threat to the free movement of Middle East oil, America spent trillions of dollars entrenching its military presence in the region.
Carter said an attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, adding (s)uch an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.
As they say, the rest is history. Endless US direct and proxy wars raged since the 1980s, following its North Korean and Southeast Asian aggression, an unparalleled reign of terror.
The business of America is endless wars of aggression, enemies created to wage them, all sovereign independent countries vulnerable.
Irans military preparedness is vital to protect against possible US and/or Israeli attacks, the gravest threats to its security.
Velayat 95 exercises began on Sunday, the final stage of large-scale drills, north of the Indian Ocean, Iranian naval commander Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, saying:
The aim of the Velayat 95 drill is to upgrade the countrys defensive capabilities and send Irans message of peace and friendship to the regional countries.
Exercises are ongoing over an area of about two million square km, spanning the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman, and the Babel-Mandeb Strait.
It includes warships, submarines, helicopters and special forces, along with reconnaissance aircraft, drones and hovercraft. Various weapons and technological systems are being tested.
Nothing ongoing violates international law or Tehrans nuclear deal with P5 countries plus Germany.
America appears undisturbed about its exercises. Fifth Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Kevin Stephens said theyve had no effect on maritime traffic.
Theyre being monitored but pose no threat to US regional forces. The Pentagon is not concerned about this exercise.
Irans Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani said (w)ith attention to the situation in the region, we have noticeably expanded the defense budget of the armed forces to ensure the stable security of the region.
By Stephen Lendman
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com
His new book as editor and contributor is titled Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html
He lives in Chicago and can be reached in Chicago at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday through Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national topics. All programs are archived for easy listening.
2017 Copyright Stephen Lendman - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.
2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.
BASSETTIt can be tricky, not just affording healthcare, but understanding what options are available to help. In Henry County, that's where Project Connect comes in.
The operation helps families find what resources are available to help them for anything from covering the cost of a child's hospital visit to providing dental supplies. Earlier in February, which is Childrens Dental Health Month, they were able to deliver dental supplies to local families.
We collaborated with five other managed care organizations in our area and they all contributed dental packets, outreach advocate Ann Walker said.
At the Community Storehouse, Walker and others packaged over 1,000 tubes of toothpaste, toothbrushes and dental floss to deliver to schools as part of their backpack program. Walker also helped package 150 dental packets for the Boys and Girls Club.
While Walker joked that Ill be happy if I never see another toothbrush other than my own, the outreach advocate praised the team for the good work they did in the community.
Overall, Walker said she helps hundreds of families answer questions and find support . In 2016, that included 742 children. In 2015, she helped families find help for 896 kids.
It doesnt count the questions I get, Walker said.
Walker has a variety of resources at her fingertips, and she gets information to those in need quickly.
I can help a family find a dentist. See if this is covered or that is covered, Walker said. I serve as a connection to services.
The coalition also helps families with kids under the age of 19 determine if they're eligible for FAMIS, which is Virginia's health insurance support for children of low income families. The program helps families pay for doctor visits, baby checkups, hospital visits, vaccinations, prescription medicine and vision care, among other things.
While Project Connect exists for those struggling, it serves as a bridge to help families get to where they need to be.
Its created to help people going through tough times, Walker said. I get emotional. Its the neatest feeling when they call me and say theyve got a job.
The local Project Connect office is at Bassett Family Practice, 324 TB Stanley Highway in Bassett. You can also get in contact with Walker by emailing awalker@healthycommunitymhc.org.
NORTHAMPTON - Despite the rainstorms outside Northampton's historic Calvin Theater Saturday night, Gaelic Storm stormed on to the theater's stage to perform to an enthusiastic crowd. The Boston Police Pipes and Drums opened for the chart-topping, multi-national Celtic band.
For two decades and more than 3,000 live shows, Gaelic Storm is looking sharper than ever with their latest release, Matching Sweaters. According to the band's website, the new album mixes traditional Irish music with modern influences, creating a sound that's as wide-ranging as the band's own audience. Founding members Patrick Murphy and Steve Twigger play with drummer Ryan Lacey, fiddler Kiana June Weber and musician Peter Purvis.
The band travels to Alexandria, Va to play The Birchmere, one of America's legendary Music Halls on March 1, 2017. View photos from the show above, and for more information about Gaelic Storm visit their official website.
Vermont-heroin.jpg
Victoria Stauff, 18, and James Capron, 26, were both arrested on Saturday after police discovered evidence that both sold heroin and crack cocaine.
(Vermont State Police photo)
BERLIN, Vt - Two people were arrested in Berlin, Vermont, on Saturday, after police discovered evidence that the two had been selling heroin and crack cocaine, according to police.
26-year-old James Capron and 18-year-old Victoria Stauff, both of Berlin, are now facing a number of charges, including heroin possession, sale of heroin, and sale of crack cocaine, said Sgt John Helfant of the Vermont State Police, in a statement.
The incident leading to their arrest occurred on Saturday morning, after Vermont State Troopers attempted to pull over Capron, who was in a grey Honda Accord traveling at 83 mph on I-89 north, Helfant said.
The Honda refused to stop for the Troopers and instead sped off, turning off the highway and leading the Troopers on a chase that eventually ended when Capron stopped on Addison Drive in Berlin and fled the vehicle on foot.
Police eventually tracked Capron to Stauff's residence.
State Police and officers from the Berlin Police Department searched Stauff's residence as well as Capron's vehicle.
Police say that heroin was found in Capron's Honda, while evidence of the sale of both heroin and crack cocaine was found at Stauff's residence.
Capron was lodged at the Chittenden Correctional facility while Stauff was released and ordered to appear in Washington Superior Court on February 27.
WEST SPRINGFIELD As they watched more than 100 people line up outside the Islamic Center of Western Massachusetts, several international Muslim students said it makes them feel welcome here.
"As Muslims we feel safe and welcome when we see the community supporting us and believing in us," said Alif Firdaus who attended a rally in support of the Muslim community in Western Massachusetts held Sunday afternoon outside the Islamic Center in West Springfield.
People lined both sides of the street quietly holding signs reading, "Islam = Peace," " We Stand With You," and "Love Will Prevail," among others.
"These are difficult times in which there is hate, divisiveness and a lot of fear, so most of the segments of the community who are affected need to stand together," said Mohammad S. Bajwa, president of the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts, which invited supporters into the mosque for prayer, conversations and a meal.
"Our job at the Islamic Center is to promote understanding love and respect and we are so grateful for everyone who is here showing us support," Bajwa said.
The idea for the rally grew out of a desire from the Holyoke Community College staff to make their Muslim students feel welcome on campus and in the community.
Myriam Quinones, coordinator of Multicultural Academic Services at Holyoke Community College joined forces with her wife Holyoke City Councilor Jossie Valentin and HCC professor Rubaba Matin to get a group together.
"People have been waiting to do something like this. My colleagues at the college they expressed a wish to show support for Muslims since there have been a lot of anti-Muslim feeling in the country," Matin said.
Quinones said she could not believe the outpouring of support.
"I am overwhelmed and excited that so many people showed up," she said. "It shows how much people want to support their community and speak up against any kind of oppression."
Alif Firdaus, Haziq Mustapha and Yasmin Kamilia-L.H. are all Malaysian Muslims attending Holyoke Community College. They are part of various campus clubs and were touched by the staff's interest in holding a rally.
"One of the values I try to promote in the college is the unity of people without considering their backgrounds," said Mustapha.
"I think what makes me really appreciate this is that it wasn't our a idea, but our advisors and people who are not Muslim, but they did this to support us becasue they know us well enough o know that we are not dangerous," Kamilia- L. H. said. "I truly appreciate this it because helps me feel safe and I know there are people who will be by my side."
West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt attended the standout and said the city supports the Islamic Society and Muslims in the community.
"I know in West Springfield we face a lot of challenges and nationally we face a lot of challenges and uncertainty, but I'm happy to be here and to see you all here," he said. "We have to work together as a community and work with our legislative delegation to make sure Massachusetts stays as welcoming a place as it was hundreds of years ago when our first settlers came here."
When asked by the crowd whether West Springfield is a sanctuary city he said "No, it's up to the council," and he encouraged people to call city councilors if this is something they are passionate about.
Holding signs that read, "Another Jew for Human Rights, " and "Jewish Ally For Muslim Rights" Shel Horowitz and Dina Friedman drove down from Hadley to participate in the event.
"As people who one generation back were stigmatized and threatened and killed we think it's important that it never happens again to any people," Horowitz said.
"This is a systematic persecution of Muslims and I thought about all the brave people who spoke up during the holocaust, all the resistance that they did and felt that it was absolutely incumbent upon me to do everything that I could to make sure people have their rights protected," Friedman added.
Valentin said she hopes this will be the beginning of further efforts to make any communities living in fear under the new political administration, feel welcome in Western Massachusetts.
"Your job and your homework is to not leave it at today. This doesn't mean that you filled the checkbox for getting involved and you're all set for the next six months, that is not the America we live in anymore," she told the crowd.
massachusetts state police cruiser
(Don Treeger / The Republican file)
ANDOVER - A New Hampshire man was killed in a three-vehicle crash late Saturday night.
The drivers of the two other vehicles involved in the 11:17 p.m. crash were uninjured and their vehicles received minor damage, Massachusetts State Police said.
Police received multiple 911 calls about the accident reported to have happened on Route 93 before Exit 42. When they arrived they found one of the vehicles, a 2001 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck, had driven off the road and was in the woods, police said.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said he is 34 and from Plaistow, New Hampshire, but have not released his name until his family can be notified.
The other two vehicles involved were a 2007 Honda Civic and a 2006 Ford F150 pickup truck, police said.
Troopers from the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and Crime Scene Services Section are investigating the cause of the accident. The Andover Fire Department and Massachusetts Department of Transportation also assisted at the scene. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
The technology has been talked about for years, but, starting with the hybrid version of the 2018 Mercedes-Benz S550e, wireless vehicle charging technology will make its debut.
Imagine charging your electric car as easily as you charge your electric toothbrush.
Or, your car charging itself as it drives down the road.
Those scenarios are not as far-fetched as you may think. Indeed, a group of tech gurus who gathered earlier this month in San Diego discussed how a wireless electric vehicle is about to become a reality.
by Rob Nikolewski, The San Diego Union-Tribune
Full Story: http://www.govtech.com/fs/Wireless-Electric-Cars-Are-About-to-Hit-the-Road.html
Montana lawmakers are debating a bill to pledge solidarity with Israel by refusing to do business with firms boycotting the Middle East country.
Republican House Speaker Austin Knudsen of Culbertson said he was spurred to sponsor the bill in part because of a spate of controversy over anti-Semitism in Whitefish.
By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press
Full Story: http://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/montana-house-backs-effort-to-boycott-anti-israel-firms/article_fb935b48-b7c6-5d5c-9008-b3f2e0d2a7a6.html
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by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, February 25, 2017
The 4As has appointed MEC North America CEO Marla Kaplowitz as the ad trade groups new president and chief executive officer. She will succeed Nancy Hill, who has led the group since 2008 and indicated last July that she would be stepping down.
Kaplowitzs start date is still being determined. When the 4As announced Hills pending departure last year, the group said it expected to have her successor in place by June of this year.
The 4As said Kaplowitz was selected by a 10-person committee headed by 4As board chair and Horizon CEO Bill Koenigsberg.The committees choice was unanimous. MediaLink managed the search process.
Commenting on the selection, Koenigsberg described Kaplowitz as a dynamic force for change; she is an innovator and truly understands our top priorities for the coming years.
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Kaplowitz has been MEC NA CEO since 2011. Before joining MEC, Kaplowitz spent 12 years at MediaVest, where she led the Procter & Gamble communications planning assignment for North America and earlier managed a multi-client team that included Avon, Dennys, Heineken and Norelco.
Kaplowitz began her career at DMB&B, working across clients including Burger King, Merck and Procter & Gamble, before moving to Ammirati Puris Lintas. There, she oversaw the Labatt, Nickelodeon Networks and Unilever businesses.
Kaplowitz is a member of the 4As Media Leadership Council and She Runs It (formerly Advertising Women of New York).
Commenting on her appointment, Kaplowitz stated: As a passionate member of this industry for nearly 30 years, I'm thrilled to join the 4As at this exciting and pivotal time for marketing and communication," adding she would work to "ensure a thriving future.
After her departure from the 4As, Hill said will focus on consulting and will spend more time in Ecuador, where she volunteers and teaches.
The past nine years have been an incredible experience, Hill stated. Ive been proud to represent and lead the industry I love through such a transformative time and advocate for issues such as transparency and diversity within advertising. I have known Marla for a long time, and her passion is evident and infectious, which is critical to doing this job well. Leading this organization will come naturally to her.
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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 hyperekplexiaThe 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 activatedBut 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.Source: Eurekalert
When you cannot find seat in a crowded metro or a bus, you stand around, and thats okay. But ever heard about passengers standing in the aisle? Well, a Pakistani airline made that happen. Recently, a flight from Karachi to Saudi Arabia was overbooked and instead of 409 passengers (which was the capacity), the airlines issued hand-written boarding passes to 7 extra people.
Twitter
Eventually, these passengers stood in the aisle. Yes, not kidding. The airlines breached air safety rules like its no ones business. While the aviation authority is dodging the blame around each other, the captain of the Pakistan International Airline flight, Anwer Adil has his own explanation for this mess up. After take-off when I came out of (the) cockpit, (the senior purser) informed me that there were some extra people who (had been) boarded by the traffic staff. I also noticed some people were those who were categorically refused jump seats by me at the check in counter before the flight, he said in an interview. He couldnt fly back to Karachi as that would have meant wasting fuel.
Twitter/representational image
Well, this seems like for the authority, it was a matter of sheer negligence, something which they are okay with, and are brushing it off as no big deal.
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Twenty-one people were injured Saturday night (Feb. 25) when a vehicle plowed into a crowd at the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans , police said. The crash was reported at about 6:45 p.m. at Carrollton and Orleans avenues."Initial reports show so far about a dozen people are in critical condition," police spokeswoman Ambria Washington said. "That number could increase as the investigation is ongoing." Police Superintendent Michael Harrison later said 21 people, including a police officer, were taken to seven hospitals.Greg McNeely said he was watching the parade when a pickup truck sped through the intersection. He said he heard three crashes then a fourth loud crash, and saw the truck had come to rest against a garbage bin. Several people were pinned between the truck and the garbage bin or beneath the truck.A young man was behind the wheel of the truck. "He took out rows of people," McNeely said.mo
Muhammad Ali Jr., detained at Florida airport, asked, 'Are you Muslim?'Muhammad Ali Jr, son of the legendary boxer, was detained by immigration officials at an airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., according to a lawyer and family friend.Chris Mancini told CBC news that the 44-year-old and his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali the second wife of Muhammad Ali were both questioned at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after arriving from Jamaica Feb. 7."Both of them were asked if they were Muslims," said Mancini.Officials questioned Ali Jr. for nearly two hours, repeatedly asking him, "Where did you get your name from?" and "Are you Muslim?"Mancini said officials continued questioning Ali Jr. after he acknowledged he was Muslim. Ali Jr. was born in Philadelphia and holds a U.S. passport.His mother was detained about 30 minutes, said Mancini."She had on her person a photograph of her and her late husband, the champ," he said. "She had to talk her way into being admitted into the country, even though she's born, raised and carries a U.S. passport."
Iraqi F-16 pilots trained in the U.S. have become increasingly effective in the battle for Mosul, but the future of the training program is in doubt as President Donald Trump prepares to issue another executive order on immigration.
F-16s flown by Iraqis are "about the highest-end capability that you can get in this area," and the airstrikes conducted by them are "certainly something they've brought to bear to great effect in the operations over Mosul," Air Force Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said in a briefing from Baghdad to the Pentagon on Wednesday.
Iraqi F-16s on Friday carried out the first airstrikes in Syria by Iraqi forces against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria targets in response to car bombings in Baghdad, according to a statement from the Iraqi government.
"Our heroic Air Force pilots carried out those strikes in response to the terrorists, and they were successfully executed," Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said.
The missions were flown by Iraqi pilots who trained in Arizona on F-16 Fighting Falcons bought by their government from the U.S. with the 162nd Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard at the Wing's 74-acre site next to Tucson International Airport.
Related Video:
F-16 Fighting Falcon: 5 Things You Don't Know About
While they train, the Iraqis live in small apartments in the city.
The 162nd Fighter Wing has trained F-16 pilots for 28 nations, but continuation of the program for the Iraqis was thrown into doubt when Trump last month issued an executive order to protect the nation against terrorists, including a travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim countries -- Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Iran, Somalia and Libya.
In response, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari issued a statement saying the travel ban on Iraqis made no sense and threatened military cooperation while Iraq is giving the "blood of its sons" in the mutual fight against ISIS.
Sens. John McCain, an Arizona Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and member of SASC, also warned of the potential impact of the travel ban on military cooperation. In a joint statement, they singled out the Iraqis training with the 162nd Fighter Wing.
"Our most important allies in the fight against ISIL [another acronym for ISIS] are the vast majority of Muslims who reject its apocalyptic ideology of hatred," McCain and Graham said. "This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country."
The initial executive order on immigration led to mass confusion at airports on its implementation and was stayed in the courts, but Trump has said he will issue another executive order next week to get around the legal issues.
At the time of the issuance of the initial executive order, Defense Department and Air Force officials said they might seek exemptions for the Iraqi pilots or special visas to allow them to continue training, but the issue became moot when the courts blocked the order.
At a briefing for defense reporters at the Pentagon earlier this week, Col. Pat Ryder, an Air Force spokesman, declined to speculate on the potential impact of the next executive order on the Iraqi pilot training program, but stressed that the program has been successful.
"We're in contact with DoD and the State Department to look at any type of foreign military travel to the States, but I'm not going to speculate on an impact," Ryder said. "The Iraqi air force and Iraqi military -- they're critical partners in the fight against ISIS -- so I would anticipate that we would continue to work hard to ensure that they're able to get the training they need."
Thus far, the Iraqi pilots have not been impeded in "their ability to get where they need to go," Ryder said. He said it was his understanding that since the travel ban was blocked by the courts, "it didn't affect training at this point."
In his briefing Wednesday, Dorrian said that Iraqi pilots are currently flying 14 F-16s on missions against ISIS. The F-16s were part of a $3.86 billion buy order from Iraq in 2011 for 36 Lockheed Martin F-16s.
Dorrian said, "I was speaking with one of our commanders that works closely with the Iraqi air force and the advisers who help them conduct their operations, and what I'm hearing is that they're very capable of hitting the targets that they intend to hit."
"They are targeting with precision inside Mosul and doing a very good job," often using Iraqi Joint Terminal Attack Controllers on the ground to guide the strikes, Dorrian said.
To date, there has been one casualty in the Iraqi pilot training program. In June 2015, Iraqi Brig. Gen. Rafid Mohammed Hasan was killed in the crash of his F-16 about 120 miles southeast of Tucson near the Mexican border.
-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
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...
ANN ARBOR, MI - Reports that Yousef Ajin, an Ann Arbor father of four, is facing deportation are drawing reactions from many community members.
That includes everyone from Mayor Christopher Taylor to Ann Arbor Public Schools Superintendent Jeanice Swift.
"Mr. Ajin's detention and threatened deportation devastates an Ann Arbor family, an American family. Our country should be better than this," Taylor wrote in a Facebook post on Friday, Feb. 24.
"We stand with you, Ajin Family!" Swift tweeted on Saturday.
Both shared information about how to write letters of support ahead of Ajin's scheduled court hearing Tuesday, Feb. 28, in Detroit.
Mr. Ajin's detention and threatened deportation devastates an Ann Arbor family, an American family. Our country should... Posted by Christopher Taylor on Friday, February 24, 2017
#a2gether supporting @A2schools Ajin family. Letters to judge can be sent to tuzinsky@aaps.k12.mi.us by midnight Mon 2/27 @A2SchoolsSuper A2 Community HS (@A2CHS) February 25, 2017
Community High School's student-run newspaper, The Communicator, first reported the story on Friday, indicating Ajin, a Muslim, Kuwait-born, Jordanian immigrant, drove to Detroit for his bi-weekly proof of residency on Jan. 30, but instead of the usual routine check-in after which he could go home to his wife and four children who are U.S. citizens, he was detained.
The story indicates he is still detained, awaiting a hearing at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the McNamara Federal Building in Detroit.
Community members who don't want to see the father separated from his wife and children are planning to rally outside the federal building in Detroit on Tuesday to show support for the family.
Friday's story by Joel Appel-Kraut, The Communicator's web editor, is accompanied by a short documentary video by local filmmaker Donald Harrison, exploring how the family has been coping with the situation.
Ajin's wife has gone back to work for the first time in many years to provide for the family, and their three daughters are helping to take care of their 15-year-old brother, who suffers from developmental disabilities, the story indicates.
Rally in Support of Yousef Ajin from Donald Harrison on Vimeo.
The video indicates Ajin has lived in the United States for 18 years, has four children attending local schools, and has been working toward citizenship.
"Yousef is the sole income provider in his home and his absence is causing great stress for the family," Harrison wrote in the video's description.
"His wife, who has been out of the workforce for 16 years to tend to her son, has found a job and is working twelve-hour shifts on the weekends while her daughters care for their brother. All four children are struggling to keep up with academics due to the stress of their father's detainment."
Ajin's attorney and family could not be reached for comment on Saturday, nor could representatives for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Read the story in The Communicator.
Citizens ask Ann Arbor to join resistance to Trump's deportation plans
ICE confirms four 'illegally in U.S.' detained in Ypsilanti
digops_policetape610.jpg
(MLive.com File Photo)
GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Police have offered a reminder to residents in Argentine Township to lock the doors to their vehicles after a rash of larcenies late last week resulted in a plethora of stolen items, including a gun.
The larceny from auto incidents occurred between 10 p.m. Feb. 23 and 6 a.m. Feb. 24 in the areas of Hilltop Drive, Geneva Drive and Alpine Drive, according to Argentine Township police.
"Items such as phone chargers, spare change, GPS devices and one firearm were taken from unlocked vehicles," said township police in a Facebook post that provided a few words on properly securing vehicles.
Anyone with information regarding the larcenies may contact Argentine Township police Detective Doug Fulton at 810-735-5317 or 810-280-0987.
GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- For anyone that's driven in southeast Michigan and popped into the burger chain with the sign featuring a cow sporting a halo over its head, this news may not come a surprise.
Thrillist, a website known for its best and worst lists on things ranging from travel destinations to food, drinks and technology, has named Halo Burger as the second-most underrated burger chain in the United States.
Citing the beefy double cheeseburger as the chain's best burger, writer Lee Breslouer says Halo Burger's longevity -- dating back to 1923 when it started as Kewpee Hotel Hamburgers -- "is attributed to the joint's phenomenal -- and phenomenally messy -- no-frills burgers, which are flat, salty, and have very little structural integrity."
The piece also praises the olive burger as the chain's signature burger and gives love for the Boston Cooler, a drink made with ice cream and what Breslouer calls the "world's best ginger ale" -- Vernor's.
Chance Richie, CEO of Halo Burger after purchasing the chain's locations in January 2016 from Grand Blanc-based Dortch Enterprises, was appreciative of the honor.
"This is awesome," he said, days after Pistons star Andre Drummond signed on as the chain's spokesman and brand ambassador. "To be recognized by a leading, national outlet as one of the best, it is great for Halo and Flint."
A second chain with locations in Michigan -- BurgerFi -- also made the list that includes places such as Whataburger, Habit Burger, Umami Burger, Hopdoddy Burger Bar and Bobby's Burger Place.
Halo Burger's appearance on Thrillist's list is not the first time the chain has landed in the best of category from a publication or website.
In February 2015, Huffington Post named the beefy double cheeseburger among the best drunk foods in the country.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - On Saturday, Feb. 25, crowds braved the cold weather to visit the Fifth Third Ballpark for the 12th Annual Winter Beer Festival, eager to get a taste of some of the 969 brews the festival has to offer.
The festival kicked off at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24. Tickets were available at the door for the first day but Saturday's tickets completely sold out in advance of the festival.
As is tradition, Winter Beer festivalgoers were decked out in their favorite winter gear, crazy costumes and pretzel necklaces.
From Arbor Brewing Company to Woodward Avenue Brewers, the festival hosted the best of Michigan's beers from every corner of the state.
Fauxgrass and The Mainstays entertained beer enthusiasts all day at the sold-out festival.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Cleanup of a dry cleaning chemical plume that forced evacuations in Grand Rapids last summer over concerns about exposure to toxic vapors is expected to begin this year.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will begin extracting and treating harmful chemicals from the soil under a multi-block area along Hall Street SE east of South Division Avenue after drilling test wells into the groundwater this spring, according to EPA on-scene coordinator Betsy Nightingale.
Soil vapor extraction is the long-term cleanup plan for the plume of chlorinated solvents, primarily tetrachloroethylene (PERC) and trichloroethylene (TCE), originating from the former TJ's Appliance site at 415 Hall St. SE. It was home to American Phoenix Laundry dry cleaners between 1921 and 1995.
This month, the EPA is finishing a fourth round of air quality testing in the blocks to the west, where several homes now feature an active air filtration system installed following an emergency vapor intrusion investigation last May.
Elevated levels of PERC were detected inside two buildings by state workers monitoring for indoor air pollution after the vacant appliance store was razed by LINC Community Revitalization Inc. It was part of the four-story, $10 million Southtown Square low-income housing redevelopment that opened in 2014.
The new apartment building sits on a concrete slab designed to protect it against vapors from groundwater contamination. But the buildings next door at 401 Hall St., and 1168-1170 Madison Ave. SE, home to six residents in two apartments as well as the Red Project and Seeds of Promise neighborhood nonprofits, were evacuated for two months after unsafe vapor levels were found inside.
Testing found PERC between 25 and 50 parts-per-billion by volume (ppbv) in the buildings. That is several times the 6-ppbv considered a safe level.
Subsequent testing in the residential blocks to the west turned up more homes with unsafe indoor air levels for PCE, said Nightingale. Air systems were installed on seven homes in the plume area last fall. The $5,000 systems are paid for by the EPA, but property owners pay the roughly $75 annual electrical cost.
The filtration systems are medium-term solutions, said Nightingale. They are designed to last five to 10 years. The systems pull contaminated vapors from underneath a home and disperse them into the air above the building.
Nightingale said the EPA was able to sample about 70 percent of the properties in the affected plume area. They found many century-old homes with basement drainage wells that were eventually sealed. The EPA brought in its Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer (TAGA) bus during the response. The rolling lab is one of only two such mobile units the agency deploys nationwide.
The EPA Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer (TAGA) mobile lab.
Soil vapor extraction (SVE) with air sparging is the planned long-term solution to clean up the PERC/TCE plume, she said. The method involves injecting pressurized air into the chemical plume to quicken evaporation, then capturing vapors in a carbon filtration system. Most of the machinery will be underground, but a few small buildings will be constructed in the plume area.
Cleaning up a site with SVE and air sparging can take several years.
The Madison Square neighborhood investigation was the first of two vapor intrusion investigations the EPA conducted in Grand Rapids last year. In June, a photography studio inside a former solvent reclamation facility at 312 Ellsworth Ave. SW, owned by Trex Properties, was evacuated after air testing found unsafe levels of TCE up to 200 times above the state health screening level.
The EPA plans to install a soil-vapor extraction system to clean up that site as well. Jeffrey Lippert, on-scene coordinator, said the EPA hopes to start this spring after finalizing liability negotiations with Trex Properties.
Officials say there is no threat to drinking water from either plume because all buildings near each site are connected to city water.
According to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, harmful vapor intrusion is becoming a more pressing issue state and nationwide.
In the past year, the DEQ took some level of action at more than 40 vapor intrusion sites in Michigan and estimates there could be as many as 4,000 sites statewide where vapors from toxicant plumes -- which make their way into buildings through poorly sealed basements -- could pose a health risk to people.
Exposure to chemicals like PERC and TCE can cause liver, kidney, and central nervous system damage. Both are considered probable carcinogens.
CASS COUNTY, MI -- A 4-year-old boy was killed, along with the driver of a vehicle that struck several trees early this morning.
At 3:17 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26, Cass County sheriff's deputies responded to a single-vehicle crash on School Street near Tice Avenue in Silver Creek Township.
Jordan White, a 21-year-old Dowagiac man, was traveling west on School Street with Allison Hurry, 20, and her 4-year-old son Wyatt Lister, when he lost control of the vehicle.
White drove into oncoming traffic and then crashed into several roadside trees near Indian Lake. Both White and Wyatt were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
Sheriff Richard J. Behnke said alcohol and speed may have been factors in the crash. Seatbelts were not used by any of the occupants.
Hurry was transported to South Bend Memorial Hospital by Med Flight for injuries sustained in the crash.
Deputies were assisted at the scene by the Pokagon Tribal Police, Michigan State Police, Indian Lake Fire Department, Sister Lakes Fire Department, Pokagon Fire Department, and Pride Care Ambulance.
The incident remains under investigation.
Scout trailer stolen
A thief took Galesburg Boy Scout Troop 265's trailer and all of its camping gear from the Scoutmaster's driveway while he was at work. The trailer was recovered, stripped of its contents.
((Courtesy Troop 265))
GALESBURG, MI -- A Galesburg Boy Scout troop that had all of its camping equipment stolen last month is one of the beneficiaries of the Consumers Energy Foundation.
The Consumers Energy Foundation awarded a Volunteer Investment Program grant of $1,000 to one of the leaders of Galesburg Scout Troop 265, a Consumers Energy employee in Kalamazoo.
The troop's equipment trailer, full of its camping gear, was stolen in late January and recovered a week later, emptied of $10,000 in tents, backpacks, sleeping bags, kitchen supplies and other gear. Stolen Boy Scout trailer found, emptied of all its gear
Kevin Linders, the Consumers Energy employee, he said the community's outpouring has been incredible. An elderly person from another state mailed in three $1 bills to say it's all she could do but wanted to help, Linders said in a news release from the utility about the grant help..
An online "Go Fund Me," here, has raised close to $7,000 for Troop 265.
The grant to Linders from his employer's charitable foundation is one of nearly $14,000 given by the utility to Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs in Michigan.
It will be used to help make scouting affordable to boys in Galesburg, Augusta and Climax scouting programs by purchasing such items as awards, equipment and program materials, according to the news release.
Boy Scout trailer, all of troop's camping gear, stolen from driveway
Linders, a senior account manager at the company's Kalamazoo Service Center, volunteers as an adult leader for Boy Scout Troop 265.
This is Linders' seventh year of involvement with scouting, and he currently oversees about 30 scouts in the troop. Linders also has the distinction of reaching the rank of Eagle Scout during his earlier scouting years.
Linders said what he finds most rewarding about volunteering is "seeing boys become men with character, with a strong set of scouting's positive values and leadership skills that will help them through their entire life."
The $1,000 Volunteer Investment Program grant Linders earned recognized the 610 hours he and Consumers Energy retiree William Walker worked with the troop.
The Consumers Energy Foundation also recently announced it awarded a $54,000 grant to the Boy Scouts of America Michigan Crossroads Council to support its Career Exploring Program Expansion Initiative.
"Because February is the birth month of Boy Scouts founder Robert Baden-Powell, considered the inspiration for the Boy Scout movement, we are pleased to share information about employees who make time in their busy personal schedules to serve as scout leaders and volunteers," said Carolyn Bloodworth, secretary and treasurer of the Consumers Energy Foundation. "Their commitment to helping young people develop personal values, ethics and leadership skills embodies the spirit of scouting, and Consumers Energy is pleased to be able to support these employees through volunteer grants."
KPS School Closures 008
KRESA Superintendent David Cambell addresses the crowd during a forum to address the risk of closure for Washington Writer's Academy and Woodward School for Technology and Research on Wednesday, February 1, 2017. (Jake Green | MLive.com)
(JakeGreen/MLive.com)
PORTAGE, MI -- With its passing of a resolution earlier this month, the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency Board of Education became the latest to join a list of local bodies who agree on one thing -- closing struggling schools is not the answer.
The KRESA board unanimously voted to oppose the Michigan State School Reform Office's potential closure of two Kalamazoo Public elementary schools. The resolution, passed Feb. 16, also supports the repeal of Section 380.1280c of the Michigan School Code, which created the State School Reform Office.
"Lawmakers should work with the education community to develop a new law based on what is working in top-performing states and nations, and to support schools with students who struggle to perform on state tests," said KRESA Superintendent David Campbell, who oversees the delivery of educational support services to districts in the Kalamazoo County area.
After three years of placing in the bottom 5 percent of schools on state tests, 38 schools, including Washington Writers' Academy and Woodward School for Technology and Research in Kalamazoo, are at risk of being shut down by the state's School Reform Office.
Meanwhile, a Feb. 23 news release from Gov. Rick Snyder's office said the decision of whether to close the 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."
The Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners and Kalamazoo City Commission unanimously passed similar resolutions earlier this month. In a letter addressed to Kalamazoo Commissioners, Rep. Jon Hoadley, D-Kalamazoo, Rep. Brandt Iden, R-Oshtemo Township, Rep. Dave Maturen, R-Vicksburg, and Sen. Margaret O'Brien, R-Portage, also voiced their stance against the School Reform Office.
"It is our position that the options outlined by the School Reform Office are not in the best interests of the students," the letter reads.
Rather than closing poor-performing schools, KRESA's board pointed to top-performing states like Massachusetts and nations like Canada, where "substantial resources and highly-trained professionals support these schools."
KRESA instructional consultants are working with the leadership and teachers at both schools to improve student achievement, Campbell said, which is already having a positive impact on both students and teachers.
In addition to formal statements of resistance in the area, legal actions are also being taken.
KRESA's resolution encourages state lawmakers to work with the education community to develop a new law to address schools that perform poorly on state tests. A bill sponsored by chair of the Senate Education Committee Sen. Phil Pavlov, R-St. Clair, also seeks to repeal the law allowing the SRO to close consistently low-performing schools.
A joint lawsuit was filed last week by Kalamazoo Public Schools, Saginaw Public Schools and 13 parents, which says the state acted illegally in threatening to close four of their schools.
The complaint was filed in the Michigan Court of Claims on Feb. 22.
KRESA's resolution and the lawsuit make reference to a letter to parents of children at the four schools in Kalamazoo and Saginaw on Jan. 20. Without notifying the administration of KRESA or KPS, the letter told parents that the schools were at risk of closure.
"It is an outrage that letters were sent by the State School Reform Office to families informing them of a potential school closure without first notifying the Superintendent and Board of Education," Campbell said. "Such action destabilizes students and families, especially those impacted by poverty and already lacking stability."
The lawsuit states that the letter has caused "irreparable injury to KPS and SPS."
The resolution and lawsuit also make reference to promises made by the Michigan Department of Education that the newly-developed Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress test would not be used to determine rankings until it could be confirmed the test was a valid and reliable assessment tool.
Starting with the 2014-15 academic year, Michigan began using M-STEP as the statewide test given to students to assess achievement and progress.
Regardless of its implementation, Campbell said the law granting the state power to close schools shouldn't have been created in the first place.
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."
"Our state passed a poorly researched and constructed law in 2010 while chasing federal money," Campbell said.
West Michigan Glass Art Center
Michael Fortin, Studio Manager and Instructor at West Michigan Glass Art Center in Kalamazoo, demonstrates the first steps for making a glass bowl to a beginning glass blowing class. (Mark Bugnaski | MLive.com)
(Mark Bugnaski)
(Courtesy of Blaine Lam | Lam and Associates)
KALAMAZOO, MI -- A community craft arts workshop is relaunching its efforts in 2017.
Formerly known as the West Michigan Glass Art Center, Glass Art Kalamazoo announced several changes to the non-profit organization Sunday.
Carrie Vanderbush, former executive director of Volunteer Kalamazoo, will serve as its new executive director, while studios in the Park Trades Building are receiving repairs and upgrades.
The executive director position had been vacant for two years, said said Glass Art Kalamazoo Board Chair Jerry Harty, while its board of directors reorganized and started fundraising campaigns to deal with severe budget shortfalls. After closing for some in 2015, Glass Art Kalamazoo re-opened in September 2016 and began the search for the new director.
"It's safe to say that without the generous support of donors who understand our unique role in the arts community, our revitalization would not have been possible," Harty said. "Through this process, we've been able to develop new capabilities, strengthen our board and lay the groundwork for sustainability."
The organization will seek to keep a tighter reign on its costs this time around, Vanderbush said, though the art form relies on expensive equipment and energy costs. Glass Art Kalamazoo will focus on engaging the community, she said, working with area schools to get residents excited about working with the medium.
Vanderbush said their goal is to make make the art accessible to everyone. Classes are offered for high-level glass craftsman or people with no experience but a creative interest. The studio also offers commissioned work.
The non-profit organization has one of few glass-blowing studios in Western Michigan and also has facilities for lamp working and kiln fusing. It was founded in 2002 by a local group of glass artists.
"It's such a cool medium, its one of the coolest things I've ever experience," she said. "It's such a great opportunity to bring the community."
Vanderbush, who holds a master's degree from Western Michigan University, has extensive background in non-profit marketing and management. She was hired as the executive director of Volunteer Kalamazoo in 2012, which was absorbed by Gryphon Place in August 2016.
"We're very pleased to have Carrie on board," Harty said. "Her background matches our needs as we build new momentum among artists and collaborative organizations."
Vanderbush also has experience at Pretty Lake Vacation Center, where she was Marketing Manager, and as an organizer of community events at Junior League of Kalamazoo.
While much of its work is done in its studios at the Park Trade Center, Glass Art Kalamazoo also works with schools, nonprofit groups and businesses to educate the community in the glass arts.
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WASHINGTON When Afghan intelligence officials, assisted by international investigators, probed a terror attack last month that killed five Emirati diplomats in Kandahar, they traced the suspects to a conservative religious seminary in Pakistan.
"The attack was planned at the Mawlawi Ahmad madrasah in Chaman, Quetta," said Sediq Seddiqi, a spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry.
The investigation shed light on the increasing links of some madrasahs -- Islamic seminaries -- in Pakistan with Afghan Taliban who are fighting the Afghan government and U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan.
Thirty thousand madrasahs operate across Pakistan, most of them legal and adhering strictly to religious teaching. But thousands are not registered with the government and are teaching grounds and recruiting points for militants and the Taliban, according to Pakistan and Afghan intelligence officials.
Much of the militant activity is centered in Balochistan, where 5,500 madrasahs operate as boarding schools. Many are kept from government scrutiny and are considered breeding points for terror.
"There are many seminaries where the Afghan Taliban are studying, and many are owned by the Afghan Taliban group," Balochistan's home and tribal affairs minister, Sarfaraz Bugti, told VOA's Deewa service.
Unregistered Madrasahs
Experts say the abundance of unregistered madrasahs across the country has led to an increase in militancy in the region. The schools nurture militant ideology and provide foot soldiers for the Taliban, who have been engaged in a bloody insurgency with the U.S.-backed Afghan government for more than a decade.
"You can see madrasahs on every street, and they are spreading extremism to every house, community, and village of Pakistan," said Khadim Hussain, a Pakistani security analyst.
According to Balochistan provincial government estimates, more than 5,000 Afghans study at madrasahs in the province. The Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah, reportedly operated a madrasah in Kuchlak, near the provincial capital, Quetta.
The Afghan Taliban's influence over the unregulated madrasah network is most visible in the Pashto-speaking belt of Balochistan, where Afghan militants can easily travel between Afghanistan and Pakistan, officials say.
"There are 191 madrasahs in my district, 21 of them unregistered, and some 20 percent of the enrolled students are Afghans," said Qaisar Khan Nasir, a provincial official in Qilla Abdullah district, which has a Pashtun-majority population and borders Afghanistan's Kandahar Province.
Washington and Kabul accuse Pakistan of harboring armed opponents of the Afghan government, including the Taliban's Quetta Council, which is composed of Taliban leadership and the Haqqani network -- a U.S.-designated terror organization.
Extremist groups that support militancy in Afghanistan and are U.S.-designated terrorist groups run countrywide networks of madrasahs, according to American intelligence reports. Though banned in Pakistan, the groups operate under different names while supporting the Afghan Taliban.
Last year, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government was scathingly criticized for a $3 million grant it allocated to the Darul Uloom Haqqania madrasah, a controversial Islamic seminary that some critics call the "University of Jihad."
Headed by former senator Samiul Haq, the madrasah houses about 4,000 students and is widely known for links to, and has publicly expressed sympathies for, the Taliban fighting in Afghanistan. That association has won the Islamic cleric the title of "Father of the Taliban."
Funding Connections
Both Mullah Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani -- the founders of Afghanistan's Taliban and the lethal Haqqani network, respectively -- are believed to have studied at the Haqqania madrasah. Taliban leader Mullah Akthar Mansoor, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in May, may also have been a former student.
Pakistani officials say they are investigating funding connections of madrasahs associated with the Taliban.
"The funding these madrasahs receive usually originates from Arab and some other countries, and we're aware of it," said Amin-ul-Hasnat Shah, Pakistan's state minister for religious affairs. "The government is monitoring the money trail and how this money is spent and utilized by madrasahs. We want to ensure these funds are not used for any suspicious activity or to promote extremism through Islamic seminaries in Pakistan."
The Pakistani government says a new national counterextremism policy is being formed, which includes reforming the madrasah system, according to Ihsan Ghani, chief of the National Counter Terrorism Authority. The government vows to register all unregistered madrasahs.
"The government has pledged to reform these madrasahs through registration, change of syllabus, and to keep an eye on any extremism-related activities or links in these madrasahs," Shah said.
Muhammad Mir, a madrasah principal and member of a madrasah committee in Balochistan, said he hoped the government would keep its promise to clean up radical religious schools.
"We're in touch with the government and have requested them to look into the matter on urgent basis," he said. "If there are extremist elements within any madrasahs in Balochistan, the government should take strict action against it."
-- Written by Naseer Ahmad Kakar for Voice Of America
On Tuesday morning, less than an hour after U.S. officials deported Guadalupe Olivas Valencia to Mexico, the 45-year-old man leapt to his death from a bridge that connects our two countries.
BBC News reported witnesses describing Olivas as distressed and saying he shouted that he did not want to return to Mexico before he jumped. He was from Sinaloa, one of the most violent states in the country.
If you're inclined to point to Olivas' three attempts to live here illegally as evidence of his unwillingness to follow the rules, consider recasting the indictment as a question: Why would this man have tried three times to escape Mexico?
As of Tuesday afternoon, we still knew little about Guadalupe Olivas Valencia beyond the circumstances of his death. But anyone paying attention to the news and capable of even a whisper of empathy knows there is more to his story. It is not difficult to imagine his death as a harbinger of more tragedies to come.
Olivas died on the same day the Department of Homeland Security released sweeping new guidelines that will most likely target for deportation millions more undocumented immigrants living in the United States. No matter how much they pay in taxes and Social Security and regardless of what they contribute to their communities, they are now more vulnerable. Something as simple as failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign can lead to one person's deportation and the devastation of an entire family.
When I read about Olivas' suicide, I immediately thought of another family of immigrants I wrote about in December 2010. The parents I called them Mary and Joe to protect their identities and their two elder children were born in Mexico. They fled for their lives, crossing the border illegally and then paying strangers $6,000 to ride in windowless vans from Arizona to a small town in northeast Ohio. They found full-time work and brought three more children into the world.
They lived in constant fear of discovery, but they were willing to take the risk to improve the lives of their children an American value, I was raised to believe.
As I wrote at the time, one foggy evening in 2010, Joe was driving home from work, when police pulled him over for using high-beam headlights. He was gone before his wife and children could even visit him at the police station.
His 11-year-old daughter, Emma, took his deportation the hardest. She was a bright student, but her light burned out in her father's absence. The longer he was gone the more morose and combative she became. Mary shared her concern in phone calls with her husband, but she was trying to keep her family afloat. One afternoon, Mary left Emma to watch the younger children so that she and her eldest daughter could run errands.
By the time they returned, Emma was gone. She had coiled a cord around her neck and tied it to the banister and then slid down the stairs until she suffocated.
I learned about Emma only after she had died, in an interview with Veronica Isabel Dahlberg, who is a co-founder and the executive director of HOLA, an advocacy group for the large Latino community in northeast Ohio. After reading about Olivas' suicide on that bridge, I called Dahlberg to see how Emma's family is doing now.
After his daughter's suicide, Joe made it back to his family, but only for a while. He was arrested in 2012 after he was pulled over for another traffic infraction. This time, the charge was more serious because he'd already been deported. For months, he languished in a detention cell in Youngstown, awaiting his fate. On the day of his court hearing, Feb. 28, 2013, his wife of 20 years called Dahlberg.
"I could barely understand her at first," Dahlberg said. "She was so upset."
Joe had hanged himself in his cell. He was 40 years old.
Days after he died, Joe's family including his parents and friends and colleagues gathered at a local funeral home to say goodbye. His death notice described him as a man who read the Bible every day and who tried to live his life by its teachings.
"His greatest joy," it read, "came from being with his family."
He is buried next to his daughter Emma, in the small American town where he once dared to believe that his family would be safe.
Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and professional in residence at Kent State University's school of journalism. To find out more about Connie Schultz (con.schultz@yahoo.com), visit www.creators.com.
The United States has benefited for more than 160 years from having a friendly neighbor to its south, Mexico. But that may be about to change. Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly visited Mexico to begin talks on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement and on President Donald Trump's aggressive new immigration enforcement orders. But Mexico is in no mood to play nice.
Mexico is still smarting from candidate Trump's canards about Mexican immigrants, accusing Mexico of "not sending their best. ... They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists." It has only gotten worse since President Trump took office. He continues to claim that Mexico will pay for the wall he intends to build on the border which estimates now predict will cost more than $20 billion. And the plan to step up deportations of undocumented immigrants falls most heavily on Mexicans, who account for about half of the undocumented population in the U.S., some 5.5 million people. But perhaps the biggest insult of all is the administration's plan to dump non-Mexican deportees across the border in Mexico.
For nearly a decade now, the majority of those crossing illegally into the United States on our southern border are not Mexicans but Guatemalans, Hondurans, Salvadorans and others for whom Mexico is simply their transit point. Mexico is under no obligation to accept these non-Mexican deportees from the U.S. any more than Canada would be. And the Mexican president and foreign minister have made abundantly clear that Mexico, no less than the United States, is a sovereign country. But the administration hopes to bully Mexico into acceding to its demands by withholding aid and restricting trade.
A new immigration order signed by Kelly last week directed his undersecretary for management to "identify all sources of direct or indirect federal aid and assistance, excluding intelligence activities, from every departmental component to the Government of Mexico on an annual basis, for the last five fiscal years, and quantify such aid or assistance." The unambiguous threat is that if Mexico doesn't play ball, the aid will be jeopardized. But most of the aid to Mexico is given not out of the goodness of American hearts but to further U.S. interests, most notably in law enforcement and narcotics control. Do we really want to weaken Mexico's ability to fight drug cartels? Those cartels exist largely because of the insatiable demands of U.S. customers who consume the opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana that come from or through Mexico. And the money and weapons that sustain the cartels come primarily from our side of the border.
Nor, despite President Trump's rhetoric, is trade with Mexico a one-way street. Mexico is our third-largest trading partner. We import more from Mexico than we export to Mexico, but Mexicans still bought $237 billion worth of goods and services from the U.S. in 2015. If the administration were to start to turn the screws on Mexico by imposing tariffs, Mexico would have the ability to do the same to U.S. goods, as well as sell products it now sells to us to other customers in Asia and elsewhere. Who would end up paying? American consumers, farmers and manufacturers, who would either pay more for goods they purchase or have fewer customers for their own products.
Perhaps the most dangerous part of Trump's bellicose rhetoric and actions is that they have revived the anti-American sentiment that once dominated Mexican politics. It took more than a century for most Mexicans to put aside the humiliating defeat of the Mexican-American War in 1848. Mexico lost almost half its territory in that war, which Abraham Lincoln called immoral and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant referred to as "one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation."
If the administration isn't careful, Mexico may lurch dramatically left in the next elections. Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has twice run for president of Mexico, leads some recent polls in the race to succeed the term-limited current president, Enrique Pena Nieto, in 2018. A socialist leading Mexico wouldn't be good for Mexicans or for Americans.
If President Trump thinks he has problems with Mexico now, just wait until he sees what his policies bring in the future.
Linda Chavez is the author of "An Unlikely Conservative: The Transformation of an Ex-Liberal." To find out more about Linda Chavez, visit www.creators.com.
Mount Pleasant, SC (29464)
Today
Sun and clouds mixed. 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.
AUSTIN -- After confusion over whether several hundred Texans voted improperly in the November election, local election officials say that the ballots in question likely were cast by eligible voters who got caught up in the chaotic scramble to implement a court order loosening the states strict voter identification law.
The law, adopted in 2011 by the GOP-controlled Legislature and mired in a yearslong court battle, requires voters to show one of seven forms of government-issued photo ID. After federal courts found the law to be discriminatory, a judge in August ordered Texas officials to soften its requirements for the Nov. 8 election by allowing registered voters without one of the required photo IDs to cast ballots if they signed affidavits swearing that they had a reasonable impediment to obtaining ID and showed other documentation, such as a birth certificate, utility bill, bank statement or government pay stub.
Officials have said the new rules were implemented unevenly across the state, and The Associated Press reported that 500 people who signed the affidavits indicated on the forms that they had photo ID but were declining to show it. Reasons varied, with some withholding their IDs as a protest of the law, some saying they forgot their IDs and others refusing to show an ID without explanation.
The finding led Stephen Vickers, Tarrant Countys chief deputy elections administrator, to say he would forward those affidavits to prosecutors, and it was used as ammunition by Republicans who have argued, without evidence, that voter fraud is widespread. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted in response, Well continue our fight to stop cheating at ballot box.
But Vickers and other elections officials say the issue wasnt voter fraud but mass confusion over the voter ID requirements.
Thats really not fraud. Thats just them breaking a rule. Theyre still an eligible voter, and they can still vote without that ID, said Vickers, who said his office is still reviewing the affidavits and will forward them to prosecutors if warranted. I dont see voter fraud being rampant. I think most of this is confusion on the voters part and our part as far as what is required, and thats a training issue we need to get at.
The affidavits in question were among more than 16,400 signed by Texas voters in the Nov. 8 election, including 2,300 voters in Travis County. Those voters would have been unable to cast ballots if the states voter ID law were in full effect.
Although the August court order spurred mass confusion in the run-up to the November election, it also created a unique case study for examining voter ID laws, the impact of which are often difficult to measure because it is impossible to know how many people would have voted in a given election if there had been less restrictive ID requirements.
Despite the court order, civil rights groups said they received hundreds of reports from across the state of local election judges incorrectly applying the modified ID guidelines, meaning more people might have been turned away at the ballot box and the number of signed affidavits likely represents the minimum tally of Texans who would have been or were disenfranchised by the law.
Those who voted by signing the affidavits despite indicating they had photo ID should instead have been directed to vote by provisional ballot, Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said. In that process, officials hold the provisional ballots separate, and voters have six days after the election to produce valid ID, allowing their votes to be counted.
DeBeauvoir said her office wasnt reviewing the affidavits for possible perjury prosecutions because any errors in them were likely caused by the court order being carried out with little time and virtually no training.
There are several things going on here, and theyre all small, she said. I could see how the voting provisions would be a little confusing. I see that just as a paperwork thing.
Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart, who told the AP he might forward flawed affidavits to prosecutors, didnt respond to a request for comment.
Jennifer Anderson, the Hays County elections administrator, said her office isnt taking any action on the affidavits at this time. Bastrop Countys administrator, Bridgette Escobedo, said her office found no affidavits in which people indicated they had an ID.
Jacque Callanen, Bexar Countys election administrator, declined to comment except to say her office would only take action on the affidavits if directed to do so by the Texas secretary of states office.
Sam Taylor, a spokesman for Secretary of State Rolando Pablos, said in a statement that his office is not legally authorized to conduct investigations, so any investigation into allegations of illegal voting would have to be initiated either in the Attorney Generals office, or by the various County DAs where the alleged violations occurred.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxtons office declined to comment on whether it is investigating the affidavits.
Democrats and voting rights groups have argued that the voter ID law, authored by former state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, discriminates against groups that are less likely to have photo ID and are more likely to vote Democratic, including students and racial minorities.
Republicans have argued that the law is necessary to ensure the integrity of the vote. Studies on voter fraud, however, have shown that it isnt widespread and that cases involving the type of voter fraud that photo ID laws can prevent -- in-person impersonation of another voter -- are exceedingly rare.
In July, a federal appeals court sided with those who said the law had discriminatory effects, and a month later U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ordered the state to temporarily soften the ID requirements for the Nov. 8 election.
On Wednesday, Paxton asked a federal judge to delay an upcoming court hearing on the case until summer as lawmakers consider a replacement law.
Senate Bill 5, by state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, would make the option of signing the court-ordered reasonable impediment forms permanent and create a criminal penalty for those who sign the forms but have a valid photo ID.
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Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
So youve gotten yourself into another mess.
A fine kettle of fish, as they say. A heaping load of trouble, up to your hiney in alligators, and youll pay for a long time. Your life right now is pure chaos although, as in the new novel Clownfish Blues by Tim Dorsey, creativity may solve your little crisis.
Florida was consumed with Lottery Fever.
Nobody had won the last few rounds and so the amount rolled over, and over again. Lines doubled back and snaked through parking lots, while convenience stores and grocery aisles filled with hopeful people holding their lucky numbers.
With his trusty sidekick, Coleman, riding shotgun in a silver Corvette, Serge Storms decided it was a good time for their next adventure: a remake, new-for-the-millennium, not-quite-updated version of Route 66, shot entirely in Florida. The possibilities were endless for a couple of guys wanting to travel the Sunshine State , grabbing new gigs each week. It was fail-safe. Itd be fun!
Worm grunting seemed like a road to riches; fishermen who longed to catch The Big One in Florida waters always needed nightcrawlers, so Serge used his skills to enhance old-time methods of capturing worms. Turns out, it wasnt quite as lucrative as he figured it would be, but grunting for worms was a nice way to hide a body twice, in fact.
Being a Hostage Negotiator only required windbreakers, and the best part was that there really wasnt a hostage. There was a lot more to becoming a psychic more than just having a Magic Eight-Ball, truthfully, but finding a hot babe was a nice perk to the job. And the next gig was just down the road because Florida was in the grip of Lottery Fever. It was chaotic and crazy. Everybody wanted a piece of the winnings, including police, drug dealers, cartels, and one very stoned lawyer in Hialeah
Normally speaking, to read a book by author Tim Dorsey is to take a wild, screaming ride down I-75 while standing on the back seat of a convertible. Fans, of course are used to it with Dorsey; heck, theyve come to expect it.
But Clownfish Blues is like that, only with sinkholes every ten feet: its just too much to stay upright.
Theres a huge overabundance of Serge-and-Coleman chaos in this book, starting with a Signature Dorsey only-in-Florida scenario and Serge-driven not-so-random travels up and down the state. Readers are re-acquainted with recurring characters from prior novels here, while other bit-players show up early and return only when youve mostly forgotten who they are.
In between, Serges revenge tactics are fewer than normal, Coleman seems more clueless, and the bad guys dont seem quite as bad as usual.
If youre a fan, Im sure this review only whets your appetite and nobody can take your money fast enough. If youre new to the series, though, do not start with this book. Go find another, trust me. Fans will love this, but for others, Clownfish Blues is just a mess.
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 []
DES MOINES If and when he leaves office to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to China, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad will see an increase to his six-figure salary, will remain eligible to receive a five-figure state pension and also could become eligible for a federal pension, according to state and federal officials.
Branstad, the longest-serving governor in U.S. history, has been paid an annual salary of $130,000 each of the past five years, according to state data.
Once he becomes ambassador, Branstad will stop receiving his state salary, and instead, he will be paid a federal salary between about $170,000 and $187,000, according to a U.S. State Department spokesman.
Branstad also will remain eligible to collect a state pension from his first stint as governor and time as lieutenant governor and a state legislator, a state official said. That pension, in recent years, has been valued at about $50,000, according to his tax returns.
That would push Branstads annual compensation, with the combination of federal salary and state pension, above $200,000.
U.S. ambassadors also can receive various allowances, such as cost of living.
Whats more, Branstad also could, depending on various factors, become eligible for a federal pension from his job as ambassador.
Branstad would not receive a second, separate pension for his second stint as governor, the state officials said.
Branstads spokesman declined to comment on the governors current and future compensation, but he said the governor is grateful that Iowans have elected him to serve the state.
Gov. Branstad is humbled that a farm kid from Leland would have the opportunity to serve Iowans for over 22 years as their governor, spokesman Ben Hammes said in an emailed statement. He is also thankful for the friendships he has made in all 99 counties and grateful for the prayers from Iowans who have encouraged him as he transitions to become the US Ambassador to China.
Branstads nomination by President Donald Trump to serve as ambassador to China is yet to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, although that generally is considered a formality and a matter of time. Once confirmed, Branstad will resign as Iowas governor, a post he held from 1983 to 1999 and again since 2011.
The head of the states largest public employee union has criticized Branstad for simultaneously collecting a state salary and pension. When asked about Branstad remaining eligible for a state pension while serving in a federal role, Danny Homan, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 61, once again criticized Branstad. He referred to recent changes signed into law by Branstad that significantly weakened public employees collective bargaining rights.
Gov. Branstad has proven his uncanny ability to disparage public employees while reaping their benefits in the same breath, Homan said in an emailed statement. How hypocritical of us to send an ambassador to China to encourage the advancement of workers rights when he has just decimated the rights of over 180,000 workers in Iowa.
Branstad has earned more than $2 million in salary over his 24 calendar years as Iowas governor, according to state data. He became the states first million-dollar governor, in terms of career earnings, during his first stint, in 1999.
Branstads salary of $130,000 was just less than the national average in 2016, according to the Council of State Governments.
The highest-paid governor in 2016 was New Yorks Andrew Cuomo at $179,000, according to the councils report.
Its race day.
Die-hard fans from across the country are in Florida for the Daytona 500.
Kurt Busch wins Daytona 500
Thousands of fans are in Daytona Beach for the race
RELATED: Pixar, NASCAR announce season-long 'Cars 3' partnership
The 500-mile long race features some of the biggest NASCAR drivers.
The race sold out for a second consecutive year, Daytona International Speedway president Chip Wile announced Saturday.
Actor Owen Wilson served as Grand Marshal.
The main event started at 2 p.m.
Mike Rossen and his wife Carrie are among thousands of fans at the Daytona International Speedway today.
"I remember my dad took me to my first race back in Michigan in 1969, so that tells you how much and how long I've been a fan for, Rossen said.
But there were plenty of first-timers at the race as well. Some traveled all the way from North Dakota for the weekend.
"Just the excitement of the whole thing, it's very popular and famous and we are just excited to be a part of it," said NASCAR fan Kim Flutschock.
The last few days have been filled with plenty of racing.
On Thursday, the Can-Am Duel determined which driver would start in the front row for the Daytona 500. Chase Elliott won the pole for today's race, posting the fatest time.
The Xfinity race took place Saturday night. Ryan Reed was the winner with a green-white-checkered finish.
That race had plenty of drama, with at least two wrecks in the first 30 laps.
It was very stressful I was very aware of who I was racing and what I had to do to get it done, said NASCAR driver Ryan Reed. I wore my heart rate monitor, so Im curious to see once I download that Im thinking 205 or 210, I mean what's legally dead because I'm sure I was right about there.
FOREST CITY | Jerry Lee Hill, 75, formerly of Klemme, Iowa, died Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, at the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit in Mason City.
Memorial services will be held 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, at Cataldo Schott Funeral Chapel 505 N. Clark St., Forest City, with Pastor Scot McCluskey of Galilean Lutheran Church in Clear Lake officiating. A gathering of friends and family will be held one hour prior to the services at the funeral home on Monday.
Private family inurnment services will be held in Oakland Cemetery at a later date.
Arrangements are with Cataldo Schott Funeral Home in Forest City. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.cataldoschottfh.com
A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 1, 2017, at Visitation Catholic Church in Stacyville with Father Raymond Burkle officiating. Burial will be at Visitation Catholic Cemetery in Stacyville. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Visitation Catholic Church in Stacyville.
When San Franciscans proudly describe their city as world class, traffic congestion can now be part of the conversation.
San Francisco, with most of the rest of the Bay Area, is the fourth-most-congested metropolitan area in the world, and third worst in the United States, according to a new survey.
The Bay Area, with its bridges, tunnels, bay and hills, and tendency for people to live somewhere other than where they work, always ranks among the nations most traffic-tangled metropolises. But this survey places San Francisco near the top of 1,064 cities in 38 countries. It ranks behind Los Angeles, Moscow and New York and just ahead of Bogota, Colombia, for the worlds worst traffic. Sao Paolo, London, Atlanta, Paris and Miami round out the Top 10.
The survey was conducted by Inrix, a Seattle company that provides traffic information worldwide. It releases congestion studies annually, calculating how much time drivers lose because of slow-moving traffic.
Bay Area transportation advocates say the study is more than an interesting collection of numbers; its more evidence that congestion is hurting the region, and will slow the economy without both quick action and long-term plans.
Congestion is having a dramatic impact on the quality of life in the Bay Area, said Jim Wunderman, CEO of the Bay Area Council, a business lobbying group active in transportation issues. We can see it beginning to take its toll on the economy.
According to the study, drivers in the San Francisco area, which includes the inner East Bay, the Peninsula and the South Bay, wasted 83 hours sitting or creeping along in traffic in 2016. New Yorkers lost 89 hours behind the wheel last year, Moscow drivers 91 hours and those in Los Angeles 104 hours.
Last years survey, which used a different methodology, ranked San Francisco second in the nation, tied with Washington, but behind Los Angeles. Bay Area drivers in 2015 wasted 75 hours in traffic.
Congestion causes San Francisco-area drivers $1,996 a year per person in wasted time, Inrix concluded, compared with a national average of $1,400. But Bob Pishue, Inrixs senior economist and study co-author, said San Franciscos congestion during the morning and evening commutes is the worst in the nation, particularly on city streets.
Although traffic is a sign of a healthy economy, it can drive up prices of goods and services as it worsens, the survey said. In the Bay Area, Wunderman said, the long, slow commutes combined with the rising cost of housing are starting to drive away some job seekers and could have the same effect on employers.
I hear anecdotally from companies all the time about problems with people getting to their jobs, Wunderman said. A lot of younger people are thinking twice about coming here because of the increasing cost of housing and the long commutes.
The Inrix report recommends that congested regions, like the Bay Area, use its data to drive the discussion on transportation, such as determining where improvements should be made, and using technology to better manage traffic.
We really want this to be the starting point, Pishue said. There is a lot of talk around the country, even in the Bay Area and state, about what to do about transportation. Hopefully this can help inform the discussion.
The Bay Area can achieve short-term traffic relief, Wunderman said, by encouraging carpooling, possibly by limiting free parking to drivers who share their commutes, and by developing regional express-lane network that allows solo drivers to pay a toll to use carpool lanes. Regional express buses, an expanded ferry system and a coordination of transit, and ride services, like Lyft and Uber, could also help, he said.
In a separate report released last week, SPUR, a Bay Area urban planning think tank, said those kinds of improvements are needed on what it calls the Caltrain corridor, the overburdened transportation network connecting Silicon Valley and San Francisco.
Among the changes were a call for beefed-up Caltrain service with trains that would run more frequently and offer more capacity; the addition of express lanes and express buses on Highway 101; improved connections at better transit stations; and ferry service out of the Port of Redwood City. The SPUR report estimated it would take $16 billion to $21 billion to pay for it all.
Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
Most-congested major world cities
1. Los Angeles
2. Moscow
3. New York
4. San Francisco
5. Bogota
6. Sao Paolo
7. London
8. Atlanta
9. Paris
10. Miami
Most-congested U.S. cities
1. Los Angeles
2. New York
3. San Francisco
4. Atlanta
5. Miami
Most-congested nations
1. Thailand
2. (tie) Colombia
2. (tie) Indonesia
4. (tie) United States
4. (tie) Russia
Source: Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard
Immigration is once again at the forefront of American politics. Following President Trumps infamous travel ban, the highly-publicized immigration raids, and the Day Without Immigrants protests in response, policymakers from both sides of the aisle are turning increasing attention to the need for immigration reform. It is important, however, before diving into the political rhetoric, to have an accurate understanding of the vital role that immigrants play in our economy. New American Economy, a major bipartisan group of business leaders, celebrated a Day of Impact for Immigration Reform on February 21; I thought this was a good time to explore the issue in some detail.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the immigrant population was 42.4 million in 2014, accounting for 13.3 percent of the U.S. population. The immigrant stock in the U.S., first generation immigrants and their U.S.-born children, numbers around 81 million, over a quarter of the U.S. population. Given current immigration and birth rate trends, the Pew Research Center estimates that 93 percent of the growth in the working-age population through 2050 will be accounted for by immigrants and their children, which could grow to comprise close to 40 percent of the entire U.S. population. So while many try to frame the immigration debate as an us and them issue, it is important to realize that it is really just an us issue; the U.S. has always been and will remain a nation of immigrants.
Texas, more so than most other states, also has strong ties to immigration. Since the 1960s, over 60 percent of immigrants settled in just seven states California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Texas. The state is continuing to receive a large portion of immigrants entering the U.S.; from 2010 to 2014, the immigrant population in Texas grew by 8.7 percent, outpacing the growth rate in the nation. About one in six Texans are now foreign born.
In total, nearly 4.5 million Texans were born outside the U.S., approximately 16.7 percent of the state population. Texas has the second largest immigrant population in the U.S., behind California. The immigrant community in Texas makes a large contribution to the state economy. In 2014, immigrant-led households earned $118.7 billion and contributed more than one in every six dollars paid in local and state tax revenues. After taxes, these families held a collective $89.6 billion of net income available for additional spending in the state economy.
About 75.2 percent of the foreign-born population in Texas are of working age (aged 25 to 64), and immigrants made up 21.7 percent of the states workforce. The immigrant population provides a significant portion of the labor for numerous industries. For example, in Texas, immigrants make up about 60 percent of painters and maids/housekeeping cleaners; around 50 percent of grounds maintenance workers, construction laborers, and carpenters; and close to 40 percent of cooks, janitors/building cleaners, and welding, soldering, and brazing workers. In agriculture, an $11.2 billion industry in Texas, over 40 percent of hired farmworkers were foreign born in 2014. A 2015 study estimated that over 50 percent of laborers on U.S. dairy farms were immigrants.
While many immigrants are employed in labor-intensive industries, that is not the whole story. For example, immigrants comprise 24.5 percent of workers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields although they are only 16.7 percent of the entire state population. In fact, about 37 percent of software developers in Texas are foreign born. Currently, there is a large, unfilled demand for STEM workers in the state. In 2014, there were 11.3 STEM job openings for every one unemployed STEM worker in the state.
International students made up approximately one-third of the students seeking a STEM Masters degree and close to half of those students seeking a PhD-level STEM degree at Texas universities in the same year. While these international students often wish to find employment in the U.S., the current immigration system makes it difficult for companies to sponsor them. Greater availability of qualified STEM workers in the state can fuel further growth and development in rapidly expanding and emerging industries. A study performed by the Partnership for a New American Economy and the American Enterprise Institute found that for every 100 foreign-born STEM workers with advanced degrees that are hired in a state, 262 additional jobs are created for native-born workers within seven years.
Immigrants also make up a substantial portion of the healthcare industry, a sector that is critical to long-term growth and faces chronic shortages in skilled personnel. In 2014, there were 5.6 healthcare job listings for every one unemployed healthcare worker in Texas. In 2016, more than a quarter of all physicians in Texas graduated from a foreign medical school. Moreover, close to 20 percent of all nurses and health aides in 2014 in the state were foreign born.
Immigrants also provide notable employment opportunities for others through starting their own business. According to a 2015 study performed by the Kauffman Foundation, immigrants are almost twice as likely to start a new business as those who are native born. Approximately 28.9 percent of entrepreneurs in Texas are foreign born. These firms generated $7.9 billion in income in 2014. At least 420,000 people in Texas are employed at firms owned by immigrants.
Through the years, foreign-born workers have filled important gaps in our states workforce. Immigrants account for large segments of many industries and can help meet future labor needs. The outdated immigration system, however, causes many problems for U.S. firms trying to confront those needs. We need significant reform, but it needs to be focused on approaches that, while protecting our security, permit us to leverage this vital and indispensable resource to promote long-term prosperity. After all, immigrants are part of what made America great in the first place, and one need only look at our native-born demographics to realize that it will be that way for generations to come.
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Dr. M. Ray Perryman is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Perryman Group (www.perrymangroup.com). He also serves as Institute Distinguished Professor of Economic Theory and Method at the International Institute for Advanced Studies.
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STAMFORD A city man was arrested by warrant during a motor vehicle stop Friday night and charged with allegedly holding up a man at knifepoint after luring him online to a West Side meeting to buy a pair of Nike sneakers at a bargain price, police said.
Keith Benoit, 33, of Stamford was charged with single counts of first-degree robbery and sixth-degree larceny in connection with the incident on Dec. 2, according to Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin.
DANBURY - Holding signs that called for peace and love, hundreds cried for unity and justice Sunday afternoon at an interfaith Humanity Rally.
An estimated 300 people from different races, religions and backgrounds gathered to support each other in the wake of the division and hate crimes in the city and nation since Donald Trump was elected president in November.
The Association of Religious Communities planned the rally as a way for people to speak out against injustice while getting to know one another.
P.J. Leopold, executive director of ARC, said that since the election, she has seen people turn to anger instead of dialogue. The rally was meant to change that, with speeches and an indoor fair where people could chat and learn about each others religion or organization.
Its bridge building, Leopold said. It doesnt mean you always agree, but with the fear in the air, we want people to have civil discourse.
Several community leaders shared their experiences as an immigrant or religious minority on the lawn of the Central Christian Church. In between speeches, attendees were asked to get to know a stranger or share whether they at that moment felt more afraid or hopeful.
As I mingled among the crowd, I heard hope, hope, hope, Leopold said. And thats how we want people to feel because if thats how you feel, thats how you act.
Danbury resident Herb Krate, 76, was among the attendees. He said he has never been politically active, but after seeing what Trump has done in office he said he could not stay silent.
This is the true expression of democracy and boy do we need it, he said. If this kind of pressure stays going all over the countryits got legs they have to pay attention. The majority of the country is not with him and he wouldnt be in office if we went by a simple majority.
The rally was not an anti-Trump event, Leopold said, but many of the speakers mentioned the presidents executive order banning all refugees and immigrants from select countries.
State Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford, said, as an Asian-American, the order reminded him of the Chinese Exclusion Act and Japanese internment camps. He said the nation must be vigilant so that history does not continue to repeat itself.
I wanted to come here today to exhort all of you not just to demonstrate, and not just to speak up, not just to ask what can I do today, but to commit yourself to this battle, he said.
Are you ready to work for justice? he added, to shouts of approval from the crowd. Are you ready to work for our freedoms? Are you ready to work for the people here and across the state who share our story? Are we going to get to work together and are we not going to stop?
Mariam Khan, a Muslim woman who grew up in Danbury, told the crowd how she experienced Islamaphobia at 8, when people blamed her and all Muslims for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She described how her parents property was vandalized with a swatiska this fall and how she and her father, the president of the Baitul Mukarram Masjid, were held at the airport by customs agents the day after Trumps order, even though they are American citizens.
But Khan said this hatred hurts more than just the Muslim community.
A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, she said. It is not just the Muslim community under attack here, it is not just the immigrants. It is everything that this country stands for. If your neighbors house is on fire, your house is in fire. Right now it may be my home and Im scared tomorrow that it might be yours.
Wilson Hernandez, who came to the United States from Ecuador in 1985 and owns the restaurant La Mitad del Mundo, debunked the election rhetoric that called immigrants criminals. He reminded the crowd that, instead, immigrants are dreamers and that the country was built on people who came to this land of opportunity.
Thank you for standing with immigrants and please know we stand with all of you and all of your dreams, he said. Humanity is united by many things. So let us step away from any kind of hate and let us build bridges with all of our sisters and brothers.
An apathetic electorate shouldn't be a problem this weekend when state lawmakers participate in three legislative town halls planned in the area.
They come on the heels of a tense week in Des Moines, when Republicans muscled through bills rewriting Iowa's collective bargaining laws for teachers, snow-plow operators and other public employees.
More than 1,100 public-sector employees staged a spirited rally Monday at the Statehouse in advance of debates in the House and Senate. Legislators talked all day and into the night Tuesday and Wednesday. Whether any minds were changed is an open question. On Thursday, leaders in each chamber halted debate and forced a vote. The measures passed generally along party lines. Gov. Terry Branstad is waiting only for the print to dry so he can sign it into law.
Proponents argued the change is necessary to give local school districts, counties and cities extra leverage to help them pinch their budgets or as Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, said, put "taxpayers back in charge." Those on the other side contend it was a mean-spirited effort to bust the strongest unions left in the state.
Even though collective bargaining was not a campaign issue in the fall, Republicans seized upon it once they gained control of the Senate in November. The GOP already had a majority in the House and Branstad wasn't facing re-election. Nobody was standing in the way to knee-cap a persistent irritant, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. (When was the last time AFSCME and Republicans saw eye-to-eye on an issue?)
As Rep. Dave Heaton, R-Mount Pleasant, said earlier in the week, "This isn't all of a sudden a sudden issue."
Heaton acknowledged, though, it caught him by surprise, and he cautioned his colleagues, "You don't just pop a bill this extensive."
Republicans failed to heed the warning. They wanted to seize the opportunity while they could. Heaton was one of six Republicans to vote against the effort, concerned mostly with the aggressive tactics he fears will backfire.
So now is gone a system that has served Iowans well since 1974. With collective bargaining in place, the state has not had to contend with any work stoppages by public employees. Somehow in their effort to scuttle Chapter 20 the portion of the Iowa Code governing collective bargaining Republicans unwittingly acknowledged local governments have done an abysmal job negotiating union contracts or they haven't tried, as Burlington City Manager Jim Ferneau did three years ago when he renegotiated a contract already in place.
The requirement unions must recertify their memberships periodically failed to disguise Republicans' contempt for organized labor if there ever was an effort to mask it.
This weekend, Reps. Dave Kerr, R-Morning Sun, and Sen. Tom Greene, R-Burlington, will be in southeast Iowa to defend their votes. They are invited to the Greater Burlington Partnership's members-only Eggs and Issues breakfast Saturday, where they likely will face friendly faces. A public forum will follow at 9 a.m. at West Burlington City Hall, 122 Broadway St. in West Burlington.
Another forum is at noon today in Fort Madison. It, too, is a members-only event. Lawmakers expected there opposed the measure: Heaton, Rep. Jerry Kearns, D-Keokuk, and Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mount Pleasant.
Civility may have been absent inside the Statehouse this week. Hopefully, local comments, gestures and behavior for or against the measure will be civil here. Democracy needs all the help it can right now.
This editorial appeared in the Feb. 17 edition of the Burlington Hawk Eye.
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GREENWICH On Sunday, Dave Loda sat astride a brown horse outside Putnam Cottage, portraying General Israel Putnam and commanding a small number of Continental Army soldiers to scout for marauding British raiders in Stamford and Greenwich. The performance echoed the real events of Feb. 26, 1779 that gave rise to the generals legendary Horseneck Escape on horseback.
About 20 reenactors wearing British red and Colonial blue uniforms joined Loda to recreate Putnams legendary ride, in which he charged down Puts Hill to elude the coming British force. None of the British were as good a horseman as him and I would describe Putnam as probably the consummate soldier, said Loda, and equestrian and reenactor.
During the show, onlookers rushed around the property to the sound of musket fire to follow the action.
The recreation climaxed with a musket battle between the two sides, a type of confrontation that was common in Greenwich during the period, said Tom Castrovinci, a member of the Fifth Connecticut Regiment, a statewide group of Revolutionary War reenactors.
Activities offered by the uniformed reenactors from the Fifth Connecticut Regiment included marching and firing drills under the direction of Castrovinci, as well as tours of Putnam Cottage by members of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The event also included a talk by Robert Ernest Hubbard, the author of a new full length biography about Putnams life, Major Israel Putnam: Hero of the American Revolution.
Its exciting because this is the first time in 100 years there is a new book about Israel Putnam, said Linda Murphy Talavarios, regent for the Putnam Hill DAR chapter.
The red-shingled house at 243 East Putnam Ave has been long known as Putnam Cottage and is the second oldest house in Greenwich, Talavarios said. The DAR purchased the building in 1902.
The group has been trying to preserve the building a historical resource, emphasizing its past as a colonial tavern.
Our whole purpose is to teach people about the principles that were fought for and that the Revolution helped give us today, Talavarios said.
Larry Leibowitz of the Bronx, N.Y. came to the show with his wife and said he appreciated the reenactors attention to historic detail, singling out the appearance of early American flags with six-pointed stars.
The six-pointed stars were in common use until Betsy Ross, widely considered the creator of the American flag, convinced General George Washington to include the more easily reproduced five pointed stars.
This show is fantastic and these guys are extremely realistic, Leibowitz said. They do a great job.
Submitted
Three Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD students traveled to San Antonio for the Breeding Beef Heifer show at the San Antonio Livestock Exposition, Feb 14 - 16.
The breeding heifers are shown within their breed by birth date, from calves up to two years of age. Heifers are ranked on how well they represent their respective breed in characteristics such as structural correctness, body capacity, and eye appeal. Once the cattle are no longer eligible for competition, many serve as the basis for an exhibitor's herd.
Plans to renovate the old AT&T building in north Pasadena in anticipation of a lucrative lease agreement have been abandoned, according to officials from the city's economic development corporation, known as the Pasadena Second Century Corp.
"We had looked at this building and hoped to do something with it," Second Century chairman Roy Mease said at a Feb. 6 meeting. "But we've come to impasse at this time."
"We had (discussions with) several different companies and schools even; but it just didn't work out," board member Brad Hance said.
The board voted unanimously to remove the proposed $4.4 million renovation project from its list of budgeted projects.
"It was a very difficult building to work with because of all those columns it has inside," Mease told board members. "One day it may be torn down and turned into a city park, I don't know."
In June 2016, Second Century bought the building from the city for $25,000 and set aside $4.4 million from the group's budget to renovate the basement and one floor of the building, which the corporation planned to lease to Pinnacle Advanced Reliability Technologies, an oil-and-gas industry engineering and technology company based in Pasadena that was founded by Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton.
At the time Sitton had said, "The robust nature of this building's design and construction lends itself to this project. I have no doubt the PSCC will do a first-class job of renovating the space."
Negotiations stalled later in the year according to city officials and Sitton has since declined to comment on the proposal.
Built in 1967, the 54,016-square-foot building was donated to the city by Southwestern Bell in 2011 in exchange for real estate fees and closing costs totaling roughly $25,000 after the bottom floor flooded during Hurricane Ike.
Since then, the building has remained vacant.
In November 2014, Pasadena City Council voted to allocate $11 million to fund renovations of the entire building and approved a contract with Dannenbaum Engineering for design and engineering work.
City officials planned to use the renovated facility to house the fire department, code enforcement, municipal court and fire marshal's office.
Part of the $11 million renovation budget was spent to remove mold and remediate asbestos issues. But, the renovations were halted after city officials said money they expected to receive to help fund the project from the Federal Emergency Management Agency associated with Hurricane Ike damage didn't materialize.
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BRIDGEPORT A city man was arrested in connection with the Friday homicide of Michael Watkins, who was shot numerous times on Berkshire Avenue
Jovanne Brown, 26, of 302 Glenwood Ave., was charged Saturday with felony murder, robbery and weapons offenses and held on a $1 million bond, Bridgeport Police Captain Brian Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said an investigation concluded that Brown shot Watkins multiple times during the course of an altercation in front of 438 Berkshire Ave. Watkins, who had a pistol permit, fired at Brown as well, striking him in the chest.
After being treated for his wounds, Brown initially lied to detectives about how and where he had been shot, but later confessed that he shot Watkins, Fitzgerald said.
Watkins was found on the street Friday by emergency responders who had been called to the scene of an apparent assault just before 10 p.m., according to police. They found he had been shot in the head, Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez said.
Friends and family members said Watkins was born in Jamaica, where his mother lives, and went to Central High School,
Watkins death was Bridgeports fourth homicide of 2017 and the citys second in a single day.
Early Friday morning, 26-year-old Nidia Gonzalez was stabbed to death, setting off a manhunt for her boyfriend, 39-year-old Oscar Hernandez, who police said fled with their child before being captured in Pennsylvania.
President Donald Trump's 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 Carson's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in 2004. McMaster's approach won praise during the 2007 surge in Baghdad.
Prior to that, McMaster led an armored regiment in America's first Iraq war in a famous battle against a much larger Iraqi Republican Guard force. Outnumbered, but not outdone, McMaster's role in the battle led to comparisons to Gen. George Patton.
Heady stuff indeed. But there's 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 administration's execution of the war in Vietnam.
One of the then-young doctoral candidate's 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-Colo., tells us, McMaster's book found that had the joint chiefs stood up to the president, "they wouldn't have gotten so deeply into that quagmire."
"He's 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 last week against Flynn's dishonesty in dealing with top Trump officials about the nature of his conversation with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.
McMaster's critique of the Johnson administration reminds us that one of the books Trump strategist Stephen Bannon suggested to some during Trump's transition to the White House: "The Best and the Brightest," David Halberstam's 1972 look into errors by the Kennedy administration that pulled the U.S. into Vietnam.
As Bannon told columnist Marc Tracy, "It's great for seeing how little mistakes early on can lead to big ones later."
Given the early turmoil of Trump's moves on the National Security Council, including giving Bannon unprecedented power among the advisers, we hope that Trump's choice of McMaster is evidence that 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.
This editorial appeared in the Feb. 21 of The Denver Post.
Police training and preparedness in Minnesota has not kept pace with the threats to public safety that seem to be growing in number and severity. But a proposal before the Legislature would help police be better equipped to make calm out of chaos.
The plan proposed by Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, and co-sponsored by Rep. Debra Hilstrom, DFL-Brooklyn Center, calls for mandatory training on crisis response, conflict management and diversity. It also makes it easier to hire new police officers, by allowing those with two-year college degrees to attend a four-month academy to get licensed.
Those requirements vary somewhat now, but usually an officer has to have some kind of law enforcement degree and skills training before being accepted for licensure.
The proposal has garnered bipartisan support and, more important, support among police themselves. Hilstrom said this is the first time law enforcement has come forward and asked for the mandatory training.
Extreme cases of violence involving police and suspects seem to have escalated around the country in recent years. In Minnesota, two high-profile shootings involved people of color in the Jamar Clark and Philando Castile cases. Officers were not charged in the Clark case and the officer in the Castile case is awaiting trial on charges of manslaughter. In a Mankato case, Chase Tuseth, a white man, was fatally shot by a Mankato police officer on Dec. 31 after a violent encounter.
Everyone can agree more training will only help. And supporters of the plan say the flexibility in licensing may allow people of color and nontraditionally-trained candidates to become licensed quickly and easily. The bill would also fund some of this training.
The bill calls for increasing the budget of the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training from $2.8 million to $10 million. The POST board licenses officers and coordinates and helps fund training for Minnesota law enforcement agencies.
The bill passed out of the House public safety committee, chaired by Cornish, last week. It appears to have Gov. Mark Dayton's support, although he proposed similar training with one-time funding at a lower level. Cornish says there remains some heavy lifting on how to fund the proposal.
If we want law enforcement to have permanent and consistent training in this area, we should commit to permanent funding. The need for calming a public safety environment that seems chaotic and dangerous will far outweigh costs that are relatively moderate for the public good that will result.
We urge the Legislature to pass this bipartisan bill and help police officers protect and serve a safer Minnesota.
This editorial appeared in the Feb. 19 edition of The Free Press of Mankato.
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Mary Carson picks up her leopard-print tote bag and tugs on her leopard-print scarf.
"I'm just going to do a little bit of business," the 77-year-old says as she walks into Neiman Marcus at the Tysons Galleria in Northern Virginia and asks for the manager. He appears in a pinstripe suit and shakes her hand.
"I'm very disappointed in what's happened with the Trump line," she tells him. "I hate to do this - I'm not a real activist - but I learned a long, long time ago that you cannot mix business and politics."
The manager listens patiently.
Carson, who worked in marketing before she retired, pulls out her Neiman Marcus credit card and prepares to give it back. It was the obvious thing to do, she says, once the retailer stopped carrying Ivanka Trump's jewelry line on its website a few weeks ago.
"If the company feels like they can hurt the daughter of a president by doing something like this, that's mean," said Carson, who voted for Trump. "I feel very strongly about that."
A week earlier, Carson had driven to the nearby Nordstrom and returned her store credit card. She'd had that card since 1988, she told the manager, and had used it to buy at least one St. John suit a year - price tag, roughly $1,400 - for decades.
"I said to her, 'You all really are the best store in the area,'" recalled Carson, who lives in Vienna, Virginia. "'It's a shame you couldn't keep your mouths shut about our president.'"
Some companies have announced in recent weeks that they would be culling Ivanka Trump's brand. Others have faced pressure from left-leaning groups to drop other Trump-family products. In response, conservative voters - who say they are tired of the negativity surrounding the new president - are staging their own boycotts against mainstream retailers. It's difficult to gauge how widespread these efforts are, or whether they will inspire real change, but stories about them are bubbling up.
The movement gained steam this month when Nordstrom dropped Ivanka Trump's clothing and shoes from its stores after a period of declining sales. Soon after that, Kmart and Sears, also citing slow sales, announced they would be removing some Trump-branded products from their websites. There were reports that Marshalls and TJ Maxx had instructed employees to remove Ivanka Trump signs from store racks, although her clothing is still on sale there.
More for you Nordstrom has a tough quarter, but Nordstrom Rack soars
The first five weeks of Trump's presidency have been marked by political polarization that has only deepened in the aftermath of a historic, contentious election. It has stirred a spirit of activism for Americans who say they are trying to make a difference where they can - and that increasingly means making deliberate choices about where they shop and what they buy.
"Boycotts are nothing new - they've literally been around forever - but we're seeing retail become more of a bully pulpit," said Mark Cohen, director of retail studies at Columbia Business School. "How are consumers showing their disappointment? Some are demonstrating, others are spending a fair amount of time complaining. Many are voting with their wallets."
Back at Neiman Marcus, Carson is telling the manager that she intends to do just that. It didn't bother her so much when Macy's dropped President Donald Trump's suits, shirts and ties two summers ago after he called Mexican immigrants "killers" and "rapists." But something about this recent round of cancellations, she says, struck a chord.
"There is just so much negativity in the country right now," she says. "Everything has become political."
The manager assures Carson that a few Neiman Marcus stores still carry Ivanka Trump jewelry, so she decides to hold onto her credit card - for now.
"But if that changes, I'll be back to ask more questions," she says. "I'm going to keep my eye on this."
- - -
A few days later, Carson is back at the mall. It's Sunday afternoon, just after church, and she sees something that startles her: a T-shirt that says "F*** America" prominently displayed in a store entrance.
She walks in and asks the manager to remove it. "It's not appropriate," she says. When he refuses - it's his opinion against hers, he tells her - she enlists the mall's management. The shirt is removed.
These bursts of negativity and displays of hatred, as she sees them, have been mounting since before the election. Then came Trump's victory and with it, swift backlash from the left. Take, for instance, the Women's March on Washington the day after the inauguration. Carson read up on it online.
"I could not believe the reasons they were doing this," she said. "It was like, you know, pro-abortion - and I'm sorry, I'm Catholic, I'm a little religious and old-fashioned."
When her longtime yoga teacher sent an email offering $5 classes before the march, Carson wrote back and told her she would no longer attend the studio.
"I was very nice, very congenial," she said. "But what did she think: If she gives me $10 off one yoga lesson, I'm going to go and march with her in the Women's March? I'm sorry, but that, to me, isn't doing business."
The way she sees it, retailers are only listening to one side when they shed Trump-branded products. The Grab Your Wallet campaign, which encourages widespread boycotts of companies that carry Trump brands, has dominated the news, she says. Her hope is her counteractions - credit card cancellations and store boycotts - will show retailers that conservative shoppers have spending power, too.
And she isn't alone. A number of Trump voters - mostly longtime Republicans - said they had taken similar actions in recent weeks. Many had never been politically active before but said they felt a sense of urgency now. They weren't represented in the mainstream media, they said, and increasingly felt their influence in other areas slipping, too. It felt important to band together.
"Business women, educated women like me, we voted for Trump," said a 51-year-old Iranian immigrant who lives in Los Angeles. "That's what these stores don't understand. There are a lot of us, and we like to shop."
The woman, a registered Democrat, spoke on the condition of anonymity because she feared backlash at her financial services job.
"When Nordstrom announced they were getting rid of Ivanka's brand, that was a dealbreaker for me," she said, adding that she owns about 25 pieces of clothing and at least eight pairs of shoes from Ivanka Trump's line. "If management is going to be so narrow-minded, I'm just not going to shop there anymore."
Nordstrom says its decision to drop the brand was based on plummeting sales, not politics. Company documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal showed that sales of Ivanka Trump clothing and shoes fell more than 70 percent in the weeks before the presidential election.
"Each year we cut about 10 percent [of brands] and refresh our assortment with about the same amount," the company said. "In this case, based on the brand's performance, we've decided not to buy it for this season."
There are small signs that the campaign is working. Ivanka Trump's perfume skyrocketed to the top of Amazon.com's best-selling fragrances as the president's supporters looked to make their mark. (Jeffrey Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, owns The Washington Post.)
"I bought this perfume in support of Ivanka Trump," a user named D. Watts wrote in an Amazon review. " I had no idea how it smelled. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised and I LOVE it!!"
"The fact is that the conservative woman also has a huge, huge influence on spending," said Tammy Witt O'Connor of Oxford, Michigan, who put her Nordstrom Rewards card through the shredder after she heard the company had dropped Ivanka Trump's line. "For these retail brands to not realize that is shocking to me. I want retailers to be aware that there are consequences on both sides."
Rachel Veazey does, too. She used to shop at TJ Maxx at least three times a week. In a typical month, she spent $1,000 buying clothing, furniture and homewares at the store.
No longer.
"When TJ Maxx tries to make a statement against the president's family, that to me is just unnecessary," said Veazey, a registered Republican from Cleveland, Tenn., who backed President Trump from the beginning.
"It's really cramped my style," she said last week, "but you've got to stand by your principles. I've resisted the temptation to go."
But a few days later, she wrote on Facebook, TJ Maxx had lured her back.
"The mother ship called and I had a moment of weakness," she posted online, alongside a selfie of herself outside her favorite store.
"I broke down and went in," she said. "I mean, $24 for a nice dress? I just couldn't resist. Gosh, I'm not a very good boycotter.
"But," she added, "I'm trying."
- - -
In terms of large-scale influence, analysts say it's unlikely boycotts will make or break mainstream retailers. It's too soon to tell, for example, whether Nordstrom's earnings will be affected by the political firestorm. Nordstrom's president on Thursday said "it's not really discernible one way or the other" whether a tweet by President Trump chastizing Nordstrom for treating his daughter "so unfairly" had affected sales.
Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-A and Target have been the subject of protests in recent years, but all three are still in business, said Paula Rosenblum, managing partner of Retail Systems Research in Miami.
"We're in such a hyper-polarized environment - I've never seen the country this polarized, ever," she said.
But even those who intend to make a stand may not stick with it. "In the end, convenience overrides everything else," Rosenblum said.
Mary Carson is not about convenience. Four years ago, after she'd overcome cancer and endured four rounds of chemotherapy, Carson found she had lost all feeling in her hands and feet. For three years, doctors told her the sensation would come back. And then one day, a doctor told her to "suck it up and accept" that it wouldn't.
"I looked at him and I thought, that's rude," Carson recalled. "But you know what? That turned out to be the best lesson I ever had. I sucked it up and accepted it. I'm alive. If the nation would suck it up - this is our president now, just accept it - we would all be in a better place today."
Carson, who once was a Democrat, says it's important to note that she bristles at the president's style. (She declined to discuss his policies.)
When the Trump campaign called asking for money during the election, Carson said she wanted to offer a message to the nominee instead: "Tell him if I was his mother, I'd wash his mouth out with soap. He has to learn to stop lashing out."
But still, she says, the media are focusing only on the bad. She is toying with canceling her 50-year subscription to The Washington Post, which she reads each morning, along with USA Today and the Fredericksburg (Virginia) Free Lance-Star.
Everyone seems to be against the president, Carson says. There have been leaders she hasn't agreed with, but she's never made a fuss.
But now she says she's holding companies accountable and rallying her friends, too. A couple of weeks ago, after returning her credit card at Nordstrom, Carson posted to her Facebook page: "Feel like a load is off my back!!!!"
Twenty-five friends "liked" her update. Many wrote back saying that they had done the same, or that they planned to.
Abha Bhattarai is a business reporter for The Washington Post. She has previously written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and the St. Petersburg Times.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post
One man was wounded Saturday night after a possibly gang-related drive-by shooting in southeast Houston, according to police.
The outburst of violence came around 10 p.m., as friends and family returning from a funeral were gathering in front of a home near the corner of Glenhollow and Westover, Houston police told reporters at the scene.
As the nation basks in some of the warmest February weather it's seen in decades, the U.S. Geological Survey has been quick to point out that the early spring conditions are just another symptom of climate change.
On Thursday, the USGS shared a new analysis just released by the USA-National Phenology Network, which the agency helps to fund, showing that an early spring has already swept through the Southeast and is continuing to work its way across the country. As the agency points out, the new analysis reaffirms a fact scientists have known for at least a decade now -- that "climate change is variably advancing the onset of spring across the United States."
The analysis relies on a special "spring index," which defines the start of spring as the point when temperatures allow for certain early-season events in plants, such as the emergence of leaves and blooms. The index was created using data that's been collected for a citizen science project over the past few decades, according to Jake Weltzin, executive director of the USA-National Phenology Network and an ecologist with the USGS, which helped fund the project.
Since the 1950s, volunteers have been collecting information about the leafing and blooming of certain plants, such as lilacs and honeysuckle, Weltzin said. More recently, climatologist Mark Schwartz of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee used this information to develop an algorithm that can now be used with national temperature data to determine where and when "spring" has arrived across the country.
By comparing this year's temperatures with data from previous years, the scientists are able to determine which locations are seeing an unusually early spring compared to the average. Washington, D.C., for instance, saw its spring arrive a whopping 22 days early, according to the analysis.
In general, the new season has already made its appearance throughout most of the Southeast and as far north as southern Illinois and Indiana. It's now starting to show up scattered locations across the Western states, including in parts of Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, and has even begun to creep into California.
The same index was also used in a recent study which demonstrated that spring is arriving earlier and earlier in many national parks throughout the United States. Looking at data spanning the past 112 years, the study found that spring has been advancing in 76 percent of the nation's national parks. And more than half of all parks are experiencing extreme early springs compared to 95 percent of the historical record.
These findings, along with the newly released maps of this year's springs, are all just another way of pointing to the progression of climate change, Weltzin noted. He also noted that, while the balmy conditions this February may seem nice on the surface, an early spring can come with all kinds of downsides. For one thing, the onset of warm weather is also associated with the reemergence of disease-carrying parasites and insects, such as ticks and mosquitoes.
It can also carry serious agricultural risks. Early springs are sometimes followed by sudden frosts or droughts later in the summer, which can be devastating for crops that have already begun to grow. It's happened several times in the recent past, Weltzin pointed out -- in 2012, the grape harvest in Southwestern Michigan was ravaged by a sudden cold snap following an early spring, and a similar incident hammered the tree nut harvest in the Southeast in 2007, he said.
As far as the latest climate news goes, there are other indicators of the long-term climatic changes that are happening in the U.S., Weltzin noted. But the onset of spring remains one of the more dramatic red flags.
"There's actually some evidence that suggests that the timing of fall is changing as well," he said. "That's a more complicated season, we don't have as much data, but we are seeing some changes, and we are trying to better understand and describe what those are."
But he added, "Spring is really the big one -- it comes in with a bang."
SAN ANTONIO- A pair of unrelated stabbings occurred overnight sending two people to the hospital, with one suspect fleeing and another detained, San Antonio police say.
The first cutting occurred in the city's Northwest Side around 1:30 a.m., police responded to the 7300 block of Cherrybrook Lane where they found a male stabbed in his stomach.
English Finnish
26 February 2017
Barcelona, Spain - Nokia today outlined how the rapid execution of its new strategy is delivering industry-leading innovation for communication service providers in network speed, agility and efficiency, while broadening the company's footprint in faster-growing areas including software and the utilities and transport markets.
On the eve of Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Nokia's launches of solutions covering 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), software and cloud underscored the breadth and strength of a product portfolio bolstered by the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent in 2016.
"Nokia comes to Mobile World Congress this year with a bigger and fully end-to-end portfolio to sell, and with groundbreaking innovations to share," Nokia President and CEO Rajeev Suri said.
"All of this is underpinned by an organization squarely focused on the execution of our strategy to lead in high-performance networks with communication service providers, expand to new verticals, build a strong standalone software business and create new business and licensing opportunities in the consumer ecosystem," he said.
New products like 5G FIRST, announced today at the company's press and analyst event in Barcelona, show Nokia's innovation strength to deliver differentiated products that connect not only millions of users but interconnect billions of things to create what Nokia calls the 'global nervous system,' Suri added.
Showing the way in 5G and IoT
5G FIRST, the industry's first commercial 5G product and comprised of Nokia's AirScale radio access platform, helps customers prepare for 5G-ready architectures that cover core, software-defined networking, cloud and more. Nokia and Intel will collaborate on commercial deployments later in 2017 using the Intel 5G Modem. 5G FIRST cements Nokia's strong position with communication service providers, helping them transition to new applications that will benefit from the low-latency and high data rates offered by 5G.
Reflecting those transition efforts, Suri announced at the press and analyst event that Nokia had won a three-year contract from Telefonica to boost the performance of its 4G network in London as data demand grows. The deal includes Nokia 4.5G Pro technology, powered by the Nokia AirScale Radio Access portfolio, Nokia Flexi Zone small cells, the Nokia NetAct network management system, Nokia Traffica real-time network analytics and Nokia Global Services.
Nokia's recent launch of WING, the worldwide IoT network grid, is aimed at providing a full-service model offering IoT connectivity across different technologies to manage a client's IoT connectivity needs and assets, such as connected cars, as they move around the globe. It follows the launch of a new wireless router to bring electricity distribution networks into the IoT era and help utilities reliably and securely connect and manage the proliferation of field devices as more smart power grids are deployed.
Those efforts show how Nokia is expanding into vertical markets like energy, transportation, public safety and Webscales (big Internet companies). Furthering the momentum in the vertical space, Suri cited a contract win with Infraestruturas de Portugal to provide a mission-critical communications network to the country's national railway infrastructure operator; a high-speed fiber optic network win with Xiaomi; and a demonstration with Qualcomm and GE of a private LTE network for the Industrial Internet of Things market.
Momentum in Cloud, software, and licensing
Nokia's recently launched Cloud Packet Core enables fixed and wireless technologies to be used together or individually to drive ultra-broadband and IoT service delivery in multiple verticals, including enterprise. Nokia has also enhanced its Intelligent Management Platform for All Connected Things platform, or IMPACT, with new IoT features such as video analytics.
The improved offering highlights Nokia's progress in delivering on its third strategic focus area of building a strong standalone software business and taking its largely network-agnostic software assets beyond mobile customers and into fixed, cable, and new vertical markets. Earlier this month, Nokia announced plans to buy Comptel to boost its software portfolio and go-to-market capabilities.
At MWC Nokia will demonstrate recently acquired Deepfield analytics technology, which further bolsters its software offering to communication service providers, cable operators, cloud, Webscales and technological extra-large enterprises. Using automation, Deepfield technology can identify and track around 30 000 popular cloud applications and services to help networks quickly adapt to changes in application demand and traffic patterns.
Nokia's efforts to create new business and licensing opportunities in the consumer space - the fourth pillar of its refreshed strategy - are also leading to fresh and important developments. HMD Global, Nokia's exclusive brand licensee for phones and tablets, will be making announcements later today.
Nokia at MWC
Nokia's presence at MWC involves the launch of 22 products and services, along with over 60 product and service demonstrations at the Nokia Experience Center in Hall 3, stand 3A10. The demonstrations include several related to 5G, some involving racecars and robots. Nokia and China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile operator by subscribers, will have a joint demo of tele-health services and show how 5G products and services can be integrated in different vertical industries.
Nokia will also give its perspective on a variety of important issues, including a keynote speech by Suri on enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Nokia Chief Strategy Officer Kathrin Buvac will discuss the path from 4G to 5G; and Marcus Weldon, President of Nokia Bell Labs and Corporate Chief Technology Officer, will discuss the future of technology and how the 5G era will transform many dimensions of human life. Be sure to follow the events, speakers and launches via social media on Twitter @Nokia and #MWC17.
Connect with Nokia:
About Nokia
Nokia is a global leader innovating the technologies at the heart of our connected world. Powered by the research and innovation of Nokia Bell Labs, we serve communications service providers, governments, large enterprises and consumers, with the industry's most complete, end-to-end portfolio of products, services and licensing.
From the enabling infrastructure for 5G and the Internet of Things, to emerging applications in virtual reality and digital health, we are shaping the future of technology to transform the human experience. www.nokia.com
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When Catalina Silvas mother died from childbirth complications, she became a surrogate mother to 10 of her younger brothers and sisters.
Jessie was 13, and the youngest was a few weeks old, son Al Silva said.
She was an extraordinary woman who raised two families, her siblings and her own; all finished high school, some finished college, and many went on to enjoy successful careers, family members said.
Silva died Feb. 17 surrounded by her family. She was 90.
The daughter of Jose Antonio Alfaro, a political exile fleeing the Mexican Revolution, Silva was born in Dilley.
Her father was in charge of buying horses for the army, so when the Mexican president was assassinated in a coup, and the officers slated for execution, her father left, Al Silva said.
Displaced by the revolution into poverty, the family stayed dedicated to firm family values, eventually making their way to San Antonio.
Silva, never going past the eighth grade, was committed to what she called the miracle of education.
At dinner, Silva made it a point to ask the kids questions about what they read in school, what they were studying and the new thing they learned that day. Lessons in proper speech, dress, and etiquette were everyday fare.
Language is the reflection of your status in life, Silva would remind them.
More Information Catalina Silva Born: October 12, 1926, Dilley Died: February 17, 2017, San Antonio Preceded by: Parents Felicitas Contreras and Jose Antonio Alfaro; sister Socorro Alfaro; brothers Luis Francisco, Miguel, Manuel, Jose Antonio, Leopoldo Leocadio, Victor Rafael and Gilberto Felipe Alfaro. Survived by: Brothers Jesus Salvador Alfaro and sister-in-law Isabel, and Guillermo Alfaro and sister-in-law Celia; sisters Soledad Alfaro Munoz and brother-in-law Alejandro, Felicitas Alfaro; son Al Silva; daughters Socorro Hettinger, Maria Ester Ortiz, Josefina Galindo, Rosa Maria Silva Gonzalez and son-in-law Daniel. Services: Held last week See More Collapse
On Sundays, the whole family gathered together, and successes were celebrated.
You grew up expecting to do great things, her son said.
When money was tight, Silva found jobs to support the family.
First working for Finck Cigars and then Finesilver in the early 1950s, she later trained to use industrial machines at Goodwill Industries which led to a job at the Ace Cap Company. Later, she went back to Goodwill, her son said, having been offered a job teaching sight-impaired people how to sew. Silva rose up the ranks to become a supervisor and retired at 65.
Having started from humble beginnings, the family grew to have COOs, executive managers, police officers, college deans, department heads, architects, high-ranking military officers, and engineers, within its ranks, Al Silva said.
Grandson Fred Silva said he is grateful for the opportunities his grandmother gave to his father, and the progeny following.
She was a woman who was very self-effacing, Al Silva said of his mother. She measured all her successes as to how others did. Always.
iwilgen@express-news.net
Former Fort Worth, Texas, police officer Brian Franklin is finally free. But he is still fighting to clear his name.
"I've been vindicated," he told me in an interview last week, "but not yet exonerated." Franklin served 21 years in prison - a harrowing 7,700 days - of a life sentence after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in 1995. But he steadfastly maintained his innocence, studied law in the prison library and won a reversal of his conviction last spring. In December, a jury acquitted him after a second criminal trial.
"It's been a roller coaster ride up and down," Franklin reflected. Hellish doesn't begin to describe the journey. His accuser had lied that she was a virgin before Franklin allegedly raped her. Prosecutors produced physical exam results of damage to her genitals as proof of his crime. In fact, she had been the victim of molestation by her stepfather for years.
Moreover, the young accuser's story of when she was allegedly raped changed to fit a timeline developed by prosecutors. That timeline was debunked when Franklin's employment time records and time-stamped and dated store receipts showed he was nowhere near the alleged rape location - the backyard of her biological father, who was a friend of Franklin's.
There were no witnesses. There was no DNA. Yet, the cop with "law enforcement in my blood" lost his job, reputation and freedom.
"It's the easiest crime to be falsely accused of," Franklin told me. Prosecutors "used my position as a police officer against me." His family and church stood by him. But as soon as he was arrested, he had already been branded a "RAPIST" in the court of public opinion. His original jury "prejudged me," Franklin recalled. Given the reckless witch hunts in cases like his and the Duke Lacrosse case, he observed, "I'm surprised anybody gets acquitted these days."
After Franklin's conviction, lead prosecutor Rose Salinas learned that his accuser had signed an affidavit detailing the daily sexual abuse by her stepfather from the ages of 6-16. Those claims, Salinas concluded, "render irrelevant any medical evidence introduced at Brian Franklin's trial to show guilt," "clearly show she that she testified falsely" and "cast serious doubts on the integrity of his conviction." Had she known of the accuser's withheld evidence, Salinas acknowledged, she "would have immediately dismissed the charges" against Franklin.
But he was still years away from winning his release as his various writs and petitions worked through the laborious criminal justice system. "There were times when a court would rule against me and I felt hit it in the stomach and down in the dumps," Franklin recounted over the phone from Kerrville, Texas, where he now lives with his mother. He leaned on his faith and family to get through the darkest times.
"I did not become hardened and I did not become institutionalized. I would not let myself become one of them."
Though he and his resilient family celebrated what they call a "Merry Acquitmas" in December, Franklin must still win a declaration of actual innocence from the state of Texas before he can be eligible for financial reparations for the falsely accused. He took a job at a grocery story and is trying to raise money on GoFundMe - https://www.gofundme.com/Brian-Franklin - for his legal bills.
Someday, Franklin told me, he would like to work full-time again in law enforcement and help others who have been wrongfully charged, convicted and imprisoned. He has already weighed in to support former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw, who was railroaded by the social justice mob and accused of sexual assaults during the racially charged summer of Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014.
After reporting on the junk science, prosecutorial misconduct, police incompetence and due process violations run amok in his case over the past year, I've heard from several DNA experts, private investigators and former LEOs across the country disturbed by the gross miscarriage of justice against Holtzclaw. He filed his appellate brief with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Feb. 1.
"I've studied this case from both sides and have come to the conclusion that he really is innocent," Franklin wrote on Facebook. "I know about innocence. I was a cop wrongfully convicted of rape...For those of you who jump to conclusions when you don't know what you're talking about, shame on you. Learn the facts first."
Brian Franklin is a beacon not only for law enforcement officers fighting the tyranny of "guilty until proven innocent," but for every falsely accused citizen. His vow:
"I will not give up. I will persevere. I am right. I'm not gonna give up."
Michelle Malkin is host of "Michelle Malkin Investigates" on CRTV.com. Her email address is writemalkin@gmail.com.
Will accelerating the process to develop on the habitat of sensitive endangered species lead to more conservation? It sounds counterintuitive, but thats the promise of the Southern Edwards Plateau Habitat Conservation Plan.
The city of San Antonio and Bexar County recently adopted the plan, and it should be viewed as a win for all. The land-swapping credit program will speed up development, reflect a more honest system, and conserve sensitive areas that are home to two endangered songbirds and seven cave spiders and insects.
President Donald J. Trump isnt our first leader to say our NATO allies need to contribute more to defense. George W. Bush and Barack Obama made similar statements during their presidencies, just more diplomatically.
Trump has been far more caustic, saying our NATO partners have ripped off the United States by failing to properly fund defense efforts. He has also dismissed NATO as obsolete, suggesting U.S. support for NATO allies may hinge on their defense spending.
Even if his tone is questionable, Trump is on point that our NATO allies need to spend more. But as far as the obsolete comment goes, he is far off the mark. NATO is arguably more important than it has been in years as the Western world grapples with terrorism and a resurgence in authoritarianism and Russian aggression.
Heres the issue: NATO members are supposed to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense and most dont. Of the 28 members, only five countries meet this threshold. The United States leads the way, spending 3.6 percent of GDP in 2016, roughly $660 billion. Greece, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Poland also meet or surpass their spending obligations. Some fall way below the 2 percent line. Germany, for example, spent 1.2 percent of its GDP, about $40 billion, on defense in 2016.
Our allies could be, and should be, doing more.
How much more? It would be unreasonable to expect the other NATO members to suddenly jump to the 2 percent threshold, creating turmoil in their spending and cuts in other areas for many of these countries. But it is reasonable to expect our allies to gradually increase spending and take greater responsibility for their defense.
In his first major speech to NATO allies, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis articulated this view with appropriate measure. Americans cannot care more for your childrens future security than you do, he said.
Likewise, Vice President Mike Pence reassured our allies about our NATO commitments but called on them to spend more on defense.
Is NATO obsolete? Hardly, but our allies have been complacent about defense spending in the post-Cold War era.
This precarious time warrants a redoubling of our commitments to one another. Solidarity includes sharing the cost of defense spending to better respond to global crises, particularly terrorism and a hostile Russia.
It occurred to me, as I read the Express-News, that Ive become more and more disenchanted with the media presentation of news. So much seems to be confabulated and/or negative, always looking for the negative, never the positive. Good must not sell. Build something or someone up one day and tear them down the next.
As Ive aged, I prefer positive things and people to wasting my time with negatives.
James W. Kenney
Free from politics
To supporters of the Muslim travel ban, please note that of the 19 9/11 hijackers, 15 were citizens of Saudi Arabia, two from the United Arab Emirates, two were Egyptian, and one was Lebanese. People from these countries were not banned.
Iranians, on the other hand, were. There are hundreds of thousands more Iranian-Americans. I have known a few professors, engineers, computer programmers and businesspeople. Iran is accused of sponsoring terrorism in the Mideast, but I have never heard of an Iranian citizen or Iranian-American committing terroristic acts against the U.S.
Another unbanned country, Pakistan, backed the Afghan Taliban, which hid Osama bin Laden. Shakil Afridi, a doctor alleged to have helped our forces, received a 33-year prison sentence in Pakistan.
As for Iraq and Syria, many Iraqis are on our side against ISIS, including the Kurds.
Recently, a federal judge placed a hold on the entry ban, and President Donald Trump had a predictable temper tantrum.
People claimed Barack Obama, who had taught constitutional law, did not understand the Constitution. Trump does not understand it. The federal judiciary can put the brakes on the other two branches as part of our checks and balances.
When I was a boy, my dad, a newspaper reporter, took me to a federal courtroom, introduced me to the judge, Theodore Levin, and later explained that such judges are appointed for life to ensure impartiality and freedom from shifting political winds.
Thomas L. Arnow
Ads not super
None of the Super Bowl ads impressed me. I wondered where the Clydesdales and Dalmatians were. They were part of the sweetest ads ever. They had a message about caring and love. Please bring them back.
Connie Fuller
Icelandic English
Candidates for the Board of Directors
The following are the candidates for the Board of Directors of Icelandair Group hf. at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on Friday March 3rd 2017 at 4:00 pm at the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica Hotel.
Asthildur Margret Otharsdottir, id.no: 300368-3799 Georg Luviksson, id.no :070376-4909 Katrin Olga Johannesdottir, id.no: 010862-7369 Omar Benediktsson, id.no: 221059- 4689 Tomas A.Tomasson, id.no: 040449-6989 Ulfar Steindorsson, id.no: 030756-2829
The board will be elected by means of a multiplication election in accordance with article 63, paragraph 6, item b of Act no. 2/1995 on Public Limited Liability Companies.
The AGM shall elect five Board Members in accordance with the Articles of Association of the Company.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday congratulated Douglas Mwonzora for winning the MDC-T leadership, a day after the new opposition leader declared he will work with Zanu PF to address the countrys challenges.
Mnangagwas endorsement deals a likely decisive blow to ousted leader Thokozani Khupe who stormed out of the partys disputed extra-ordinary congress Sunday, alleging voter fraud and violence by Mwonzora.
She has rejected the outcome and promised a legal fight.
But the president embraced Mwonzora and assured him of Zanu PF collaboration towards the growth of prosperity of our nation.
While denying accusations of being a Zanu PF asset a day earlier, Mwonzora cozied up to the ruling party saying, We want to work with them. They are a government. We want to take them to account and we can only do that when we interact with them.
The president took notice and returned the favor.
A few days ago, the opposition MDC-T party held its elective Congress, in full compliance with, and fulfillment of, court judgments. Let me take this opportunity to formally and personally congratulate Mwonzora for prevailing at that Congress, Mnangagwa tweeted.
We took particular note of his declared wish to guide and reshape the politics of opposition towards constructive engagement with the government of the day. This is a very welcome move for our nation which is likely to put politics of rancor behind us.
Thus triggering collaboration, development, and the harmony we solely needed for national progress. Both as the Ruling Zanu PF party and as the government, we assure Senator Mwonzora and the MDC-T leadership of collaboration towards the growth of prosperity of our nation, Mnangagwa added.
Mnangagwa took aim at those still stuck to yesterdays politics of destruction and obstruction, an apparent reference to opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa, saying he should follow Mwonzoras lead.
Chamisa refuses to recognize Mnangagwa as president arguing he stole the last election from him.
We appeal to all those still stuck to yesterdays politics of destructive and obstruction to learn from this salutary gesture by the MDC-T that to be in opposition need not mean being unduly negative, confrontational, divisive and disloyal to ones Nation and People, the president said as he prepared to begin his month-long holiday starting January 1.
ZimLive
Breaking News via Email
By Wolf Richter, a San Francisco based executive, entrepreneur, start up specialist, and author, with extensive international work experience. Originally published at Wolf Street
I am shocked shocked to find that money laundering is going on in here! Borrowed and twisted from Casablanca.
The US Treasury Departments Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced on Thursday that it would extend for another 180 days a temporary program that was due to expire on Thursday, and that it had originally kicked off in January 2016 and expanded in July, to identify and track secret homebuyers who hide behind shell companies and other opaque structures for the purpose of money laundering.
And it has already gleaned some insights.
The US housing market has been a perfect platform to launder large amounts of money, no questions asked. Brokers, banks, and other industry professionals played along. There were no reporting requirements. Everyone in the world knew it. And they came to launder their cash by buying expensive homes.
But FinCEN, via its evocatively named Geographic Targeting Orders (GTO), wants to know who these opaque homebuyers are. To find out, the GTOs temporarily require US title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used to pay all cash [i.e. without bank financing] for high-end residential real estate in six major metropolitan areas.
FinCEN is soliciting the help of title insurance companies because title insurance is a common feature in the vast majority of real estate transactions, and these companies can provide valuable information about real estate transactions of concern.
In its July announcement, when the program was expanded from two metros Manhattan and Miami Data to six metros, FinCEN Acting Director Jamal El-Hindi wouldnt say to what extent money laundering was involved, but he did throw in a tantalizing tidbit: The information we have obtained from our initial GTOs suggests that we are on the right track.
This time around, FinCEN gave a number, a percentage of suspicious activity:
FinCEN has found that about 30% of the transactions covered by the GTOs involve a beneficial owner or purchaser representative that 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.
30%!
El-Hindi, still Acting Director, added:
These GTOs are producing valuable data that is assisting law enforcement and is serving to inform our future efforts to address money laundering in the real estate sector. The subject of money laundering and illicit financial flows involving the real estate sector is something that we have been taking on in steps to ensure that we continue to build an efficient and effective regulatory approach.
So they might actually try to do something about it.
Apparently he had the permission of his new boss at Treasury, former real estate-magnate and former Sears Holding Director Steven Mnuchin, and Mnuchins boss, real-estate magnate President Trump, to extend the program. So this doesnt look like one of those Obama things that is getting chopped.
Here are the cities where this information-gathering on secretive buyers is in effect (and the minimum purchase price that will trigger it). Several of them are among the biggest destinations of global wealth:
New York : Manhattan ($3 million); Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island ($1.5 million)
: Manhattan ($3 million); Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island ($1.5 million) Florida : Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County ($1 million).
: Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County ($1 million). Bay Area : San Francisco, San Mateo County, and Santa Clara County ($2 million)
: San Francisco, San Mateo County, and Santa Clara County ($2 million) Southern California : San Diego County and Los Angeles County ($2 million)
: San Diego County and Los Angeles County ($2 million) Texas: Bexar County, which includes San Antonio ($500,000).
This effort to get a grip on money laundering its not even a crackdown yet since there are no enforcement actions is already helping to put a chill on these markets. In the top three markets on the list above, along with some others, sales and prices in the luxury segment have already taken a hit.
Fact is, the industry loves this influx of opaque money. Money launderers dont mind paying a little extra. Their priorities are different. So luxury home prices soared, which made everyone happy, including government entities that extract property taxes. And these higher prices trickled down to the rest of the market. But that trend at the high end has now started to turn south.
And it sounds like FinCEN will actually come up with some regulations to crack down on money laundering in the overall US housing market. If that future system has teeth, it would surely be a very unwelcome blemish for the industry and a further handicap for the luxury segment of the housing market because a whole layer of buyers would lose interest.
Heres why a real estate insider thinks the era of aspirational pricing is over. Read Luxury Home Listings Overpriced by a Third?
The following message was received from Ailish Maher, originally from Coolmoyne, Fethard, and now living in Spain.
Hello Fethard! I was born in Coolmoyne, with four brothers, Denis, Seamus, Paul and Kevin. Most of us attended Coolmoyne National School and were then transferred to Fethard when Coolmoyne National School closed.
Around the time I was aged 11, I really lost contact with my home area from as I then went to various boarding schools, starting with Colaiste na Rinne, then on to Dublin to study, followed by London, Catalonia and Galicia (Spain) and Portugal. I also started working summers away from home from about the age of 15. Until recently I lived in Barcelona, and now about to move to Montblanc, in the Spanish province of Tarragona, just 5 kms from a haybarn with a small plot of land I'm now fixing up.
I am a freelancer, working as a translator and academic editor of non-native English. In recent years I've been spending a few months of each year in Coolmoyne, along with Seamus Maher and Kevin, who now live in Australia. We are, incidentally, hoping to organise a Coolmoyne Reunion on Saturday, September 9, 2017, to mark 50 years since the national school closed. The main instigator of this reunion is Sean O'Donovan, who advised me to make contact. I hope to someday maybe meet up with people I went to school with at the Presentation Convent.
For those interested in getting involved or attending this proposed reunion, they should contact Sean ODonovan, Coolmoyne, Tel: 086 2594337.
At the Warsaw Summit in July 2016, NATO urged all political leaders in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to fully implement their commitments under the Przino Agreement, as the framework for a sustainable solution to the political crisis.
The December 2016 election was seen by international observers as an essential step in resolving that crisis. It was judged to have been well-administered and to have proceeded without major incidents. Following one attempt to form a government, it has been announced that, in line with the requirement specified by the President, enough MPs' signatures have now been collected.
I look to the authorities in Skopje to fulfil the next step in the democratic process. I call on all parties to exercise restraint in statements and actions, and take decisions for the benefit of all citizens.
NATO remains committed to the membership of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the Alliance, in line with the decision made at the 2008 Bucharest Summit and Allied Declarations made at subsequent NATO summits.
Sunday, February 26, 2017 by: JD Heyes Tags: Alex Jones , Censorship , fascism , Google This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author
(Natural News) The Alt-Left has completely come out of the shadows since the election of Donald J. Trump to become protector and leader of the free world, fully revealing itself and not the 45th president to be the real fascist threat to American liberties and freedoms.
The latest incident is Googles decision to censor all Natural News content from its search engine results some 140,000 pages a move that is already generating incredible backlash against the worlds preeminent search engine and media company.
But there is much more happening here than meets the eye: Google is part of a criminal conspiracy to shut down any and all media defenders of the president, as Natural News founder/editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, has revealed in a recent interview with Dave Hodges on The Common Sense Show.
Adams said that the decision to remove Natural News content was not over something improper that the site had done or over any technical issues like malware. He said the company discovered it was a purposeful, human decision not a technical issue that led directly to Natural News content being censored. It was purposeful, in other words. No warnings issued, and no reason why given. (RELATED: Mike Adams and Alex Jones Taken Down by Google / CIA Prior to Big Event: Trump Needs to Beware)
Just recently, Adams was threatened with complete destruction of his hard-earned reputation as a liberty-minded straight shooter when it comes to all aspects of natural health. Then, he was offered $50,000 to help destroy Infowars founder/creator Alex Jones, or else, and when Adams refused, the Google censorship began only days afterward. Not a coincidence.
As for Jones, one of his primary sources of ad revenue, through the company AdRoll, a San Francisco-based, well-funded start-up with ties to Google, dropped Infowars as a client, resulting in the loss of about $3 million annually in revenue. Again, no coincidence.
It seems theyve made good on their threat, Adams told Hodges. It might be just the beginning. Im not even sure, but theyre now definitely trying to silence the independent media with economic sabotage.
Adams said the loss of traffic from Google searches amounts to around 1.8 million visitors per month.
This is electronic fascism, Adams said, adding it was akin to modern-day electronic book-burning.
Google is the Fourth Reich at this point, and they are trying to silence voices, he said, adding that the search giant, in deep-sixing NaturalNews.com content, is also denying tens of thousands of people access to life-saving information covered by Natural News correspondents and reporters.
Both Adams and Hodges believe that criminal actions have been committed by various parties extortion and racketeering among two of the potential crimes, for threatening Adams and then taking actions against his site and his company.
Hodges said that sources he is in contact with have said that the owner of the Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, has inked a $600 million contract with the CIA and the 16 other U.S. intelligence agencies, ostensibly to shape the political narrative and, perhaps, to undermine the Trump administration.
He also said that the Trump White House was closing in on the so-called Pizzagate scandal, which was briefly associated with the failed campaign of Hillary Clinton after hacked emails released by Wikileaks. According to some reports, the real scandal is that it is tied to a high-level child sex ring and that some of the released emails contained code words for ordering pizza when they really refer to wanting to engage in sex with children. (RELATED: Fascist Google begins PURGE of pro-Trump websites as prelude to massive false flag or coup attempt)
Readers of Natural News and others are coming to the sites defense. One such supporter wrote:
I have just learned that google has removed all of the pages from NaturalNews.com from its search results. I have verified this by searching google.com for NaturalNews.com and found no hits from NaturalNews.com in the search results. I want you to know that I think censoring NaturalNews.com is a big mistake. The site contains an incredible wealth of information on nutrition, healthy eating, body cleansing and detoxification, and many many other topics. Natural News has played a huge role in my efforts to improve my health and quality of life and I am sure there are many thousands of other people who would make the same claim. The people of the world need the information on NaturalNews.com. Google will be condemned by the millions of Natural News fans around the world if the NaturalNews.com website isnt reinstated without delay. I know that Google is capable of doing the right thing, but there is nothing right about censoring NaturalNews.com.
Googles image took a huge hit when Edward Snowden came out with his revelations. I dont think Google understands how badly censoring Natural News is going to impact Googles public perception. If you wish to avoid being dismissed as lackeys for the new world order I recommend you reinstate Natural News to your search engine database without delay.
We appreciate your continued support.
J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.
Sources:
DCClothesline.com
TheCommonSenseShow.com
NewsTarget.com
MediaFactWatch.com
A small act of kindness brightened the day of at least one person in Rancho Bernardo Saturday when someone went around a parking lot leaving sunflowers and nice notes on parked cars.
Cyndi Lundeberg told NBC 7 she was in the parking lot of a Vons grocery store on Bernardo Plaza Drive when she noticed a bright, yellow sunflower on her car. When she scanned the lot, she saw the flowers were on every car around her.
A typed note was attached to the stem of the sunflower. It was even hole-punched with tiny hearts. The note read: Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower and draws all good things towards you.
Saturday marked seven years since San Diego teenager Chelsea King was kidnapped and killed. She vanished on Feb. 25, 2010, while out on a run at Rancho Bernardo Community Park.
Chelsea's favorite flower was the sunflower.
Today, Chelsea's parents run the Chelsea's Light Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to support youth and spreading positive change in the community.
Thomas Rhee, executive director of the Chelsea's Light Foundation, told NBC 7 the sunflowers left in the parking lot in Rancho Bernardo Saturday were the work of the foundation, a small reminder to spread love and kindness in memory of Chelsea.
"It has everything to do with today being the 7th year of Chelsea being lost," Rhee said.
He said the foundation's Changemakers -- also known as the Finish Chelsea's Run Committee -- were responsible for the sweet gesture.
"[They] gave away over 200 sunflowers in San Diego," Rhee explained. "This has become a tradition started by the Kings and their friends in Chicago area."
Chelsea's parents, Brent and Kelly King, posted a powerful tribute to their daughter Saturday on the Chelsea's Light Foundation's Facebook page. To read it, click here.
A Menlo Park-based swift water rescue team returned home on Friday following a deployment first to Sacramento and then to Los Gatos in case the recent rainstorms threatened people's lives, Menlo Park Fire Protection District officials said Saturday.
The team, which is made up of staff members of the fire protection district, was deployed Sunday after returning from Oroville the week before where a damaged auxiliary spillway threatened nearly 200,000 people.
The rescue team from Menlo Park is one of the state's original swift water rescue teams established in 1994. Its staff is a mix of new and veteran members, including some who responded to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.
The team was ready to respond to San Jose if the city needed help, but that wasn't the case.
Menlo Park fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said the team will be ready should melting snow cause flooding and threaten people's lives later this year.
Authorities say a fire that destroyed a conference room at the Massachusetts State Police Museum and Learning Center was caused by the spontaneous combustion of oily rags.
The fire at the museum in Grafton was reported about 9:30 p.m. Saturday. State police say it was contained to the second floor, mainly in the conference room. There were no injuries.
Artifacts and photographs from the department's 151-year-history were in first floor display cases that sustained some smoke and water damage. Authorities say the items can still be viewed by the public.
The State Fire Marshal says workers were at the museum Saturday refinishing wooden molding on the conference room. Oily rags covered in sawdust were left in a plastic bag at the end of the day.
Those rags combusted, causing the fire. The building is not equipped with sprinklers.
State police say they're "grateful beyond words" to firefighters who preserved the memorabilia.
CVS Health is closing 11 locations in Chicago as part of the companys previously announced cost-cutting initiative, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The Rhode Island-based company announced in December that it planned to close approximately 70 retail stores in early 2017. The majority of closures were expected to be completed by March 31.
According to the Tribune, the CVS locations scheduled to close in Chicago include:
5360 S. Western Ave. in Gage Park
3411 W. Addison St. in Avondale
4540 N. Pulaski Rd. in Mayfair
2828 N. Clark St. in Lake View
2825 W. Devon Ave. in West Rogers Park
120 S. LaSalle St. in The Loop
2053 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Logan Square
6355 W. Belmont Ave. in Belmont Central
2722 N. Central Ave. in Belmont Central
3146 W. Madison St. in East Garfield Park
3552 W. Grand Ave. in Humboldt Park
The pharmacy operations of the closing stores will be transferred to other CVS locations in the area, a CVS spokesperson told the Tribune, so patients won't experience service disruptions.
The company is also working with affected employees to transfer them to other Chicago locations, the Tribune reports.
As of Dec. 2016, CVS operated 9,709 locations across the United States and in Brazil, including pharmacies inside Target stores.
According to the companys website, Illinois has 277 CVS Pharmacy locations, as well as 57 MinuteClinics and 86 pharmacies within Target stores statewide.
Two young girls were found dead and four other people were injured in a house fire on Chicagos South Side Saturday night.
Around 10:30 p.m., firefighters responded to a fire in the 6600 block of S. Champlain Ave. in the citys Woodlawn neighborhood, authorities said.
When crews arrived, they said the fire was already heavy and moving quickly, with reports of people trapped inside.
"Upon arrival, companies made an aggressive attack to try to knock that fire down and do a simultaneous search for any victims that were in there," said Chicago Fire Department Deputy District Chief Mike Carbone.
Two young girls were discovered in the basement of the residence and pronounced dead on the scene, officials said. They were later identified as 7-month-old Ziya Grace and 2-year-old Jamaii Grace, according to the Cook County Medical Examiners office.
Another child, a 6-year-old boy, was rescued from the flames and taken in critical condition to Comer Childrens Hospital, authorities said. More than 75 percent of his body was burned, according to Ziya and Jamaii's great-grandmother.
A 48-year-old woman and a 25-year-old woman, one of which was the young girls' mother, were able to escape the fire on their own. They were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where their conditions were stabilized, authorities said.
A firefighter was also injured in the incident and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, according to fire officials, who said early Sunday that he was expected to recover.
The fire was knocked down in about 20 minutes, Deputy Chief Carbone said, but area residents described a terrifying scene as crews worked to put out the blaze.
"It was smoke out there, I said the basement is flaming its fire," said neighbor Adrian Harris. "By the time I came outside, she was already at the corner, and she was coming back saying that there were some babies in the house."
"The mother just starts screaming, 'My baby, my baby, my baby,'" neighbor Doris Smith added. "I can still hear it ringing."
Smith said she knew the young girls lived in the building and sent her son to help.
"I was just praying that he was going to come out okay... It's just so hard," she said. "I'm just heartbroken, I'm just so sorry that this happened."
Officials said the fire appeared to be accidental in nature, most likely caused by a stove that was being used as a heating source in the basement, though the incident remains under investigation.
A former teacher at Hinsdale Central High School has been sentenced to six years in prison for having sexual contact with a student.
James Bryla, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal sexual assault Friday before Judge Robert Miller, who handed down the six-year sentence, according to the DuPage County states attorneys office.
In April 2011, Bryla convinced a 16-year-old female student to meet him at a park after school, prosecutors said. The sexual contact took place at the park and inside Brylas vehicle.
The abuse came to light in 2015, when Bryla was under investigation for inappropriate texting with another student, prosecutors said.
The previous victim came forward, and Bryla was taken into custody on April 24, 2015. He was released on a $300,000 bond the same day.
James Bryla took advantage of his position as a teacher and a mentor to sexually abuse a sixteen-year-old girl just to satisfy his own sick sexual desires, DuPage County States Attorney Robert Berlin said in the statement.
In doing so, he not only took advantage of the trust his victim had placed in him, he also took advantage of the trust placed in him by his victims parents, the school and the community, Berlin said.
Bryla, of Yorkville, will begin serving his sentence immediately, prosecutors said. He will be required to serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole, and will be required to register as a sex offender for life.
The father of a Navy SEAL killed during an anti-terrorism raid in Yemen is demanding an investigation into its planning and criticized the Trump administration for its timing.
Bill Owens told The Miami Herald in a story published Sunday that he refused to meet with President Donald Trump when both came to Dover Air Force Base to receive the casket carrying his son, Chief Special Warfare Officer William "Ryan" Owens.
"I want an investigation,'' said Owens, a retired Fort Lauderdale police detective and veteran. "The government owes my son an investigation.''
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told ABC's "This Week'' on Sunday she believes the president would support an investigation.
"I can't imagine what this father is going through,'' she said. "His son is a true American hero, and we should forever been in his son's debt.''
The younger Owens, a 36-year-old married father of three originally from Peoria, Illinois, was the lone U.S. fatality in the Jan. 27 raid on a suspected al-Qaida compound. Approximately 16 civilians and 14 militants died in the raid, which the Pentagon said was aimed at capturing information on potential al-Qaida attacks against the U.S. and its allies.
The elder Owens, a retired Fort Lauderdale police detective and veteran, told the Herald he refused to meet with the president because the family had requested a private ceremony.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to see him,'' Owens recalled telling the chaplain who informed him that Trump was on his way from Washington. "I told them I don't want to meet the president.''
He said he was also troubled by the attack Trump leveled at Khizr and Ghazala Kahn, an American Muslim family whose Army officer son died in Iraq in 2004. The couple had criticized him at the Democratic National Convention last summer. He also questioned why the president approved the raid a week after taking office.
"I told them I didn't want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldn't let me talk to him,'' Owens told the Herald. "Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn't even barely a week into his administration? Why? For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen everything was missiles and drones because there was not a target worth one American life. Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display?''
Sanders defended the raid in her interview with "This Week'' host George Stephanopoulos. The White House says the raid was planned during the Obama administration, but the former president's aides have said he hadn't given the go-ahead because it would have been an escalation of U.S. involvement in the war-torn and destitute Arab country.
"The mission has a lot of different critics, but it did yield a substantial amount of very important intel and resources that helped save American lives and other lives,'' Sanders said.
Some students in Hartford spent part of their Saturday at the Hartford Public Library for the annual African American History Bee.
Students from the Milner School, Simpson-Waverly School, Wish School and Martin Luther King Junior School competed at the event, which coincides with Black History Month.
Jeremy Mendez, who attends MLK, said his team had been preparing for a week or two and studying through lunch at school.
Its good, its challenging and I like the fact that everybody knows their stuff, he said.
Mendez said he felt the information he learned for the competition went beyond what he was taught at school and that it brought up things he felt were very important to his education.
At MLK we dont have social studies anymore, which means we dont get the education that we really need, about our past, about our history about our ancestors so, its like really important to me that, you know, this is happening, he said.
The event ran from noon to 3 p.m. and was hosted by NBC Connecticuts own Leslie Mayes.
Oscar Hernandez-Carranza, the father suspected in a fatal stabbing who prompted a multi-state AMBER Alert when he took off with his young daughter, is locked up on a $1.25 million bond in Pennsylvania as he faces a slew of charges related to his getaway from a homicide scene in Connecticut.
Hes accused of killing his girlfriend in Bridgeport and then snatching their young daughter, prompting an AMBER Alert across several states.
As the 39-year-old awaits extradition back to Connecticut, on Saturday night loved ones mourned the death of a mother taken far too soon.
Candles lit up Greenwood Street in Bridgeport as friends and family came together for a vigil to remember Nidia Gonzalez.
Police say the 26-year-old mother was stabbed to death in a home.
Officers blamed her boyfriend Hernandez-Carranza for killing her and hurting another woman in the house.
Family friends are in disbelief Gonzalez is gone.
She never got mad at anyone. Shes the happiest person you could meet, Henry Rivera, a family friend, said.
After the gruesome crime, detectives say Hernandez-Carranza grabbed his and Gonzalezs six-year-old daughter and then took off.
That prompted an AMBER Alert across several states for little Aylin.
Police caught up with both of them in Pennsylvania, some 350 miles away from Bridgeport.
Loves ones are comforted that Aylin who could cheer up anyone - is safe.
Shes just that nice of a little girl and the fact that she was taken. And no one knows whats going on, Rivera said.
Hernandez-Carranza was back in the country despite U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deporting him about four-years ago.
The El Salvador native had prior convictions for assault and threatening.
About 1,000 people gathered at the Central Connecticut State University campus in New Britain to make their voices heard about President Donald Trump at a town hall event Sunday.
Many said they are concerned about changes in the country and want something to be done to stop it.
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) led the event, where Connecticut residents voiced concerns about the president, including his administrations recent decision to bar some press from a briefing.
The group discussed a range of worries, from the environment to programs being targeted for slashing.
Melissa Daly of Groton told the crowd about how for the first time her insurance covered maternity costs. Now she fears having a child if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
Just thinking about all the millions of things that can go wrong during pregnancy and child birth and how I would pay for that while Im home on unpaid maternity leave is terrifying, Daly said.
Blumenthal called for defending freedom of the press, the independence of the courts, and popular programs including health care and Social Security. And he said hes ready to take on the president.
I am not saying Donald Trump wants to be a dictator. Im not(crowd disagrees)We need to stand strong to make sure it doesnt happen here, Blumenthal said.
Some in the crowd also took issues with the Democratic Party. Part of the concern was the money in politics.
The attorney for a woman being held in a North Texas detention center says medical records confirm her client has a brain tumor.
The family of Sara Beltran-Hernandez is asking for humanitarian parole.
The 26-year-old from El Salvador entered the country near Hidalgo in November 2015. Her request for asylum was denied, and she's been fighting deportation ever since.
Last month, an immigration judge ordered for her to be removed from the country, but Hernandez has spent the past two weeks in a hospital after collapsing.
This week, she was discharged from the hospital and sent back to the deportation center in Alvarado.
"Being in detention while she's going through all of this is bad for her health," said Hernandez's attorney. "Morally, it is not nice for her to be locked up while she is suffering in this way. She needs the love and support of her family."
Immigration officials say Hernandez was determined to be in "stable condition" when she was brought back from the hospital, and is also under 24-hour medical supervision at the dentention center.
Hernandez is scheduled to see a neurosurgeon next week.
Dallas police are trying to find two people who fled in a dark two-door car after multiple rounds were fired at the South Central Patrol substation around 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
Nine shots were fired, but only three hit the substation in the 1900 block of East Camp Wisdom Road in southeast Oak Cliff, according to a Dallas police tweet.
The two people fled east on East camp Wisdom Road after the shots were fired, police said. A more detailed description of the two people was not immediately available.
Dallas police public information officer Carlos Almeida said no officers were injured. [[414813743,C]]
In a news release, department officials said the shots were fired from a vehicle traveling east on Camp Wisdom Road.
Chopper 5 flew over the building and was able to see a shattered window on one side of the building.
The department said the perimeter officer observed muzzle flashes but did not see the suspect vehicle.
Numerous police officers collected evidence around the building.
There are no arrests but if the person is caught, they will face an offense of Aggravated Assault on a Public Servant.
This latest violence towards police comes less than a year after a man shot and killed four Dallas police officers and a Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer in downtown Dallas. Nine other officers were injured on July 7, 2016.
In 2015, James Boulware opened fire on Dallas Police headquarters. The shootout shattered multiple windows at the headquarters building near the department's information desk. No officers were injured. Police snipers shot Boulware after a standoff in Hutchins, killing him.
The parents of a San Diego teenager who was kidnapped and murdered while out on a run exactly seven years ago paid tribute to their daughter with a heart-wrenching message and video posted on social media.
Brent and Kelly King, parents of slain teen Chelsea King, posted a message on Facebook Saturday marking seven years since the last time they saw their daughter alive.
Unspeakable sadness. Immeasurable love, the message began. These are some of the emotions that coarse through our hearts today. Its been 7 years since we last saw our little girl. Chelsea radiated joy, and believed in the good in all people. We have learned that no amount of evil can diminish the compassion, conviction and beauty we witness daily. Nothing can separate us from Chelsea. You taught us that. We will never forget the gift you have given us.
In a high-profile case that sent shock waves through San Diego County, Chelsea, only 17, was kidnapped on Feb. 25, 2010, while out on a run at Rancho Bernardo Community Park, by sexual predator John Albert Gardner III. The Poway High School seniors body was found five days later in the Lake Hodges area.
Chelsea King Family Photos
On May 15, 2010, Gardner was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the rape and murder of Chelsea, as well as that of Escondido teenager Amber Dubois, 14, who vanished in a similar, disturbing case in February 2009.
The following year, the King family worked to pass Chelseas Law in California, which enhances criminal sentences for violent sexual offenders who commit crimes against children.
Today, Brent and Kelly King run the Chelseas Light Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to their daughter that aims to support youth and spreading positive change in the community.
Their social media message on Saturday was posted to the Chelseas Light Foundation Facebook page, and also included this paragraph for those who continue to support the work of their family.
You also showed us that together we can make a difference in the lives of all kids by passing tougher laws that lock up the cowards that harm them. Help us protect more kids by asking one friend, co-worker, or family member to like us on social media. The larger our following the more the politicians pay attention to our goal!
The post included a touching tribute video with snippets of home videos of Chelsea as a toddler, child and teen and her loved ones talking about what made her so special.
Everything about her was light. She was one of those girls that would just light up a room, Chelseas brother, Tyler King, said in the video tribute.
NBC 7s Dave Summers talks with San Diego County Sheriffs Detective, Chris Johnson who played a key role in the Chelsea King murder case.
Next Saturday, March 4, the Chelseas Light Foundation will hold its 7th annual Finish Chelseas Run, a community 5K walk/run in memory of the teen and the run she was never able to finish.
The event serves as a fundraiser for the organizations Sunflower Scholarship Fund, which will help award 10 scholarships to college-bound teens who embody service over self traits. NBC 7 is the television media partner for the event; our NBC 7 team will be there to support participants and Chelseas loved ones at the run.
Thousands of supporters ran through Balboa Park Saturday in honor of Chelsea King. NBC 7s Liz Bryant reports.
Riverside County Animal Services ran a successful "puppy buy" sting operation Friday, issuing two misdemeanor citations to a woman who allegedly sold underage puppies to undercover officers. It is unlawful to sell puppies under the age of 8 weeks.
Authorities said the illegal sales typically happen on free classified websites and social media.
"But fortunately we have many animal advocates who tip us off to these illegal animal sales," said Chris Mayer, commander of Riverside County Animal Services.
Kandace Marie Simpson, 21, of Riverside sold two collie-mix pups, estimated to be 4-weeks-old, to Lt. James Huffman and a colleague posing as his wife. Simpson was issued a citation for each sale and will be required to appear in court.
"We hope today's action helps curb some of these illegal sales. We also hope to educate would-be buyers that they're engaging in an unlawful act, and they're buying a dog that could have many health issues," Mayer said.
The six puppies and their 5-year-old mother were taken to a shelter in Jurupa Valley. Veterinarians will give each dog a full health inspection.
The dogs will remain in the shelter until they're old enough for adoption.
Nearly 200 storm chasers paid tribute Sunday to the late actor Bill Paxton by spelling out his initials using GPS coordinates on a map depicting the heart of Tornado Alley.
The effort coordinated by Spotter Network spelled out "BP" to honor the leading man in the disaster movie "Twister," which inspired a generation of storm chasers.
Storm chasers and storm spotters have spelled out the initials of fellow chasers in the tight-knit community four or five times before, but never for someone who hasn't directly "made a significant contribution to the field," said John Wetter, president of the nonprofit that tracks the positions of tornado chasers and works with the National Weather Service to update weather forecasts.
"This is the first time we've gone way outside of that. There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of meteorologists today myself included who were impacted by the movie 'Twister' and the role Bill played in that," Wetter told The Associated Press in a phone interview. " 'Twister' was kind of the first time in a mass media marketplace the meteorologist became cool, if only for a little while."
Thanks to everyone who took part in the tribute. https://t.co/sdVv4RQtrg pic.twitter.com/loRFZKMVM4 Spotter Network Inc (@spotternetwork) February 26, 2017
The storm chasers spelled the initials on a map that was centered around Wakita, Oklahoma, a real town in the heart of Tornado Alley that served as the set for almost all of the movie, Wetter said.
The National Weather Service joined Hollywood stars in honoring Paxton, whose four-decade Hollywood career included roles in "Aliens" and "Titanic."
Twister was an inspiration to many budding meteorologists over the last 20 years. Thank you, Bill Paxton, a.k.a. Bill "The Extreme" Harding. pic.twitter.com/OmsB7hkCYF NWS (@NWS) February 26, 2017
"Twister was an inspiration to many budding meteorologists over the last 20 years. Thank you, Bill Paxton, a.k.a. Bill "The Extreme" Harding," the agency tweeted.
In the movie, Paxton plays a storm chaser who's researching tornados during a twister outbreak in Oklahoma. Paxton's death at age 61 was announced Sunday.
Vandals targeted a Jewish cemetery in the Wissinoming section of Philadelphia, knocking over hundreds of headstones over the weekend and the damage remained visible Monday.
Police responded to a report of vandalism at Mount Carmel Cemetery on Sunday at 9:40 a.m. When they arrived, they were met by a man who told them three headstones belonging to his relatives were knocked over and damaged, authorities said.
Police told NBC10 at least 100 more headstones were knocked over. A rabbi who walked through the cemetery told NBC10 he counted 460 headstones that were toppled or damaged. [[414823183, C]]
"This is not just a random act," said Rabbi Shawn Zevit of Mishkan Shalom. "To topple so many headstones clearly is a concerted effort with intent."
"When we got there, I saw the degree of desecration," Rabbi Yosef Goldman said. "Seeing it in person was heartbreaking and devastating." [[414953713, C]]
No arrests have been made and police have not released information on any suspects. The Anti-Defamation League is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. The Fraternal Order of Police is also offering a $3,000 reward, bringing the total to $13,000.
"In my time this is the worst that we have seen as far as anti-Semitism," said Nancy Baron-Baer of the Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia. "We need to be more united and not so divided."
Philadelphia-area rabbis visited the cemetery to comfort those who have loved ones buried there. [[414819143, C]]
"I'm devastated by this," said Janice Wilson of Overbrook. "I don't know whether to cry or to scream."
"On one hand there's a sense of anger and grief, but also hope because we are seeing people coming together as sisters and brothers to show that the faith communities in Philly and in the USA will not be broken by these hateful acts," Goldman said. "We will be stronger, and the Jewish community and the faith communities will be stronger."
Police believe the vandalism occurred between late Saturday night and Sunday morning.
"My heart breaks for the families who found their loved ones' headstones toppled this morning," Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney wrote in a released statement. "We are doing all we can to find the perpetrators who desecrated this final resting place, and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Hate is not permissible in Philadelphia. I encourage Philadelphians to stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters and to show them that we are the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection."
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf also called the vandalism a "cowardly, disturbing act."
"We must find those responsible and hold accountable," Wolf wrote.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday President Donald Trump condemns the latest act of vandalism in Philadelphia.
An organizer launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for damage repair while the Jewish of Greater Philadelphia is organizing a cleanup effort for Tuesday.
Philadelphia city councilman Bobby Henon, who grew up close to the cemetery, told NBC10 union groups will donate time and effort to clean the cemetery and install security cameras.
John Dougherty of the Philadelphia Building & Construction Trades Council also offered to replace the headstones, re-sod damaged gravesites and clean the cemetery for free. The building trades council is the umbrella organization for more than 50 union locals that work in the construction industry.
Dougherty called the vandalism a "cowardly act of anti-Semitism that cannot be "tolerated." Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon and the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect also condemned the vandalism.
Jewish graves in Philadelphia now vandalized. Stop this incubator of #Antisemitism and other hate. WE BEG YOU @POTUS @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/RHuIjdE2Yg Anne Frank Center (@AnneFrankCenter) February 26, 2017
The FBI opened a civil rights investigation into the vandalism, the agency announced Monday. "The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence. As this is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to comment further at this time." The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office is also deciding whether hate crime charges will be filed as investigators work to determine the motive for the vandalism.
Last week vandals damaged 154 headstones at a Jewish cemetery in University City, Missouri. The incident sparked national outrage and a crowdfunding campaign from a Muslim group that has now raised more than $130,000. Some of that money will now go toward the Mount Carmel cemetery as well.
More than 10 Jewish Community Centers across the country were also evacuated last week due to bomb threats.
An investigation is underway after vandals damaged headstones at Mount Carmel Cemetery in the Wissinoming section of Philadelphia. Police say the suspect or suspects damaged 75 to 100 graves at the Jewish cemetery, located on Frankford and Cheltenham avenues. The incident follows another vandalism at a Jewish cemetery in University City, Missouiri last week in which 154 headstones were damaged.
Vandals toppled headstones at the Mount Carmel Cemetery in the Wissinoming section of Philadelphia. This is just one of a number of attacks against the Jewish community across the United States. NBC10s Cydney Long spoke to visitors at the local cemetery. A White House Representative also weighed in with NBC10 on the recent attacks.
The daughter of Jose Fernandez was born in Miami Friday, just one day before the five-month anniversary of his death.
Fernandez's girlfriend, Maria Arias, gave birth to baby Penelope on Friday night.
The name was chosen by Fernandez before the tragic maritime accident that took his life five months ago.
Fernandez, a Cuban-born youth who escaped with his family to the United States in 2008, died with two companions in the early hours of Sept. 25, when the boat they were traveling in crashed into a rocky barrier near the coast of Miami Beach.
In just four seasons with the Miami Marlins, Fernandez had developed into one of the premier pitchers in the major leagues. He won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2013 and had two All-Star appearances (2013 and 2016).
Four Air National Guardsmen rescued a man Sunday from a burning airplane after it crashed at a Hamptons airport, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
Two others died when the small plane crashed just before noon at Frances S. Grabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, officials said. They have not yet been identified.
The vintage propeller plane had been practicing takeoffs and landings when it crashed, the FAA said.
A helicopter with four guardsman aboard was flying to the Guard's base at the airport for a training exercise with the airport tower told them a small plane had gone down, Newsday first reported.
They went to the crash scene and rescued the sole survivor, according to Cuomo's office.
"I commend the 4 @NationalGuardNY aviators who raced to the crash at Gabreski airport & rescued one of the victims," Cuomo tweeted Sunday night.
I commend the 4 @NationalGuardNY aviators who raced to the crash at Gabreski airport & rescued one of the victims. https://t.co/zrQwApDPOz Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) February 27, 2017
The guardsman who was piloting the helicopter, CW3 Joseph McCarthy, told NBC 4 New York that he saw the survivor trying to escape the flaming wreckage. He said he landed the chopper a few hundred feet from the plane and fellow guardsman ran out to help the survivor.
"He was stuck between what I think was the canopy of the aircraft. They were able to get that canopy open enough for him to get out," McCarthy said.
The survivor, Richard Rosenthal, was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, officials said.
Chopper 4 video showed the charred wreckage of the plane, a Ryan Navion F, in the woods off runway 33.
The FAA said the National Transportation Safety Board will be in charge of the investigation and determine probable cause.
The airport is used by corporations and private plane owners, as well as the 106th Rescue Wing of the Air National Guard. It was built by the federal government in 1943.
Top Tri-State News Photos
Two men from New York were arrested and charged in a crash on the Long Island Expressway that killed a person, police said.
Jonathan Santos, 20, was charged with second-degree vehicular manslaughter and driving while impaired, Nassau County police said.
The victim was a passenger in Santos' 2015 BMW when he was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana and speeding, according to a criminal complaint.
Santos crashed into another vehicle, hit a gaurd rail and the victim was ejected, dismembered, and died at the scene, authorities said.
Areefeen Hiriji, 19, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with death, police said. He is accused of driving a Honda Accord that crashed with the BMW.
It's not clear whether Santos or Hiriji have attorneys that could speak on their behalf.
A New Jersey man who owes nearly $13,000 in unpaid tolls and fees for E-Z Pass violations across 21 accounts was arrested, police said Saturday.
Dominic Slockbower, 36, of Vernon, was stopped around 4 p.m. Friday at the Lincoln Tunnel toll booth in Weehawken, Port Authority police said.
The arresting officer the white 2006 Toyota Scion as a "habitual toll violator," police said.
Further investigation found Slockbower allegedly had 206 toll violations across 21 separate accounts, totaling $12,740 in unpaid tolls and fines. He was charged with theft.
A telephone number for Slockblower could not be located Saturday. It's wasn't known if he's retained an attorney.
He's due to appear in court on March 10.
Top Tri-State News Photos
A memorial service was held for a police officer who was killed in the line of duty nearly 30 years ago in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Several members of the NYPD, including Commissioner James O'Neill, gathered at 107th Avenue and Inwood Street just after midnight to honor officer Edward Byrne, who was killed while he sat alone in an unmarked police car in 1988. The young officer was the son of a former police lieutenant.
Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch said the fallen officer has inspired future generations to maintain the tradition of protecting and serving the public.
"Being here at this time and celebrating this tradition, it started from sorrow and respect," he said. "We remember with the replica of a car. We can imagine police officer Byrne sitting in that car, doing what so many of us have done before and what many of us will do this very night, and gave his life."
Lynch said that Byrne's death motivated the NYPD to make the streets safer for all.
Four men fatally gunned down the New York City policeman as he guarded a drug witness in 1988. Larry Byrne, a former assistant federal prosecutor, publicly said his brother's killers should never be released from prison. He issued the public plea along with NYPD officers and Sen. Charles Schumer in 2012.
"The assassination of my brother Eddie was a terrible crime and a terrible tragedy," said Larry Byrne. "In order to protect our city and all police officers in the future, these four convicted murderers should never be granted parole."
The slaying of Officer Edward Byrne drew the attention of President George H.W. Bush and spurred local and national anti-crime initiatives. About 10,000 uniformed police officers from around the country attended Byrne's funeral.
Byrne was shot as he sat alone in a marked police car in South Jamaica, Queens. The 22-year-old officer was guarding a house that had been firebombed after the resident repeatedly complained about neighborhood drug dealers.
Philip Copeland directed the hit on orders from a jailed drug dealer. Todd Scott distracted Byrne while David McClary shot him five times in the head at point blank range. Scott Cobb was the wheelman.
"This wasn't just a callous, premeditated murder, which in and of itself was so horrible that parole should be flatly denied," said Schumer. "It was a brazen attempt to terrorize both the decent, hard-working people who are the backbone of New York City's neighborhoods and the brave men and women in the law enforcement community who put their lives on the line to protect them."
In the aftermath of the killing, the NYPD, which saw it as a defiant message from the drug world, established teams of undercover officers to sweep dealers off the streets in drug-plagued neighborhoods. A federal police funding program was named in Byrne's memory.
Byrne's father presented then-GOP nominee Bush with his son's police shield during the presidential election campaign. Bush showed the shield to audiences around the country when he spoke about the need to crack down on illegal drugs.
A man evading police in a stolen limo was taken into custody last night after crashing in East County.
The man stole the limo at around 11 p.m. Saturday in Clairemont near Javier Street, according to San Diego Police (SDPD).
He was followed by SDPD officers and a police helicopter into El Cajon where he crashed at an unknown location, police said.
No one was injured in the crash. Police do not know what events led up to the theft of the limo.
Check back for updates on this developing news.
Volunteers from Samsung International rolled up their sleeves and spent Saturday morning beautifying the campus at San Ysidro Middle School (SYMS).
Fifty Samsung International employees and their family members spent hours at the school brightening up classrooms with fresh paint and sprucing up the campus' exterior.
The volunteer's effort is part of Samsung International Inc.s community service initiative. Samsung worked with San Ysidro School District Superintendent Dr. Julio Fonesca to analyze the schools needs and current conditions.
"When the kids come back to soon on Monday, they'll find a freshly painted school on the inside," Fonseca said.
Fonseca said he looks forward to seeing the reaction from SYMS students when they return to find their school beautified next week.
"Out of the 5,000 kids that we have, 30 percent of them are identified as homeless. So, when we do something for them, at this magnitude, they're going to be really excited to see that people actually care about them," said Fonseca. "That they want them to be at a school that really shows that they have an opportunity that they have a chance to do bigger and better things, outside of the boundaries of the city."
The San Ysidro School District has recently made headlines after educators in the district found unsafe levels of lead coming from a drinking fountain at an elementary school in the South Bay.
Fonseca addressed the matter at Saturday's event.
There has been a lot of media regarding the water situation that we uncovered in our school district, Fonseca told NBC 7. It feels really positive for us that were at the forefront of this were not shying away from things that really need to be taken care of because its about our kids and the future of our children, and nothing is going to compromise their health and safety.
Supporters of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) rallied Saturday in Vista, urging lawmakers not to repeal Obamacare.
The rally was organized by Our Revolution, a nationwide group made up of Bernie Sanders supporters. Demonstrators gathered at the corner of Vista Village Drive and South Santa Fe Road, many holding signs with slogans such as ACA For All. According to organizers, the event was aimed at getting the attention of members of Congress.
Don't repeal the ACA, Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. Millions of lives are counting on the coverage provided by these programs, a press release for the event said.
According to organizers, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R 49TH District) was invited to attend the rally.
However, NBC 7 reached out to Issas office and his staff said that simply was not the case. His office said event organizers had not reached out to Issa in advance to invite the congressman to the rally.
Issas office said the congressman already had another public appearance scheduled for Saturday, to address the California Republican Party at their annual convention in Sacramento.
Issa released this statement to NBC 7 on Saturday:
Americans are worried about the uncertainty on healthcare reform and its a concern that I share. Americans deserve to have a plan they know -- and that they can trust -- to deliver the kind of care they need, at a price level that they can afford.
Despite Obamacare's grand promises, Americans are still hurting under Obamacare. Higher premiums, fewer coverage options, larger deductibles, and canceled plans, are all real life examples of the damage Obamacare has put on American families. Rather than preserving these failures, we should use this as an opportunity to work together to eliminate the consistent shortcomings of the Affordable Care Act to deliver the kind of healthcare we deserve.
Lisa Stevenson, who lives with pre-existing medical conditions and heavily relies on health care, was among the demonstrators at Saturday's rally.
HAPPENING NOW: Demonstrators rally at the corner of Vista Village Drive & Santa Fe Ave in #Vista in support of #Obamacare #ACA. #NBC7 pic.twitter.com/2Z45wEbWLt Liberty Zabala (@LibertyNBC7SD) February 25, 2017
She said knowing she needs medical treatment to survive is much like, in her words, "getting a rug pulled right from under you."
She said that is ACA is repealed, she will be directly impacted.
"Ill die. I have cancer. I wont live," Stevenson told NBC 7. "Im not the only one."
Debbie Mixon was also at the rally, showing her support for Obamacare with a sign that read: "Our Daughter Lives Because Obama Cared."
Mixon said her daughter is a breast cancer survivor who was able to receive treatment because of the Affordable Care Act. Her daughter is alive today, continuing her treatment.
While Congress is in recess, many lawmakers are back in their districts. Some are scheduling meetings with constituents. Issa has been criticized by some for not attending a town hall.
On Tuesday, Issa answered several questions from protestors outside his Vista office. What some would characterize as a protest, Issa described as a "wonderful town hall" on Friday.
U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas (D- 51st District) spoke about the tension lawmakers are facing during the Congressional recess while in San Diego this week.
U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D - 52nd District) and U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D- 53rd District) held a joint town hall in Liberty Station on Wednesday. They answered questions from a standing-room only crowd. Some in attendance demanded more outrage from their representatives.
NBC 7 sought out U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R - District) on Thursday to learn what meetings he's scheduled with constituents during his recess. A staffer from Hunters office said the congressman plans to hold a town hall on March 11, and also said Hunter had a lot of pre-arranged appointments already on his calendar during the recess.
A driver evading police crashed into the side of a Poway home Sunday morning and fled the scene on foot, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) confirmed.
A couple living in the home woke up to the sound of falling debris and broken glass.
Basically, we were asleep and heard the sound of falling, breaking glass, homeowner Kevin Burgess said. It seemed to us like our neighbors house exploded.
Officers say the chase began at approximately 3:18 a.m. when CHP attempted to stop the white Toyota 4-Runner on Interstate 8 and Mission Center.
The driver ignored police and continued driving on I-8, transitioned to northbound State Route 163 and then to I-15 before exiting on Rancho Bernardo Road.
Police continued to pursue the driver as they were led through city streets and residential neighborhoods into Poway. Officers say they lost sight of the SUV momentarily and thats when the driver crashed into the home at 13122 Coyotero Drive.
The driver quickly fled the scene on foot before officers arrived at the house, CHP said.
Burgess said that he has surveillance cameras set up around his home that should have recorded the driver exiting the vehicle and taking off.
In total, the chase lasted for about 20 minutes. CHP officers say the driver was swerving in and out of lanes and suspect they were driving under the influence. The drivers top speed during the pursuit was 110 mph, officers said.
San Diego Fire-Rescue crews were able to pull the SUV out from the home and patch up the wall for the homeowner.
Check back for updates on this breaking news.
Iran's former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter Sunday to President Donald Trump, striking a somewhat conciliatory tone while applauding immigration to America and saying it shows "the contemporary U.S. belongs to all nations."
It isn't the first dispatch sent by Ahmadinejad, who has counted U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama among his pen pals.
But this letter, weighing in at over 3,500 words, comes as criticism of Trump over his travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries including Iran. It also may serve to burnish Ahmadinejad's image domestically after the nation's Supreme Leader warned him not to run in Iran's upcoming May presidential election.
In the letter, published by Iranian media outlets, Ahmadinejad noted Trump won the election while he "truthfully described the U.S. political system and electoral structure as corrupt."
Ahmadinejad decried U.S. "dominance" over the United Nations, as well as American meddling in the world that has brought "insecurity, war, division, killing and (the) displacement of nations."
He also acknowledged the immigration of some 1 million Iranians to America, saying that U.S. policies should "value respect toward the diversity of nations and races."
"In other words, the contemporary U.S. belongs to all nations, including the natives of the land," he wrote. "No one may consider themselves the owner and view others as guests or immigrants."
A judge later blocked Trump's travel ban, and an appeals court refused to reinstate it. Trump has promised to issue a revised order soon, saying it's necessary to keep America safe.
Entirely missing from the letter was any reference to Iran's nuclear program. Under Ahmadinejad's presidency, Iran found itself heavily sanctioned over the program as Western governments feared it could lead to the Islamic Republic building atomic weapons. Iran has long maintained its program was for peaceful purposes.
Iran under current President Hassan Rouhani struck a nuclear deal with world powers, including the Obama administration, to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions. Trump campaigned promising to renegotiate the deal, without offering specifics.
Ahmadinejad gave the letter to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents U.S. interests in Iran. The embassy declined to comment Sunday while American officials could not be immediately reached.
The letter comes ahead of Iran's presidential election, in which Rouhani is widely expected to seek a second four-year term. While allies of Ahmadinejad are expected to run, he himself won't after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned him in September his candidacy would bring about a "polarized situation" that would be "harmful for the county."
Ahmadinejad's popularity in Iran remains in question. During his tenure, he personally questioned the scale of the Holocaust and predicted the demise of Israel. His disputed 2009 re-election saw widespread protests and violence. Two of his former vice presidents went to prison for corruption.
But Ahmadinejad offered Trump his own warning about how quickly time passes for leaders.
"Four years is a long period, but it ends quickly," he wrote. "The opportunity needs to be valued, and all its moments need to be used in the best way."
In a tweet Saturday evening, President Donald Trump announced that he will not be attending the 2017 White House correspondents' dinner.
"I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!" Trump tweeted.
I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017
The dinner is traditionally attended by the President and the first lady as well as other senior government officials and members of the press corps, according to the White House Correspondent Association.
At the annual dinner, the asscociation presents three major journalism awards to recognize distinguished reporting.
Trump has long had an adversarial relationship with news media. Since taking office, however, he has stepped up his criticism by accusing some prominent news outlets of publishing "fake news" and calling them "the enemy of the American People!"
The announcement comes a day after Trump's spat with the media sharply escalated after he slammed the media in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
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.
In the speech Friday, Trump unloaded on the news media for using anonymous sources, just hours after members of his own staff insisted on briefing reporters only on condition their names be concealed.
Later Friday, 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.
Airlines, hotel companies and cruise lines are bracing for President Donald Trump's announcement on his Cuba policy.
Trump had been a regular at the WHCA dinner in recent years, befitting his celebrity status as a reality TV star and beauty pageant owner. He skipped the dinner in April 2016, which came amid the presidential campaign and was the last of the dinners in which President Barack Obama was the honored guest. That didn't mean Trump wasn't the butt of jokes. At one point Obama told guests that Trump "has spent years meeting with leaders from around the world Miss Sweden, Miss Argentina, Miss Azerbaijan."
If he attended the dinner Trump would be a prime target of jokes, the camera showing his reaction to one-liners. In 2011, he was on hand and appeared humiliated as Obama lobbed joke after joke at his expense. At the time Trump was a proponent of the debunked claim that Obama wasn't born in the U.S.
In a statement following Trump's tweet, WHCA President Jeff Mason says the organization "looks forward to having its annual dinner on April 29." Noting Trump's Twitter announcement, Mason calls the dinner "a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic."
Trump will be the first U.S. president to skip the dinner in more than three decades, NBC News reported.
The last president to opt out of the dinner was Ronald Reagan in 1981, according to the Reagan Library. Reagan couldn't attend because he was recovering from a gunshot wound he'd sustained in a failed assassination attempt.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg, New Yorker and Vanity Fair all canceled parties they had planned to host associated with the event, according to The Hill.
A Marine stationed at Fort Meade was killed when he was struck while riding his motorcycle in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, on Friday.
County police said James Ray Walden, 21, from Peoria Heights, Illinois, suffered fatal injuries when a car crossed a double yellow line and stuck him while he was on his motorcycle. The crash occurred on Patuxent Road, near Conway Road, in Gambrills.
When officers arrived on the scene, the driver, Martin Martinez Ballinas, 28, of Crofton, fled. Police were able to arrest Ballinas, who was hiding in a nearby quarry, a short time later.
A passenger in the car, Kevin Velasquez, 22, of Crofton, was also injured. Police said his injuries were minor.
Investigators said speed is believed to be a factor in the crash. Charges are pending.
Two men are critically injured after a shooting outside an Oxon Hill, Maryland, sports bar, police say.
Cpl. Lamar Robinson, a spokesman for the Prince George's County Police Department, said the shooting happened at about 1 a.m. Sunday. It happened outside of Frank's Sports Bar, near the intersection of Livingston and Oxon Hill roads.
Robinson said the men were shot in the lower body and taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Police are working to determine a motive in the case and identify a suspect or suspects.
Five people had to be rescued early Sunday morning from a burning building in Salem, Massachusetts.
The fire broke out at 1:30 a.m. at the Colonial Terrace apartment complex on Nichols Street.
Firefighters used their ladder truck to rescue five residents.
One woman needed to be taken to an area hospital where her condition is unknown.
Some residents who were displaced by the fire were taken to a nearby hotel. It's unclear when they will be able to return home.
Fire officials believe the blaze started in a first floor apartment. The cause is under investigation.
East Windsor town officials held a special meeting at East Windsor High School Saturday where they approved a development agreement between the town and MMCT Venture LLC, the joint Mohegan-Mashantucket Pequot company, that could pave the way for a third casino in the state.
In a forum earlier this week, representatives from MMCT said they were close to announcing their preferred location for the project, having narrowed it down to East Windsor or Windsor Locks.
The East Windsor location is at the site of the former Showcase Cinemas, just off Interstate 91.
Casino allies have said this project is about economic growth, and maintaining critical employment in the state, along with crucial state tax dollars that come from the casinos. The tribes said a third casino in Connecticut is essential to compete with the new MGM Resorts International Casino that is scheduled to open in late 2018 near Springfield, Mass.
In the development agreement, the tribes promise to pay the town more than $8 million a year in fees and taxes. They would also hire about 1,700 people, and hiring will prioritize locals. The agreement also said that 75 percent of the jobs created will be full-time.
MMCT was pleased with the outcome.
"Listening to and speaking with each of the communities has been a top priority for both tribes," said Andrew Doba, Spokesman for MMCT Venture. "That's why the we held community forums, and that's why today's vote is so gratifying. We thank the Board of Selectmen for standing in support of this effort to save Connecticut jobs, and look forward to announcing a final site in the coming days."
Opponents still aren't sold. The Coalition Against Casino and Expansion has spoken against plans for a third casino in the state, saying that gambling has negative economic and social impacts.
Residents in East Windsor have also voiced concerns about traffic congestion and the toll on the towns infrastructure and emergency services.
Voting on a real estate development agreement does not necessarily greenlight the project, but rather lays out ground rules, such as a time frame and how the design can move forward. Similar negotiations are still underway in Windsor Locks.
"If Windsor Locks approves it, they will have to choose one of us. So we are waiting to see which one they do choose. If they do choose us we are welcoming the casino here, said East Windsor First Selectman Bob Maynard.
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.
Massachusetts police are searching for a man wanted in connection with an armed robbery and stabbing early Sunday morning in Raynham.
Police were first called to the home on Elm Street East at 11 p.m. Saturday after neighbors say there was a loud party.
"There were a lot of cars - they were parked up and down the main road and along the side roads, kids just coming in and out," recalled one neighbor who did not want to give his name.
A couple hours later, at 1:10 a.m., police returned and found a man had been stabbed in the neck.
Authorities say a man was allegedly trying to rob a juvenile when another man stepped in to try and stop him.
The victim was stabbed in the neck while trying to prevent the robbery. He was was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center with life threatening injuries.
Police say the suspect fled the scene in a black Honda Civic with three other men. It's believed he may be from the Quincy area.
"Probably like a high school party gone bad, you know kids find out and show up," said the neighbor.
Police released a picture of the suspect that they say was taken around the time of the incident.
Authorities are hoping someone recognizes the suspect and calls police. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Raynham Police at 508-824-2717.
A group of college students from the University of Massachusetts Amherst have just taken first prize in an international culinary competition.
Saturday night, the students won the International Student Iron Chef Competition, a cooking battle against different college students from around the world.
According to WWLP-TV, this is the 3rd year that UMass has won the event.
Alex Carstensen, Evan Duerr, Nicole Mendes and Joey Roldan were the students on the winning team.
Ramzauva Chhakchhuak By
Express News Service
BENGALURU:The harp is not very popular in mainstream music and more so in India. However for Meaghan Pandian, a Mumbai-based musician who is one of the very few, if not the only professional harpist in the country, playing this instrument came naturally.
She is in the city for a month and will play with renowned Swiss harpist Rahel Shweizer in a rare and a 'first solo harp concert' to be in held at Bangalore School of Music on March 9.
What's baffling is that Meaghan picked up the instrument a little over two years ago and mastered it in only one and a half years. She has already played for the likes of Arijit Singh and A R Rahman. Originally I started out with the piano and violin, she says. I got a scholarship to go to France to study music and that's where I first knew about the harp. I realised immediately that I needed to learn this instrument."
When she came back to India, she found a harpist, an expat from USA. This lady was leaving the country in just a few days but I somehow managed to reach her and learnt a few things. Subsequently, I bought her harp and learnt through Skype and other online resources," she says.
She has already completed her grade seven in the instrument and received a certificate from the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music in London and will be starting the last grade in June.
The cost of the instrument is a lot but that has not dissuaded her. Meaghan has two pedal harps (with 47 strings) and one lever harp (of 30 strings). One of the pedal harps is from USA and another is from Russia. Each comes at a cost of around `19 lakh. Even if there is a small problem with any part I have to import it from abroad. A set of strings will cost me anywhere between Rs 60,000 and 70,000. The lever harp is around Rs 10 lakh, she says.
Meaghan has also aced learning the piano and the violin and has received certificates from the Trinity College, London. She has also won the Young Musician of the Year Award, 2014, given out by the Olga and Jules Craen Foundation. I have also been a part of A R Rahman's concerts and productions, and have toured abroad as part of the music ensemble of many concerts by Arijit Singh, she says. Meaghan now plans to open a harp school very soon.
BENGALURU:The harp is not very popular in mainstream music and more so in India. However for Meaghan Pandian, a Mumbai-based musician who is one of the very few, if not the only professional harpist in the country, playing this instrument came naturally. She is in the city for a month and will play with renowned Swiss harpist Rahel Shweizer in a rare and a 'first solo harp concert' to be in held at Bangalore School of Music on March 9. What's baffling is that Meaghan picked up the instrument a little over two years ago and mastered it in only one and a half years. She has already played for the likes of Arijit Singh and A R Rahman. Originally I started out with the piano and violin, she says. I got a scholarship to go to France to study music and that's where I first knew about the harp. I realised immediately that I needed to learn this instrument." When she came back to India, she found a harpist, an expat from USA. This lady was leaving the country in just a few days but I somehow managed to reach her and learnt a few things. Subsequently, I bought her harp and learnt through Skype and other online resources," she says. She has already completed her grade seven in the instrument and received a certificate from the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music in London and will be starting the last grade in June. The cost of the instrument is a lot but that has not dissuaded her. Meaghan has two pedal harps (with 47 strings) and one lever harp (of 30 strings). One of the pedal harps is from USA and another is from Russia. Each comes at a cost of around `19 lakh. Even if there is a small problem with any part I have to import it from abroad. A set of strings will cost me anywhere between Rs 60,000 and 70,000. The lever harp is around Rs 10 lakh, she says. Meaghan has also aced learning the piano and the violin and has received certificates from the Trinity College, London. She has also won the Young Musician of the Year Award, 2014, given out by the Olga and Jules Craen Foundation. I have also been a part of A R Rahman's concerts and productions, and have toured abroad as part of the music ensemble of many concerts by Arijit Singh, she says. Meaghan now plans to open a harp school very soon.
By Express News Service
CHENNAI: As Many AS 141 families of manual scavengers, who died while cleaning sewers, have been paid a compensation of `10 lakh each, the first Bench of the Madras High Court has been informed.
The Municipal Administration and Water Supply joint secretary G Laxmi Priya made the submission before the Bench of Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice R Mahadevan when the public interest litigation (PIL) from A Narayanan of ChangeIndia came up for further hearing last week. The Bench posted the matter to March 28 for further hearing.
In her report, Laxmi Priya added that 13 more families were traced and verification was going on for paying the compensation. She said the State was committed to make quick payment of compensation to the dependants of sewer/septic tank death victims in all eligible cases, as ordered by the Supreme Court and this court, as well as implementing the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
Of 94,389 insanitary latrines, 68,515 had been converted into sanitary latrines either by connecting with underground sewer system or by providing septic tanks and 15,294 insanitary latrines had been demolished. Action was being taken on the remaining 10,580 insanitary latrines for conversion by April this year.
The State had been implementing the scheme of eliminating open defecation since 2011 to declare the State free of the evil. Further, under Swachh Bharat Mission, 6,02,029 new individual household toilets had been proposed for the mission period. So far 1,73, 679 such toilets had been built for `144.80 crores. Further, 59,009 seats under community toilets had been proposed.
The target of 23,481 seats was planned to be completed by March. So far, 11,410 community toilets have been built for `94.08 crores, she added. During the awareness camp, the TN Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation limited requested manual scavengers to apply for loans to improve their livelihood.
CHENNAI: As Many AS 141 families of manual scavengers, who died while cleaning sewers, have been paid a compensation of `10 lakh each, the first Bench of the Madras High Court has been informed. The Municipal Administration and Water Supply joint secretary G Laxmi Priya made the submission before the Bench of Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice R Mahadevan when the public interest litigation (PIL) from A Narayanan of ChangeIndia came up for further hearing last week. The Bench posted the matter to March 28 for further hearing. In her report, Laxmi Priya added that 13 more families were traced and verification was going on for paying the compensation. She said the State was committed to make quick payment of compensation to the dependants of sewer/septic tank death victims in all eligible cases, as ordered by the Supreme Court and this court, as well as implementing the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. Of 94,389 insanitary latrines, 68,515 had been converted into sanitary latrines either by connecting with underground sewer system or by providing septic tanks and 15,294 insanitary latrines had been demolished. Action was being taken on the remaining 10,580 insanitary latrines for conversion by April this year. The State had been implementing the scheme of eliminating open defecation since 2011 to declare the State free of the evil. Further, under Swachh Bharat Mission, 6,02,029 new individual household toilets had been proposed for the mission period. So far 1,73, 679 such toilets had been built for `144.80 crores. Further, 59,009 seats under community toilets had been proposed. The target of 23,481 seats was planned to be completed by March. So far, 11,410 community toilets have been built for `94.08 crores, she added. During the awareness camp, the TN Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation limited requested manual scavengers to apply for loans to improve their livelihood.
By Express News Service
HYDERABAD:Condemning the killing of Indian engineer 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Kansas, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said that the US government should respond to such incidents and take the strongest action. USA should respond to this incident.
The American President and people of that country should come out openly to condemn such actions and take strongest action. They should also send a message that it is not acceptable, Venkaiah Naidu told the media. These kind of incidents involving racial discrimination are shameful. They will dent the image of USA, he said.
Srinivas was killed and his Indian colleague Alok Madasani injured in the fire opened by an American recently. Venkaiah Naidu said he spoke with his cabinet colleague and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who gave appropriate directions to the Indian High Commission. It is shocking that Kuchibhotla was shot dead in an alleged (case of) racial discrimination. It caused mental agony to all Indians. I express my sympathies to the bereaved family, he said.
HYDERABAD:Condemning the killing of Indian engineer 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Kansas, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said that the US government should respond to such incidents and take the strongest action. USA should respond to this incident. The American President and people of that country should come out openly to condemn such actions and take strongest action. They should also send a message that it is not acceptable, Venkaiah Naidu told the media. These kind of incidents involving racial discrimination are shameful. They will dent the image of USA, he said. Srinivas was killed and his Indian colleague Alok Madasani injured in the fire opened by an American recently. Venkaiah Naidu said he spoke with his cabinet colleague and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who gave appropriate directions to the Indian High Commission. It is shocking that Kuchibhotla was shot dead in an alleged (case of) racial discrimination. It caused mental agony to all Indians. I express my sympathies to the bereaved family, he said.
By IANS
KOLKATA: A young man was hacked to death for confronting a group that was hurling sexual abuses at some women performers in West Bengal, the state police said on Sunday.
"Md. Mustakin, a resident of South 24-Paragana district, was attacked by a group of men on his way back home on Saturday night," a senior police official said.
According to Mustakin's family, he was attacked because he confronted a group of men hurling obscene comments at female performers on Friday evening during a cultural programme on the occasion of Mahashivratri.
The police said they have already detained four people.
"According to police records, the deceased (Mustakin) also had a criminal record. We are investigating the motive behind the murder," the official added.
KOLKATA: A young man was hacked to death for confronting a group that was hurling sexual abuses at some women performers in West Bengal, the state police said on Sunday. "Md. Mustakin, a resident of South 24-Paragana district, was attacked by a group of men on his way back home on Saturday night," a senior police official said. According to Mustakin's family, he was attacked because he confronted a group of men hurling obscene comments at female performers on Friday evening during a cultural programme on the occasion of Mahashivratri. The police said they have already detained four people. "According to police records, the deceased (Mustakin) also had a criminal record. We are investigating the motive behind the murder," the official added.
By Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said he does not rule out a conspiracy behind the sexual assault on a leading Malayalam actress on February 17.
"I did not say there was no conspiracy. What I said was that the media need not inquire into the conspiracy part," he told reporters in the Kerala capital.
The chief minister's clarification is a response to the criticism from various quarters, including the states opposition, for giving statements that might impact the probe.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala had claimed that the chief minister, by denying a conspiracy theory, was giving a signal to the police on how they should conduct the probe.
The sensation abduction and sexual assault on the leading cinema star took place on the night of Feb. 17. While seven men, including her former driver Pulsar Suni and current driver are both accused in the case, there has been widespread speculation that they were acting at the behest of others in the film industry.
Chennithala had alleged that the chief minister's statement, coming within 48 hours of the crime, at a public function in Kozhikode was aimed at sabotaging the probe.
However, Pinarayi said his comment was made against the backdrop of a media report that there was no conspiracy in the incident. "I had also said that the police probe would continue. Chennithala's is a knee-jerk reaction," he said.
"My reaction was not based on an official report. I merely responded to that particular media report," the chief minister added.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said he does not rule out a conspiracy behind the sexual assault on a leading Malayalam actress on February 17. "I did not say there was no conspiracy. What I said was that the media need not inquire into the conspiracy part," he told reporters in the Kerala capital. The chief minister's clarification is a response to the criticism from various quarters, including the states opposition, for giving statements that might impact the probe. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala had claimed that the chief minister, by denying a conspiracy theory, was giving a signal to the police on how they should conduct the probe. The sensation abduction and sexual assault on the leading cinema star took place on the night of Feb. 17. While seven men, including her former driver Pulsar Suni and current driver are both accused in the case, there has been widespread speculation that they were acting at the behest of others in the film industry. Chennithala had alleged that the chief minister's statement, coming within 48 hours of the crime, at a public function in Kozhikode was aimed at sabotaging the probe. However, Pinarayi said his comment was made against the backdrop of a media report that there was no conspiracy in the incident. "I had also said that the police probe would continue. Chennithala's is a knee-jerk reaction," he said. "My reaction was not based on an official report. I merely responded to that particular media report," the chief minister added.
By Associated Press
LOS ANGELES: Will the 89th Academy Awards be a parade of political speeches or landslide for "La La Land"? Probably both.
Sunday night's Oscars are shaping up to be one of the most turbulent and politically charged ceremonies in recent memory. The three-hour-plus telecast, which begins at 8:30 p.m. on ABC, is expected to resemble one very glitzy protest against President Donald Trump, whom award-winners like Meryl Streep at the Golden Globes have railed against throughout Hollywood's awards season.
An unusually tense atmosphere has coalesced before the Dolby Theatre ceremony, with protests, rallies and boycotts swirling around this year's Oscars. Even the normally sunny California weather has been stormy, with rain drenching Los Angeles early Sunday though only clouds are expected for red carpet arrivals.
Yet most expect another day of sun for Damien Chazelle's celebrated musical "La La Land," up for a record-tying 14 nominations. A best picture upset, while unlikely, isn't out the question, though. Barry Jenkins' eight-time nominated "Moonlight" on Saturday took best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, where "La La Land" wasn't eligible.
The other films up for best picture are Denis Villeneuve's "Arrival," Denzel Washington's "Fences," Mel Gibson's "Hacksaw Ridge," David Mackenzie's "Hell or High Water," Theodore Melfi's "Hidden Figures," Kenneth Lonergan's "Manchester by the Sea" and Garth Davis' "Lion."
The "OscarsSoWhite" crisis of the last two years was largely quelled this season by a richly diverse slate of nominees, thanks to films like "Moonlight," ''Fences" and "Hidden Figures." A record six black actors are nominated. For the first time ever, a person of color is nominated in each acting category. And four of the five best documentary nominees were also directed by black filmmakers.
The nominees follow the efforts by Academy of Motions Pictures Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs to diversify the membership of the largely white, older and male film academy. In June, the academy added 683 new members: 46 percent of them were female; 41-percent were nonwhite; and they pulled from 59 countries.
But just how political the ABC show becomes will depend in part on the tone set by host Jimmy Kimmel, who'll have a delicate balancing act to maintain. Play it too light and he'll appear out of sync with the mood. Hammer too hard and he'll alienate viewers already inundated by politics. Some Trump supporters, expecting political speeches, have said they will boycott the broadcast.
The academy and ABC will be hoping to improve on last year's telecast. The Chris Rock-hosted show drew 34.4 million viewers, an eight-year low. Ads this year are still going for $2.1 million for 30-second spots.
There are some sources of suspense at this year's Oscars, most notably in the best actor category. While Casey Affleck ("Manchester by the Sea") was the favorite through most of awards season, Washington ("Fences") took the highly predictive Screen Actors Guild award, setting him up as the odds-makers' favored pick.
Affleck, wearing a shirt with the word "love" in Arabic, was among those to speak bluntly against Trump at Saturday's Spirit Awards.
"The policies of this administration are abhorrent and will not last," said Affleck, accepting the best actor award.
Politics pervaded Oscar weekend, usually a time of frothy anticipation of Hollywood's big night:
On Friday, the United Talent Agency, forgoing its usual Oscar party, instead held a rally protesting President over immigration. "We will not tolerate chaos and ineptitude and war-mongering," Jodie Foster told attendees.
Also on Friday, the six directors of the foreign film nominees released a joint statement condemning "the climate of fanaticism and nationalism we see today in the U.S. and in so many other countries." The signees included the Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, whose "The Salesman" is favoured to win him his second foreign language Oscar. He isn't attending the awards in protest of Trump's proposed travel ban of seven predominantly Muslim nations, including Iran.
U.S. immigration authorities are barring entry to a 21-year-old Syrian cinematographer who worked on the documentary short nominee "The White Helmets," about the nation's civil war.
The Academy of Motion Pictures also made a late but notable addition to its presenter best actress nominee Streep ("Florence Foster Jenkins") to its lineup of A-list presenters. Her fiery remarks at the Golden Globes prompted Trump to call her "overrated."
LOS ANGELES: Will the 89th Academy Awards be a parade of political speeches or landslide for "La La Land"? Probably both. Sunday night's Oscars are shaping up to be one of the most turbulent and politically charged ceremonies in recent memory. The three-hour-plus telecast, which begins at 8:30 p.m. on ABC, is expected to resemble one very glitzy protest against President Donald Trump, whom award-winners like Meryl Streep at the Golden Globes have railed against throughout Hollywood's awards season. An unusually tense atmosphere has coalesced before the Dolby Theatre ceremony, with protests, rallies and boycotts swirling around this year's Oscars. Even the normally sunny California weather has been stormy, with rain drenching Los Angeles early Sunday though only clouds are expected for red carpet arrivals. Yet most expect another day of sun for Damien Chazelle's celebrated musical "La La Land," up for a record-tying 14 nominations. A best picture upset, while unlikely, isn't out the question, though. Barry Jenkins' eight-time nominated "Moonlight" on Saturday took best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, where "La La Land" wasn't eligible. The other films up for best picture are Denis Villeneuve's "Arrival," Denzel Washington's "Fences," Mel Gibson's "Hacksaw Ridge," David Mackenzie's "Hell or High Water," Theodore Melfi's "Hidden Figures," Kenneth Lonergan's "Manchester by the Sea" and Garth Davis' "Lion." The "OscarsSoWhite" crisis of the last two years was largely quelled this season by a richly diverse slate of nominees, thanks to films like "Moonlight," ''Fences" and "Hidden Figures." A record six black actors are nominated. For the first time ever, a person of color is nominated in each acting category. And four of the five best documentary nominees were also directed by black filmmakers. The nominees follow the efforts by Academy of Motions Pictures Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs to diversify the membership of the largely white, older and male film academy. In June, the academy added 683 new members: 46 percent of them were female; 41-percent were nonwhite; and they pulled from 59 countries. But just how political the ABC show becomes will depend in part on the tone set by host Jimmy Kimmel, who'll have a delicate balancing act to maintain. Play it too light and he'll appear out of sync with the mood. Hammer too hard and he'll alienate viewers already inundated by politics. Some Trump supporters, expecting political speeches, have said they will boycott the broadcast. The academy and ABC will be hoping to improve on last year's telecast. The Chris Rock-hosted show drew 34.4 million viewers, an eight-year low. Ads this year are still going for $2.1 million for 30-second spots. There are some sources of suspense at this year's Oscars, most notably in the best actor category. While Casey Affleck ("Manchester by the Sea") was the favorite through most of awards season, Washington ("Fences") took the highly predictive Screen Actors Guild award, setting him up as the odds-makers' favored pick. Affleck, wearing a shirt with the word "love" in Arabic, was among those to speak bluntly against Trump at Saturday's Spirit Awards. "The policies of this administration are abhorrent and will not last," said Affleck, accepting the best actor award. Politics pervaded Oscar weekend, usually a time of frothy anticipation of Hollywood's big night: On Friday, the United Talent Agency, forgoing its usual Oscar party, instead held a rally protesting President over immigration. "We will not tolerate chaos and ineptitude and war-mongering," Jodie Foster told attendees. Also on Friday, the six directors of the foreign film nominees released a joint statement condemning "the climate of fanaticism and nationalism we see today in the U.S. and in so many other countries." The signees included the Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, whose "The Salesman" is favoured to win him his second foreign language Oscar. He isn't attending the awards in protest of Trump's proposed travel ban of seven predominantly Muslim nations, including Iran. U.S. immigration authorities are barring entry to a 21-year-old Syrian cinematographer who worked on the documentary short nominee "The White Helmets," about the nation's civil war. The Academy of Motion Pictures also made a late but notable addition to its presenter best actress nominee Streep ("Florence Foster Jenkins") to its lineup of A-list presenters. Her fiery remarks at the Golden Globes prompted Trump to call her "overrated."
By PTI
SHILLONG: At least 17 people were killed and 62 injured when a truck ferrying them to a church service overturned after hitting a concrete railing in Meghalaya's West Khasi Hills district today.
The incident took place around 8.30 AM at Nongspung village, about 11 km away from the district headquarters Nongstoin. "The truck overturned after hitting the railing at the side of the road due to overspeeding," Superintendent of Police of West Khasi Hills Sylvester Nongtnger said. 12 people died on the spot, while five succumbed to their injuries at the Nongstoin Civil Hospital, the SP said.
Those seriously injured were taken to different hospitals including Shillong Civil Hospital and NEIGRHIMS. People from three villages -- Nginiong, Mawbyrkong and Nongbudum -- were travelling in the truck and were on their way to Nonglang village for attending a Synod (church service).
Meanwhile, Meghalaya Health minister Roshan Warjri visited the city hospital and met the injured persons.
Meghalaya Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh expressed condolences to all the bereaved families.
SHILLONG: At least 17 people were killed and 62 injured when a truck ferrying them to a church service overturned after hitting a concrete railing in Meghalaya's West Khasi Hills district today. The incident took place around 8.30 AM at Nongspung village, about 11 km away from the district headquarters Nongstoin. "The truck overturned after hitting the railing at the side of the road due to overspeeding," Superintendent of Police of West Khasi Hills Sylvester Nongtnger said. 12 people died on the spot, while five succumbed to their injuries at the Nongstoin Civil Hospital, the SP said. Those seriously injured were taken to different hospitals including Shillong Civil Hospital and NEIGRHIMS. People from three villages -- Nginiong, Mawbyrkong and Nongbudum -- were travelling in the truck and were on their way to Nonglang village for attending a Synod (church service). Meanwhile, Meghalaya Health minister Roshan Warjri visited the city hospital and met the injured persons. Meghalaya Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh expressed condolences to all the bereaved families.
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: For the first time Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will address Delhiites, ahead of local municipal polls. Nitish will address two rallies in the national capital, where JD(U) will contest all the 272 seats, taking on the AAP on its home turf.
The party's Delhi in-charge Sanjay Jha announced it an event where few district-level Aam Aadmi Party workers, mainly from east Delhi, joined JD(U), accusing the AAP of neglecting Poorvanchalis in MCD ticket distribution.
Jha said JD(U) aims to tap the "discontent" among the AAP's poorvanchali voters' base. He said the Poorvanchalis here have been "let down" by the Arvind Kejriwal government despite having extended every possible backing to it over the last two years. "Nitish Kumar will address two rallies, one each in north and south Delhi after Holi. The first list of our candidates will be out within a week," he said.
BJP's decision to appoint Bhojpuri artiste Manoj Tiwari as its Delhi unit chief is also being seen as an attempt to woo the Poorvanchali community, comprising the people from the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Delhi unit of JD(U) was constituted during Kumar's visit here on December 3 last year. Jha brushed aside Kumar's perceived closeness with Kejriwal, saying JD(U) will work for expanding its base and work towards ensuring "fair" representation of the Poorvanchali population.
NEW DELHI: For the first time Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will address Delhiites, ahead of local municipal polls. Nitish will address two rallies in the national capital, where JD(U) will contest all the 272 seats, taking on the AAP on its home turf. The party's Delhi in-charge Sanjay Jha announced it an event where few district-level Aam Aadmi Party workers, mainly from east Delhi, joined JD(U), accusing the AAP of neglecting Poorvanchalis in MCD ticket distribution. Jha said JD(U) aims to tap the "discontent" among the AAP's poorvanchali voters' base. He said the Poorvanchalis here have been "let down" by the Arvind Kejriwal government despite having extended every possible backing to it over the last two years. "Nitish Kumar will address two rallies, one each in north and south Delhi after Holi. The first list of our candidates will be out within a week," he said. BJP's decision to appoint Bhojpuri artiste Manoj Tiwari as its Delhi unit chief is also being seen as an attempt to woo the Poorvanchali community, comprising the people from the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Delhi unit of JD(U) was constituted during Kumar's visit here on December 3 last year. Jha brushed aside Kumar's perceived closeness with Kejriwal, saying JD(U) will work for expanding its base and work towards ensuring "fair" representation of the Poorvanchali population.
Anand ST Das By
Express News Service
PATNA: IAS officers in Bihar on Sunday came out in strong protest against the arrest of one of their colleagues in the BSSC question paper leak case and met Governor Ram Nath Kovind with their grievances.
Nearly 50 IAS officers serving in the State held a three-hour-long meeting in Patna to plan their course of protest against the arrest of Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BPSC) chairman Sudhir Kumar, a 1987-batch IAS officer, in Hazaribagh in neighbouring Jharkhand on Friday.
The Bihar unit of the IAS Officers Association held that Sudhir Kumars arrest was conducted in violation of rules and demanded that the probe into the leak of question papers in BSSC clerical examinations earlier this month be handed over to the CBI. The probe is currently being conducted by a special investigation team (SIT) led by Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj.
At the meeting held at IAS Bhawan in Patna, the central service bureaucrats also resolved that no IAS officer would occupy the post of BSSC chairman that lies vacant, following Sudhir Kumars arrest. The IAS Officers Association demanded the immediate release of Kumar and decided to wear black badges till the demands were met by the State government.
Significantly, the association also resolved that no IAS officer would comply with verbal orders issued by any higher office, including the office of the Honourable Chief Minister.
Both Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had ordered formation of the SIT to probe the question paper leak case, refused to comment on the delegation of IAS officers meeting the Governor. When journalists asked him, the CM merely said Pata nahin (I do not know) before walking ahead. Bihar chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, known to be enjoying an excellent rapport with the Chief Minister, also declined to comment on the decision of the association.
What added further complexity to the unfolding scenario was RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav reiterating that he considered Sudhir Kumar an innocent and upright bureaucrat. RJD is the largest partner in the three-party coalition government headed by Nitish Kumar. Yadav, however, added that the law would take its own course.
SIT head Manu Maharaaj has said that scientific, irrefutable evidence has been collected against Sudhir Kumar. As many as five relatives of Kumars had appeared in the recruitment examinations, whose questions were leaked hours before the examinations started. Sudhir Kumar is currently in Phulwarisharif jail in Patna.
PATNA: IAS officers in Bihar on Sunday came out in strong protest against the arrest of one of their colleagues in the BSSC question paper leak case and met Governor Ram Nath Kovind with their grievances. Nearly 50 IAS officers serving in the State held a three-hour-long meeting in Patna to plan their course of protest against the arrest of Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BPSC) chairman Sudhir Kumar, a 1987-batch IAS officer, in Hazaribagh in neighbouring Jharkhand on Friday. The Bihar unit of the IAS Officers Association held that Sudhir Kumars arrest was conducted in violation of rules and demanded that the probe into the leak of question papers in BSSC clerical examinations earlier this month be handed over to the CBI. The probe is currently being conducted by a special investigation team (SIT) led by Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj. At the meeting held at IAS Bhawan in Patna, the central service bureaucrats also resolved that no IAS officer would occupy the post of BSSC chairman that lies vacant, following Sudhir Kumars arrest. The IAS Officers Association demanded the immediate release of Kumar and decided to wear black badges till the demands were met by the State government. Significantly, the association also resolved that no IAS officer would comply with verbal orders issued by any higher office, including the office of the Honourable Chief Minister. Both Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had ordered formation of the SIT to probe the question paper leak case, refused to comment on the delegation of IAS officers meeting the Governor. When journalists asked him, the CM merely said Pata nahin (I do not know) before walking ahead. Bihar chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, known to be enjoying an excellent rapport with the Chief Minister, also declined to comment on the decision of the association. What added further complexity to the unfolding scenario was RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav reiterating that he considered Sudhir Kumar an innocent and upright bureaucrat. RJD is the largest partner in the three-party coalition government headed by Nitish Kumar. Yadav, however, added that the law would take its own course. SIT head Manu Maharaaj has said that scientific, irrefutable evidence has been collected against Sudhir Kumar. As many as five relatives of Kumars had appeared in the recruitment examinations, whose questions were leaked hours before the examinations started. Sudhir Kumar is currently in Phulwarisharif jail in Patna.
By PTI
JAUNPUR: In the latest addition to the growing list of acronyms in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, SP MP from Kannauj Dimple Yadav today redefined 'Kasab' - the abbreviation coined by BJP chief Amit Shah. "BJP says 'Ka' stands for Congress. Your Akhilesh bhaiyya says 'Ka' (in Hindi) stands for Computer, 'Sa' stands for smartphone, through which you can get all the information about the policies of the government and 'B' stands for 'bachche' (children)," Dimple, wife of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said at an election rally here amid loud applause.
The ruling Samajwadi Party has a scheme to distribute laptops to meritorious students and promised to give smartphones if it returns to power in the state. Shah at a rally last week at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur had used the 'KASAB' acronym to describe 'Ka' for Congress, 'Sa' for SP and 'B' for BSP. Shah coined the acronym matching the name of terrorist Ajmal Kasab - one of the perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai attack.
Akhilesh had earlier hit out at the BJP chief for his "Kasab" barb, saying "Ka" actually stood for "kabutar" (pigeon), while BSP supremo Mayawati had said, "There cannot be a bigger Kasab than him" and dubbed Shah a "terrorist". Dimple said SP would give 35 per cent reservation to women, and pregnant women would get foodgrains delivered at their doorstep.
"If SP is voted to power, we will do away with the age-limit for women in Class-III and IV government jobs," she said. The Kannauj MP also said that for every gas stove purchased, her party would give a pressure cooker. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said, "The people of the country while listening to PM's 'Mann ki Baat' have not realised how the prices of LPG cylinders have gone up".
JAUNPUR: In the latest addition to the growing list of acronyms in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, SP MP from Kannauj Dimple Yadav today redefined 'Kasab' - the abbreviation coined by BJP chief Amit Shah. "BJP says 'Ka' stands for Congress. Your Akhilesh bhaiyya says 'Ka' (in Hindi) stands for Computer, 'Sa' stands for smartphone, through which you can get all the information about the policies of the government and 'B' stands for 'bachche' (children)," Dimple, wife of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said at an election rally here amid loud applause. The ruling Samajwadi Party has a scheme to distribute laptops to meritorious students and promised to give smartphones if it returns to power in the state. Shah at a rally last week at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur had used the 'KASAB' acronym to describe 'Ka' for Congress, 'Sa' for SP and 'B' for BSP. Shah coined the acronym matching the name of terrorist Ajmal Kasab - one of the perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai attack. Akhilesh had earlier hit out at the BJP chief for his "Kasab" barb, saying "Ka" actually stood for "kabutar" (pigeon), while BSP supremo Mayawati had said, "There cannot be a bigger Kasab than him" and dubbed Shah a "terrorist". Dimple said SP would give 35 per cent reservation to women, and pregnant women would get foodgrains delivered at their doorstep. "If SP is voted to power, we will do away with the age-limit for women in Class-III and IV government jobs," she said. The Kannauj MP also said that for every gas stove purchased, her party would give a pressure cooker. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said, "The people of the country while listening to PM's 'Mann ki Baat' have not realised how the prices of LPG cylinders have gone up".
By Express News Service
RAJKOT: Adding to the number of ISIS operatives arrested in India, two brothers were held by Gujarat ATS in Rajkot and Bhavnagar for planning bombings in the State. On Saturday, a Kerala man, Hafeesudeen, was among the 21 people killed in a drone attack, in Afghanistan. He had allegedly joined Islamic State.
Earlier, ISIS operatives have been held in Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, New Delhi and Kerala.
The two suspected ISIS terrorists, arrested by Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad, were allegedly planning to carry out serial blasts at some religious places in Gujarat in the next couple of days, the ATS said on Sunday.
The two, who are brothers, were in touch with ISIS operatives overseas through social media, police said, adding that they have recovered bomb-making material from the two.
The two were allegedly planning to carry out blasts at religious places like Chotila.
"Acting on specific information, the Gujarat ATS team has nabbed two suspected terrorists having links with ISIS," Anti-Terrorism Squad's Deputy Superintendent of Police K K
Patel said.
"They are siblings, identified as Waseem and Naeem Ramodiya. While Waseem was arrested from Rajkot, his brother was arrested from Bhavnagar," he said.
"They were ready with all material to make bombs and were planning to carry out blasts at religious places in the nexttwo days," Patel said, claiming that a major terrorist attack has been averted with their arrest.
Gun powder, local made bombs with battery and masks to hide their identity were recovered from the two men, Patel said, adding the police also seized computers in which objectionable and prohibited content was found.
"They were in touch with ISIS operatives outside the country through Twitter and other social media networks," the officer said.
ATS Superintendent of Police Himanshu Shukla said, "It is true that Chotila Temple was on their target. But we cannot give further details at this stage keeping in mind further investigations."
(with inputs from PTI)
RAJKOT: Adding to the number of ISIS operatives arrested in India, two brothers were held by Gujarat ATS in Rajkot and Bhavnagar for planning bombings in the State. On Saturday, a Kerala man, Hafeesudeen, was among the 21 people killed in a drone attack, in Afghanistan. He had allegedly joined Islamic State. Earlier, ISIS operatives have been held in Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, New Delhi and Kerala. The two suspected ISIS terrorists, arrested by Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad, were allegedly planning to carry out serial blasts at some religious places in Gujarat in the next couple of days, the ATS said on Sunday. The two, who are brothers, were in touch with ISIS operatives overseas through social media, police said, adding that they have recovered bomb-making material from the two. The two were allegedly planning to carry out blasts at religious places like Chotila. "Acting on specific information, the Gujarat ATS team has nabbed two suspected terrorists having links with ISIS," Anti-Terrorism Squad's Deputy Superintendent of Police K K Patel said. "They are siblings, identified as Waseem and Naeem Ramodiya. While Waseem was arrested from Rajkot, his brother was arrested from Bhavnagar," he said. "They were ready with all material to make bombs and were planning to carry out blasts at religious places in the nexttwo days," Patel said, claiming that a major terrorist attack has been averted with their arrest. Gun powder, local made bombs with battery and masks to hide their identity were recovered from the two men, Patel said, adding the police also seized computers in which objectionable and prohibited content was found. "They were in touch with ISIS operatives outside the country through Twitter and other social media networks," the officer said. ATS Superintendent of Police Himanshu Shukla said, "It is true that Chotila Temple was on their target. But we cannot give further details at this stage keeping in mind further investigations." (with inputs from PTI)
By PTI
MUMBAI: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar today said his party will join hands with the Congress in all the municipal corporations and Zilla Parishads in Maharashtra, where elections were held recently.
"NCP will form an alliance across all the 10 municipal corporations and 25 Zilla Parishads in the state in post-poll scenario. Party chief Sunil Tatkare and MPCC chief Ashok Chavan have already held talks regarding the same," Pawar told reporters in Nanded.
He said, "If both the parties form an alliance, it can come to power in some 17 to 18 Zilla Parishads of the total 25 that went to polls. A meeting is scheduled in Mumbai in coming days, where it (the alliance) will be finalised."
On his earlier assumption of state government getting unstable post civic elections, Pawar said, "Going by the behaviour of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, I don't think he will opt out of the state government. But if he does so, we are ready for the elections."
Asked whether NCP is keen on supporting Shiv Sena in BMC, Pawar said, "I think Shiv Sena is managing to arrange enough numbers to form a ruling coalition in BMC. If there is need of NCP's support then the decision will be taken at local level."
Shiv Sena won 84 seats as against 114 required to have absolute majority in the Mumbai civic body and has so far received support of four Independents. Hence, the party is claiming to have a total strength of 88 corporators in the BMC.
Though Congress won 31 seats, party leader Sanjay Nirupam has already made it clear that it would not support Shiv Sena in the cash-rich BMC.
It is to be noted that of the 1,509 seats in 25 Zilla Parishads, BJP won 406, Congress 309, NCP 360 and Shiv Sena 271. Rest of the seats were won by Independents and local fronts.
MUMBAI: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar today said his party will join hands with the Congress in all the municipal corporations and Zilla Parishads in Maharashtra, where elections were held recently. "NCP will form an alliance across all the 10 municipal corporations and 25 Zilla Parishads in the state in post-poll scenario. Party chief Sunil Tatkare and MPCC chief Ashok Chavan have already held talks regarding the same," Pawar told reporters in Nanded. He said, "If both the parties form an alliance, it can come to power in some 17 to 18 Zilla Parishads of the total 25 that went to polls. A meeting is scheduled in Mumbai in coming days, where it (the alliance) will be finalised." On his earlier assumption of state government getting unstable post civic elections, Pawar said, "Going by the behaviour of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, I don't think he will opt out of the state government. But if he does so, we are ready for the elections." Asked whether NCP is keen on supporting Shiv Sena in BMC, Pawar said, "I think Shiv Sena is managing to arrange enough numbers to form a ruling coalition in BMC. If there is need of NCP's support then the decision will be taken at local level." Shiv Sena won 84 seats as against 114 required to have absolute majority in the Mumbai civic body and has so far received support of four Independents. Hence, the party is claiming to have a total strength of 88 corporators in the BMC. Though Congress won 31 seats, party leader Sanjay Nirupam has already made it clear that it would not support Shiv Sena in the cash-rich BMC. It is to be noted that of the 1,509 seats in 25 Zilla Parishads, BJP won 406, Congress 309, NCP 360 and Shiv Sena 271. Rest of the seats were won by Independents and local fronts.
Shankkar Aiyar By
This month, India was informed by two different studies that air pollution is causing pre-mature deaths across India. A study, by The Lancet, states that over a million Indians or two Indians every minutedie every year due to air pollution, and some of the worst-polluted cities of the world are in India.
Another study, by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, ascribes the cause of a million deaths in 2015 to breathing toxic air.
How did the government respond to the latest studies? Anil Madhav Dave, Minister for Environment and Climate Change, said, Indians seem to be far more influenced by things out of India, and added, We have several of our own organisations and experts and I trust them as much as I do our Army. Dave said the government would get its own study done to assess the health impacts of air pollution.
He also put the onus of mitigation on the states. For the record, there was Indian involvement in the studies. According to Katherine Walker, Principal Scientist, Health Effects Institute (HEI), several Indian scientists contributed to the estimates for GBD 2015, including Kalpana Balakrishnan (Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai), Lalit Dandona and Rakhi Dandona (Public Health Foundation of India).
Findings were based on data from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) along with satellite-based estimates. Arguably, there could be a case for indigenous validation of findings. Moot point is, what is it that needs validationfor instance, is there a need to validate the fact that pollution claims lives.
The co-relation between pollution and morbidity is established by studies sponsored by the Government of India. Epidemiological studies, sponsored by CPCB and conducted by Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in Kolkata, indicated pulmonary and systemic changes, altered immunity and damage to chromosomes and DNA and other health impairments associated with cumulative exposure to high level of particulate pollution that increases the risk of various diseases.
A 2006 study, by Vallabhai Patel Chest Institute, covering 5,900 adults in Delhi, found 11.69 per cent suffering from rhinitis and 11.03 per cent from asthma. It is not the first time studies have raised an alarm over the quality of airor the consequence of loss of lives.
It is also not the first time the findings have been disputed. In September 2016, a WHO study revealed that severe air pollution caused premature deaths of 6,21,138 personsthat is, 70 persons every hour. In 2015, a Max Planck Institute study by Johannes Lelieveld stated that air pollution caused premature mortality of over 6.5 lakh lives. In 2013, the HEI stated that pollution contributed to premature loss of 6.2 lakh lives. On every occasion, the government of the day contested the findings.
To appreciate the saga, consider the response of governments in Parliament for nearly two decades.
In 2017, MP Sanjay Raut asked if it is true that air pollution claims nearly 12 lakh lives. To this, Dave replied: There are no conclusive data available in the country to establish direct co-relationship of death exclusively with air pollution.
In 2015, Pankaj Chaudhary cited a government-sponsored survey which found every third schoolchild suffering from lungs infection. Prakash Javadekar, then Environment Minister, said, Results are indicative rather than conclusive because health effects of air pollution depend on various factors
In 2013, Maya Singh asked about a HEI study which said pollution claimed 6.2 lakh lives every year. Jayanti Natarajan, then Environment Minister, said, No data is available regarding persons suffering from respiratory disorders caused due to pollution.
In 2010, Kaptan Singh Solanki asked about a TERI report which said eight lakh people die every year due to polluted air and water. Jairam Ramesh, then Environment Minister, said, Mortality figures were based on review of theoretical literature. There is no conclusive study to establish co-relationship.
In 2006, Chandrakant Khaire asked about studies on the rising toll of deaths caused by air pollution. A Raja, then Environment Minister, said, Studies by institutions on pollution and health effects provide no conclusive scientific evidence to establish cause-effect relationship.
In 2001, Janeshwar Mishra asked if it was a fact that about 10 lakh people die every year due to degradation of environment. T R Baalu, then Environment Minister, said, There have been some reports on premature deaths due to pollution. However, there is no conclusive data available.
In 1998, K K Birla asked about a CSE study which said afflictions caused by air pollution claimed 52,000 deaths in 36 cities. Babulal Marandi, then Environment Minister, said, The estimation is not based on actual figures and there is no conclusive scientific data to confirm these figures.
It is now nearly two decades since governments began disputing inferences and sought refuge under the need for scientific validationand into the ghetto of denial. Pollution impacts life and livelihood as also the economy. In December 2016, MoS for Health, Anupriya Patel revealed that a World Bank report put the cost of serious health consequences from Particulate Matter pollution at around 3 per cent of Indias GDP and the total damage because of environmental degradation to `3.75 trillion, equivalent to 5.7 per cent of the countrys GDP.
It could be argued that extrapolation of data can result in overestimation. One approach would be to invest in monitoring air quality on ground and fund ISRO to expand mission NEMO-AM to scan the quality of air Indians breathe.
That should end the tyranny of the argumentative approach. India can scarcely afford to live in denialabout the scale of indoor pollution, of rising auto pollution in urban India caused by lack of mass transport facilities, of aggravation caused by burning of agri-waste, of polluted lakes catching fire, of construction debris spewing dust or about the fact that barely a fifth of the 1.5-lakh tonnes of waste generated every day gets treated.
The magnitude of the crisis is apparent in everyday imagesof school children wearing air-filter masks, of women on two-wheelers swathed in layers of protective clothing.
The consequence of rising pollution is also visible in sales figures of air purifiers, listing of respirators on e-commerce sites and rising use of pumps and nasal inhalers as also in data on rising incidence of cardiovascular diseases, asthma and other respiratory disorders.
Pollution is a 365-day crisis that impacts Indians and India. The first step towards resolution is acknowledgement of the problem in all its magnitude. shankkar.aiyar@gmail.com
This month, India was informed by two different studies that air pollution is causing pre-mature deaths across India. A study, by The Lancet, states that over a million Indians or two Indians every minutedie every year due to air pollution, and some of the worst-polluted cities of the world are in India. Another study, by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, ascribes the cause of a million deaths in 2015 to breathing toxic air. How did the government respond to the latest studies? Anil Madhav Dave, Minister for Environment and Climate Change, said, Indians seem to be far more influenced by things out of India, and added, We have several of our own organisations and experts and I trust them as much as I do our Army. Dave said the government would get its own study done to assess the health impacts of air pollution. He also put the onus of mitigation on the states. For the record, there was Indian involvement in the studies. According to Katherine Walker, Principal Scientist, Health Effects Institute (HEI), several Indian scientists contributed to the estimates for GBD 2015, including Kalpana Balakrishnan (Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai), Lalit Dandona and Rakhi Dandona (Public Health Foundation of India). Findings were based on data from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) along with satellite-based estimates. Arguably, there could be a case for indigenous validation of findings. Moot point is, what is it that needs validationfor instance, is there a need to validate the fact that pollution claims lives. The co-relation between pollution and morbidity is established by studies sponsored by the Government of India. Epidemiological studies, sponsored by CPCB and conducted by Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in Kolkata, indicated pulmonary and systemic changes, altered immunity and damage to chromosomes and DNA and other health impairments associated with cumulative exposure to high level of particulate pollution that increases the risk of various diseases. A 2006 study, by Vallabhai Patel Chest Institute, covering 5,900 adults in Delhi, found 11.69 per cent suffering from rhinitis and 11.03 per cent from asthma. It is not the first time studies have raised an alarm over the quality of airor the consequence of loss of lives. It is also not the first time the findings have been disputed. In September 2016, a WHO study revealed that severe air pollution caused premature deaths of 6,21,138 personsthat is, 70 persons every hour. In 2015, a Max Planck Institute study by Johannes Lelieveld stated that air pollution caused premature mortality of over 6.5 lakh lives. In 2013, the HEI stated that pollution contributed to premature loss of 6.2 lakh lives. On every occasion, the government of the day contested the findings. To appreciate the saga, consider the response of governments in Parliament for nearly two decades. In 2017, MP Sanjay Raut asked if it is true that air pollution claims nearly 12 lakh lives. To this, Dave replied: There are no conclusive data available in the country to establish direct co-relationship of death exclusively with air pollution. In 2015, Pankaj Chaudhary cited a government-sponsored survey which found every third schoolchild suffering from lungs infection. Prakash Javadekar, then Environment Minister, said, Results are indicative rather than conclusive because health effects of air pollution depend on various factors In 2013, Maya Singh asked about a HEI study which said pollution claimed 6.2 lakh lives every year. Jayanti Natarajan, then Environment Minister, said, No data is available regarding persons suffering from respiratory disorders caused due to pollution. In 2010, Kaptan Singh Solanki asked about a TERI report which said eight lakh people die every year due to polluted air and water. Jairam Ramesh, then Environment Minister, said, Mortality figures were based on review of theoretical literature. There is no conclusive study to establish co-relationship. In 2006, Chandrakant Khaire asked about studies on the rising toll of deaths caused by air pollution. A Raja, then Environment Minister, said, Studies by institutions on pollution and health effects provide no conclusive scientific evidence to establish cause-effect relationship. In 2001, Janeshwar Mishra asked if it was a fact that about 10 lakh people die every year due to degradation of environment. T R Baalu, then Environment Minister, said, There have been some reports on premature deaths due to pollution. However, there is no conclusive data available. In 1998, K K Birla asked about a CSE study which said afflictions caused by air pollution claimed 52,000 deaths in 36 cities. Babulal Marandi, then Environment Minister, said, The estimation is not based on actual figures and there is no conclusive scientific data to confirm these figures. It is now nearly two decades since governments began disputing inferences and sought refuge under the need for scientific validationand into the ghetto of denial. Pollution impacts life and livelihood as also the economy. In December 2016, MoS for Health, Anupriya Patel revealed that a World Bank report put the cost of serious health consequences from Particulate Matter pollution at around 3 per cent of Indias GDP and the total damage because of environmental degradation to `3.75 trillion, equivalent to 5.7 per cent of the countrys GDP. It could be argued that extrapolation of data can result in overestimation. One approach would be to invest in monitoring air quality on ground and fund ISRO to expand mission NEMO-AM to scan the quality of air Indians breathe. That should end the tyranny of the argumentative approach. India can scarcely afford to live in denialabout the scale of indoor pollution, of rising auto pollution in urban India caused by lack of mass transport facilities, of aggravation caused by burning of agri-waste, of polluted lakes catching fire, of construction debris spewing dust or about the fact that barely a fifth of the 1.5-lakh tonnes of waste generated every day gets treated. The magnitude of the crisis is apparent in everyday imagesof school children wearing air-filter masks, of women on two-wheelers swathed in layers of protective clothing. The consequence of rising pollution is also visible in sales figures of air purifiers, listing of respirators on e-commerce sites and rising use of pumps and nasal inhalers as also in data on rising incidence of cardiovascular diseases, asthma and other respiratory disorders. Pollution is a 365-day crisis that impacts Indians and India. The first step towards resolution is acknowledgement of the problem in all its magnitude. shankkar.aiyar@gmail.com
T J S George By
Its an unusually long wait for Uttar Pradesh election results. But something more important than the results has already made history. In a state where the dynastic culture had reached vulgar limits, the reigning scion broke out of it by defying his elders. That he had reached the top as a beneficiary of the system cannot be denied. But he rebelled against the mentors on principles of governance. He won. And it became a victory of the new against the ancient. If the lessons of this historical shift are learned by our politicians, perhaps India will be ready to become at last a modern nation.
Will they, or will UP prove an isolated case?
Ideology had nothing to do with Akhilesh Yadavs triumph over his father, the I-am-the-boss Mulayam Singh. What was on display was excellent political skill. He defied his father without appearing to defy him. He rejected the candidacy of some of his fathers cronies and demolished Amar Singh, fathers closest ally and
the Shakuni of UP politics. All the while, he paid obeisance to his father, criticising those who criticised him.
His unwavering affection for the father eventually persuaded the father to go back on his own words and campaign for the son. Akhilesh emerged a facile manoeuvrer, the perfect diplomat.
By challenging his father in politically firm but personally caring ways, he achieved legitimacy and popular approval at once. That dynasticism could reveal such a positive streak was in itself extraordinary. It gave Mulayam Singh, too, a make-over. Either his fatherly instincts were stronger than anyone suspected, or the old war horse sensed what was happening and decided to stay with the winner. Either way UP gained.
As Akhilesh became his own man, a bit of the shine fell also on Rahul Gandhi, his partner in the UP electoral battle. They enjoyed good chemistry, he said. We are the same age. We think alike. It did not follow that Rahul could do an Akhilesh. For one thing, the Gandhi dynasty matriarch has no Shakunis to impose on the heir. For another, the heir has neither any modernistic agenda nor any manoeuvrer capability of his own. But there are useful lessons that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress can learnif they want to learnfrom the attention they received by associating with the iconoclastic dynast of UP.
The most important of these is that it is no longer possible for a family darling to win public approval in India just because he is somebodys son. At the same time, being somebodys son wont go against him provided he proves his mettle.
Such lessons, however, are more likely to go unlearned in the citadels of dynastic omnipotence. Will the Badals learn anything even though several members of the family shared the pie of power and saw the state plunging from prosperity to decay? Sukhbir Singh Badal, the de facto chief minister, once boasted: The family system runs because of credibility. Why do people buy a Mercedes or a BMW car? They know they can depend upon it. They also know they cannot depend on a Mercedes the original parts of which have been removed and sold and a fake engine put inside.
Lalu Prasad, the inimitable Rolls Royce of Bihar, placed his whole family at the service of the nationhis illiterate wife as chief minister of the state, his two sons as cabinet ministers, his daughter as Rajya Sabha MP. Even the BJP, proclaiming that it is not bitten by the dynasty bug, fielded several VIP sons in this election.
This obsessional race to keep power within the family (obviously for its material benefits) keeps India mired in stagnation and corruption. It prevents new ideas and new talent from coming up. Akhilesh Yadavs achievement is that he has shown a way out. The acknowledged young talent in the Congress consists entirely of dynastic scionsJyotiraditya Scindia (born 1971), Milind Deora (1976), Sachin Pilot (1977), Agatha Sangma (1980).
Born around the Emergency, they have only hearsay about the independence struggle, even about Jawaharlal Nehru. In other words, they have a new-gen view of the world with new policy concepts and new approaches to problem-solving. Some of them have even shown exemplary leadership talent, Sachin Pilot for example. But they get no opportunity like Akhilesh Yadav got in UP because the dynastic hold on the Congress is inflexible, immovable and non-negotiable. This is not just the tragedy of the Congress; its the tragedy of India.
Its an unusually long wait for Uttar Pradesh election results. But something more important than the results has already made history. In a state where the dynastic culture had reached vulgar limits, the reigning scion broke out of it by defying his elders. That he had reached the top as a beneficiary of the system cannot be denied. But he rebelled against the mentors on principles of governance. He won. And it became a victory of the new against the ancient. If the lessons of this historical shift are learned by our politicians, perhaps India will be ready to become at last a modern nation. Will they, or will UP prove an isolated case? Ideology had nothing to do with Akhilesh Yadavs triumph over his father, the I-am-the-boss Mulayam Singh. What was on display was excellent political skill. He defied his father without appearing to defy him. He rejected the candidacy of some of his fathers cronies and demolished Amar Singh, fathers closest ally and the Shakuni of UP politics. All the while, he paid obeisance to his father, criticising those who criticised him. His unwavering affection for the father eventually persuaded the father to go back on his own words and campaign for the son. Akhilesh emerged a facile manoeuvrer, the perfect diplomat. By challenging his father in politically firm but personally caring ways, he achieved legitimacy and popular approval at once. That dynasticism could reveal such a positive streak was in itself extraordinary. It gave Mulayam Singh, too, a make-over. Either his fatherly instincts were stronger than anyone suspected, or the old war horse sensed what was happening and decided to stay with the winner. Either way UP gained. As Akhilesh became his own man, a bit of the shine fell also on Rahul Gandhi, his partner in the UP electoral battle. They enjoyed good chemistry, he said. We are the same age. We think alike. It did not follow that Rahul could do an Akhilesh. For one thing, the Gandhi dynasty matriarch has no Shakunis to impose on the heir. For another, the heir has neither any modernistic agenda nor any manoeuvrer capability of his own. But there are useful lessons that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress can learnif they want to learnfrom the attention they received by associating with the iconoclastic dynast of UP. The most important of these is that it is no longer possible for a family darling to win public approval in India just because he is somebodys son. At the same time, being somebodys son wont go against him provided he proves his mettle. Such lessons, however, are more likely to go unlearned in the citadels of dynastic omnipotence. Will the Badals learn anything even though several members of the family shared the pie of power and saw the state plunging from prosperity to decay? Sukhbir Singh Badal, the de facto chief minister, once boasted: The family system runs because of credibility. Why do people buy a Mercedes or a BMW car? They know they can depend upon it. They also know they cannot depend on a Mercedes the original parts of which have been removed and sold and a fake engine put inside. Lalu Prasad, the inimitable Rolls Royce of Bihar, placed his whole family at the service of the nationhis illiterate wife as chief minister of the state, his two sons as cabinet ministers, his daughter as Rajya Sabha MP. Even the BJP, proclaiming that it is not bitten by the dynasty bug, fielded several VIP sons in this election. This obsessional race to keep power within the family (obviously for its material benefits) keeps India mired in stagnation and corruption. It prevents new ideas and new talent from coming up. Akhilesh Yadavs achievement is that he has shown a way out. The acknowledged young talent in the Congress consists entirely of dynastic scionsJyotiraditya Scindia (born 1971), Milind Deora (1976), Sachin Pilot (1977), Agatha Sangma (1980). Born around the Emergency, they have only hearsay about the independence struggle, even about Jawaharlal Nehru. In other words, they have a new-gen view of the world with new policy concepts and new approaches to problem-solving. Some of them have even shown exemplary leadership talent, Sachin Pilot for example. But they get no opportunity like Akhilesh Yadav got in UP because the dynastic hold on the Congress is inflexible, immovable and non-negotiable. This is not just the tragedy of the Congress; its the tragedy of India.
By Express News Service
VIJAYAWDA: After eight IT firms have started their operations in Amaravati capital region, it is the turn of about 75 small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) to set up shop in Veerapanenigudem industrial cluster near Gannavaram in the city. The new companies are expected to create direct employment for about 2,600 youth in the Krishna-Guntur region.
The Amaravati Industries Association (AIA) companies, the first MSME cluster of its kind, will start the first phase of their operations within a year. The State government identified Veerapanenigudem as an ideal place for the AIA industrial cluster. The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), has already allotted them and the groundwork will begin shortly after the land is handed over to them.
"These new companies include manufacturers of aerospace components, machinery spares, press tools, captive equipment, home appliances, and firms specialising in engineering services," stated Ravikumar Vemuru, president and chief executive officer of Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society (APNRT), which has been instrumental in initiating and facilitating the new cluster of SMEs in Amaravati. APNRT is a nodal agency of the State government that facilitates investments into Andhra Pradesh by working through a network of Telugu-origin entrepreneurs who are spread across the globe.
In an attempt to build a strong industrial base for the SME sector in Andhra Pradesh, the APNRT has been tasked with charting out a plan for creating a consortium of SMEs and developing a model industrial cluster for them. The Amaravati Industries Association (AIA) was formed after a group of 30 investors evincing interest to set up base in the State during the Chief Ministers visit to the United Kingdom in 2016. "We are now a 145-member strong group of manufacturers. Shortly, we shall see the first set of investments hitting the ground, Ravikumar explained.
Besides convincing the investors, the APNRT played a crucial role in enabling a smooth and hassle-free execution of all the necessary procedures in the industrial site and allotments of the sites in first phase were assigned to 75 companies via a lottery system conducted by AIA.
VIJAYAWDA: After eight IT firms have started their operations in Amaravati capital region, it is the turn of about 75 small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) to set up shop in Veerapanenigudem industrial cluster near Gannavaram in the city. The new companies are expected to create direct employment for about 2,600 youth in the Krishna-Guntur region. The Amaravati Industries Association (AIA) companies, the first MSME cluster of its kind, will start the first phase of their operations within a year. The State government identified Veerapanenigudem as an ideal place for the AIA industrial cluster. The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), has already allotted them and the groundwork will begin shortly after the land is handed over to them. "These new companies include manufacturers of aerospace components, machinery spares, press tools, captive equipment, home appliances, and firms specialising in engineering services," stated Ravikumar Vemuru, president and chief executive officer of Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society (APNRT), which has been instrumental in initiating and facilitating the new cluster of SMEs in Amaravati. APNRT is a nodal agency of the State government that facilitates investments into Andhra Pradesh by working through a network of Telugu-origin entrepreneurs who are spread across the globe. In an attempt to build a strong industrial base for the SME sector in Andhra Pradesh, the APNRT has been tasked with charting out a plan for creating a consortium of SMEs and developing a model industrial cluster for them. The Amaravati Industries Association (AIA) was formed after a group of 30 investors evincing interest to set up base in the State during the Chief Ministers visit to the United Kingdom in 2016. "We are now a 145-member strong group of manufacturers. Shortly, we shall see the first set of investments hitting the ground, Ravikumar explained. Besides convincing the investors, the APNRT played a crucial role in enabling a smooth and hassle-free execution of all the necessary procedures in the industrial site and allotments of the sites in first phase were assigned to 75 companies via a lottery system conducted by AIA.
By Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A warehouse of the Postal Department was completely gutted as a major fire broke out near the north gate of Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple in the early hours of Sunday.
The fire in the high security zone of the East Fort triggered panic in the capital city. At least 6 persons, including a security commando guarding the temple and five Fire and Rescue Services personnel, sustained injuries while trying to douse the raging fire.
The fire broke out around 3.30 am. The parcels stored in the Postal Department warehouse were completely gutted in the fire. The fire was first noticed by the commandos guarding the temple, while monitoring the CCTV cameras.
On information, Fire and Rescue Services personnel rushed to the spot with 15 fire tenders from various fire stations in the city. The team toiled for three hours and brought the fire under control by 6.30 am with the help of local residents, police and security guards of the temple. A police team led by Arul R B Krishna, Deputy Commissioner of Police ensured security to the heritage structure, which shot into fame after the discovery of ancient treasures in its subterranean vaults in 2011.
According to the Fire and Rescue officers, the fire spread to the building from a pile of garbage set on fire by the local residents. The tiles thatched building was completely gutted and the fire spread to the adjacent buildings including an office of the Archaeology Department.
A security personnel of the temple sustained injuries on his leg while five firemen suffered minor burn injuries and breathing problems. They were admitted to the Medical College Hospital. The extent of damage is yet to be ascertained.
Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who visited the spot, said a probe will be initiated to find out the reasons for the fire accident. He said a comprehensive fire safety audit would be conducted in the East Fort high security zone to avoid such incidents in future.
This is the third incident of fire accident inside the high-security zone of East Fort in the last six months. Though the Fire and Rescue team had conducted a fire safety audit three months ago, the exercise turned into a farce due to lack of coordination between various government departments.
On August 28, 2016, a major fire broke out at a textile godown near the temple causing damage to two nearby shops. The Fire and Rescue Services had to bring a powerful Rosenbauer Panther to douse the fire.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A warehouse of the Postal Department was completely gutted as a major fire broke out near the north gate of Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple in the early hours of Sunday. The fire in the high security zone of the East Fort triggered panic in the capital city. At least 6 persons, including a security commando guarding the temple and five Fire and Rescue Services personnel, sustained injuries while trying to douse the raging fire. The fire broke out around 3.30 am. The parcels stored in the Postal Department warehouse were completely gutted in the fire. The fire was first noticed by the commandos guarding the temple, while monitoring the CCTV cameras. On information, Fire and Rescue Services personnel rushed to the spot with 15 fire tenders from various fire stations in the city. The team toiled for three hours and brought the fire under control by 6.30 am with the help of local residents, police and security guards of the temple. A police team led by Arul R B Krishna, Deputy Commissioner of Police ensured security to the heritage structure, which shot into fame after the discovery of ancient treasures in its subterranean vaults in 2011. According to the Fire and Rescue officers, the fire spread to the building from a pile of garbage set on fire by the local residents. The tiles thatched building was completely gutted and the fire spread to the adjacent buildings including an office of the Archaeology Department. A security personnel of the temple sustained injuries on his leg while five firemen suffered minor burn injuries and breathing problems. They were admitted to the Medical College Hospital. The extent of damage is yet to be ascertained. Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who visited the spot, said a probe will be initiated to find out the reasons for the fire accident. He said a comprehensive fire safety audit would be conducted in the East Fort high security zone to avoid such incidents in future. This is the third incident of fire accident inside the high-security zone of East Fort in the last six months. Though the Fire and Rescue team had conducted a fire safety audit three months ago, the exercise turned into a farce due to lack of coordination between various government departments. On August 28, 2016, a major fire broke out at a textile godown near the temple causing damage to two nearby shops. The Fire and Rescue Services had to bring a powerful Rosenbauer Panther to douse the fire.
By Express News Service
PADNA (Kasargod): One of the 20 men from Kerala who joined the Islamic State (IS) in recent months has been killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan, the mans family said citing a message received from the group.
Hafeesudeen T K (24), a native of Padna in Kasargod, left his new bride behind and moved to what he called the Caliphate.
One of his cousins said Hafeesudeen's mother got a message from Asfaq Majeed (25), one of the fugitive group members, stating that the Kasargod native was killed in an airstrike Saturday.
"We got the message today (Sunday) morning but we are not able to get in touch with them for more information," he said. The message said Hafeesudeen has already been buried in Afghanistan, the cousin said.
Hafeesudeen's house in panda in Kasargod, Kerala. | Express Photo by Sanesh
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) confirmed that it received information from the parents of a Kasargod native about a message claiming their son had been killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan.
But NIA sources said the agency would consult Interpol and the Afghan government through the diplomatic channel to confirm the information.
Though Hafeesudeens family sources said they do not know the location of the incident, reports said the Islamic State recruits from Kerala were settled in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, where the IS is trying to expand its insurgency.
On Saturday, news wire reports said Afghan and US forces conducted a joint operation in Haska Mina district of Nangarhar and killed six IS leaders and 41 militants.
Hafeesudeen T K
Hafeesudeen's father Abdul Hakeem, an entrepreneur who runs automobile and hotel businesses in the UAE, disowned him after the young man sent a message from a hideout saying he had joined the IS.
Last March, he married a Malayali woman born and brought up in Saudi Arabia. Though all the married men in the group that joined the IS took their wives and children along, Hafeesudeen's wife refused to join him and is in Saudi Arabia.
Hafeesudeen used to frequently sent messages to his family and father urging them to sell off the businesses and join him in the Caliphate to lead austere lives.
One message Hafeesudeen sent soon after reaching the IS-controlled land read: There are war planes of kuffar America over our head 24/7 and drones killing mujahideen on a weekly or monthly basis. But alhamdulillah, I am happy to be here and all I need is Allah's pleasure."
Hafeesudeen, the youngest of Hakeems four children, would have turned 24 on April 4. He grew up in Dubai but when he got into teen troubles, his father sent him to Mumbai for higher education.
PADNA (Kasargod): One of the 20 men from Kerala who joined the Islamic State (IS) in recent months has been killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan, the mans family said citing a message received from the group. Hafeesudeen T K (24), a native of Padna in Kasargod, left his new bride behind and moved to what he called the Caliphate. One of his cousins said Hafeesudeen's mother got a message from Asfaq Majeed (25), one of the fugitive group members, stating that the Kasargod native was killed in an airstrike Saturday. "We got the message today (Sunday) morning but we are not able to get in touch with them for more information," he said. The message said Hafeesudeen has already been buried in Afghanistan, the cousin said. Hafeesudeen's house in panda in Kasargod, Kerala. | Express Photo by Sanesh The National Investigation Agency (NIA) confirmed that it received information from the parents of a Kasargod native about a message claiming their son had been killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan. But NIA sources said the agency would consult Interpol and the Afghan government through the diplomatic channel to confirm the information. Though Hafeesudeens family sources said they do not know the location of the incident, reports said the Islamic State recruits from Kerala were settled in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, where the IS is trying to expand its insurgency. On Saturday, news wire reports said Afghan and US forces conducted a joint operation in Haska Mina district of Nangarhar and killed six IS leaders and 41 militants. Hafeesudeen T KHafeesudeen's father Abdul Hakeem, an entrepreneur who runs automobile and hotel businesses in the UAE, disowned him after the young man sent a message from a hideout saying he had joined the IS. Last March, he married a Malayali woman born and brought up in Saudi Arabia. Though all the married men in the group that joined the IS took their wives and children along, Hafeesudeen's wife refused to join him and is in Saudi Arabia. Hafeesudeen used to frequently sent messages to his family and father urging them to sell off the businesses and join him in the Caliphate to lead austere lives. One message Hafeesudeen sent soon after reaching the IS-controlled land read: There are war planes of kuffar America over our head 24/7 and drones killing mujahideen on a weekly or monthly basis. But alhamdulillah, I am happy to be here and all I need is Allah's pleasure." Hafeesudeen, the youngest of Hakeems four children, would have turned 24 on April 4. He grew up in Dubai but when he got into teen troubles, his father sent him to Mumbai for higher education.
By Express News Service
KOCHI: In another dramatic turn, Kerala police on Sunday night arrested one more person in connection with the assault of a popular Mollywood actress. Charlie, who gave asylum to prime accused Pulsar Suni and his friend Vijeesh at Peelamede in Coimbatore was taken away by Panangad SI while he was speaking to a Malayalam News Channel at Kochi.
He denied his involvement in the incident and said he was unaware of Pulsar Suni and Vijeeshs assault in the incident that sent shock waves through Kerala and the Malayalam film industry.
He said Vijeesh is a friend and was working with him in a bakery at Coimbatore, while he doesnt know Suni. They did not divulge anything, just said they have something important to convey, he added. He claims they stayed for one night and vanished, stealing Charlies friends bike, according to him. Later Charlie realised through a WhatsApp message that these two were involved in the case. Charlie went to Iritty in Kannur district and proceeded to Kochi to surrender before police realizing the seriousness of the case and the fact that police were looking for him.
He was taken into custody while speaking to the channel behind a hotel in Kundannur, Kochi. Charlie said that Pulsar Suni was sleeping most of the time and did not speak much to him.
KOCHI: In another dramatic turn, Kerala police on Sunday night arrested one more person in connection with the assault of a popular Mollywood actress. Charlie, who gave asylum to prime accused Pulsar Suni and his friend Vijeesh at Peelamede in Coimbatore was taken away by Panangad SI while he was speaking to a Malayalam News Channel at Kochi. He denied his involvement in the incident and said he was unaware of Pulsar Suni and Vijeeshs assault in the incident that sent shock waves through Kerala and the Malayalam film industry. He said Vijeesh is a friend and was working with him in a bakery at Coimbatore, while he doesnt know Suni. They did not divulge anything, just said they have something important to convey, he added. He claims they stayed for one night and vanished, stealing Charlies friends bike, according to him. Later Charlie realised through a WhatsApp message that these two were involved in the case. Charlie went to Iritty in Kannur district and proceeded to Kochi to surrender before police realizing the seriousness of the case and the fact that police were looking for him. He was taken into custody while speaking to the channel behind a hotel in Kundannur, Kochi. Charlie said that Pulsar Suni was sleeping most of the time and did not speak much to him.
By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has proposed to expand the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) up to Balasore district, Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra informed at an event here on Saturday.
Speaking at 'Advantage Odisha' organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Mishra said the preliminary discussion has already started in this regard and the Government is in course of extending the VCIC, which is a key part of the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC), to Balasore.
"Many initiatives have been taken by the State Government to make an improvement in the ease of doing business index. Odisha is now the number one State in manufacturing sector. The Centre has proposed at least 25 per cent growth rate while at Odisha we have planned for 27 per cent growth, a bit ahead of the national figure with an proposed investment of `2.5 lakh crore by 2025," he said.
The Minister maintained that the Industries Department is working hard to ground `one lakh crore investment before the next 'Make in Odisha' conclave. Mentioning about the Vision Document-2025 which was published recently, he said the Government aims of becoming the manufacturing hub of South East Asia.
Principal Secretary of Industries Department Sanjeev Chopra said with the support of the industrial bodies, efforts are being made to change the perception on Odisha from a dormant State to an industrial-friendly State.
"The department is trying to remove physical contact between Government and the people to improve ease of doing business. We have launched a mobile app, 'Invest Odisha', for tracking the applications. Through single window, we had received 63 applications/proposals, of which 60 was cleared within an average time period of 20 days instead of 160 days," he said.
Principal Secretary of IT Department PK Jena said the incentives given to the industrial sector is better than many states. "The branding of Odisha has come out well after Make-in-Odisha Conclave and the companies are trying to be a part of Odisha's growth," he added.
Among others, CII's eastern region chairman TV Narendran, Odisha State Council Chairman Sanjay Pattnaik and Vice-Chairman TK Chand also spoke.
BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has proposed to expand the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) up to Balasore district, Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra informed at an event here on Saturday. Speaking at 'Advantage Odisha' organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Mishra said the preliminary discussion has already started in this regard and the Government is in course of extending the VCIC, which is a key part of the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC), to Balasore. "Many initiatives have been taken by the State Government to make an improvement in the ease of doing business index. Odisha is now the number one State in manufacturing sector. The Centre has proposed at least 25 per cent growth rate while at Odisha we have planned for 27 per cent growth, a bit ahead of the national figure with an proposed investment of `2.5 lakh crore by 2025," he said. The Minister maintained that the Industries Department is working hard to ground `one lakh crore investment before the next 'Make in Odisha' conclave. Mentioning about the Vision Document-2025 which was published recently, he said the Government aims of becoming the manufacturing hub of South East Asia. Principal Secretary of Industries Department Sanjeev Chopra said with the support of the industrial bodies, efforts are being made to change the perception on Odisha from a dormant State to an industrial-friendly State. "The department is trying to remove physical contact between Government and the people to improve ease of doing business. We have launched a mobile app, 'Invest Odisha', for tracking the applications. Through single window, we had received 63 applications/proposals, of which 60 was cleared within an average time period of 20 days instead of 160 days," he said. Principal Secretary of IT Department PK Jena said the incentives given to the industrial sector is better than many states. "The branding of Odisha has come out well after Make-in-Odisha Conclave and the companies are trying to be a part of Odisha's growth," he added. Among others, CII's eastern region chairman TV Narendran, Odisha State Council Chairman Sanjay Pattnaik and Vice-Chairman TK Chand also spoke.
By Express News Service
CHENNAI: A 48-year-old woman, who claimed to be a doctor at Apollo Hospitals and spoke in a public meeting that the former chief minister J Jayalalithaa was dead when she was admitted to the hospital on September 22, has been arrested on charges of spreading rumours.
S Ramaseetha, a resident of Perambur, spoke in a public meeting organised at RK Nagar a few weeks earlier by people claiming to be supporters of Jayas niece, Deepa Jayakumar. The speech was reported in some newspapers and the video went viral in social media.
S Ramaseetha
The Apollo Hospitals management recently filed a police complaint against Ramaseetha after finding out that the hospital had no such staff on its roles.
Police sources said Ramaseetha was a nutritionist, but it was not clear in which hospital she worked. We filed the complaint about two weeks ago, said a spokesperson of Apollo Hospitals.
The Central Crime Branch of the Chennai city police arrested her on Saturday. She claims that she made such statements to get attention, said a police officer.
The former chief minister J Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals on September 22 and was declared dead on December 5 after suffering a cardiac arrest.
CHENNAI: A 48-year-old woman, who claimed to be a doctor at Apollo Hospitals and spoke in a public meeting that the former chief minister J Jayalalithaa was dead when she was admitted to the hospital on September 22, has been arrested on charges of spreading rumours. S Ramaseetha, a resident of Perambur, spoke in a public meeting organised at RK Nagar a few weeks earlier by people claiming to be supporters of Jayas niece, Deepa Jayakumar. The speech was reported in some newspapers and the video went viral in social media. S Ramaseetha The Apollo Hospitals management recently filed a police complaint against Ramaseetha after finding out that the hospital had no such staff on its roles. Police sources said Ramaseetha was a nutritionist, but it was not clear in which hospital she worked. We filed the complaint about two weeks ago, said a spokesperson of Apollo Hospitals. The Central Crime Branch of the Chennai city police arrested her on Saturday. She claims that she made such statements to get attention, said a police officer. The former chief minister J Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals on September 22 and was declared dead on December 5 after suffering a cardiac arrest.
By Express News Service
HYDERABAD: A day after Chief Ministers K Chandrasekhar Raos vitriolic attack on the Congress, terming the partys leaders as sannasulu and slaves, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) on Saturday responded to the allegations with equal tone and tenor. The TRS too pitted its leaders to counter attack the TPCC.
Led by its chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, the TPCC accused Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his family of robbing the wealth of Telangana State through dubious means.
Uttam Kumar, along with opposition leaders in Assembly, Council K Jana Reddy, Mohd Shabbir Ali, former TPCC chief P Laxmaiah and others, condemned the remarks made by Rao. Rao has stooped to the lowest level in targeting the opposition parties and its leaders to justify his wrong actions, Uttam Kumar Reddy said adding that they too will be forced to retort in the same tone.
It is the CM and his family which is looting public money, Uttam Kumar Reddy said and added that they dont have any objection if Rao fulfill his vows with his personal money.
The donation of gold ornaments worth more than `5 crore to various temples from the Common Good Fund was totally illegal, Uttam Kumar said questioning if it is appropriate for the CM to donate crores of rupees from the public exchequer while keeping fee reimbursement dues pending. Uttam said that nearly `60,000 crore worth loans were procured in the name of irrigation projects.
TRS governments prime activity so far remained on taking loans and seeking commissions from contractors, the TPCC chief alleged.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said not a single unit of power was generated by the TRS government and all the projects which are now being commissioned were started during the Congress regime.Referring to criticism that the Congress is encouraging people to approach courts and halt construction of irrigation projects, Uttam Kumar said they are only responding to the pleas by poor SCs and STs whose lands are being taken away by the state government in the name of different projects.
Instead of implementing Land Acquisition Act, 2013, the government is paying meagre amounts towards compensation completely ignoring the rehabilitation and resettlement of affected farmers and other sections, he alleged. Meanwhile, Gadwal MLA DK Aruna too came down heavily on Raos comments on her party.
The CM should keep his mouth under control and stop making baseless allegations against Congress leaders. If Congress had not granted Telangana, Rao would not have become the CM, she said.
Replying to this, TRS MLC Karne Prabhakar hit back at the Congress.
The Congress is a sinking ship and all the 20 leaders travelling in it are dreaming of becoming the chief minister, he said.
HYDERABAD: A day after Chief Ministers K Chandrasekhar Raos vitriolic attack on the Congress, terming the partys leaders as sannasulu and slaves, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) on Saturday responded to the allegations with equal tone and tenor. The TRS too pitted its leaders to counter attack the TPCC. Led by its chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, the TPCC accused Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his family of robbing the wealth of Telangana State through dubious means. Uttam Kumar, along with opposition leaders in Assembly, Council K Jana Reddy, Mohd Shabbir Ali, former TPCC chief P Laxmaiah and others, condemned the remarks made by Rao. Rao has stooped to the lowest level in targeting the opposition parties and its leaders to justify his wrong actions, Uttam Kumar Reddy said adding that they too will be forced to retort in the same tone. It is the CM and his family which is looting public money, Uttam Kumar Reddy said and added that they dont have any objection if Rao fulfill his vows with his personal money. The donation of gold ornaments worth more than `5 crore to various temples from the Common Good Fund was totally illegal, Uttam Kumar said questioning if it is appropriate for the CM to donate crores of rupees from the public exchequer while keeping fee reimbursement dues pending. Uttam said that nearly `60,000 crore worth loans were procured in the name of irrigation projects. TRS governments prime activity so far remained on taking loans and seeking commissions from contractors, the TPCC chief alleged. Uttam Kumar Reddy said not a single unit of power was generated by the TRS government and all the projects which are now being commissioned were started during the Congress regime.Referring to criticism that the Congress is encouraging people to approach courts and halt construction of irrigation projects, Uttam Kumar said they are only responding to the pleas by poor SCs and STs whose lands are being taken away by the state government in the name of different projects. Instead of implementing Land Acquisition Act, 2013, the government is paying meagre amounts towards compensation completely ignoring the rehabilitation and resettlement of affected farmers and other sections, he alleged. Meanwhile, Gadwal MLA DK Aruna too came down heavily on Raos comments on her party. The CM should keep his mouth under control and stop making baseless allegations against Congress leaders. If Congress had not granted Telangana, Rao would not have become the CM, she said. Replying to this, TRS MLC Karne Prabhakar hit back at the Congress. The Congress is a sinking ship and all the 20 leaders travelling in it are dreaming of becoming the chief minister, he said.
Express News Service By
BENGALURU: Though the construction of Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power in Karnataka, was completed during 1956, there is no information on when was it inaugurated and who inaugurated the building.
Even the state government has no clue about when Vidhana Soudha was inaugurated. This is the official reply given by the Public Works Department (PWD).
During the recent legislature session, MLC V S Ugrappa had sought information on Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha. In a written reply PWD officials said, There is no information with the government about the inauguration of Vidhana Soudha.
There is information about when was the foundation stone laying ceremony was held, who took part in it, when the construction of Vidhana Soudha was completed, who was the Chief Minister at that time, but there is no information on its inauguration.
Ugrappa said, It is the responsibility of the department concerned to maintain records of such historical events. I just asked the question out of curiosity as I wanted to know the date and details like who inaugurated it. But I was surprised with the answer they gave.
Vidhana Soudha is an important place where decisions about the state are taken. It is the responsibility of the department concerned to maintain records properly. When they have information on when the foundation stone was laid, how can they forget to maintain details of the inauguration event? Ugrappa asked.
It is a serious lapse on the part of the department concerned. After Parliament House in New Delhi, Vidhana Soudha is the best monument of the seat of governance in the country, he added.
BENGALURU: Though the construction of Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power in Karnataka, was completed during 1956, there is no information on when was it inaugurated and who inaugurated the building. Even the state government has no clue about when Vidhana Soudha was inaugurated. This is the official reply given by the Public Works Department (PWD). During the recent legislature session, MLC V S Ugrappa had sought information on Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha. In a written reply PWD officials said, There is no information with the government about the inauguration of Vidhana Soudha. There is information about when was the foundation stone laying ceremony was held, who took part in it, when the construction of Vidhana Soudha was completed, who was the Chief Minister at that time, but there is no information on its inauguration. Ugrappa said, It is the responsibility of the department concerned to maintain records of such historical events. I just asked the question out of curiosity as I wanted to know the date and details like who inaugurated it. But I was surprised with the answer they gave. Vidhana Soudha is an important place where decisions about the state are taken. It is the responsibility of the department concerned to maintain records properly. When they have information on when the foundation stone was laid, how can they forget to maintain details of the inauguration event? Ugrappa asked. It is a serious lapse on the part of the department concerned. After Parliament House in New Delhi, Vidhana Soudha is the best monument of the seat of governance in the country, he added.
Prasanta Mazumdar By
IMPHAL: As Manipur goes to polls on March 4 and 8, the Congress has virtually whipped up an anti-Naga mood in the Imphal Valley, which accounts for 40 of the 60 seats and where the Meiteis (Manipuris) are in large numbers.
By making it Meiteis versus Nagas, the Congress is trying to polarise voters. The party is on an aggressive campaign on two issuesthe ongoing over-100-day economic blockade that is enforced by Manipurs apex social organisation of the Nagas United Naga Council (UNC), and the Centres signing of the Framework Agreement with the Isak-Muivah faction of Naga insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) in 2015.
The Congress is trying to convince the voters that the blockade was BJP-NSCN-IM brainchild. They wanted to create unrest so that Presidents rule is imposed in the state. The people of Manipur are no fools; they know their design, Manipur Congress chief T N Haokip said.
CM Okram Ibobi Singh said Manipur has suffered every time BJP came to power in the Centre. Given the NSCN-IMs demand for the creation of Greater Nagaland, the Meiteis are concerned over the states territorial integrity. If the Centre accedes to the demand, Manipur will be reduced to less than one fifth of what it is today.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju said, A final decision on the Naga issue will be taken after consulting all stakeholders, he said. The BJP also rubbished the allegations over blockade.
IMPHAL: As Manipur goes to polls on March 4 and 8, the Congress has virtually whipped up an anti-Naga mood in the Imphal Valley, which accounts for 40 of the 60 seats and where the Meiteis (Manipuris) are in large numbers. By making it Meiteis versus Nagas, the Congress is trying to polarise voters. The party is on an aggressive campaign on two issuesthe ongoing over-100-day economic blockade that is enforced by Manipurs apex social organisation of the Nagas United Naga Council (UNC), and the Centres signing of the Framework Agreement with the Isak-Muivah faction of Naga insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) in 2015. The Congress is trying to convince the voters that the blockade was BJP-NSCN-IM brainchild. They wanted to create unrest so that Presidents rule is imposed in the state. The people of Manipur are no fools; they know their design, Manipur Congress chief T N Haokip said. CM Okram Ibobi Singh said Manipur has suffered every time BJP came to power in the Centre. Given the NSCN-IMs demand for the creation of Greater Nagaland, the Meiteis are concerned over the states territorial integrity. If the Centre accedes to the demand, Manipur will be reduced to less than one fifth of what it is today. Union minister Kiren Rijiju said, A final decision on the Naga issue will be taken after consulting all stakeholders, he said. The BJP also rubbished the allegations over blockade.
Express News Service By
HYDERABAD: The Kansas shooting incident killing a Telugu engineer and injuring another, both from Hyderabad, has sent ripples across the Indian community in the United States.
While racist hate attacks are not new in that country, some from the Indian diaspora believe that ascension of Donald Trump to the presidency has boosted the confidence of racist elements in society which might cause occurrence of such incidents.
It is well known that David Duke, former head of Ku Klux Klan and French far right Presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen are some of President Trumps admirers, many of them point out.
Priya V, a Minnesota state resident says, Donald Trumps hasty comments and decisions are definitely provoking Americans to turn against immigrants. I am now living in Minneapolis. The citys downtown has a lot of night clubs including gay clubs. I fear that these clubs might become a target anytime just like it happened in Orlando. I am avoiding such crowded places these days.
She further said, While such attacks have occurred earlier also, the present political atmosphere in the country is one which fortifies the confidence of people whose views are anti-immigrant.
Unlike the Milpitas homicide incident in which an Indian student from Telangana was killed, the racial hate attack of Kansas, killing a Hyderabadi engineer and injuring another, garnered lot of buzz on social media.
Social media messages were directed at United States President Donald Trump for spreading xenophobia. Tweet by one Naveen from the US on the Kansas incident went, Absolutely despicable! This is what happens when you normalise racism and hatred by calling it *political incorrectness*.
Social media users also attacked Indians, NRIs and Hindu nationalist groups in India and the US who supported Donald Trumps presidency.
Speaking to some Indians staying in the US revealed that not all are angry and afraid.
An engineer from Hyderabad working in Michigan said, Such incidents have occurred during former President Barack Obamas regime as well. There has always been an anti-immigration rhetoric in the US.
Nothing new
in it but just that it has been getting excessive media coverage now. There are some instances where people comment on the Internet on immigrants, which is hurtful but such people are few. Nationalistic fervour is now running high across many countries in the world. At the end of the day I am an immigrant and I have to respect the laws of this country.
HYDERABAD: The Kansas shooting incident killing a Telugu engineer and injuring another, both from Hyderabad, has sent ripples across the Indian community in the United States. While racist hate attacks are not new in that country, some from the Indian diaspora believe that ascension of Donald Trump to the presidency has boosted the confidence of racist elements in society which might cause occurrence of such incidents. It is well known that David Duke, former head of Ku Klux Klan and French far right Presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen are some of President Trumps admirers, many of them point out. Priya V, a Minnesota state resident says, Donald Trumps hasty comments and decisions are definitely provoking Americans to turn against immigrants. I am now living in Minneapolis. The citys downtown has a lot of night clubs including gay clubs. I fear that these clubs might become a target anytime just like it happened in Orlando. I am avoiding such crowded places these days. She further said, While such attacks have occurred earlier also, the present political atmosphere in the country is one which fortifies the confidence of people whose views are anti-immigrant. Unlike the Milpitas homicide incident in which an Indian student from Telangana was killed, the racial hate attack of Kansas, killing a Hyderabadi engineer and injuring another, garnered lot of buzz on social media. Social media messages were directed at United States President Donald Trump for spreading xenophobia. Tweet by one Naveen from the US on the Kansas incident went, Absolutely despicable! This is what happens when you normalise racism and hatred by calling it *political incorrectness*. Social media users also attacked Indians, NRIs and Hindu nationalist groups in India and the US who supported Donald Trumps presidency. Speaking to some Indians staying in the US revealed that not all are angry and afraid. An engineer from Hyderabad working in Michigan said, Such incidents have occurred during former President Barack Obamas regime as well. There has always been an anti-immigration rhetoric in the US. Nothing new in it but just that it has been getting excessive media coverage now. There are some instances where people comment on the Internet on immigrants, which is hurtful but such people are few. Nationalistic fervour is now running high across many countries in the world. At the end of the day I am an immigrant and I have to respect the laws of this country.
Gayathri Mani By
NEW DELHI: Amid protest from students and teachers, DU-affiliated St. Stephens College passed the resolution seeking autonomous status.
The governing body comprising 13 members passed the resolution with eight votes in favour of the proposal.
The proposal has also been forwarded to the committee set up by the Delhi University.
Meanwhile, nearly 30 teachers and more than 700 students staged a protest outside the college opposing the college decision on Friday.
Nandita Narain, elected teacher representative of the Governing Body of the college, said, Members were not given any time to discuss the matter. Nobody was informed about the meeting in advance. No discussion was held on the matter.
If the government passes the proposal, St Stephens will decide its rules, regulations, course and fee structure, and salaries for teachers on its own.
Pankaj Kumar Garg, member, Academic Council, Delhi University, said, This type of autonomy will ruin the university. Their main motive is privatisation of the college. Already these colleges are being governed by Church of North India Trust. Till now teachers get salaries from the central university. If the college gets autonomous status, teachers will also have to face problem as their salaries will decrease. The college will no more get funds from the Delhi University.
NEW DELHI: Amid protest from students and teachers, DU-affiliated St. Stephens College passed the resolution seeking autonomous status. The governing body comprising 13 members passed the resolution with eight votes in favour of the proposal. The proposal has also been forwarded to the committee set up by the Delhi University. Meanwhile, nearly 30 teachers and more than 700 students staged a protest outside the college opposing the college decision on Friday. Nandita Narain, elected teacher representative of the Governing Body of the college, said, Members were not given any time to discuss the matter. Nobody was informed about the meeting in advance. No discussion was held on the matter. If the government passes the proposal, St Stephens will decide its rules, regulations, course and fee structure, and salaries for teachers on its own. Pankaj Kumar Garg, member, Academic Council, Delhi University, said, This type of autonomy will ruin the university. Their main motive is privatisation of the college. Already these colleges are being governed by Church of North India Trust. Till now teachers get salaries from the central university. If the college gets autonomous status, teachers will also have to face problem as their salaries will decrease. The college will no more get funds from the Delhi University.
ATLANTA: Democrats elected former Labor Secretary Tom Perez as their new national chairman over a liberal Minnesota congressman, capping a divisive campaign that reflected the depths of the party's electoral failures as well as the energy from resistance to President Donald Trump.
Perez, the first Latino to hold the post, edged Rep. Keith Ellison in the second round of voting by Democratic National Committee members gathered in Atlanta. The new chairman must rebuild a party that in the last decade has lost about 1,000 elected posts from the White House to Congress to the 50 statehouses, a power deficit Democrats have not seen nationally in 90 years.
In a nod to his winning margin of 35 votes out of 435 cast, to say nothing of the lingering friction between old-guard Democrats and outspoken liberal upstarts, Perez tapped Ellison to serve as deputy chair.
"We are all in this together," Perez said, calling on Democrats to fight "the worst president in the history of the United States."
Ellison, who had backing from many liberals, including 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, added his own call for unity and noted that both men had promised to rebuild state and local Democratic parties across the country.
"We don't have the luxury of walking out of this room divided," he said, as the two men stood together on stage as some young Ellison supporters jeered from the gallery.
Republicans control the White House, Congress and 33 governorships, while the GOP is one Senate confirmation from a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Despite President Barack Obama's personal electoral successes, the party suffered crushing defeats, losing the House majority in 2010 and the Senate in 2014.
Perez had told party activists earlier in the day that Democrats face a "crisis of confidence" and "a crisis of relevance."
ATLANTA: Democrats elected former Labor Secretary Tom Perez as their new national chairman over a liberal Minnesota congressman, capping a divisive campaign that reflected the depths of the party's electoral failures as well as the energy from resistance to President Donald Trump. Perez, the first Latino to hold the post, edged Rep. Keith Ellison in the second round of voting by Democratic National Committee members gathered in Atlanta. The new chairman must rebuild a party that in the last decade has lost about 1,000 elected posts from the White House to Congress to the 50 statehouses, a power deficit Democrats have not seen nationally in 90 years. In a nod to his winning margin of 35 votes out of 435 cast, to say nothing of the lingering friction between old-guard Democrats and outspoken liberal upstarts, Perez tapped Ellison to serve as deputy chair. "We are all in this together," Perez said, calling on Democrats to fight "the worst president in the history of the United States." Ellison, who had backing from many liberals, including 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, added his own call for unity and noted that both men had promised to rebuild state and local Democratic parties across the country. "We don't have the luxury of walking out of this room divided," he said, as the two men stood together on stage as some young Ellison supporters jeered from the gallery. Republicans control the White House, Congress and 33 governorships, while the GOP is one Senate confirmation from a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Despite President Barack Obama's personal electoral successes, the party suffered crushing defeats, losing the House majority in 2010 and the Senate in 2014. Perez had told party activists earlier in the day that Democrats face a "crisis of confidence" and "a crisis of relevance."
By IANS
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army said on Saturday that four terrorists have been killed while 600 suspects arrested during the ongoing major anti-terrorism operation.
The military announced on Wednesday the start of the country-wide operation codenamed "Radd-ul-Fasaad", after a series of terrorist attacks that killed over 100 people recently.
Paramilitary troops are now leading the new operation along with other law enforcing agencies across the country, focusing on the country's biggest province of Punjab.
A military statement said that material promoting violent extremism and weapons were recovered while few facilitators of the Pakistani Taliban-linked Jamat-ul-Ahrar group were also arrested.
Pakistan's military spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor earlier said that the new operation is aimed at "indiscriminately eliminating residual and latent threat of terrorism, consolidating gains of operations made thus far and further ensuring security of the borders."
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army said on Saturday that four terrorists have been killed while 600 suspects arrested during the ongoing major anti-terrorism operation. The military announced on Wednesday the start of the country-wide operation codenamed "Radd-ul-Fasaad", after a series of terrorist attacks that killed over 100 people recently. Paramilitary troops are now leading the new operation along with other law enforcing agencies across the country, focusing on the country's biggest province of Punjab. A military statement said that material promoting violent extremism and weapons were recovered while few facilitators of the Pakistani Taliban-linked Jamat-ul-Ahrar group were also arrested. Pakistan's military spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor earlier said that the new operation is aimed at "indiscriminately eliminating residual and latent threat of terrorism, consolidating gains of operations made thus far and further ensuring security of the borders."
By PTI
SYDNEY: Benjamin Netanyahu has described his visit to Australia, a first for a serving Israeli prime minister, as "wonderful." Netanyahu and his wife Sara concluded their five-day trip to Sydney on Sunday by meeting with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
"This has been a wonderful visit here. You people are amazing," Netanyahu told Bishop before talks behind closed doors. Netanyahu joked with Bishop, who had recently arrived home from a trip to the United States and Britain, that the pair had "shared more or less the same route." Netanyahu and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week agreed to deepen business and travel links between the two countries.
About 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters at Sydney's Town Hall on Thursday night complained that Netanyahu was being treated like a celebrity in Australia when he should be tried for war crimes. He was also accused by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of frustrating negotiations with the U.S. to create a two-state solution to Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu met political, business and Jewish community leaders during his stay. He was accompanied by a large security contingent as he traveled around Sydney. Netanyahu had been to Australia twice before but never as prime minister. "I'd stay longer if I could," he told Bishop.
SYDNEY: Benjamin Netanyahu has described his visit to Australia, a first for a serving Israeli prime minister, as "wonderful." Netanyahu and his wife Sara concluded their five-day trip to Sydney on Sunday by meeting with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. "This has been a wonderful visit here. You people are amazing," Netanyahu told Bishop before talks behind closed doors. Netanyahu joked with Bishop, who had recently arrived home from a trip to the United States and Britain, that the pair had "shared more or less the same route." Netanyahu and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week agreed to deepen business and travel links between the two countries. About 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters at Sydney's Town Hall on Thursday night complained that Netanyahu was being treated like a celebrity in Australia when he should be tried for war crimes. He was also accused by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of frustrating negotiations with the U.S. to create a two-state solution to Israel's conflict with the Palestinians. Netanyahu met political, business and Jewish community leaders during his stay. He was accompanied by a large security contingent as he traveled around Sydney. Netanyahu had been to Australia twice before but never as prime minister. "I'd stay longer if I could," he told Bishop.
By AFP
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's health minister said Sunday that the dose of nerve agent given to North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un's exiled half brother was so high that it killed him within 20 minutes and caused "very serious paralysis."
Kim Jong Nam died Feb. 13 at Kuala Lumpur's airport in what Malaysian police say was a well-planned hit by two women who wiped a liquid on Kim's face. Police revealed Friday that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim, raising the stakes in the case.
Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said the dose of VX given to Kim was so high that he showed symptoms within minutes. Kim fainted at the airport clinic and died in the ambulance while en route to a hospital, he said.
"VX only requires 10 milligrams to be absorbed into the system to be lethal, so I presume that the amount of dose that went in is more than that," he said at a news conference. "The doses were so high and it did it so fast and all over the body, so it would have affected his heart, it would have affected his lungs, it would have affected everything."
Asked how long it took for Kim to die after he was attacked, Subramaniam said, "I would think it was about, from the time of onset, from the time of application, 15-20 minutes."
Malaysia hasn't directly accused the North Korean government of being behind the attack, but officials have said four North Korean men provided two women with poison to carry it out. The four men fled Malaysia on the same day as the killing, while the women one from Indonesia and the other Vietnamese were arrested.
Experts say the nerve agent used to kill Kim was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory and is banned under an international treaty. But North Korea never signed the treaty, and has spent decades developing a complex chemical weapons program.
Kim was not an obvious political threat to his estranged half brother, Kim Jong Un. But he may have been seen as a potential rival in North Korea's dynastic dictatorship, even though he had lived in exile for years.
North Korea has denied any role in the attack.
Earlier Sunday, Subramaniam said the state chemistry department's finding of the VX toxin confirmed the hospital's autopsy result that suggested a "chemical agent caused very serious paralysis" that led to death "in a very short period of time." The VX agent can lead to death very quickly in high doses, he said.
He said the final autopsy report would be submitted to police soon.
Subramaniam also said that there have been no reports of anyone else being sickened by the toxin, but that medical workers who attended to Kim would remain under observation for possible delayed effects.
Tens of thousands of passengers have passed through the airport since the apparent assassination was carried out. No areas were cordoned off and protective measures were not taken.
Early Sunday, more than a dozen officers in protective gear swept the budget terminal where Kim was attacked and said they found no traces of VX.
Abdul Samah Mat, the police official leading the investigation, said the terminal was "free from any form of contamination of hazardous material" and declared it a "safe zone" after a two-hour sweep.
He also said a condominium on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur that was raided by police last week had been rented by the four North Korean suspects who left the country. He said police were still testing a seized substance for traces of any chemicals.
Abdul Samah said the Indonesian woman who was arrested, Siti Aisyah, vomited in a taxi on the way from the airport after the attack but is fine now. He said that more tests were needed to determine if the two arrested suspects were given antidotes so the nerve agent wouldn't kill them.
An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected.
On Saturday, representatives from the Indonesian and Vietnamese embassies met with the two arrested women, who both said they thought they were part of a prank show. Aisyah said she was paid the equivalent of $90, according to Andriano Erwin, Indonesia's deputy ambassador to Malaysia.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's health minister said Sunday that the dose of nerve agent given to North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un's exiled half brother was so high that it killed him within 20 minutes and caused "very serious paralysis." Kim Jong Nam died Feb. 13 at Kuala Lumpur's airport in what Malaysian police say was a well-planned hit by two women who wiped a liquid on Kim's face. Police revealed Friday that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim, raising the stakes in the case. Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said the dose of VX given to Kim was so high that he showed symptoms within minutes. Kim fainted at the airport clinic and died in the ambulance while en route to a hospital, he said. "VX only requires 10 milligrams to be absorbed into the system to be lethal, so I presume that the amount of dose that went in is more than that," he said at a news conference. "The doses were so high and it did it so fast and all over the body, so it would have affected his heart, it would have affected his lungs, it would have affected everything." Asked how long it took for Kim to die after he was attacked, Subramaniam said, "I would think it was about, from the time of onset, from the time of application, 15-20 minutes." Malaysia hasn't directly accused the North Korean government of being behind the attack, but officials have said four North Korean men provided two women with poison to carry it out. The four men fled Malaysia on the same day as the killing, while the women one from Indonesia and the other Vietnamese were arrested. Experts say the nerve agent used to kill Kim was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory and is banned under an international treaty. But North Korea never signed the treaty, and has spent decades developing a complex chemical weapons program. Kim was not an obvious political threat to his estranged half brother, Kim Jong Un. But he may have been seen as a potential rival in North Korea's dynastic dictatorship, even though he had lived in exile for years. North Korea has denied any role in the attack. Earlier Sunday, Subramaniam said the state chemistry department's finding of the VX toxin confirmed the hospital's autopsy result that suggested a "chemical agent caused very serious paralysis" that led to death "in a very short period of time." The VX agent can lead to death very quickly in high doses, he said. He said the final autopsy report would be submitted to police soon. Subramaniam also said that there have been no reports of anyone else being sickened by the toxin, but that medical workers who attended to Kim would remain under observation for possible delayed effects. Tens of thousands of passengers have passed through the airport since the apparent assassination was carried out. No areas were cordoned off and protective measures were not taken. Early Sunday, more than a dozen officers in protective gear swept the budget terminal where Kim was attacked and said they found no traces of VX. Abdul Samah Mat, the police official leading the investigation, said the terminal was "free from any form of contamination of hazardous material" and declared it a "safe zone" after a two-hour sweep. He also said a condominium on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur that was raided by police last week had been rented by the four North Korean suspects who left the country. He said police were still testing a seized substance for traces of any chemicals. Abdul Samah said the Indonesian woman who was arrested, Siti Aisyah, vomited in a taxi on the way from the airport after the attack but is fine now. He said that more tests were needed to determine if the two arrested suspects were given antidotes so the nerve agent wouldn't kill them. An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected. On Saturday, representatives from the Indonesian and Vietnamese embassies met with the two arrested women, who both said they thought they were part of a prank show. Aisyah said she was paid the equivalent of $90, according to Andriano Erwin, Indonesia's deputy ambassador to Malaysia.
By AFP
KADUNA: Nigerian security agents have freed two German archaeologists kidnapped by gunmen from a remote dig, the governor of northern Kaduna state said Sunday.
Governo Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai "commended the security agencies for their efforts in securing the release of the Germans," said a statement. It gave no details of the rescue or where the Germans are now. Nor did it say whether anyone has been arrested.
Gunmen had been demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about $200,000) for the release of Professor Peter Breunig and his assistant, Johannes Behringer. The two were abducted at gunpoint Wednesday and walked into the bush from an archaeological dig near Jenjela village in Kaduna state. Two villagers who tried to help the Germans were shot and killed by the kidnappers, the police said.
Breunig, 65, and Behringer, in his 20s, are part of a four-person team from Frankfurt's Goethe University. The other two members, women, were not touched by the kidnappers. The Germans were collaborating with Nigeria's National Commission for Museum and Monuments to recover relics of the Nok culture. The early Iron Age people, considered the earliest ancient civilization of the West African region that is now Nigeria, are famous for their terracotta sculptures.
Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria, with ordinary residents and even schoolchildren targeted as well as foreigners. Victims usually are freed unharmed after a ransom is paid, though security forces have rescued a few high-profile abductees.
Nigeria's acting President Yemi Osinbajo had summoned the federal police chief on Thursday for a briefing on efforts to find the Germans.
KADUNA: Nigerian security agents have freed two German archaeologists kidnapped by gunmen from a remote dig, the governor of northern Kaduna state said Sunday. Governo Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai "commended the security agencies for their efforts in securing the release of the Germans," said a statement. It gave no details of the rescue or where the Germans are now. Nor did it say whether anyone has been arrested. Gunmen had been demanding a ransom of 60 million naira (about $200,000) for the release of Professor Peter Breunig and his assistant, Johannes Behringer. The two were abducted at gunpoint Wednesday and walked into the bush from an archaeological dig near Jenjela village in Kaduna state. Two villagers who tried to help the Germans were shot and killed by the kidnappers, the police said. Breunig, 65, and Behringer, in his 20s, are part of a four-person team from Frankfurt's Goethe University. The other two members, women, were not touched by the kidnappers. The Germans were collaborating with Nigeria's National Commission for Museum and Monuments to recover relics of the Nok culture. The early Iron Age people, considered the earliest ancient civilization of the West African region that is now Nigeria, are famous for their terracotta sculptures. Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria, with ordinary residents and even schoolchildren targeted as well as foreigners. Victims usually are freed unharmed after a ransom is paid, though security forces have rescued a few high-profile abductees. Nigeria's acting President Yemi Osinbajo had summoned the federal police chief on Thursday for a briefing on efforts to find the Germans.
By AFP
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's national carrier said Sunday it would investigate allegations that a plane flew from Karachi to Saudi Arabia carrying seven extra passengers, but denied they stood in the aisles for the three-hour journey.
The probe was ordered after a report in the English-language daily Dawn.
The paper said the January 20 flight to Medina carried 416 passengers, seven more than its capacity of 409 including jump seats, in a serious breach of air safety regulations.
The newspaper quoted sources as saying that in case of an emergency, passengers without seats would not have access to oxygen masks and could block any emergency evacuation.
Pakistan International Airlines' spokesman Danyal Gilani said media reports that some passengers travelled standing "are exaggerated and baseless. It is not possible for anyone to travel like that in an aircraft, regardless of the duration of the flight."
But he said: "The matter pertaining to the travel of more passengers than the booked load...is under investigation," and the airline had ordered a "thorough probe into it, and all concerned are being questioned".
"PIA is committed to ensure the safety of the passengers and cannot allow any incident to happen which compromises safety," he added.
It was the latest embarrassing incident for the airline, considered a global leader until the 1970s but plagued by controversies over recent years and saddled with billions of dollars of debt.
A PIA turboprop built by European manufacturer ATR plummeted into a mountain in a northern region on December 7, bursting into flames and killing all 47 people on board.
The airline was later mocked after its staff were photographed sacrificing a goat on a runway to ward off bad luck.
Domestic flights are often delayed for VIPs while flight employees have been caught smuggling goods ranging from iPhones to narcotics.
In 2013 one of its pilots was jailed for nine months in Britain for being drunk before he was due to fly from Leeds to Islamabad with 156 people on board.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's national carrier said Sunday it would investigate allegations that a plane flew from Karachi to Saudi Arabia carrying seven extra passengers, but denied they stood in the aisles for the three-hour journey. The probe was ordered after a report in the English-language daily Dawn. The paper said the January 20 flight to Medina carried 416 passengers, seven more than its capacity of 409 including jump seats, in a serious breach of air safety regulations. The newspaper quoted sources as saying that in case of an emergency, passengers without seats would not have access to oxygen masks and could block any emergency evacuation. Pakistan International Airlines' spokesman Danyal Gilani said media reports that some passengers travelled standing "are exaggerated and baseless. It is not possible for anyone to travel like that in an aircraft, regardless of the duration of the flight." But he said: "The matter pertaining to the travel of more passengers than the booked load...is under investigation," and the airline had ordered a "thorough probe into it, and all concerned are being questioned". "PIA is committed to ensure the safety of the passengers and cannot allow any incident to happen which compromises safety," he added. It was the latest embarrassing incident for the airline, considered a global leader until the 1970s but plagued by controversies over recent years and saddled with billions of dollars of debt. A PIA turboprop built by European manufacturer ATR plummeted into a mountain in a northern region on December 7, bursting into flames and killing all 47 people on board. The airline was later mocked after its staff were photographed sacrificing a goat on a runway to ward off bad luck. Domestic flights are often delayed for VIPs while flight employees have been caught smuggling goods ranging from iPhones to narcotics. In 2013 one of its pilots was jailed for nine months in Britain for being drunk before he was due to fly from Leeds to Islamabad with 156 people on board.
By PTI
ISLAMABAD: The court employees in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) will have to offer daily prayers punctually - both in and outside the court- as their annual raises would now hinge on their offering prayers regularly and on the prescribed times, a top Judge has said. Ibrahim Zia, who took oath as the 12th chief justice of the PoK Supreme Court yesterday, has directed the court employees to ensure punctuality in the court and in their prayer timings, the Express Tribune reported.
"The annual salary hikes of court employees would now hinge on their offering prayers regularly and on the prescribed times," he said, while declaring that offering prayers was now mandatory for all employees of the court. Zia said the move would ensure that employees offer daily prayers regularly and he himself would be leading some prayers.
"To make sure employees offer their prayers regularly, Justice Zia said they would be secretly checked by the court," the paper said. However, it was not clear what mechanism he would use to check punctually of employees' prayers outside the office.
Five times daily prayers is one of the pillars in the faith of Islam and an obligatory religious duty for Muslims. The Chief Justice also directed court employees to work with dedication, honesty and regularity to ensure speedy justice to the public. After taking oath, Justice Zia administered oath to officers working in the Supreme Court, a first in the history of the apex court.
ISLAMABAD: The court employees in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) will have to offer daily prayers punctually - both in and outside the court- as their annual raises would now hinge on their offering prayers regularly and on the prescribed times, a top Judge has said. Ibrahim Zia, who took oath as the 12th chief justice of the PoK Supreme Court yesterday, has directed the court employees to ensure punctuality in the court and in their prayer timings, the Express Tribune reported. "The annual salary hikes of court employees would now hinge on their offering prayers regularly and on the prescribed times," he said, while declaring that offering prayers was now mandatory for all employees of the court. Zia said the move would ensure that employees offer daily prayers regularly and he himself would be leading some prayers. "To make sure employees offer their prayers regularly, Justice Zia said they would be secretly checked by the court," the paper said. However, it was not clear what mechanism he would use to check punctually of employees' prayers outside the office. Five times daily prayers is one of the pillars in the faith of Islam and an obligatory religious duty for Muslims. The Chief Justice also directed court employees to work with dedication, honesty and regularity to ensure speedy justice to the public. After taking oath, Justice Zia administered oath to officers working in the Supreme Court, a first in the history of the apex court.
By Associated Press
WASHINGTON: The United States called on Russia Sunday to "immediately" observe the ceasefire in Ukraine, accusing combined Russian and separatist forces of targeting international monitors.
"We call on Russia and the separatist forces it backs to immediately observe the ceasefire, withdraw all heavy weapons, and allow full and unfettered access to the OSCE monitors," the State Department said.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States was closely monitoring growing violence in eastern Ukraine and the failure of the combined Russian and separatist forces to abide by a ceasefire agreed to two years ago in Minsk.
"We condemn Friday's targeting of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) monitors and the seizure of a SMM unmanned aerial vehicle by combined-Russian separatist forces," Toner said, referring to the civilian observers with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
"It is imperative that these forces halt their attacks on civilian infrastructure, including the Donetsk water filtration station."
The US statement comes amid an upsurge of violence with Ukraine reporting on Saturday that 16 of its soldiers were wounded over the previous 24 hours.
The latest casualties came despite a truce agreed on Monday by Russia and Ukraine. The nearly three-year-long conflict has claimed more than 10,000 lives.
WASHINGTON: The United States called on Russia Sunday to "immediately" observe the ceasefire in Ukraine, accusing combined Russian and separatist forces of targeting international monitors. "We call on Russia and the separatist forces it backs to immediately observe the ceasefire, withdraw all heavy weapons, and allow full and unfettered access to the OSCE monitors," the State Department said. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States was closely monitoring growing violence in eastern Ukraine and the failure of the combined Russian and separatist forces to abide by a ceasefire agreed to two years ago in Minsk. "We condemn Friday's targeting of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) monitors and the seizure of a SMM unmanned aerial vehicle by combined-Russian separatist forces," Toner said, referring to the civilian observers with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. "It is imperative that these forces halt their attacks on civilian infrastructure, including the Donetsk water filtration station." The US statement comes amid an upsurge of violence with Ukraine reporting on Saturday that 16 of its soldiers were wounded over the previous 24 hours. The latest casualties came despite a truce agreed on Monday by Russia and Ukraine. The nearly three-year-long conflict has claimed more than 10,000 lives.
By PTI
WASHINGTON: The governors of Kansas and Missouri states have strongly condemned the shooting incident that resulted in the "tragic" death of an Indian engineer last week. "This sort of senseless violence is never acceptable.
Law enforcement here in Kansas will continue to thoroughly investigate this crime," the Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said. "The friends and family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla are in our prayers.
We hope for a speedy recovery for the other men who were shot," Brownback said. 32-year-old Kuchibhotla, who was working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, Kansas, was killed after he was shot by a navy veteran yelling "get out of my country" and "terrorist" at a bar on Wednesday night in Kansas City in the state of Missouri. Kuchibhotla's Indian colleague Alok Madasani was injured when the 51-year-old shooter opened fire on them.
A third person, an American who tried to intervene, was also injured. Missouri Governor Eric Greitens thanked his state law enforcement official for arresting the shooter who had fled the Kansas city after shooting the two Indian men. "It is alleged that, when the suspect went into the bar, he shouted 'get out of my country' before firing his weapon.
We will learn the truth of what happened in the bar soon enough, but what we can say for certain is this: this hate has no place in our state," Greitens said. "This violence has no place in our state. And if you are a violent criminal who harms the innocent, you will find no quarter in our state. Come across our border, and we will find you and bring you to justice," he asserted.
After the shooting, the suspect fled across the Kansas border into Missouri. "It was Missouri police officers from the Clinton Police Department who arrested him. He was sent back to Kansas and will face the judgment of the court on Monday," Greitens said. "We owe our thanks to Missouri law enforcement for their quick action.
Though the suspect went quietly, there was no guarantee of that. Anything could have happened. Our police officers put their lives on the line on every call of this kind," he said. "It was a concerned Missourian who is said to have alerted the police.
The suspect had admitted the crime to her and asked her for a place to hide out. She took responsible and decisive action that led to the arrest," he said in a statement.
WASHINGTON: The governors of Kansas and Missouri states have strongly condemned the shooting incident that resulted in the "tragic" death of an Indian engineer last week. "This sort of senseless violence is never acceptable. Law enforcement here in Kansas will continue to thoroughly investigate this crime," the Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said. "The friends and family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla are in our prayers. We hope for a speedy recovery for the other men who were shot," Brownback said. 32-year-old Kuchibhotla, who was working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, Kansas, was killed after he was shot by a navy veteran yelling "get out of my country" and "terrorist" at a bar on Wednesday night in Kansas City in the state of Missouri. Kuchibhotla's Indian colleague Alok Madasani was injured when the 51-year-old shooter opened fire on them. A third person, an American who tried to intervene, was also injured. Missouri Governor Eric Greitens thanked his state law enforcement official for arresting the shooter who had fled the Kansas city after shooting the two Indian men. "It is alleged that, when the suspect went into the bar, he shouted 'get out of my country' before firing his weapon. We will learn the truth of what happened in the bar soon enough, but what we can say for certain is this: this hate has no place in our state," Greitens said. "This violence has no place in our state. And if you are a violent criminal who harms the innocent, you will find no quarter in our state. Come across our border, and we will find you and bring you to justice," he asserted. After the shooting, the suspect fled across the Kansas border into Missouri. "It was Missouri police officers from the Clinton Police Department who arrested him. He was sent back to Kansas and will face the judgment of the court on Monday," Greitens said. "We owe our thanks to Missouri law enforcement for their quick action. Though the suspect went quietly, there was no guarantee of that. Anything could have happened. Our police officers put their lives on the line on every call of this kind," he said. "It was a concerned Missourian who is said to have alerted the police. The suspect had admitted the crime to her and asked her for a place to hide out. She took responsible and decisive action that led to the arrest," he said in a statement.
Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar visits Maldives
New Delhi, Feb 22 : Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar visited Maldives from Feb 21-22 as a Special Envoy of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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During the visit, Akbar called on Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, the President of Republic of Maldives and also had a separate meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohamed Asim, who hosted an official luncheon in his honour.The visit of Minister Akbar was in keeping with the tradition of close political consultations and exchanges between India and Maldives.The Minister conveyed Prime Minister Modis personal greetings to the President of Maldives and reiterated Indias support for a stable, democratic, peaceful and prosperous Maldives fulfilling the aspirations of its citizens.During the meetings, both sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and agreed to impart fresh momentum for further deepening mutually beneficial cooperation across a wide spectrum.The discussions focussed on areas of defence and security, counter-terrorism and economic ties including substantial investment in the tourism sector in Maldives. There was also discussion on developmental partnership, capacity building, youth and cultural exchange.President Yameen conveyed his appreciation for the consistent support of India and reiterated the high priority attached by his Government to India in keeping with their India First policy.
Security Council extends mandate of UN Guinea-Bissau peacebuilding office through 2018
New York, Feb 24 : 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.
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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: UNIOGBISSource: www.justearthnews.com
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Need for closer cooperation between Indian and Ugandan Parliaments: Ansari
Kampala [Uganda], Feb.24 : Indian Vice President M. Hamid Ansari and Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda Rebecca A. Kadaga have reiterated the need for closer cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries, especially in the domain of capacity building and parliamentary exchanges.
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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.
Arun Jaitley leaves for five-day official tour of UK
New Delhi, Feb 24 : 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.
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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
Rotary District 3291 awarded scholarships to needy meritorious students
Kolkata, Feb 24 : District Governor Rtn Shyamashree Sen handed over cheques to meritorious students in a ceremony organised by Rotary Calcutta West Ridge on Saturday afternoon.
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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.{image_1}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.{image_2}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.
Being VP has been a learning experience: Hamid Ansari
Onboard Air India One, Feb. 24 : Vice President Hamid Ansari on Friday said that his nine years in office have been very productive and he has enjoyed them immensely.
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"Every day is a new day and when you live with this kind of a responsibility you live with the challenges of the day. The past nine and a half years have been very productive and a learning experience for me and I have enjoyed it immensely," he said.Ansari was en-route from Kampala to Delhi when he made the statement.He succeeded Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as the twelfth Vice President of India on 11th August 2007 and was subsequently re-elected on 7th August 2012.He is the only Vice President other than Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan to be the Vice President of India for two consecutive five-year terms.
Nepal: UML 'allows' House to deliberate over Constitution Amendment Bill
Kathmandu [Nepal], Feb. 24 : 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.
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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.
BMC polls: Independent corporators extends support to Shiv Sena
Mumbai (Maharashtra) , Feb. 24 : Changez Multani, an independent corporator, on Friday extended his support to Shiv Sena.
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Multani met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, at his residence 'Matoshree' today.Earlier in the day, two other independent corporators Snehal More from Vikhroli and Tulsidas Shinde from Dindoshi joined Shiv Sena.On Thursday, Thackeray said that his party will retain the Mayor's post in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).The BJP won 82 of the council's 227 seats and eight out of the ten major municipalities, while the Shiv Sena at 84 is marginally ahead. None of the parties could get near the majority mark of 114.
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.
East African Community is becoming an Economical and Political reality , says Ansari
New delhi, Feb 24 : 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.
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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 Indias 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 Indias 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 Governments 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 Indias development requirements come up, he added.
TN CM Palaniswami meets PM Modi in Coimbatore
Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) , Feb. 24 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.
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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.
China urges Philippine minister to 'exercise prudence' on S. China Sea issue
Beijing [China], Feb. 24 : China on Friday urged the Philippine Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay to 'follow the trend of the times and exercise prudence on the South China Sea issue.'
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks during a regular press conference when asked about Yasay's comments at ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat.Yasay had said that the meeting focused on the South China Sea issue and a few of his counterparts expressed severe concerns over China's recent movements in the South China Sea.To this, the spokesperson said that when the South China Sea issue did come up in the meeting, the atmosphere in the room was constructive. Most participants approved the improving momentum in the South China Sea which has made the situation there more stable since last year."They also stressed that the South China Sea issue shall be resolved by parties directly concerned through dialogue and consultation," he said adding there was no such a thing like ASEAN foreign ministers uttering their concerns over the militarization issue."Therefore, Mr. Yasay's remarks on the Retreat, especially what he said about the discussions on the South China Sea issue fail to tally with what was really happening in that meeting, and can in no way represent the universal stance of the ASEAN countries," said the spokesperson.He further said that China urges Yasay to bear in mind China-Philippines relations and regional peace and stability, awaken to and follow the trend of the times, and exercise prudence on the South China Sea issue.
Canada, U.S. concern with reappearance of Mumps
Toronto, Feb. 24 : 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.
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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 aresignificant complications but fortunately for most people, its 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
No President attacked press more than Obama: Morgan defends Trump
New Delhi , Feb. 25 : British journalist Piers Morgan, who has never shied away from showing support for U.S. President Donald Trump, has once again batted for the latter.
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Morgan on Friday tweeted in agreement with the White House barring a few media organisations from attending a meeting, held by White House press secretary Sean Spicer."No President in US history attacked freedom of the press more than Obama.... Worth remembering that as this Trump/media hysteria rages," he posted on Twitter.Instituting scathing attacks on former US president Barack Obama one after the other, Morgan replied to a few, who commented on the previous tweet, and held Obama responsible for Trump's nerve to target the media.Morgan's defence of Trump came hours after the White House blocked several news organisations - CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Politico and BuzzFeed - from an off-camera press briefing.The administration, however, defended its move, citing they had 'the pool there, so, everyone would be respresented and get an update'.Earlier, Trump had mocked the news media at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He said that much of the press represents "the enemy of the people."
Turkey may seek reinstatement of death penalty punishment
Moscow [Russia], Feb. 25 : Turkey may seek to reinstate death penalty on grounds of public demand, country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
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According to Sputnik News, Erdogan said the government has been seeking to bring back capital punishment since the July 2015 coup attempt.The death penalty was banned in Turkey in 2004.The European Union officials, however, slammed the possible move, citing it would undermine Turkey's accession bid to the union.
FCAT clears same-sex love music video 'Miss You'
New Delhi , Feb. 25 : The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) has rescinded directive from the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC), to cut ten seconds of the 'Miss You' music video of Friends of Linger, instead giving it a 'U/A' Certificate with no cuts.
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The video on same-sex love, released on September 15, 2016, was originally given an 'A' Certificate by the board. This was appealed against resulting in the CBFC offering a U/A certificate, with the condition that 10 seconds of the 4.55 minute had to be cut.The 10 seconds in question involved the two characters - both men - lying in bed semi-nude.The CBFC claimed this was 'intimate,' whereas Sharif D Rangnekar, one of the two actors, the lyricist and lead vocalist of the song, who led the appeal with the FCAT, contended that the scene in focus was of separation and not of love-making or intimacy."This scene was also an important part of the narrative," said Rangnekar, who felt the video directed by Manav Singh Malvai, was sensitive and real.After a nearly four-month long wait, the FCAT, in the presence of Chairperson, Manmohan Sarin and members - Poonam Dhillon and Shekhar Iyer - passed an order in favour of the appeal, hence over-turning the decision of the CBFC. The order states that the song has been 'sensitively' filmed relating to a contemporary social issue.It also affirms that the visuals and cuts directed by CBFC are 'intrinsic to the narrative'."We are happy at the outcome of our appeal to the FCAT. The decision clearly is greater than the song or video itself as it marks a shift in how such institutions view visual content involving the LGBTQ community," Rangnekar said.Adding, "This is a reality that we need to address and not shy away from," he adds. The 'victory', according to Rangnekar is not limited to freedom of expression but also of claiming spaces that are 'exploited' by common society and the 'heterosexual' world. "As equal citizens, I see no reason why our stories need to be pushed away."Since the song went online, it has had over 57000 views on YouTube and more than 60000 on Facebook.
Defence experts slam Abdullah, accuse him of speaking separatists' language
Nagpur (Maharashtra) , Feb. 25 : A day after former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah remarked that the youth of the valley was picking up ammunition not to become legislators, but to fight for the freedom the valley, defence experts on Saturday said the former was speaking the language of separatists.
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Defence Expert Sunil Deshpande said the National Conference president made such an 'irrelevant' comment to mark his presence."Farooq Abdullah has again spoken the language of separatists. He has not made up his mind. When he is in power, the National Conference (NC) speaks something else and when they are out of power, they speak something else. Farooq Abdullah wants to show his presence. In fact, he is irrelevant but he wants to show he is relevant and that is why he makes such statements," Deshpande told ANI.Deshpande further extended his support towards the Indian Army, saying that the forces should not be perturbed by such kind of statements and should continue doing their operations."The Indian Army should not be disturbed by such kind of statements. They should carry out their operations in the way the Chief of the Army Staff has said," he said.Another defence expert, Shivali Deshpande reverberated the opinion, saying Abdullah's statement was uncalled for.All the political parties in Jammu and Kashmir follow the same pattern only to create unrest, Shivali told ANI."The statement made by Farooq Abdullah is absolutely irrelevant and uncalled for. In fact, he is speaking the lines of separatists. If you see history, this has been the line of all political parties of Kashmir which are not in power. When the NC was in power, they spoke differently. When they are not in power, they are siding with the separatists. Same was the case with the PDP and same is the case with any government in Jammu and Kashmir," she said."After the Chief of the Army Staff, there has been a bit of unrest in Jammu and Kashmir. So, such kinds of statements are made by the political leaders to instigate people, to make them protest. This statement should be ignored. The Indian Army should not be perturbed by this," she added.Earlier, Farooq Abdullah said the youth were sacrificing their lives to solve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.Addressing workers at the Nawa-e-Subh party headquarters in Srinagar, Abdullah said, "Today, when our boys are rendering sacrifices, they are not aspiring to become MLAs, MPs or ministers. They are giving sacrifices to demand their right. This is our land and we are its rightful owners."Abdullah's statement came days after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat warned stone pelters not to interfere with army operations in Kashmir.General Rawat had, earlier this month, said, "People who have picked up arms, the local boys, if they want to continue with such acts of terrorism and display flags of ISIS and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go helter-skelter for them. They may survive today but we will get them tomorrow. Our relentless operations will continue."
Parineeti Chopra walks like an Egyptian
Mumbai, Feb 25 : Parineeti Chopra, who took off to Egypt on February 21 for a shoot, has been taking in the sights as her work trip has doubled up as a break too.
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A source close to the actress says, Parineeti returns to Mumbai on Saturday from Luxor, Aswan and Cairo where she has been shooting in the freezing cold. She stayed on a cruise ship for the first two days. On Wednesday, along with her entourage, she attended the Sun festival in Abu Simbel.The Sun festival is a biannual event in Egypt, held at the temple of Ramesses II which dates back to the 13th century BC. Every year on February 22 and October 22, the first rays of the sun sweep the corridor of the temple, striking a statue of the ruler. It attracts millions of tourists from across the world.Once back in the Bay, the 28-year-old actress will begin prep for the four installment of Rohit Shettys comedy franchise, Golmaal Again, which also features Ajay Devgn and kicks off on March 9. The film will be shot at Hyderabads Ramoji Film City, Ooty, Goa and in Mumbais Film City.Obviously ill dance in front of the pyramids what do you mean!! YY @hellomag pic.twitter.com/dzW8lAR0UsParineeti Chopra (@ParineetiChopra) February 24, 2017
Gadkari warns Shiv Sena, says Congress wants to destabilise government
Mumbai (Maharashtra) , Feb. 25 : Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should come together and work for the people of Maharashtra post the Maharashtra Civic polls.
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"The numbers we have now show that the BJP and the Shiv Sena have been given a clear mandate by the people and if both the parties consider the number of seats they have acquired, it would be good if both parties work together. Both Chief Minister Fandnavis and Uddhav Thackrey must consider this," Gadkari told ANI.Gadkari's comment came as the BJP registered an emphatic win in the Maharashtra civic pollsThe BJP won 82 of the council's 227 seats, while the Shiv Sena at 84 is marginally ahead. None of the parties could get near the majority mark of 114.When asked about the reports stating that the some of the Congress leaders have expressed their desire to back the Shiv Sena, Gadkari said, "the Congress wants to destablise the government and that is why they want to support Shiv Sena. Their policy is not oriented towards betterment of Mumbai and its people. BJP and Shiv Sena must remain alert."The BJP has emerged victorious at all the other eight municipal corporations barring Mumbai and Thane Municipal Corporations that went to polls this week.BJP also emerged as a clear choice in nine out of the 25 Zilla Parishads.The Congress was at the third position winning 31 seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) nine seats, AIMIM three seats and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) seven seats.
I am offering the solution to a problem most Republicans don't know they have -- that they can be outmaneuvered and thrown on the defensive endlessly, on nearly any issue, because they accept as true Democrat lies about the Republican Party. To correct that misperception and to help the Republican Party get 'back to basics' is why I'm a man on a mission.
A few years ago, after one of my speeches, a man told me "Do you know what your problem is? You're too far ahead of your time!" My efforts to show Republicans how they would benefit from celebrating the heritage of our Grand Old Party have been arduous, but if this were easy someone else would have already done it.
Among my speech topics are Reconciling the Tea Party and the GOP; Barack Obama, the Worst President Ever; Socialism, the new Slavery; Appreciating the Heritage of our Grand Old Party; Returning to the Founding Principles of the United States; The Womens Rights Achievements of our Grand Old Party; Abraham Lincoln, Republican; Frederick Douglass, Republican; Martin Luther King and the Republican Civil Rights Legacy.
Censor Board cannot tell public what they can or can't see: Shyam Benegal
New Delhi (India), Feb. 25 : Reacting to the controversy over the certification of the upcoming movie 'Lipstick Under My Burkha,' veteran director Shayam Benegal has reckoned that banning a film is totally unacceptable.
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"I am totally against the fact that CBFC should ban a movie or ask the filmmaker to cut some scenes. I have always stood up for classification of films, not censoring them," Benegal told ANI here.He also shared how the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, formed a committee to look at all the aspects of classification and censorship of films."Information and Broadcasting Ministry formed a committee and I was a part of that committee. We did a report in two parts and looked at all the aspects of classification and censorship of films. The first part of the report was submitted in April 2016 and the concluding report in October 2016. Till this date, no comment has been made by them. But there were reports that the government is going to adopt most of the recommendations, " Benegal added.The 82 year-old asserted that the reasons given by the CBFC in this case make no sense and expressed shock at hearing such things."What are they even trying to say? Are they saying women's fantasies are worse than men's fantasies? I cannot understand. I don't think CBFC is there to tell the public, what they should see and what they should not see."'Lipstick Under My Burkha,' 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.
'Opportunist' Farooq Abdullah changing his tone as he is no longer in power: Centre
New Delhi , Feb. 25 : Branding National Conference President Farooq Abdullah 'opportunist' for criticising BJP-PDP coalition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday said the former has changed his tone because he has lost the power.
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"This is wrong. Just because he is out of power he has changed his tone and tune. Farooq Abdullah says people are unhappy because Mufti Mohammad Sayeed party PDP has joined hands with communal elements. You joined hands with BJP and became chief minister during Atal Bihari Vajpaye period. So BJP was secular when you joined hands with us and make you and your son the chief minister. Now Mufti and his daughter became chief minister then it becomes communal," Union Minister for Information and broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu told the media here.Hitting out at Abdullah for his 'opportunistic' and 'double talk', Naidu further said the former has been thoroughly exposed.Abdullah yesterday slammed Jammu and Kashmir's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for allying with BJP while saying that people would not tolerate it as late chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had promised that they would not side with 'communal forces'."People of the valley are disgruntled with state government allying with 'communal forces", Abdullah said while addressing workers at the Nawa-e-Subh party headquarters in Srinagar.
Congress spreading lies about Naga Accord: PM Modi
Imphal (Manipur) , Feb. 25: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday alleged that the Congress party is dividing people by spreading lies about the Centre compromising the territorial integrity of Manipur by signing an accord with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland -- Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) insurgent group.
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"People have been talking about the accord with the Nagas. I want to ask the CM, were you sleeping for 1.5 years? You never wrote a letter to Centre seeking details. I alone revealed everything about the accord to the Congress. They are dividing the people of Manipur by spreading lies," Prime Minister Modi said at a rally in Imphal.He said the Congress has made Manipur their political battle ground where they have been pitting one community against another for personal gain."In order to win elections and they are making people fight against each other. They pitted one brother ageist another. They don't care about the people of Manipur, all they care about grabbing power. They don't deserve to be in the government," Prime Minister Modi said.The Prime Minster assured the people that the Naga accord would not jeopardise the territorial integrity of the state."Whom would you believe, the Chief Minister who has been spreading lies for the last 15 years or Prime Minister who has been working diligently for 2.5 years, I leave that to you. I want to assure you that we are not jeopardizing the territorial integrity of the Manipur," he said.The Prime Minister also said that if the BJP comes to power the people would not have to face the brunt of month long economic blockade."I urge you to let the BJP serve the people of Manipur. Just give us 5 years. You gave Congress 15 years. In 15 months, we'll do what they haven't achieved," he said.
Congress rejects reports of alliance with Shiv Sena in BMC
New Delhi , Feb. 25 : Clearing the air over the possible alliance between the Shiv Sena and the Congress in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary and former union minister Gurudas Kamat on Saturday refuted the coalition between both the parties.
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"I take strong objection to any discussion even of having any tie up or indirect support to the Shiv Sena in the BMC," said Kamat in a statement.He further said that the Congress has fought against both the saffron parties all along for their divisive policies and people would not spare them if they even attempt to align with Shiv Sena."Let them sort out their problems by themselves and in the process expose themselves and their lust for power," Kamat added.Kamat also said that he had informed party vice president Rahul Gandhi of his opinion.Speculation over Shiv Sena-Congress BMC pact has been rife as reports emerged that Sena (84 members) would team up with the Congress (31 members) to reach the majority mark of 114 in the 227-member civic body.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 82 of the council's 227 seats and eight out of the ten major municipalities, while the Shiv Sena at 84 is marginally ahead.None of the parties could get near the majority mark of 114 in the mayoral polls.
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The House of Haagen Dazs opens its first lounge in Eastern India
Kolkata, Feb 25 : Haagen Dazs known for its super premium ice creams announced the launch of its flagship lounge recently at Lansdowne in Kolkata in the presence of Tollywood Celebrity Nusrat Jahan along with Chef Anthony David, Head Chef, Haagen Dazs India, Shagun Agarwal, Franchise Director Haagen Dazs, Eastern India, Amit Agarwal , Franchise Group Director, Haagen Dazs Eastern India .
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This is their first shop in the eastern market after winning the hearts of ice cream connoisseurs in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai Hyderabad, now it is time for the city of joy, Kolkata to savour Haagen Dazs ice creams and it promises to be more delectable and indulgent than ever!The franchise store was the brainchild of Shagun Agarwal, Franchise Director, Haagen Dazs in Eastern India said As a young boy I have always been a fan of Haagen Dazs ice cream. I have visited so many Haagen Dazs shops in other parts of the country. I have always been fond of the creaminess and quality of the ice cream that I wanted to introduce it to the City of Joy.The House of Haagen Dazs menu offers a variety of choices, a combination of tantalizing flavors and authentic ingredients to tender with the most indulgent and ultimate dessert impression. Its menu is a magnificent amalgamation of scrumptious creations like Eiffel Tower, European Fondue and Brooklyn Bridge.Haagen Dazs 6 exclusive ice cream flavors such as Vanilla, Strawberry, Belgian Chocolate, Coffee, Dulce de Leche and Summer-berries and Cream will now be available at the dessert lounge in Kolkata.Speaking on the occasion, Anthony David, Head Chef, Haagen Dazs India said Since the last few years Kolkata is experiencing a significant shift in demographics. The discerning consumers in Kolkata are well-travelled, knowledgeable and yearning for super premium brands. Our foray into this dynamic market will enable us fulfill the appetite of a growing section of consumers seeking a gourmet dessert experience. With this launch, we continue our journey of giving the Indian consumers seeking a gourmet dessert experience. With this launch we continue our journey of giving the Indian consumer an insight into opulent dessert experience of delectable ice-cream flavors and creations by Haagen Dazs.
Pakistan allows export of Sikh holy water
Islamabad [Pakistan], Feb. 25 : The well at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan has been made functional and the government has allowed its holy water to be exported.
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"The water from this well is like what Aab-i-Zamzam is to Muslims. Now, the well has been shaped and a filtration plant has been set up over it so that Sikh devotees can drink the water," The Dawn quoted Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Siddiqul Farooq, as saying to a Senate committee on Friday.Farooq said that three ancient gurdwaras visited by the founder of Sikhism, Baba Guru Nanak, have also been reopened."The doors of these gurdwaras - one in Peshawar and two in the Nankana Sahib district - were closed after partition, and now they have been handed over to the Sikh community after renovation," he said adding, "the most considerable achievement is the opening of the holy well at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib. Its water is called Amrit Jal by the Sikhs, and the government has allowed for the water to be exported all over the world."He said Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Nankana Sahib is where Baba Guru Nanak is believed to have spent the final years of his life.The committee was informed that the government is in the process of allowing the printing of the Sikh religious text the Gurugranth Sahib.Committee chairman Senator Hafiz Hamdullah asked during the ETPB official's briefing why the gurdwaras and the holy well had been closed for so many years.Instead of addressing the question, officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, including Minister Sardar Mohammad Yousuf, Secretary Khalid Masood and ETPB officials remained silent.To this, Hamdullah said it was not the right path to keep anyone from following their religion."We need to be considerate and facilitate, as much as possible, the members of other religious to worship at their temples or gurdwaras or churches. Whatever the reason for their closure, we should try to maintain them and hand them over to the concerned community," he said.
UP EC probing FIR against BJP UP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya
Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh), Feb. 25: Deputy Election Officer Mahendra Kumar on Saturday said that the Election Commission is investigating a case registered against Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) Uttar Pradesh unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya.
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"We are investigating the issue whether voting slip is being distributed or not . On the day of voting Keshav Prasad Maurya voted with party symbol. Orders are given to investigate the issue," he said.Maurya landed himself in trouble for displaying the party's poll symbol 'lotus' at the time of exercising his franchise at a booth in Allahabad.According to reports, Maurya was wearing a 'lotus' printed jacket when he arrived at the booth to cast his vote. The leader proceeded to the EVM machine wearing the same jacket and exercised his franchise.When the matter was brought to the administration's notice, Allahabad DM Sanjay Kumar ordered a Magistrate level enquiry and sought a detailed report.
Pakistan to host ECO Summit from March 1
Islamabad [Pakistan], Feb.25 : Pakistan will host the ECO Summit here on March 1, said the Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Saturday.
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He said the theme of the summit to be held in Islamabad would be "Connectivity for Regional Prosperity".Radio Pakistan further quoted him, as saying that the summit will deliberate and decide on ways and means to augment cooperation in the areas of connectivity, trade, energy, tourism, investment, industry, economic growth, productivity, social self-aware and environment.He said initiatives for furtherance of education and scientific linkages, cultural and people to people contacts within the ECO will also be deliberated upon.Aziz described the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as an outstanding example of the theme of connectivity and it will augment the existing and planned transit and energy corridors in ECO region for greater progress and prosperity for the people of the area.He said the theme will help foster rail, air, energy, cyber, and knowledge based connectivity.He said most of the member states have confirmed their participation.
M. J. Akbar to undertake official visit to Mali, Congo
New Delhi , Feb.25 : Minister of State for External Affairs, M. J. Akbar will pay an official visit to Mali from February 28 to March 4, and to Congo from March 5 and 6.
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During his visit to Mali, Akbar will call on President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Modibo Keita.He will also co-chair the first India-Mali Joint Commission meeting along with the Foreign Minister of Mali Abdoulaye Diop. The Joint Commission will include wide ranging discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest to India and Mali.The minister will also visit Timbuktu and present a cheque of USD 0.5 million as India's support to Mali towards restoration of its heritage.In Congo, Akbar will call on President Denis Sassou Nguesso and meet with Foreign Minister Jean-Claude Gakosso. Discussions will focus on issue of mutual threat to the two countries.Akbar will also be interacting with the Indian community in both countries.
BJD, Congress should apologise: Dharmendra Pradhan
Bhubneshwar (Orissa) , Feb.25: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has asked the BJD and the Congress to apologise for failing to usher in development, rather than criticising Prime Minister Modi's remark on the state.
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"Some political parties are misleading over Prime Minister's remark made yesterday and the media has raised questions. It was natural for the ruling party to react as the Prime Minister had pointed out that Odisha was known for many years for poverty, illiteracy and unemployment, and now, its people have started fighting for their rights," said Pradhan."BJD should realise that it has failed to improve the condition of the people during its 17 years of rule and that the Rajan Committee Report of 2013, when the BJP was not in power at the Centre, had placed Odisha as the least developed and most backward state, added Pradhan.The panchayat election outcome is "the beginning of a bigger change", Pradhan said, adding that the people have voted for BJP in a big way as they are fed up with the "inert, inefficient and corrupt" BJD government in the state.Panchayat elections will be held to 853 seats in the zilla parishads, 6665 seats in the panchayat samitis, 6801 sarpanches and 92,029 wards. Fifty per cent of the seats are reserved for women.
Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi congratulates ISRO for scripting history
New Delhi , Feb. 26 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday heaped praises the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists for creating a world record by sending 104 satellites into the space orbit.
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"After Sending Mangalyaan to Mars, ISRO made another landmark on February 15 where it launched 104 satellites in a single flight. These satellites belong to several countries, including America, Switzerland, Israel, UAE. By launching 104 satellites, India has become the only country to do so," Prime Minister Modi said on the 29th edition of radio programme, Maan Ki Baat.He also pointed out that this was the 38th successful launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle undertaken by the ISRO scientists while adding that the launch of the Indian satellite CATROSAT 2D would help farmers gauge the availability of water in their area."One of the 104 satellite that India launched is our very own CATROSAT 2D. It would provide accurate mapping of India's resources, infrastructure and would also help in urban development planning," he said.The Prime Minister said that ISRO's cost effective and efficient space programme has amazed the world."This is one of the significant developments not only for the ISRO, but also for India," he said.He further said that young scientists and women played a cardinal part in ensuring the success of this mission."Our satellite has started working, where it has sent some pictures. One more thing to note is that that this historic mission was led by our young and women scientists. The glorious aspect of ISRO's success is the major role is played by youth and women," Prime Minister Modi said.He hoped that this would help in welfare of the common people."I congratulate ISRO's scientists on behalf of countrymen," he added.
JetPrivilege wins six accolades at Customer Loyalty and Customer Experience Awards
Mumbai, Feb 26 : JetPrivilege, the award-winning loyalty and rewards management programme and frequent flyer programme of Jet Airways, created history at the 10th edition of the Customer Loyalty and Customer Experience Awards held recently in Mumbai.
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The frequent flyer programme of the countrys full-service, premier international airline won the largest-ever and record number of six accolades at the highly coveted industry awards.The programme won laurels in the following categories-Champion of Champions - Loyalty Program for the year, Best Loyalty Programme in Service Sector, Best Use of Innovation in Loyalty Marketing, Best Use of Promotional / Shopper Marketing Campaign, Best Use of Customer and Data Analytics in Loyalty Program and Best Use of Technology to Enhance Customer Experience.The 10th Customer Loyalty Customer Experience Awards, instituted by Kamikaze B2B media India, were held at The Taj Lands End in Mumbai and the jury comprised eminent business leaders from the field of Customer Loyalty and Marketing.Manish Dureja, Managing Director, JetPrivilege, said, The awards are an acknowledgement of the trust and value that the JetPrivilege programme holds for its guests. They are a recognition of our relentless efforts in developing and nurturing relationships with our members through constant engagement and innovation. At JetPrivilege, we are committed to deliver rewarding experiences to our members, aligned to their expectations and we are indeed proud to have received these prestigious honours at this esteemed forum.
International Realty hosts Global Luxury Realty Conclave 2017
New Delhi , Feb. 26 : North India Sotheby's International Realty organised its first ever Global Luxury Realty Conclave in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) yesterday.
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Partnered by other apex industry bodies like Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Price water house Coopers (PwC), the two-day event is debating about the real estate industry with top business minds in the Luxury Real Estate industry.The mega conclave provided an international networking platform comprising of real estate industry experts, select international and domestic developers, tax advisories, HNIs, creative leaders as well as luxury observers and innovators."CII has collaborated with North India Sotheby's International Realty to take an initiative to highlight the fast paced changes in global real estate industry which is one of the most imperative sectors of the economy. Bringing together thought leaders, industry experts and real estate stakeholders from around the world, the conclave will emphasise on Indian and International Luxury Real estate," said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.The event covered an extensive range of topics of interest to the stakeholders such as 'Impact of changing policies on Indian real estate', 'Evolving real-estate market and trends', 'Impact of international events on global real estate', 'Factors affecting Indians buying abroad', 'NRI potential across the world', 'Citizenship by investment' and many more.Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, discussed the impact of demonetisation on the economy and the real estate industry."As the Indian economy keeps getting formalised with the process of demonetisation, in the long run, there will be lower fiscal deficit, greater levels of government revenues vesting in areas like education and health, which will enable us to reap benefits of demographic transition. This will in turn enable us to invest in infrastructure projects at low rates of interest," said Kant, revealing the importance of investment in infrastructure.
Despite challenges pharma sector to grow and generate high employment: Experts
Jaipur, Feb 26 : With the initiatives taken by the Government of India on demonetization, introduction of the GST along with Make in India, Smart Cities, Digital India and Startup India have played important role in changing the eco-system and created newer platforms in many avenues including the pharmaceutical sector, experts said.
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To further discuss the opportunities and challenges in the Pharmaceutical sector, IIHMR University Jaipur invited experts such as Atul Kumar Nasa, President, Indian Pharmacy Graduates Association, Rajendra Talele, Head Clinical Development Services- Accutest Research Laboratories, Deve Babre, Associate Vice President, Tata Consulting Services, Mumbai, Sachin Tadge, Project Manager, Cognizant Mumbai during its Pharma Summit 2017 held on Saturday.SD Gupta, Chairman, IIHMR University Jaipur said, Despite price capping, demonetization and GST implementation all of which are perceived to impact the Pharma sector adversely, this industry will continue to grow and the major growth engines will be domestic sales, exports, an ageing population, Health insurance coverage, increases in per capita spending, Medical tourism etc. All these factors combined together put more pressure on the effective management, governance, availability and accessibility of pharmaceutical products, especially in remote areas. This poses increasing challenges for Pharmaceutical managers not only in term of demanding effective Leadership Skills but also in the sectors demand for quality manpower that can hit the ground running. In this context, IIHMR Universitys MBA Pharmaceutical Management program fills this vacuum to a great extent because it imparts managerial skills that are relevant for the Pharma sector.Deve Babre, Associate Vice President, Tata Consulting Services said, Due to high growth rate in domestic and overseas market, there is a strong need of Pharmaceutical Management Graduates in Sales, Marketing, KPOs, Medical writing and Communication, Medical devices, Supply Chain and Logistics, Hospital Industry, Healthcare Communications and Pharmaceutical Digital Marketing business categories. The pharma sector is emerging and is mostly chosen by young candidates for fast career progression, thereby being the number one choice for both Pharmacy and Non-pharmacy graduates, which later on choose formal Pharmaceutical Management education program and get domain expertise which is needed in Pharma and Healthcare sector.The Pharmaceutical segment is an integral part of the Indian healthcare market, a market worth approximately Rs. 100 billion, growing with a CAGR of 22.9%. Healthcare delivery includes hospitals, nursing homes and diagnostics centres, and pharmaceuticals, constitutes 65 per cent of the overall market.Globally, the Indian Pharma market is the 3rd largest in terms of volume and 13th in terms of value. By 2020 the Indian Pharma market will be touching $55bn with a CAGR of ~15.9%, with Generics occupying 70% market share followed by OTC 21% and patented drugs capturing 9% market share. To this Dr. Gupta added, The industry inspite of many challenges will create 58000 more job opportunities in the pharmaceutical sector and we expect the industry to grow upto 45% by 2025.Ashok Peepliwal, Associate Professor at School of Pharmaceutical Management, IIHMR University Jaipur said, In the last 5 years, there has been a growth in non-communicable diseases. Segments like Cardiovascular, Anti-Diabetes, Anti-cancers, Anti-depressants are the fastest growing areas of concern due to rapid urbanization and changes in life-style patterns. The Union Budget of 2017 addressed this issue, and prompted the government to recommend tertiary and secondary hospitals to launch Wellness Centres and to make the Indian public aware of Public Health challenges. It is notable that these actions have shifted the onus on to prominent educational institutions to deliver healthcare management professionals especially in the field of Primary Health, Hospital Administration, Pharmaceutical Management and Public Health.The IIHMR University, which pioneered cutting-edge research in Healthcare Sector, has been meeting the demand for these professionals through their MBA programs in Health Management, Hospital Management, Pharmaceutical Management, Rural Management and Masters in Public Health (MPH) in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.According to AWACS, a total of 55 Companies have been launched in last 36 Months, where 5 Companies have crossed 10 crore in Revenue. These new companies are now being led by Saffron Therapeutics, Brinton Healthcare, Innovcare Life Sciences, Jubilant Life Sciences Emenox Healthcare. With the rise in Government taking various initiatives and the exports of the Pharma sector rising, According to the India Skill Report 2016-17, the gender diversity in Pharma and Healthcare sector is 71.72% males and only 28.28% females.Rajendra Talele, Head Clinical Development Services- Accutest Research Laboratories, said, Keeping in mind the surge in the Pharmaceutical sector, one must not neglect certain aspects of the Indian pharma sector which is highly unorganized and fragmented in nature. It has nearly 25,000 companies, only 330 are organized. Total employable candidates with B. Pharm degrees were 42.3% in 2016 as against those 40.62% in 2015. Also as per the Industry wise hiring targets for women in Pharma and Healthcare sector the total target is about 38.67% women as per the India Skill Report and the total employability of women is only about 28.28% which calls for the need of gender diversity to be maintained in the Pharmaceutical industry.In view of the national push to formalize all sectors of the economyof which the Pharma sector is a critical component, Management education in the health sector can play a vital role in facilitating the push towards greater professionalization and formalization. There is a growing demand for Pharmaceutical Management Graduates in Sales, Marketing, KPOs, Medical writing and Communication, Medical devices, Supply Chain and Logistics, Hospital Industry, Healthcare Communications and Pharmaceutical Digital Marketing business categories. This sector is emerging as a choice sector for GenY, for whom careers as professionals and management trainees with good starting salaries have emerged as attractive career option. It is therefore not surprising that the Pharma industry, which employs ~5.5-5.7 Lakh people, hired approx.1.34 Lakh people in 2016 and the same momentum is expected to continue in the coming year.The Pharma Summit was concluded by discussing trends alongwith various other aspects that could give impetus to the growth of the Pharma sector. Biosimilars and Biologics are burgeoning sectors in 2017 also major scientific and technological advances, coupled with socio-demographic changes and increasing demand for medicines will revive the pharma industrys fortunes in another 10 to 20 years. Other trends like increase in coverage of health insurance, advancement in medical technology and penetration of mobile health services will give further impetus to the growth of the Indian pharma industry.
BJP has not even projected its CM candidate and talks about sweeping UP polls: Mayawati
Ballia (Uttar Pradesh) , Feb. 26 : Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Sunday said the saffron party has not even projected its chief ministerial candidate and talks about winning the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
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"How the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would win the assembly polls when it has not even projected the name of their chief minister candidate," Mayawati said while addressing rally in Ballia.Reiterating her claim that BJP would end reservation system after coming in power, Mayawati said: "If BJP comes to power in Uttar Pradesh they will impose RSS agenda and end reservation. I got this information from reliable sources."The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister further hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doing 'politics of discrimination'.Mayawati also cornered Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, accusing the Samajwadi Party of copying her policies."The Samajwadi Party has copied various development schemes of the BSP by merely changing their names. An important policy is the Samajwadi Pension Yojana, which was originally called Maha Maya Gareeb Arthik Madad Yojana," she sadi.Elaborate arrangements are being put in place for tomorrow's fifth phase of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. 51 constituencies spread over 11 districts in Terai and eastern part of the state, will go to polls in this phase.The districts are Balrampur, Gonda, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Amethi and Sultanpur.Polling for Alapur Assembly seat was postponed till the 9th of next month following the death of a Samajwadi Party candidate.
Afghanistan: 42 civilians released by ISIS
Kabul, Feb 26 : At least 42 civilians were released by ISIS in Afghanistan's Nangarhar area on Sunday, media reports said.
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The Nangarhar governors spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani, told Afghanistans Pajhwok Afghan News the 42 civilians were abducted about four months back by Daesh in Pachiragam district of the province.The abducted men were released by mediation and efforts of tribal elders, media reports said.
UP Polls: Mayawati corners SP over lawlessness, BJP over demonetization
Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) , Feb. 26 : Cornering the Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday said people of Uttar Pradesh would punish both the parties in the ongoing assembly elections and bring her party back in power.
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Hitting out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati said the former is a kid and BSP does not pay heed to his baseless taunts and jibes."What Samajwadi Party babua (Akhilesh Yadav) has been saying against our party during the elections rallies, clearly shows his disappointment and insecurity. Neither our party nor the people of Uttar Pradesh take his baseless allegations seriously. We ignore Akhilesh's assertions and taunts considering him a kid," Mayawati said in an exclusive interview to ANI.The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister further said that whatever Akhilesh Yadav says adds strength to the BJP and other communal powers.Lauding the people of Uttar Pradesh for not coming in the false promises of opponents, Mayawati said: "I would like to congratulate people of Uttar Pradesh as they didn't fall prey to their false and misleading talks and have voted with complete honesty in the three phases of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls."The BSP chief further said that people of Uttar Pradesh would give punishment to the Samajwadi Party for jungle raj and lawlessness prevailing in the state.While urging the voters to boycott the communal and racial agenda of BJP and RSS, the BSP supremo said the people of the Uttar Pradesh should punish the saffron party for making false promises."Voters won't spare BJP for misleading promises and demonetisation decision. They should teach them a lesson so that they would think ten times before taking such irrational decision and would also refrain from making false promises," she added.Mayawati also appealed the voters to be careful of the Samajwadi Party and BJP connivance in the remaining three phases of polls and added that they should not give importance to the baseless assertion made by the Samajwadi Party at the behest of the saffron party.Accusing the BJP of influencing the assembly polls, Mayawati said: "Because of the poor performance in the Vidhan Sabha elections, BJP has involved all its Union Ministers in elections campaign and they are trying their best to influence the assembly polls."Criticizing the law and order situation in the state, Mayawati said people of Uttar Pradesh only want safety of their daughters and sisters."People of this state can remain hungry but they can't compromise with the safety of their daughters, sisters," she added.Mayawati further said that Akhilesh Yadav refrains from speaking on law and order situation in the state and tries to deviate the people by talking about his false development agenda.Elaborate arrangements are being put in place for tomorrow's fifth phase of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. 51 constituencies spread over 11 districts in Terai and eastern part of the state, will go to polls in this phase.The districts are Balrampur, Gonda, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Amethi and Sultanpur.Polling for Alapur Assembly seat was postponed till the 9th of next month following the death of a Samajwadi Party candidate.
Female bosses favour gay and lesbian job-seekers, research finds
London, Feb 26 : Women are more likely to hire gay and lesbian job applicants over equally-qualified straight candidates, according to a study led by the University of Sussex.
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But the opposite is true if the recruiter is a man all else being equal, male bosses judge heterosexual applicants as more hireable.The study in the Journal of Business and Psychology is the first to identify a positive bias for gay and lesbian candidates in the hiring process albeit only when women are making the hiring decisions.The lead author, Dr Ben Everly of Sussexs School of Business, Management and Economics, suggests that employers should pay close attention to the make-up of selection panels.He says: These results show that bias against gay men and lesbians is much more nuanced than previous work suggests.Hiring decisions made by teams of both men and women could lead to less biased decisions.Additionally, these results could influence when and how gay men and lesbians disclose their gay identities at work.Across two experiments, around 400 people were randomly shown one of four CVs/resumes: that of a lesbian, a gay male, a straight female or a straight male. The fictional job applicants were named either Greg Johnson (male) or Jennifer Lewis (female) and listed as belonging to either Los Angeles Gay Business Professionals (gay applicants) or Los Angeles Business Professionals (straight applicants). All other details, such as professional experience, were the same. In post-experiment screening, any participants who incorrectly identified a candidates sexual orientation were removed from the study.After viewing the CVs/resumes, participants indicated whether the candidate should be hired, using a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).Female recruiters scored gay candidates an average of 5.21 and straight candidates 4.8, whereas men scored gay candidates 4.6 and straight candidates 4.93.Surprisingly, this bias was even stronger among those who had significant experience of evaluating CVs/resumes.The study also found evidence that women perceive gay men and lesbians to be more competent and warm, and that these factors influenced their hiring decisions.Men, however, viewed heterosexual candidates as more competent, which affected their hiring decisions, but showed no difference in perceived warmth between the four applicants.Dr Everly says: Because women experience discrimination and the glass ceiling in organisations, women may believe that gay and lesbian applicants must be more competent than equally qualified heterosexual applicants, in order to advance their careers.The study was carried out in collaboration with Anderson School of Management at the University of California.
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
MISSOULA -- Hellgate High students could easily answer "what is the role of media?"
But "what is journalism?" was a little tougher to define.
Joe Eaton, University of Montana assistant professor of journalism, spoke to Hellgate students on Friday morning as part of the Flagship Program's Diversity Week at Missoula high schools. His talk, "Ethics in Journalism," tackled critical thinking, media literacy and the growing controversy around "fake news."
Eaton is an investigative reporter who covered health care, particularly the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act, in Washington, D.C. He's been teaching at UM for four years.
The media's role, fundamentally, is to inform the public, the students said. It's necessary in order for the public to understand everything from the everyday happenings in Missoula to making an informed decision in electing the president, they said.
But what is journalism, and who qualifies as a journalist? Whereas a doctor would need a medical license, there's no certificate for a journalist. And the definition of a journalist depends on whom you ask.
Eaton said when he was growing up, it was easier to define. The New York Times? Journalism. The Weekly World News? Not journalism.
Today, however, media from Breitbart News to ThinkProgress have muddied the waters.
The high-schoolers were confident that the NYT was journalism. What about Breitbart?
"It's an ultra right-wing, conservative news outlet that oftentimes doesn't use factual information," said Hellgate senior Branden Campbell.
***
Some say the same thing about ThinkProgress, Eaton said, though on the liberal end of the spectrum.
Far more Hellgate students believed ThinkProgress was journalism than Breitbart.
"Now the environment we're in it's much more difficult to determine what is real and what's fake," Eaton said.
Why is fake news a problem? he asked. It misinforms and misleads the public, the students said.
Only a few said they read the print version of the Missoulian. Most said they're consumers of news, with different students saying they get their news from the BBC, Al Jazeera, Vox, Democracy Now! and CNN.
A Pew Research Center survey last year found that 62 percent of U.S. adults get news from social media, with Facebook dominating. The problem with that, one girl said, is those stories can get "lost in translation" as some people tend to seek out news that tells them what they want to hear.
"I grew up in rural Michigan, and my parents and my friends back home are very conservative," Eaton said. "They shared a story that said the Pope was supporting Trump. ... It was fake news."
Every person has their own biases, Eaton said, and journalists are no exception. The difference, he said, is understanding your biases and not letting them influence your reporting.
"I think journalism changes over time," he said. "A lot of old-school journalists will say you can't work for ThinkProgress or Breitbart. But a lot of my students, they're not interested in old-school journalism. They want to change the world, they say they want to take down Donald Trump."
Eaton eyed his students' water bottles. Many were covered with political stickers. That in and of itself could "disqualify" them from being a political journalist, or harm their credibility.
It's the same reason Eaton says he cannot protest at immigration rallies (his wife is an immigrant).
Journalism ethics are changing, he said. What ThinkProgress reports may be factual, but it's the stories they choose to write about that show their left-leaning slant, he said.
"Each generation of journalists sets their own set of ethics," he said.
***
Eaton pointed to the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics, a document that most if not all reporters learned about in college.
To some, that code is seen as "old school" when so many newer news organizations today have an obvious slant one way or the other.
Eaton describes himself as a moderate Democrat, and said that personally, he believes everyone should have health insurance.
"I covered the expansion of Obamacare ... and there were many things that didn't work as intended (in the roll-out)," he said.
But his job was not to inject his bias into the story.
"My job is not to work as a shill for Obama, or Trump. That's called public relations and it's higher-paying than journalism," he said, laughing.
Eaton doesn't believe the notion that we live in a "post-truth society," as some described the presidential campaign and election. In fact, he agreed with one audience member who said the country is not as divided as the news media often portrays it and that they want the truth.
He described what happened to Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold, who last year did "shoe-leather" reporting to find out that Donald Trump had not told the truth about his donations to charities. He called up more than 420 charitable organizations, asking if Trump had donated since 2008. One said yes.
The story led to Trump calling Fahrenthold "a nasty guy."
"But he didn't say Fahrenthold was wrong," Eaton pointed out.
"This is not about Donald Trump. It's about checking people in power."
Fahrenthold is coming to UM next month, speaking at 7 p.m. March 13 at the University Center Theater.
Campbell said talks like the one Eaton gave are important "given the climate we're in."
"It's really important to ask yourself about your own doubts," Campbell said. "Everyone critiques other people's opinions, but they're not willing to critically think about their own."
New Delhi: Industry body Assocham has urged the Centre to impress upon states to adopt the Model Shops and Establishments Bill, thereby allowing small and medium scale shops to remain open for all seven days.
The chamber expressed concern over the lukewarm response to the model Bill approved by the Centre last year, observing that so far, only Rajasthan has initiated an exercise for bringing in legislative provisions in sync with the Bill.
The state has begun work on bringing amendments in the Rajasthan Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958, to permit the small traders to keep their shops and retail outlets open throughout the week, Assocham said.
However, it said the interests of the workers employed in the shops and small outlets should be protected and they should not be made to work in double shifts without additional benefits. Besides, safety and security of the staff working late hours, particularly women, should be ensured.
Highlighting the benefits of keeping shops open 24x7, it said cities with large population and the ones attracting domestic and foreign tourists could benefit a lot if the markets become more productive.
A model law that allows shops, malls and cinema halls, among other establishments, to run 24x7 received the Union Cabinet's assent in June last year.
The law covers establishments employing 10 or more workers except manufacturing units and will provide freedom to operate 365 days with flexibility in timing to open and close.
It also provides for women to be employed on night shifts with adequate security and calls for better working conditions for employees such as drinking water, canteen, first aid, lavatory and creche.
As per the proposal mooted by the Labour Ministry, the model law can be adopted by states with a provision of modifying it as per requirements.
The Centre had been receiving suggestions from time to time to enact the model law, which the states could consider for enforcement either by adopting the central law or necessary modification by the state law.
The Yadavs occupy popular imagination as the strongmen of UP enjoying favour with the ruling SP. In Kachipurwa, though, they struggle for water and work on a daily basis.
According to police, the victim said she was being sexually abused and assaulted for the last four months. Police are now trying to find out whether other children in the school were subjected to abuse.
New Delhi: In yet another case of child abuse, a Class 9 girl has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a Class 2 student inside the school premises in Delhi's Moti Nagar. The arrested student is not a minor and has failed Class 9 at least two times.The Class 9 student has been arrested under Sections 328/34 IPC and 6, 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.Deependra Pathak, Special Commissioner of Police, told CNN-News 18 that the police received a complaint on Saturday. "The (Class 2) girl complained about the incident to her parents on Saturday. We acted promptly on the complaint. Two girls were found to be involved. While one has been arrested, the other has been detained. We are trying to verify the latter's age," said Pathak.The child, meanwhile, is undergoing counselling.Deependra Pathak said the police will soon start separate counselling in schools to make children aware about sexual abuse. "Girls keep quiet about it. The need of the hour is to speak out," said Pathak.
New Delhi: A 20-year-old Delhi University student was allegedly gangraped by five men, including her friends in Faridabad, police said on Saturday.
The accused were identified and five have been arrested, said police.
According to police she informed her college authorities and registered an in southeast Delhi's Lajpat Nagar police station on February 18.
The girl is a third year history student in a DU college in south Delhi. Two of the accused study in the same college as the victim, police said.
The victim told police that two of her friends, Gaurav and Sunny, took her to Faridabad by bike on February 3 after a college function for a party. Initially, she was hesitant but later they convinced her by telling that one of her female friend and another friend would also join them. She further said that one of the boys had recorded a video as well.
The bike belonged to Sachin.
They took her to another friend Rohtash's house in Faridabad where Gaurav, Sunny, Sachin and Rohtash allegedly raped her, police said.
They threatened her against disclosing the incident to anyone.
Later, she was dropped in Delhi by Vinod who also raped her after stopping the car in an isolated place.
The case was registered immediately under sections of 376D, 120B, 506 IPC and investigation was taken up immediately.
The incident had left the girl traumatized and she didn't attend the classes for many days. She did not reveal her ordeal to her parents and approached the sexual harassment committee at the college. They asked her to report the matter to police.
Gaurav, Sunny and Rohtash were held and another person Bunty, who emerged as a conspirator was also arrested, they said adding raids were on to nab Sachin who is absconding.
(With PTI inputs)
Fearing DU like violence on its campus, the Ambedkar University in the national capital has postponed an event marking the 26th anniversary of the alleged Kunan Poshpora mass rape in Kashmir.On February 23, Ambedkar University and an NGO Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) were to organise an event to observe the Kashmiri Women's Day of Resistance on the 26th anniversary of the alleged mass sexual violence unleashed by the army against the villagers of Kunan and Poshpora in Kashmir.Less than 24 hours before the event, the speakers were sent an email informing them that the seminar has been postponed citing the alleged threats to "freedom of speech"."The AUD administration want some changes in the shape of the event from the faculty and we will do that and reschedule a date and place sometime in March as you can see the times are bad for the university as a place for free speech and free discussions and critical engagements in our society," the university said in an email to the speakers of the seminar.Gowhar Fazili, a scholar who was supposed to present a paper entitled "Familial Grief, Resistance and the Political Imaginary in Kashmir", confirmed receiving the email."The institutions, academicians and activists buckle before the Right-wing threats with such ease," he told PTI.Other speakers of the seminar were Bhavneet Kaur from Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, who was slated to speak on "The politics of emotion: women's narratives of memory, resistance and the Everyday in Kashmir", Vanessa Chishti, OP Jindal University-"the woman's question in Kashmir", Iffat Fatima, director of documentary 'Khoon Div Baarav' and Essar Batool, co-author of Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora.Delhi University's Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP workers. 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.The AUD seminar, however, is not the only event to have suffered in the aftermath of the Ramjas violence.The SGTB Khalsa College on North Campus had to postpone its street-play competition following threats from Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) to not allow any "objectionable and anti-national content".Markitiers, a company providing marketing and management solutions to startups which was to organise an event on February 23 in DU to interact with students about possible startup ideas, also decided to postpone the exercise."Due to the barbarous and vicious duel between the ABVP community and students from JNU and DU outside the Ramjas campus last week and in order to avoid unpleasantness and pacify the matter we are postponing our much awaited event campus explore February 28 to March 3," the company said on its Facebook page.Soldiers of Army's 4-Rajputana Rifles had allegedly raped over 40 women in Kunan and Poshpora villages during the intervening night of February 23-24 in 1991.
New Delhi: The Gujarat Anti Terror Squad (ATS) on Sunday arrested two brothers from the cities of Rajkot and Bhavnagar for their alleged links with the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
In an ATS operation, the two brothers, Wasim and Naeem Ramodiya, were arrested. They were in touch with ISIS operatives overseas through social media, police said, adding they have recovered bomb-making material from the two.
IK Bhatt, Joint CP, Crime Branch, told media that the two brothers were planning to execute an attack. "We have enough evidence and we have recovered mobile phones, too," he said.
The two were allegedly planning to carry out blasts at religious places like Chotila.
"Acting on specific information, the Gujarat ATS team has nabbed two suspected terrorists having links with ISIS," Anti-Terrorism Squad's Deputy Superintendent of Police K K Patel said.
Gun powder, local made bombs with battery and masks to hide their identity were recovered from the two men, Patel said, adding the police also seized computers in which objectionable and prohibited content was found.
"They were in touch with ISIS operatives outside the country through Twitter and other social media networks," the officer said.
ATS Superintendent of Police Himanshu Shukla said, "It is true that Chotila Temple was on their target. But we cannot give further details at this stage keeping in mind further investigations."
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), earlier this month, had arrested a Kerala resident in connection with the ongoing probe into the ISIS module.
Meanwhile, Dr Ramamurthy Kosanam, an Indian National, who was abducted by ISIS terrorists in Libya, revealed on Saturday that the terror group has a "lot of interest" in India and wants to take over.
Kosanam was rescued from the clutches of ISIS after Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj perused the case rigorously and intervened personally. He was under captivity for close to a year and half.
(With inputs from PTI)
EAST HELENA Heather Ireland sees herself as fortunate.
Shes been able to return here after 10 years living on the East Coast because she wanted to raise her three children in the town where she was born and raised.
Her employer, Boilermakers Local Lodge 11 where shes the office manager, share her value for this town that sits in the shadow of Montanas capital city yet prizes its identity and community spirit that were born of a smelter thats now long gone.
Sitting at her desk, the daily life of her hometown passes on the street and sidewalk just outside the offices door. The front door to the building is open on this warm February afternoon and the mutter of motors from slow-moving traffic on Main Street is close, as are the footsteps of people on the sidewalk.
I work for an amazing group of individuals that believe in doing good in the community, Ireland, 41, said. When I took this job that was important to me, and they have always respected that about me.
Shes the vice president of the East Helana Parents and Teachers Organization, a member of the East Helena infrastructure committee working on an elementary school expansion, and part of the communitys high school initiative thats seeking legislative support for a local vote on becoming a kindergarten through 12th grade school district.
It would just allow local control, allow us a vote on whether or not we want to build a high school and educate our kids, the 9 through 12 grades, she said.
The Friends of East Helena, the organization that hosts the annual Christmas stroll to raise money for construction of a gazebo at Main Street Park, count on her for support too.
With some $12,000 now in the bank, a fundraiser with the Fraternal Order of Eagles 4040 lodge is planned to raise the remainder of the money so it can be built soon, Ireland said, and added weve been working on raising money for a long time.
She is working to bring a PFLAG (Parents And Friends of Lesbians and Gays) chapter to the county. The idea for PFLAG began in 1972 when a mother marched with her son in New York's Christopher Street Liberation Day March, the precursor to today's Pride parade, according to the organizations website. Incorporation with nonprofit, tax-exempt status came in 1980.
Lewis and Clark County does not have a chapter, she said. Butte does, Billings does. So Im working to bring a Lewis and Clark chapter to the area.
Her involvement, she explained, came from her sons coming out as gay four years ago.
When I was looking around for resources for him, I found that there is nothing so I decided to fill the need.
Ireland is currently leading a group of local residents who are concerned with suicide prevention. The East Helena Suicide Prevention and Awareness Coalition is organizing an Out of the Darkness walk for Saturday, April 29. The walks are held through the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Of the seven suicides among high school students in Helena in the last three years, five of those students were from East Helena, she said.
Community priorities
Its not recognition that compels Ireland, who explained her volunteerism in terms of a desire that children have a safe place to play, and her support for the local school district.
Main Street Park already contains a legacy of her volunteerism: its new playground. She worked with Mayor James Schell on the project that brought together Helenas Playable Playgrounds, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana and KaBOOM!, a nonprofit organization whose website says that it helped communities build more than 16,700 playgrounds.
More than 300 volunteers showed up to build the playground on a cold, rainy August day in 2014, said Ireland, who added It was the most amazing thing Ive ever been a part of.
Her current array of community involvement is less than it has been.
I kind of had to prioritize because I was spreading myself a little too thin, she said.
So if it has to do with children and it has to do with East Helena, Im usually involved.
One or two days a month, Ireland can be found volunteering her time reading to her daughters class.
My job has been keeping me pretty busy, but Ive always tried to volunteer in my childrens classrooms, she said. Its one of my favorite things to do. I just love being around the children, and I love knowing who my children are being educated with every day, knowing the teachers.
We have an amazing school district so its great to be a part of it, she added.
Filling unmet needs
The office phone rings with a soft bubbling tone, but others working elsewhere answer it for her. For this she is appreciative. Its another example of how the local union supports her community involvement.
I believe in my community, she said. I enjoy doing things to help. If I see a need, I fill it. Its one of the things I guess I do for myself: giving back to others. And Im very fortunate in what I have.
Theres so many good things to be done that I really enjoy doing it, she said.
Her mother, Diana Melton, who lives in East Helena, raised five children. Ireland was the youngest. Melton didnt have much opportunity for volunteerism in addition to raising the family, and she also worked for the Eagles Manor. After 20 some years there, she went to work as a secretary at the Center for Mental Health.
Ireland traces her volunteerism to her children.
For me, it was something about becoming a parent that I just became really focused on making my little piece of the world better for my family and for my friends, she said.
Ireland is a single mother with three children and calls her mother her biggest supporter, someone who gave to family and friends when she could.
I wouldnt be able to do the things that I do if it werent for her, she explained.
The network of friends and family in East Helena helped Melton raise her five children in a two-bedroom home and still be able to work, Ireland said.
East Helena is a very close community, more so back then. And she was always surrounded by people who helped lift her up and supported her.
Integrity, honesty, seeing the positive side of things and acceptance of all are qualities Ireland carries from her mothers lessons.
I believe that my mother is 100 percent responsible for making me the person that I am today, Ireland said. The love and support that shes always provided me.
Ireland shares her mothers concern for children and said she wants other of the towns children to be able to find the support and resources that her children have found.
Shared experiences
East Helena is a town of shared experiences, part of the fabric of daily life thats woven together by genuine concern for the communitys future and the willingness of many to make the future a reality.
Every single person here, back when I was growing up, had or knew somebody or had a family member that worked there. It was our livelihood. Everything kind of revolved around the smelter, she said.
These shared experiences bind residents together and people will stop by her office to talk about issues facing their town, she said.
Even without the smelter, the town has not faded. Its identity has not withered.
East Helena remains a place where the communitys strength can easily be measured. The playground at Main Street Park speaks to what this town means to its residents. The care they take in their homes tells of civic pride too.
Residential lots are cozy, and the closeness of these single-family homes is a place where neighbors are just that -- they know one another and arent strangers to each other.
Its easy to understand East Helenas importance to Ireland, who explained, I grew up around people who knew exactly who I was, who my parents were, where I lived. There is a wonderful sense of community. There is definitely a sense of small town pride, its infectious. The community has always been so supportive.
I believe East Helena has shown me that there is beauty in simplicity, and has provided me with a sense of unity. It shaped the way I address people, the way I smile at everyone I pass by, and the way I work hard and do my best to give back, she said.
Volunteerism, she said, gives her joy.
I like knowing that Im somehow making a difference. Its what I enjoy doing.
There are a lot of people out there that are doing little things that are making a difference, she added.
The occasional moments when she questions the worth of her work are offset by online messages, comments and notes that reaffirm its value.
Whenever Im frustrated or wondering if its time well spent, Im always given a little reminder that it absolutely is, she said. If its making a difference to one person than its enough for me.
This is her town where shared experiences bind its residents to one another. The school superintendent, Ron Whitmoyer, was her eighth grade math teacher, and other of the schools teachers from that time still teach East Helenas children.
Im living on the same property that I was born and raised on, she said.
Even if the house is different, the property is the same. Her children play in the same yard where she played as a little girl. Some of the neighbors are even the same.
I like that my kids are playing in the same yard. We take pictures by the same tree, she said.
Being among family and friends, again a part of her hometown, provides her with happiness.
Its home, she said. Its my home.
/Kerala/New Delhi: Hafesudheen Theke Koleth, one of the 21 people who went missing from Kerala and suspected of joining the Islamic State, has been reportedly killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan.
A source in the Indian High Commission in Kabul confirmed to CNN-News18 that the information appears to be correct and it is trying to establish a connection with the local agencies there.
Hafesudheen's relative, Mohammad Aslam PV, told CNN-News18 that Hafesudheen's mother had received "a telegram message" on an app stating he had been killed in a drone strike.
"When they inquired further, they were told that his body had already been cremated," he said. The family received this message from Hafesudheen's friend, Ashfaq.
However, when asked about the veracity of this message, Mohammad said: "I dont think anybody will give wrong information regarding the death a mothers only son. Earlier, also they used to communicate with the family and share various experiences."
Hafesudheen, 22, had left his home saying he wanted to study the Quran in Calicut. However, two days later, he sent another message informing that he was going to Sri Lanka for further studies.
Before the festival of Eid, the family received another message from its only son that he won't be returning now. Hafesudheens father Abdul Hakim had earlier told CNN-News18 that he spoke to his son the last time on June 28, 2016.
"Before Eid, he sent us a message saying 'I am now get the Jannat, here no tax, no Sharia law, nobody here catching me, very good place (Sic)'," Hakim said.
Hakim, however, had no idea where his son was going after abandoning his family and friends. "I don't know. He didn't say anything. He just said that he wanted to study and teach the Quran."
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) team is all set to file a closure report against two Pakistani schoolboys, who were detained in connection with Uri terror attack.
The aforementioned boys, Ahasan Kursheed and Faisal Hussain Awan, were detained by Indian army on September 21, 3 days after Uri attack and then handed over to NIA. "The closure report is likely to be filed next week," a source confirmed to CNN news18.
However, a source in the NIA also claimed that the boys had strayed into the Indian side on the Line of control (LoC), and will be handed over to Pakistan once the court formalities are over.
Tensions have been simmering between India and Pakistan along the LoC ever since the four heavily-armed fidayeen attacked an Indian post on September 18, 2016, leaving 19 soldiers dead and 20 injured.
Soon after the attack, the army claimed that the attack was carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and that Ahasan and Faisal had confessed to being the members of the group. The army also said the teenagers had confessed that were guides for the 4 terrorists, who had carried out the attack.
The NIA investigation has now established that the attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba and not JeM. On condition of anonymity, NIA officers, who are part of the investigation, said these boys are schoolgoers from the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) -- who could have crossed over inadvertently, and then confessed under duress.
NIA is likely to mention in its closure report that Uri attackers used GPS sets to reach the brigade headquarters and not a human guide as preliminary investigations had suggested.
In October 2016, NIA had claimed that Awan identified one of the four slain terrorists as Hafiz Ahmad, of Dharbang village, Murree in Pakistan. But investigators say that identity of only one terrorist has been conclusively established, based on funeral prayers of Lashkar.
Lashkar has claimed responsibility for Uri and held prayers for Gujranwala resident Muhammad Anas, code-named Abu Siraqa, who was killed in Uri attack.
If the closure report is accepted by the NIA court, India could send the two teenagers back to Pakistan as a reciprocation for the release of Indian soldier Chandu Chavan, who was recently released by Pakistan, after he crossed over inadvertently, post-surgical strike.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday left for New Delhi where he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Senior AIADMK MPs and government officials also accompanied Palaniswami who is on his maiden visit to Delhi after assuming the office of Chief Minister, sources said.
During his meeting with Modi, Palaniswami is likely to take up various issues, including exempting Tamil Nadu from NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and seeking funds to address damage caused by cyclone 'Vardah', among others.
Palaniswami had a brief interaction with Modi at Coimbatore on February 24 when he had arrived in the city to inaugurate the bust of Adiyogi.
Palaniswami was sworn in as Chief Minister on February 16.
"Veerappan had a very cost-effective 'I-Com' wireless set - similar to the equipment employed by the LTTE, among others - that allowed him to tune into the STF's communications," says Kumar.
"They had never seen so many STF men per square inch. The six-member teams were too small to stage a massive raid, but were big enough to strike into the enemy's comfort zone and wreck his peace of mind," he writes. The square deployment was done after some incidents of friendly fire and poor communication as many small STF teams were milling around in a small swathe.
: Forest brigand Veerappan could identify the personnel of Tamil Nadu STF hunting for him simply by listening to their voices and the force had to come up with a 'no-word-only-number' solution to foil his attempts.This and several other interesting details of techniques adopted during the operation by the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force (STF), which planned and executed his killing, and also about the bandit find mention in a new book."Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand" by K Vijay Kumar, the man who spearheaded Operation Cocoon, describes in detail the ruthless killings and high-profile kidnappings masterminded by Veerappan, including the 108-day ordeal involving Kannada superstar Rajkumar.Published by Rupa, the book relives the various incidents that shaped Veerappan's life - from his birth in Gopinatham in 1952 to his death in 2004 in the shootout in Padi."His gang members had revealed in many a debriefing post-surrender that he could identify our personnel simply by listening to their voices. He particularly enjoyed the very chaste Tamil spoken by (Inspector) Karuppusamy. The bandit had apparently laughed heartily when an SP of the STF was nearly washed away in a flash flood," he writes.But now Veerappan was flummoxed to hear only numbers and no words after the STF came up with a simple solution to counter his listening in."The over 60-sq-km that fell within these 16 squares were divided into smaller squares. Then we superimposed an imaginary clock on the overall square for easy reference. We used clock positions to refer to our locations, which were easily understood by our teams, but not by others listening in.In this October 19, 2004, file photo, members of the special police force examine the vehicle, in which bandit Koose Muniswamy Veerappan was travelling, after a gun battle in Dharmapuri, 140 km (87 miles) south of Bangalore. (Photo: Reuters)"At a loss to understand the barrage of numbers, Veerappan now had to constantly worry about the direction of a possible attack by the STF. To add to his misery, the teams would sometimes deliberately lapse back into Tamil and pretend to have spotted his couriers, even when they hadnt. Veerappan was always on the edge. After all, we were messing with his mind," writes Kumar.Another STF innovation, he says, was the use of LCD on caps during night patrol."LCDs, available in TV remotes, are invisible to the naked eye, but when seen through night-vision devices, they glow like stars. When the teams maintained strict radio silence at night, this innovation proved crucial in differentiating friend from foe," he says.According to Kumar, Veerappan's spies, who tracked the movement of any man or beast in their neighborhood, were rattled by STF's new tactics."The issue was resolved by extensive training and demarcation of responsibilities. The area was divided into 16 squares of 2 km by 2 km, with a kitchen for every six squares. Each square was allocated to two six-member teams - one on stand-to and the other on standby mode."In the STF's long history, teams had never had such small and well-defined turfs. Each team was in constant contact with the others. It was understood that if Veerappan attacked any team, the other 30 would rush in to its aid in overwhelming force," says Kumar.
Why hate speech isn't funny. Language has consequences.
Thread https://t.co/2IQaxf9kUi J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 25, 2017
I am shocked by the murder of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Kansas, and want to share some things I learned reporting on a similar crime in Texas. Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) February 25, 2017
Known for her political thoughts and opinions, celebrated writer JK Rowling has condemned the recent Kansas shooting where an Indian engineer was shot to death by a white man. Being touted as a hate crime, Rowling reportedly slammed US President Donald Trump indirectly for spreading and supporting such hate.Retweeting Indian Author Anand Giridhardas' tweet on Kansan crime, Rowling wrote, "Why hate speech isn't funny. Language has consequences". The author brought to light Giridhardas' thread of tweets where he has expressed and explained how it greatly matters what politicians says.Giridhardas has slammed the White House for denying and links between the shooting and President Trump's rhetoric on immigrants. JK Rowling has given her support to Giridhardas, clearly hinting that she too believes that Trump's hate words have affected the criminal in one way or other.The shooting has prompted cHioncern that Trump's stance on immigration and jobs has fueled a climate of intolerance.
As the world gears up for the glittering Oscar awards ceremony that is to take place in less than 24 hours from now, all eyes are on who will take home the coveted trophy. While awards favourite La La Land is likely to take home the maximum Oscars, a small film called Lion is what India will be rooting for the most. And perhaps celebrate the most if its lead actor, Dev Patel, wins the Best Supporting Actor award for his sublime performance as the confused, seeking Saroo.Set in India and Australia, Lion narrates the story of Saroo, who, as a child gets separated from his family one fateful night and finds himself lost in the crowded city of Calcutta, unsure on how to return back to his ammi and his elder brother Guddu. Months later, having been picked up by an adoption agency, Saroo is sent to Tasmania to his new home and parents, an Australian couple who raise him as their own. And while Saroo calls himself an Australian when he grows up, his memories of India and his home keep haunting him. With the help of Google Earth, Saroo traces back to his roots and his mother. Based on the real life incident of Saroo Brierley, the film boasts an impeccable line of actors.Nicole Kidman, Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Priyanka Bose make Lion the most heartwarming film with their genuine performances.While the film has some very good actors, its ultimately a film that showcases Dev Patels talent. Dev delivers a restrained performance in the film and makes Saroo and his pain real and almost relatable. Many of us may not have gone through what Saroo did, yet somewhere the yearning to be to find his biological mother, his family and his actual home is a feeling that a lot of us can identify with. Patels performance is pitch perfect from being the anxious Australian youth to finally coming home and meeting his mother 25 years later the actors performance is bound to bring tears to ones eyes. Poignant, heartwarming and very real, Patel deserves all accolades for his performance. Yet will he be the first Indian actor to win the Golden statue?It is a well-known fact that India has had very poor representation at the Oscars. In the nearly nine decades of its existence, the Academy has honoured only 5 Indians with the award. Out of those, none are for acting which is why Dev Patels nomination itself is a landmark. The actor is the first true-blue Indian to have achieved such a feat. Previously Sir Ben Kingsley held this coveted place but he is only half-Indian. So on 26th night, if Patel wins, it is truly going to be a historic win not just for the 28-year-old actor, but also for India.Patels strongest competition comes from actor Mahasher Ali, who has been nominated for his thought provoking role in Moonlight. The odds are bent towards Ali no doubt, as he has lapped up most of the other awards in this category with Patel only beating him in BAFTA and AACTA International Awards.The nominations this year has been the most diverse at the Oscars. Having received severe criticism in the past years for being white, the Academy has included African- American as well as Asian actors within the nominee list. Considering the political climate of America right now, and the fact that most film personalities are being vocal in their criticism for the government, the Academys final list of winners is expected to be diverse as well. Bets are being made for Denzel Washington and Viola Davis winning for their performance in Fences. And pundits have also predicted that Hidden Figures, a movie about three African-American women creating history in NASA, may just clinch the Best Film trophy. In an attempt to make it diverse, the Academy will take extra efforts to honour and recognise talents of coloured actors. But where does India stand? Indias only representation is through Lion- a film that comprises of many Indian actors who have not been acknowledged at all, apart from Patels Best Supporting Actor nomination of course.While the film is beautiful story a mans journey back to his roots, the film also scores over for highlighting poverty of a third world country. Unfortunate truth but the Academy and Hollywood at large tends to focus on Indias poverty more. Slumdog Millionaire, Salaam Bombay and Lagaan are just few of the examples of how Indias poverty has time and again fascinated the Academy and made them notice our films. All stories of hardship and triumph over odds, films that glorify the poor and their struggle always manage to strike a chord in the west. And so, Lion might just win big this year.Above all, Patels conviction and ability to bring Saroos pain, struggle and eventual happiness on screen is praise-worthy. A scene where he finally meets his biological mother is so beautifully performed by both Patel and Priyanka Bose that it brings happy tears to ones eyes. The maturity with which Patel handles his character deserves awards, accolades and so much more. And thus, we are rooting for this Brit-Indian boy to get his hands on the trophy.
In Rangoon, Vishal Bhardwaj strives to pull off what may well be his most ambitious film yet. He places a bold love triangle against the backdrop of Indias freedom struggle, but its layered with all the sly nods, delicious dialogue, and rollicking music that one has come to associate with his cinema.The film is marvellous to look at too, powered by evocative photography from Pankaj Kumar, a clutch of Broadway-style music numbers, and those pitch-perfect locations (never sets!) that serve as a fitting landscape for the drama to unfold. Problem is that the plot itself is dense and overcrowded with multiple storylines. The first hour is pure set-up, and its set-up at a leaden pace.Thankfully, we get compelling protagonists in Julia, a Fearless Nadia-style action heroine who is the mistress of a top producer Russi Billimoria, himself a former star who gave up the arclights after a crippling accident. Then there is the man in fatigues, Jamadar Nawab Malik, a soldier in the Indian army whom Julia falls for when he is assigned as her military escort on her visit to the Indo-Burma border to entertain the troops.Because this is a Vishal Bhardwaj film, there is more to these characters than what is immediately visible on the surface. Julia (Kangana Ranaut) is a swashbuckling femme fatale, but shes putty in the hands of her mentor. Russi (Saif Ali Khan), who is a British sympathiser, spouts love and affection for Julia, but never for a moment lets her forget that he practically owns her, having bought her from her mother at the age of 14 for a thousand bucks. Nawab (Shahid Kapoor) is hiding secrets of his own; dangerous secrets that must be fiercely guarded.All three actors inhabiting these roles are in particularly good form. Saif imbues Russi with the swagger and the arrogance of an aristocrat from the forties. Shahid plays the righteous patriot with remarkable maturity, and his understated approach to the part is a joy to watch. But the scene-stealer is Kangana in the role of Julia, a woman who loves as fiercely as she spars. For evidence of her incredible range just watch how she goes from playful and comic to deeply emotional in that terrific pre-intermission drunken scene in the mud with Shahid. Its hard to take your eyes off her each time shes on the screen.But Rangoon is overlong at 167 minutes, and indulgent to the point of exhaustion. The writing is occasionally clunky, particularly the overwrought climax on a suspension bridge between India and Burma. The films most crippling blow, however, is the caricaturish antagonist, an Urdu-spouting British major (Richard McCabe) who inspires unintentional laughs instead of genuine menace.In the end, the film is neither entirely satisfying as a compelling romance, nor as a stirring patriotic drama about the role of the Indian National Army in Indias freedom struggle. Vishal makes an ambitious attempt to deliver a sweeping epic, but on a scale of Saat Khoon Maaf to Maqbool, this one sits somewhere in between. Im going with two and a half out of five.Rating: 2.5/5What's your reactionWrite Your Review
: For 40 years, Amethi has only been losing its maryada but in 2017, the original garima of the constituency will return, echoed the voice of an elderly BJP leader in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. He was addressing the crowd of saffron supporters eagerly waiting for the chopper of Smriti Irani to land in Tikra (Maafi) for the Jan Sabha Sankalp.By drawing parallels between the two ranis, the battle in Amethi regressed from electoral to the personal one and this is because, for the first time, the two Queens are face to face in a battle that is not about property or wealth, but about winning votes. Sanjay Singhs first and estranged wife, Garima Singh, contesting elections on BJP ticket and his second wife Ameeta Singh, who has been an MLA on past occasions is contesting on Congress ticket.Ever since the two have come together in the political fray, there has been a profusion of personal attacks in campaigns lending another dimension to Amethis electoral battle. In this sabha, we heard - maryada, garima, asli rani, maharani aur nurse, Bharat ki sanskriti and charitravan, to garner sympathy votes for the estranged wife of Singh.People watch as Union Minister Smriti Irani's helicopter lands in Amethi. (Eram Agha/News18.com)While there was time for Irani to land a BJP leader Jamuna Prasad referred to Ameetas tenure in the constituency as Nakli rani ka tandav, going a step ahead was SP Singh Baghel, president of BJP OBC Morcha, he said, Ek khoobsurat nurse se badsoorat maa achchi hai. Clearly signaling who is better for the constituency and why.Tej Bhan Singh, from the saffron party said, She has suffered many attacks was replaced by another woman. Janta was watching everything and since they are attached to the parivar they will be thinking about its honor and pride, it is their personal battle and we are seeing it as nyay ki ladaai. The nyay or justice here means to make the real rani win and get her justice by voting for her, said farmer at the sabha. Keshav Prasad Singh, BJP mahamantri added, woh vanchit rahi apne adhikar se. The first rani has a very good charitra and is sanskari.Congress leader Sanjay Singh (Courtesy: Eram Agha/News18.com)On the other hand, in Congress sadan the party supporters said that their discourse cannot stoop to such levels where personal matters will be drawn in, We are not really worried about the sympathy votes because the same people earlier voted Ameeta ji to power. She has worked very hard to win this seat four times over. On the other hand the sympathy factor cannot be dismissed completely, it might affect our votes in some way said a Congress worker on anonymity.Ameeta lost to Samajwadi Partys Gayatri Prajapati who won 58,434 votes while Ameeta got 49,674. The workers are confident she will win this time as the current MLA and SP candidate Prajapati has been shunned publicly for the charges on him, and public has several times voted for the second wife, so why not this time? Deepak Singh, Congress worker said, The first rani is being seen now after decades, she has no connect with the people here and was always in Lucknow. Garima ji is mixing her personal battle with the elections. She is coming on stage and demanding nyay votes are for performance not for pity. What can janta do here?
Varanasi: The joint roadshow of Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav in Varanasi, scheduled for Monday, has been postponed.
AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik said the roadshow has been postponed due to some "unavoidable reasons", with elaborating.
The joint roadshow of Congress vice-president Gandhi and SP president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yadav, scheduled for February 11, had earlier been postponed in view of large numbers of pilgrims visiting the temple town on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti.
The roadshow was later scheduled for tomorrow.
Wasnik said the revised date of the joint roadshow would be finalised soon.
A senior Congress leader said Gandhi would address a public meeting in the Pindra Assembly constituency of Varanasi district on March 2 in favour of Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance candidate Ajay Rai.
Rai is the sitting Congress MLA from the Pindra Assembly seat.
Varanasi goes to poll in the last of the seven-phase Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh on March 8.
Leaked image of Samsung Galaxy Tab S3. (Image: Technobuffalo)
Leaked image of Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 with Keyboard. (Image: Technobuffalo)
Samsungs most awaited release for the year 2017 is Samsung Galaxy S8. Yet the company is not going to launch the featured smartphone in the biggest event of the mobile industry.Samsung has other plans for Mobile World Congress, 2017. The company is set to release Samsung Galaxy Tab S3, images and specifications of which have already been leaked on the internet.Reports predict that Samsungs new tablet will include Samsung Notes App. Also, as the images show, the Tab will support a Stylus along with it, which looks just like Microsoft Surface Pen.The Stylus support means that the company is aiming at making Galaxy Tab S3 a device to promote content creation.Though it is still unclear whether the Stylus will be included in the package or will have to be purchased separately.As the images suggest, Galaxy Tab S3 will include AKG audio support, a company known for making headphones, microphones and wireless audio systems.In terms of specs, earlier reports suggest that the device will sport a 9.6-inch Super AMOLED with 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution. It will be powered by a Snapdragon 820 processor and will run on 4GB of RAM. There might be two variants with 32GB and 128GB of internal storage.The Tab is predicted to run on Android 7.0 Nougat with TouchWiz UX. On the camera front, the Tab might come with a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera.As per the reports, the Tab might weigh 429 grammes, house a 6,000 mAh battery with Fast charging and come with connectivity options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE and some accessory ports.Samsungs keyboard accessory for the Tab might be sold as a separate unit and will be connected to the tablet by pogo pins.
With Montanas abundant wildlife and natural resources, Montanas lawmakers have been steadily working through their usual slew of bills covering hunting, fishing, recreation, access and management.
As the Legislature reaches its halfway point, here is an update on some of the sessions most talked-about legislation.
Hunting and wildlife
SB237 'Hunter Pink'
The Senate Fish and Game Committee generated significant feedback from the public when it introduced a committee bill to allow big game hunters to choose between pink or the now required hunter orange.
This bill is not about fashion despite what the media reports may have honed in on, Sen. Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls said. Blaze pink is an attractive color to many women and maybe some men. But it is a color with high visibility.
Despite the committee introducing SB237, some committee members citied concerns raised by constituents about color-blindness before voting against and then tabling the bill.
HB367 'Predator Checkoff Program'
Brought by Rep. Becky Beard, R-Elliston, the bill creates a new checkoff that hunters can opt into when purchasing licenses. Hunters can donate $1 or more to help reduce the impact of wolves on landowners and livestock producers, with funding going to lethal management programs.
HB367 passed out of committee and passed with solid support in House floor votes. It has been referred to the Senate Fish and Game Committee.
SB111 'Prohibit Feed of Wild Turkeys'
Regier brought the bill out of concerns about congregations of fed turkeys causing public nuisances and wildlife groups added concerns about disease spread and domestication.
With an amendment that would lift restrictions on feeding turkeys where it does not cause a conflict, SB111 has sailed through the Senate virtually unopposed.
HB286 'Include Mountain Lions for Livestock Loss Compensation'
Montanas Livestock Loss Board was created to compensate livestock predation from wolves and grizzly bears. Although limited funding has been cited as a concern, adding mountain lion predation to the program passed the House with wide majorities.
SB91 'Clarifying Hunting From a Vehicle'
While separate laws make shooting from designated highways illegal, the bill would define hunting from private roads as being physically outside the vehicle and having two feet on the ground.
SB91 spurred some debate about hunter ethics, but easily passed the Senate with a 40-9 vote and was heard in a House committee earlier this month.
SB236 'Codifying Right to Hunt, Fish and Trap in Montana Constitution'
Sen. Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, brought the referendum before committee earlier this month. The goals of SB236 are simple, she said: to strengthen protection for hunting fish and trapping, protecting personal property, using scientifically based management and using public sportsmen in that management.
A lively debate saw sportsmen groups divided on the bill, with those opposed concerned about potential litigation. FWPs attorney also testified in opposition, saying the rights are already guaranteed in the Constitution.
The committee has yet to take action on SB236.
HB419 'Allow Shipping of Yellowstone Bison to Fort Peck Tribe Facility'
HB419 was brought by Rep. Willis Curdy, D-Missoula, who has 70 years of experience working with livestock. The bill would change the law to allow shipment of diseased bison but keeps shipment authorization under the approval of the state veterinarian and governor, as the Billings Gazette reported.
The bill drew strong support from the tribe but resistance from livestock groups concerned about disease spread to domestic cattle.
The bill was tabled in committee last week.
HJ15 'Resolution Urging Delisting of Grizzly Bears Near Yellowstone'
The debate over federally delisting grizzly bears came to the Capitol in the form of a resolution brought by Rep. Steve Gunderson, R-Libby.
The resolution would put the federal government, which is considering delisting the bruins near Yellowstone National Park, on notice that the Montana Legislature supports the effort.
Proponents and opponents held a lengthy debate on the measure before the House Natural Resources Committee passed it on a 9-6 vote.
SJ8 'Urging Wyoming to Discontinue Artificial Feeding of Elk'
Wyomings feeding program for elk has implications for Montana if a disease, such as chronic wasting disease, permeated due to high concentrations, supporters said.
The resolution passed committee and the full Senate on its way to the House.
Land and agency management
HB324 'Attaching Montana State Parks to FWP Administratively'
Rep. Bradley Hamlett, D-Cascade, said concerns about the treatment of Montana State Parks within FWP led him to bring HB324.
HB324 comes amid major questions about the parks budget and why certain funding went unspent for years. As the bill moved through the House, the appropriations committee has put a zero-based budget on State Parks, meaning all expenses will be scrutinized.
HB454 brought by Rep. Kerry White, R-Bozeman, would move State Parks to the Montana Department of Commerce. The committee has not yet taken action on that bill.
While HB324 has not yet passed the House, it has enjoyed roughly two-thirds support ahead of a final vote.
HB434 'Montana Wildlife Habitat Improvement Act'
Rep. Kelly Flynn, R-Townsend, has perhaps been the most outspoken legislator in recent sessions about the need to fight noxious weeds. HB434 would do just that.
The bill would put up to $2 million in federal excise taxes from firearms and ammunition toward grants to fight weeds in wildlife habitat. The bill drew unanimous support from weed and wildlife managers and the full support of the committee as it heads to the House floor.
HJ9 'Resolution requesting federal government to release wilderness study areas'
Rep. Kerry White, R-Bozeman, carried one of the sessions most controversial measures with a resolution requesting release more than 660,000 acres managed as wilderness into multiple use.
After 40 years, I would like to see them released back to multiple use, White said of seven wilderness study areas originally mapped in the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977. Im a strong proponent of active forest management.
The resolution drew a strong debate between wilderness advocates and those favoring release, including the Montana Petroleum Association and motorized recreationists.
The committee passed the resolution along party lines for consideration on the House floor.
Daylight Saving Time
SB206 is in a category of its own when it comes to natural resource issues. Brought by Sen. Ryan Osmundson, R-Buffalo, the bill exempts Montana from observance of daylight saving time.
Debate over the measure included support from at least one agricultural group and opposition from truck drivers due to scheduling concerns.
While SB206 has drawn significant public interest with those enjoying and hating daylight saving time, the Montana Senate largely embraced the bill, sending it to the House on a 36-14 vote.
Nokia is making a comeback with its range of devices at the Mobile World Congress 2017 (MWC) and one of the most-talked about devices is the indestructible Nokia 3310 that is expected to come with a coloured screen and slimmer frame.
HMD Global the company that has the rights to the Nokia brand on mobile phones, is likely to showcase the Nokia P1 (the flagship phone) along with Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 budget Android smartphones at MWC 2017 tonight.
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Berlin: The German government on Saturday denounced Turkey's detention on terrorism-related charges of a journalist for the Die Welt newspaper, adding its voice to a growing chorus calling for his release.
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.
In an interview published on Saturday by Die Welt, German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said it was "neither necessary nor just to deprive Deniz Yucel of his freedom for this long".
While Gabriel said Turkey had a right to enforce such detention measures under its current state of emergency, he added; "it is now time for the Turkish justice system to make a decision".
Under Turkey's state of emergency, Yucel can be held in police custody for up to 14 days without facing a judge, and prosecutors can then apply for him to be remanded in custody.
"We continue to do all we can to find a solution," Gabriel added.
The foreign minister's statement come a day after 166 lawmakers in the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany's parliament, wrote an open letter to Turkish Ambassador Ali Kemal Aydin calling for Yucel's release.
"Intellectual debate is the best instrument against terrorism, which paradoxically is what he is being accused of," the group wrote.
According to a Die Welt statement at the time of Yucel's detention, the journalist reported on emails the leftist Turkish hacker collective RedHack had acquired from Albayrak's private email account.
"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".
The relationship between Berlin and Ankara has been battered in recent months by a series of rows in the wake of the July 2016 failed coup aimed at ousting Erdogan.
Since that coup attempt, Turkey has clamped down on the press, arresting hundreds of journalists without trial.
About 170 media outlets have been closed and nearly 800 press cards cancelled, according to journalists' associations.
Beijing: Unknown number of people were trapped as a fire broke out in a hotel in China's Jiangxi province on Saturday, firefighters said.
The fire was spotted on the second floor of the HNA Platinum Mix Hotel in Nanchang, Xinhua news agency quoted firefighters as saying.
More than 10 construction workers were working on a decoration project when the fire erupted, said a woman who escaped the blaze.
A man who broke the window to jump from the second floor was injured and rushed to hospital.
The four-storey hotel is connected to a 24-storey apartment building, where people are also found trapped.
About 10 fire tenders were dousing the flames.
Democrats chose Tom Perez, a former Barack Obama cabinet member, as their new leader Saturday, tapping an establishment candidate to lead the fight against US President Donald Trump and claw back the ground lost to Republicans in Congress.With opposition Democrats preparing for crucial 2018 midterm elections and the nation's next presidential race on the distant 2020 horizon, nothing less than the future of the party was seen as being at stake.Perez, a former secretary of labor under Obama and the party's first Hispanic-American leader, named as his deputy the contest's runner-up Keith Ellison -- a progressive representative who has left open the prospect of pushing to impeach Trump."Someday, they're going to study this era in American history... and ask the question, of all of us, where were you in 2017 when we had the worst president in the history of the United States?" the 55-year-old Perez said."And we will all be able to say, the united Democratic party led the resistance, ensured this president was a one-term president and elected Democrats across this country."Ellison, an 53-year-old African American who is the first Muslim elected to the US Congress, warned that "we don't have the luxury to walk out of this room divided."The fight over who would chair the Democratic National Committee (DNC) appeared at times to be a proxy battle between the supporters of two 2016 also-rans: defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her liberal primary rival Bernie Sanders.Perez, who won 235 votes against 200 for Ellison, was seen as the establishment pick.Unlike in other democracies, the leaders of the United States' two main political parties wield relatively little influence on policy, with leading Congressional Democrats and Republicans holding far more clout.But the backstage role is taking on greater significance following Clinton's surprise defeat, with many looking to the chair to take a strong stand in the media and elsewhere fighting Trump.Perez will succeed the DNC's interim chair Donna Brazile, who took over after Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz was forced from the position last summer when leaked emails showed that members of the organization, which pledges neutrality in presidential primaries, favored Clinton over Sanders.A third DNC candidate, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg -- a gay, 35-year-old Rhodes Scholar and military veteran -- dropped out of the race before the vote, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia.Liberal Democrats were quick to pounce on Perez, with progressive group Democracy for America criticizing the "incredibly disappointing result."Choosing Perez "is another missed opportunity for a Democratic Party desperately trying to regain relevance and proves, once again, how out of touch party insiders are with the grassroots movement currently in the streets, on the phone and at town halls nationwide," said the group's chair Jim Dean, an early supporter of Ellison in the race.But Obama, who cast himself in the 2008 elections as the country's "great uniter," called for mending rifts."What unites our party is a belief in opportunity -- the idea that however you started out, whatever you look like, or whomever you love, America is the place where you can make it if you try," he said."I know that Tom Perez will unite us under that banner of opportunity, and lay the groundwork for a new generation of Democratic leadership for this big, bold, inclusive, dynamic America we love so much."Republicans claimed that Perez's victory is an indication of just how much the Democrats have lost touch with the American people.After the vote, Trump offered what appeared to be a tongue-in-cheek congratulations to Perez."I could not be happier for him, or for the Republican Party!" the president wrote on Twitter.Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement that "by selecting a DC insider, Democrats only create deeper divisions within their own party by pushing a far left agenda that rejects a majority of their base outside Washington."During a debate with several DNC candidates late Wednesday, Perez said Democrats needed to "get back to basics" by making house calls in all 50 states and establishing a year-round organizing presence to remind American workers that the Democratic Party represents their values and interests."When we lead with our message, our message of economic opportunity, that's how we win," he said.Perez also warned that Democrats must reform their party's presidential primary system, which he said has created "a crisis of confidence" because of its lack of transparency.He and other candidates, well aware that Democrats lost ground to Republicans in state house and governor races, stressed the need to seed the party with new, young talent.
In a tweet Saturday, Trump wrote: "I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!" He gave no reason for not attending.
President Donald Trump, who has been criticizing the news media and is famously thin-skinned, says he won't be attending the White House Correspondents' Association dinner sparing himself the dubious honor of being an in-the-house target of jokes.The annual fundraiser for college scholarships and venue for reporting awards mixes politicians, journalists and celebrities and is typically attended by the president and first lady. Remarks by a comedian, often roasting the president, and a humorous address by the president himself, often roasting the press and political opponents, have highlighted the event, which C-SPAN has carried live.Trump has long had an adversarial relationship with news media. Since taking office, however, he has stepped up his criticism by accusing some prominent news outlets of publishing "fake news" and calling them "the enemy of the American People!"Trump had been a regular at the WHCA dinner in recent years, befitting his celebrity status as a reality TV star and beauty pageant owner. He skipped the dinner in April 2016, which came amid the presidential campaign and was the last of the dinners in which President Barack Obama was the honored guest. That didn't mean Trump wasn't the butt of jokes. At one point Obama told guests that Trump "has spent years meeting with leaders from around the world Miss Sweden, Miss Argentina, Miss Azerbaijan."If he attended the dinner Trump would be a prime target of jokes, the camera showing his reaction to one-liners. In 2011, he was on hand and appeared humiliated as Obama lobbed joke after joke at his expense. At the time Trump was a proponent of the debunked claim that Obama wasn't born in the US.In a statement following Trump's tweet, WHCA President Jeff Mason said: "The WHCA takes note of President Donald Trump's announcement on Twitter that he does not plan to attend the dinner, which has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic."
Washington: A bold Hijab-wearing Muslim ex- White House staffer of Bangladeshi-origin has said she quit her job after US President Donald Trump announced his controversial travel ban, lasting just eight days in the new administration.
Rumana Ahmed was hired in 2011 to work at the White House and eventually the National Security Council (NSC).
"My job there was to promote and protect the best of what my country stands for. I am a hijab-wearing Muslim woman I was the only hijabi in the West Wing and the Obama administration always made me feel welcome and included," she wrote in an article published in The Atlantic.
Ahmed said that like most of her fellow American-Muslims, she spent much of 2016 watching with "consternation" as Trump "vilified our community".
"Despite this or because of it I thought I should try to stay on the NSC staff during the Trump Administration, in order to give the new president and his aides a more nuanced view of Islam, and of America's Muslim citizens.
"I lasted eight days. When Trump issued a ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries and all Syrian refugees, I knew I could no longer stay and work for an administration that saw me and people like me not as fellow citizens, but as a threat," she said.
Ahmed said the evening before she left her job at the White House, she notified Trump's senior National Security Council (NSC) communications adviser, Michael Anton, of her decision.
"His initial surprise, asking whether I was leaving government entirely, was followed by silence -- almost in caution, not asking why. I told him anyway," she wrote.
"I told him I had to leave because it was an insult walking into this country's most historic building every day under an administration that is working against and vilifying everything I stand for as an American and as a Muslim," Ahmed said.
She told Anton that the administration was attacking the basic tenets of democracy. She said Anton just looked at her and said nothing.
Ahmed, whose parents immigrated to the US from Bangladesh in 1978, said inspired by then president Barack Obama, she joined the White House in 2011, after graduating from the George Washington University.
"The days I spent in the Trump White House were strange, appalling and disturbing," she wrote.
Ahmed's personal account comes amid a spike in incidents of intimidation and assault targeting hijab-wearing women across the US following Trump's electoral triumph.
Islamabad: Pakistan's national carrier said on Sunday it would investigate allegations that a plane flew from Karachi to Saudi Arabia carrying seven extra passengers, but denied they stood in the aisles for the three-hour journey.
The probe was ordered after a report in the English-language daily Dawn.
The paper said the January 20 flight to Medina carried 416 passengers, seven more than its capacity of 409 including jump seats, in a serious breach of air safety regulations.
The newspaper quoted sources as saying that in the case of an emergency, passengers without seats would not have access to oxygen masks and could block any emergency evacuation.
Pakistan International Airlines' spokesman Danyal Gilani said media reports that some passengers travelled standing "are exaggerated and baseless. It is not possible for anyone to travel like that in an aircraft, regardless of the duration of the flight."
But he said: "The matter pertaining to the travel of more passengers than the booked load...is under investigation," and the airline had ordered a "thorough probe into it, and all concerned are being questioned".
"PIA is committed to ensure that the safety of the passengers and cannot allow any incident to happen which compromises safety," he added.
It was the latest embarrassing incident for the airline, considered a global leader until the 1970s but plagued by controversies over recent years and saddled with billions of dollars of debt.
A PIA turboprop built by European manufacturer ATR plummeted into a mountain in a northern region on December 7, bursting into flames and killing all 47 people on board.
The airline was later mocked after its staff were photographed sacrificing a goat on a runway to ward off bad luck.
Domestic flights are often delayed for VIPs while flight employees have been caught smuggling goods ranging from iPhones to narcotics.
In 2013 one of its pilots was jailed for nine months in Britain for being drunk before he was due to fly from Leeds to Islamabad with 156 people on board.
APPOMATTOX Members of the Appomattox County School Board were briefed on three different state funding scenarios for its Fiscal Year 2018 budget and approved the 2017-18 calendar at its regular meeting Thursday.
The school district staff created three funding scenarios as a result of slightly different budgets that have been released by the Governors Office, House of Delegates and Senate. A final budget was approved by the General Assembly on Saturday.
The Virginia Department of Education plans to release the state funding numbers for localities on Wednesday, said Bruce McMillian, director of finance and human resources.
The priorities and estimated costs for the school division are covering increased Virginia Retirement System payments, $185,000; a pay raise for employees; adding a horticulture teacher, $50,000; tuition assistance for teachers, $25,000; covering additional health insurance costs for employees, $100,000; and adding one more teacher, $50,000.
Last years priorities including a 2 percent raise for employees, hiring two teachers, increasing the amount of employer-paid health insurance, a full-time assistant principal at Appomattox Primary School and leasing or purchasing three new buses. All were approved and included in the $5.7 million budget.
Appomattox schools have an average daily membership of 2,180 students.
Depending on which percentage the General Assembly approves, the school boards request for funding could be between $5.9 million and $6.1 million, including all priorities.
The school board and county supervisors will have a joint meeting March 16 to discuss the budget.
The budget passed Saturday by the General Assembly included money for a 2 percent raise for teachers, as well as 2 percent for sheriffs deputies and other state-supported local employees.
It is unclear how much of the costs for the pay raise will be from state funding or local funding, McMillian said.
Two percent sounds reasonable to ask the board of supervisors its our job to ask the board of supervisors what we think we need, said School Board Chairman Bobby Waddell.
Vice Chairman Greg Smith added he would love to give a 3 percent pay raise but wants to wait for the final numbers from the state.
If the state funding numbers are released by the expected dates, the school board could approve its FY 2018 budget at its interim meeting March 9. If the timeline is moved, the budget may be approved at the school boards March 23 meeting.
In other business, for its unanimously approved school calendar, Appomattox County Public Schools would have one of the earliest start dates of the region.
The 2017-2018 school year will start on Aug. 8 and end on May 24.
The calendar was created by a committee comprised of two staff members from each county school.
I asked the principals to send me the most vocal people [on calendars]. Its interesting for them to see theres no easy way to splice 180 days, said Annette Bennett, director of curriculum and instruction, during a presentation to the school board.
Two draft calendars came out of that committee, one with a start date of Aug. 7 and the second with Aug. 8, Bennett said.
After the two options came out of committee, it was sent out as a survey to parents and school staff.
The survey was sent to 3,477 parents via email and the schools mobile app. Only 242 responded and 57 percent of those favored an Aug. 8 start date.
Out of 511 school staff members, 127 took the survey and 69 percent favored that option.
Campbell County supervisors and planning commission members have indicated they want to remove the time limit on temporary signs after 44 complaints about violations to the sign ordinance came to the zoning administrator.
The planning commission will hold a public hearing on removing the 120-day time limit for temporary signs at its March 27 meeting. A second public hearing will be part of supervisors April 4 meeting; supervisors are expected to vote that evening on the change.
Supervisors and members of the planning commission, at a joint meeting Tuesday prompted by sign ordinance violations, agreed to pursue the code change. The current time limit was extended to 120 days from 60 days following an annual code update in July 2016. The latest proposed change would eliminate the time limit altogether.
The change would no longer require a permit for a sign to be up longer than 120 days. Temporary signs related to construction would fall under the county building departments authority and road signs are under the Virginia Department of Transportation.
At Tuesdays meeting,Rustburg Supervisor Eric Zehr requested letters be sent to all complainees, letting them know the county isconsidering amending the sign ordinance. In the meantime, the letter said, enforcement of the time limit will be on hold.
About 21 of the 44 complaints have come into compliance with county code; 23 cases still are unresolved.
Community Development Director Paul Harvey said the county typically received about one sign complaint a year.
Zoning Administrator Carter Tatum is the only staff member handling the complaints.
The zoning department only investigates violations if a complaint is made or is seen by Campbell County staff, a policy put in place by the Board of Supervisors decades ago.
The recent complaints were mostly about businesses' temporary signs advertising sales or nonprofits asking for donations.
Concord Volunteer Fire Department was one of the agencies that received a sign complaint.
I know Concord Fire Department got a note to take their sign down. Here is a group of people working for the county I suspect the sign has been up 30 years or more. I cant understand how we would go after the fire department, who is working for us for nothing, Richard Metz, chairman of the county planning commission, said at the meeting.
Bryan Spitzer, with the Concord VFD, said via email Thursday it was sad enough the department had to take down its sign asking for donations, but after the sign was removed, it was stolen from its back lot.
This was a valuable resource for the fire department to help raise money since we are 100 percent volunteer, he said.
At Tuesdays meeting,Spring Hill Supervisor Jim Borland asked if county residents are aware of the sign ordinance currently in place.
People just do what they assume is right. I suppose a few people who look online or if someone complains, they find out, Harvey said.
The 44 complaints recently lodged all came from one person, Harry Shelton of Rustburg, who set out to make a point that his sign was no different from others across the county. More sign violations were found during the investigation into the complaints, according to Harvey.
"Are we guilty of someone wagging the dog or using government to club their neighbors, point out our inconsistencies? We need to think of are there potential unintended consequences," said William Kirk, a planning commission member.
Shelton had a sign nailed to a tree in his yard advertising free state inspections for veterans and police officers and was told to take it down after the county received a complaint about the sign.
Harvey said at the meeting the first complaint in September 2015against Shelton was because his sign was too close to his property line. Harvey said setback complaints are rare. A month later, Shelton moved his sign to a homemade trailer, left it up beyond the then 60-day time limit and received another complaint.
Shelton responded by driving around the county in December 2015 and again in December 2016, documenting every sign he could find. He submitted 44 complaints about signs he said were in violation of the same ordinance he was being sanctioned for.
Staff Writer Alissa Smith contributed to this report.
RICHMOND The House of Delegates sustained Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffes veto on legislation characterized as targeting state money for Planned Parenthood, killing it for the second year in a row.
In a floor speech Saturday morning, the bills patron, Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, defended HB 2264 saying it is meant to redirect which organization's receive state money for women's healthcare, not cut funding. Planned Parenthood has received zero state dollars so far this fiscal year, Cline said.
For those of you who say this is some kind of attack, that this would somehow eliminate, destroy, get rid of, its no more than political talk, Cline said.
The legislature met Saturday to take action on a few dozen pending bills many of which were negotiated between the chambers in conference, including the reworked state budget before heading home after sine die, or adjournment later in the day. Both chambers passed HB 1500, the budget bill, by 11 a.m. Saturday morning.
The House voted 62 to 33 to override, McAuliffes veto on HB 2264, which came up short of the two-thirds of legislators present Cline needed. With 97 people present, Cline would have needed 65 votes to overcome the governors veto, according to an informational floor exchange between Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, and House Minority Leader David Toscano, D-Charlottesville.
HB 2264 met the same fate Saturday as similar legislation he carried last year.
The bill faced stern opposition from womens pro-abortion rights organizations, while receiving support from anti-abortion rights groups.
The bill effectively targets Planned Parenthood, where many patients receive primary care, Del. Vivian E. Watts, D-Fairfax, said in a floor speech Saturday.
This bill does not single out hospitals, it singles out those Planned Parenthood clinics where the first trimester abortion may be performed, Watts said.
We write to point out some important inaccuracies in your recent story concerning Sen. David Howards resolution calling upon the Montana Supreme Court to reject Rule 8.4(g).
First, the Independent Record asserts that Rule 8.4(g) would prohibit attorneys from engaging in harassment on the basis of race, religion, sex, ethnicity, disability, [national] origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or socioeconomic status in conduct related to practicing law. It concludes from this that the rule would not limit the ability of a lawyer to accept, decline, or withdraw from representation....
In fact, the rule prohibits attorneys from engaging in harassment or discrimination against these various protected groups. This means that lawyers could indeed be forced to accept representation that would violate the tenets of their faith. For example, a Catholic attorney who declined to assist an LGBT couple adopt a child could be disciplined, even though Pope Francis recently reiterated the Churchs position that children should be raised by heterosexual couples. There are countless other examples of how Rule 8.4(g) would compel attorneys to violate their faith.
Second, the Independent Record misstates our objection concerning Justice Dirk Sandefur:
During her 2016 campaign for Montana Supreme Court justice, candidate Kristen Juras shared her belief that Catholic pharmacists should not be required to sell birth control and ministers shouldn't have to perform same-sex marriages. During his campaign, Sandefur pointed out those statements made by Juras. Monforton said Sandefurs comments demonstrate a clear religious bias and should prevent him from being involved in proceedings related to Rule 8.4(g). (emphasis added).
As stated in our objection, Sandefur did far more than merely point out statements made by Juras. Shortly after the June primary election, Sandefur told an LGBT rally that Juras believes that bigots and haters, in the exercise of their own beliefs, have a right to discriminate against you! Instead of apologizing, Sandefur doubled down and repeated this attack later in the campaign. So rather than merely disagree with Bible-believing Christians who act upon their faith, Sandefur repeatedly denigrated them as bigots and haters. The real bigotry exhibited during last falls campaign came from Sandefur, not Montana Christians.
Justice Jim Rice was so appalled by Sandefurs rhetoric that he wrote a letter to the Independent Record denouncing what he rightly described as Sandefurs religious-based animus. Such a rebuke from a sitting justice during a judicial campaign was extraordinary but necessary. Unfortunately, no other judicial officer displayed this kind of integrity. Instead, a majority of the states district judges endorsed Sandefur, and continued endorsing him after his repeated attacks on people of faith.
Neither Montanas press nor the states bench have held Sandefur accountable. This is inexcusable. As Justice Rice aptly stated:
Citizens must be able to trust that the courts will make decisions based on the law, without regard to a persons beliefs. Such campaign attacks undermine confidence in the courts and demonstrate an unacceptable willingness to sacrifice the fundamental principle of impartiality for political gain.
Had Sandefur attacked Muslims with the same vigor as he displayed in attacking Bible-believing Christians, the press as well as every judge and attorney in Montana would have called for his head.
So long as Sandefur and the lower-court judges who endorsed him refuse to publicly acknowledge the damage his bigoted statements have inflicted upon the appearance of judicial impartiality in Montana, Montana Christians who take their faith seriously might wonder whether the states judiciary harbors the same contempt for them that Sandefur expressed during the campaign.
Former Rep. Matthew Monforton, and Sen. Nels Swandal
Battling to recover state taxpayer money lost in a failed Appomattox factory deal, Virginia officials hired the former attorney of the company that broke it.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership in December paid $5,000 for lawyer Robert "Robin" Wood to take on its lawsuit against the site consultant for Lindenburg Industry, the company at the center of the bad factory deal. Lindenburg, which received a state grant for a plant the company never opened, is a defendant in the case.
Wood represented Lindenburg in the same case last year, withdrawing as counsel with a judge's approval after saying he couldn't locate the company's president, Anyuan Zhu, also known as Steven Chu, a Chinese national.
Because of conflict of interest concerns, lawyers aren't permitted to switch sides in lawsuits without the permission of their former clients. A judge last month rejected the change in the Lindenburg case.
A law professor called the attempted move dubious. A former State Bar of Virginia president said it raised questions over attorney-client rights.
Changing lawyers generally is a routine matter. In this case, however, Appomattox Judge Donald Blessing said the attempt to move the former Lindenburg attorney to the government agency's side raised the appearance of impropriety."
In the same courtroom later this year, the partnership hopes to recover part of a $1.4 million state grant Lindenburg received in 2015 to build catalytic converters in a former furniture factory.
Last year, The Roanoke Times revealed that the state failed to properly vet Lindenburg, partly relying on a company website filled with false information. State police and the FBI are investigating.
The partnership hired Richmond-based Troutman Sanders last year to pursue the lost grant money. But after spending $28,257 over 10 months, the agency decided it wanted a lower-priced firm, said Dan Clemente, chairman of the partnership board. A day after deciding to change lawyers, the agency issued a check to Wood's firm, Lynchburg-based Woods Rogers Edmunds & Williams, for $5,000, almost a fifth of the amount paid to Troutman Sanders.
An independent authority, the partnership operates on a mostly state-funded annual budget of $27 million.
After consulting colleagues, Wood said he was available and, from a cost-saving perspective, he was a good choice because he already knew the issues, Clemente said.
The agency is now on its third lawyer and due back in court late next month.
Lindenburg executives Yunshan Stella Li and Zhu presented themselves as well-financed Chinese manufacturing executives in 2014 when they committed to invest $113 million and create 349 jobs. Fooled by the company website, partnership officials recommended the deal to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who closed it during a trip to China in October 2014. The project collapsed the following year.
With creditors circling, Lindenburg officials hired Wood in late 2015. He reported to the court that Lindenburg stopped communicating with him, making continued representation impossible. Blessing allowed Wood to withdraw as Lindenburgs lawyer.
Three months later, the partnership hired Wood. The partnership sent the check to Woods Rogers under a retainer agreement for Woods services.
Common reasons to change attorneys include disputes over strategy or concerns over cost. Litigants sometimes pause a difficult case to get fresh eyes on it. Choices for lawyers in Virginia are abundant: The state is home to more than 32,000 active attorneys.
Normally, a routine approval from a judge follows a lawyer-change request, often without a hearing.
But concerns over potential conflicts can trigger closer scrutiny. Those scenarios are covered by the Rules of Professional Conduct, published by the State Bar of Virginia, an arm of the state Supreme Court. Also called "rules of reason," they govern all aspects of the client-lawyer relationship. The rules instruct lawyers to be loyal to clients, preserve confidentiality of former client information and avoid conflicting interests, such as representing parties at odds. As in other states, it is forbidden to break faith with a former client unless that client gives specific, written permission.
Among the prohibitions cited, a lawyer shouldnt rescind on behalf of a new client a contract drafted on behalf of the former client. Another forbids a lawyer who has prosecuted a person for a crime to then represent the same person in a subsequent civil action against the government over the same issue.
When Wood appeared Jan. 25 before Blessing seeking approval to become the partnership's new attorney, he still had not spoken with former Lindenburg officials, including Zhu, with whom he'd dealt previously.
Mark Loftis, chairman of the litigation section at Woods Rogers, argued that the partnership's suit does not target Lindenburg directly, so there's no conflict. The judge disagreed.
Blessing gave a preamble before his decision, repeatedly praising the legal work by the lawyers handling the matter.
When I present this ruling Im not saying anybodys work-product is not good; its just that I see it a different way, Blessing said, according to a court transcript. All of you are good attorneys with excellent reputations. And that being said, those reputations should continue.
Then, describing himself as possibly too old school, the 61-year-old Blessing explained his objections to the attorney change.
I think the way things look matter just as much as the way things are," the judge said, "[T]he appearance of impropriety, that's not going to be the controlling tenet of my ruling, but it is a concern.
He cited case law that says judges should assume clients give confidential information to their lawyers, the rule that former attorneys cannot work for a new client adverse to an old one without consent and the loyalty obligation attorneys owe former clients until released.
The partnership since has hired G. Edgar Dawson III of Petty, Livingston, Dawson & Richards in Lynchburg. Dawson is a well-regarded business litigator based in Lynchburg who can bring a fresh and local perspective to this matter, said Stephen Moret, who took over in January as partnership CEO.
Troutman Sanders was still the partnerships lawyer in the Appomattox case as of Thursday, but assuming Blessing agrees, Dawson will take over, Moret said.
Sandi McNinch, the partnership's general counsel, said the payment to Woods Rogers wasnt for work related to the question of whether Wood could serve as counsel for the partnership but for work on other issues related to the Lindenburg matter. When the judge told Wood he couldnt serve, his service to the partnership ended, Moret said.
George Rutherglen, a professor of law at the University of Virginia for the past 40 years, said he found it baffling that Wood asked for court approval to assist the partnership without Lindenburg having signed off on it. When told that Wood actually worked on the Lindenburg matter, Rutherglen said:
"I think this is very dubious. It's very dubious to switch sides without the consent of the former client. It's very dubious to keep the money. You keep pushing the envelope on ethical violations, you expose yourself ... ," he said. I dont know why the state is doing it. I dont know why the attorney is doing it.
Asked whether the partnership would be refunded the money paid for Wood's services, McNinch said it would not.
Kevin Martingayle, a Virginia Beach attorney and former president of the state bar, said the bar rules are designed for public protection. In this case, the rights that the rules protect are Lindenburgs.
I personally would not have attempted this, Martingayle said. This is one of those too-close-for-comfort scenarios where I think if they wanted to do this the safest way, the thing to do would have been to get the written consent of everybody involved.
Wood, an attorney for the past 50 years and an adjunct law professor, said he and Loftis agreed that the partnership and Lindenburg are not at odds legally. Wood said his side respectfully disagrees with Blessing.
Told of Rutherglens take, Wood said, We considered this seriously before we got into it.
Told of Martingayles take, Wood said, Thats their opinion.
Wood called to comment in response to an email sent to both him and Loftis. Loftis did not respond.
When the case resumes for a hearing scheduled March 31, partnership officials have said theyll amend their original complaint against Development Advisors, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based site consultant targeted in the lawsuit. In the first filing, the partnership said Lindenburgs Zhu insisted the company could not repay the grant. The partnership said it concluded suing Lindenburg would be futile.
The partnership has accused Development Advisors of failing to fulfill its professional obligations in the Lindenburg project. The site consultant denies this. The company has said Lindenburg incurred a bill of $1.48 million, paid $620,000 and agreed to the consultant placing a deed of trust on the Appomattox factory to secure payment of the balance of $859,484. After Lindenburg failed to pay, Development Advisors foreclosed. Blessing ordered sale proceeds set aside saying he would decide later whether the partnership had a valid claim to that money.
The partnership has called itself an unpaid creditor of Lindenburg with an interest in the companys assets. The only asset known to the partnership, court papers said, is Lindenburgs claim that its out-of-state consultant, Development Advisors LLC, breached its obligations to Lindenburg Industry.
Partnership officials have not presented evidence of the alleged breach, but have argued that because of it, Lindenburg does not owe all of Development Advisors' fees. That throws into question the foreclosure action, the partnership contends.
Development Advisors, which describes itself as a real estate broker and development company that assists in incentives negotiations, says it fully met its obligation to its client.
Led by veteran site consultant Patric Zimmer, Development Advisors called on Blessing nearly five months ago to dismiss the partnerships lawsuit. The agency hasnt responded. Nor has Blessing ruled.
There are no accusations against Lindenburg because its principals literally have disappeared, said Clemente, the board president. There is no office, there is no building, there is no person. What do you do?
Pennsylvania investor Dan David, whose reports have been cited by the Securities and Exchange Commission in Chinese fraud cases, said he researched Zhu, who as Lindenburg's president signed a performance agreement with Virginia for the state grant.
Zhu, David said, is closely affiliated with two businesses in China that "have money.
When President Trump delivers his first speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, hell see a House chamber as divided as the nation.
Dozens of Democratic members of Congress boycotted Trumps inauguration, but they plan to turn the joint session into a mini protest. Many are bringing as guests Muslims, the disabled and other minorities who they say will be hurt by Trumps policies.
So Trump faces a test: Will he be the combative campaigner people either love or hate or will he offer an olive branch?
Trump gave Congress, even Republicans, the back of his hand in his inaugural address, failing to mention House Speaker Paul Ryan or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He castigated the same politicians hell address Tuesday in prime time.
Their victories have not been your victories, their triumphs have not been your triumphs, he said. And while they celebrated in our nations capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
Stephen Miller, the aide who wrote the inaugural address, with its bleak picture of American carnage, is also writing the joint session speech. This time, though, the president will present an optimistic, positive vision, officials say.
Trump, who insists he inherited a mess, will talk about what hes done so far and where he plans to take the country in broad terms.
Its important for the American people to know that he was an agent of change; he came here to get things done, and he didnt waste any time, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Wednesday.
In the drafts that Ive seen so far, it is going to be a very strong blueprint of where he wants to take this country, Spicer said.
While Trump has signed executive orders to achieve some of his goals, he needs legislation for many of the big items on his to-do list: tax cuts, infrastructure projects, health care reform and a secure border. That means working with Capitol Hill.
But Trumps dismal approval ratings make it easier for Democrats, and perhaps some Republicans, to keep him at arms length. Just 42 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing, lower by far than any other president after a month in office, Gallup reports. A nationwide poll by Quinnipiac University released Wednesday found Trump with 38 percent job approval.
Rep. Jim Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat, is leading the effort among House Democrats to bring as guests people who have faced discrimination and made positive contributions.
Langevins guest is Dr. Ehsun Mirza, a Pakistani-born critical care physician and naturalized citizen who is a leader in Rhode Islands Muslim community.
Trumps speech is not officially a State of the Union address. The last five presidents have spoken to Congress early in their first year but have waited until the second year to deliver a State of the Union address.
After the bitter and protracted 2000 election, President George W. Bush addressed Congress Feb. 27, 2001, on his administrations goals.
Together we are changing the tone in the nations capital, Bush proclaimed. He promised education would be his top priority.
Let us agree to bridge old divides. But let us also agree that our good will must be dedicated to great goals. Bipartisanship is more than minding our manners; it is doing our duty, Bush said.
Which reminds us that even if we like what a president says at such august occasions, we should take their words with a grain of salt.
In February 1981, shortly after he took office, President Ronald Reagan addressed Congress on his Program for Economic Recovery, calling for massive tax cuts, spending cuts on domestic programs and hefty increases in defense spending.
Warning that the national debt was approaching $1 trillion, Reagan offered a dandy word picture.
If you had a stack of thousand-dollar bills in your hand only 4 inches high, youd be a millionaire, Reagan said. A trillion dollars would be a stack of thousand dollar bills 67 miles high.
But Reagans policies only exacerbated the debt. By the time he left office the national debt had nearly tripled. That stack of thousand dollar bills would have been 160 miles high.
Mercer writes from Washington. Email her at marsha.mercer@yahoo.com. 2017 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.
The dangers of 'well-oiled machines'
Its so reassuring to hear President Trump call his administration a well-oiled machine. Wow! Maybe one day soon he will rev that machine way up and pop some big wheelies for all the world to see? How cool would that be?
It would be just like my old high school racing buddy and his well-oiled machine. He never missed a chance to talk big about his machine and then crush any doubters in a drag race. Of course, one day my friends daredevil ways caught up with him, and he flipped that beautiful machine right into a ditch.
He survived the crash, but neither he nor his well-oiled machine were ever quite the same again.
DAVID SCHWARTZ
Lynchburg
What have we done?
Those who voted for Donald Trump for president are culpable in electing a man totally unqualified and morally unsuitable to lead our nation.
His words and actions are abhorrent to millions of decent citizens who reject virtually everything he says and does. Those who think otherwise cling to their misguided or willfully ignorant beliefs and in many cases share Trumps various nationalistic, ethnocentric, misogynistic, homophobic and Islamophobic views.
In just over 30 days, this man has demonstrated ineptitude on a level never before seen in an American president. As The New Yorker magazine stated in its Feb. 27 issue, Trump has already proven himself unable to discharge his duties, as seen in his paranoid rants, non-stop feuds carried out in public, and impulsive acts that can only damage [our] government.
Indeed, his random postures toward other nations are confusing to allies and potentially very dangerous, positioning us in harms way on numerous fronts.
Domestically, Trump and many Republican sheep are overseeing efforts to unravel, dismantle, defund or simply eliminate fundamental protections and assistance programs that Americans depend on for a reasonable quality of life. Nothing seems safe from the indiscriminate ax not clean water, not clean air, not womens health, not even Medicare and Medicaid.
Trump is an egomaniacal psychopath who will not tolerate any legitimate criticism, who seeks to undermine and stifle a free press and who has no appreciation of the three branches of government and the balance that must be maintained among them.
For Trump and his spokesmen, facts have become inconvenient, so they have invented alternative facts a twisted contradiction. There are facts, and there are non-facts, the latter being lies if posited without qualification. All this is chillingly evocative of George Orwells 1984 and the doublespeak it portrayed.
Trump is a despicable person with a proven personal and professional history as such. He must be ousted soon or our country will suffer severely. We have a patriotic duty to help make that happen. We cannot be a great nation unless we are a good nation. Our children and grandchildren deserve that. Je taccuse!
BILL BLACKWELL
Lynchburg
Vote em out!
The Never Trumpers say he is not their president. Then ask them what country are they from. If they say America, they are idiots. The people should vote out all Democrats, Republicans like John McCain and Lindsey Graham and stop these progressives.
ERNIE IRVAN
Lynchburg
Home News Sports Social Obituaries Events Letters Fioravanti a finalist in $10k BBB competition February 25, 2017 Bonners Ferry's own Mary Fioravanti, a senior at Bonners Ferry High School, was named a northwest finalist Friday in the Better Business Bureau Foundation's 2017 $10,000 Students of Integrity Scholarship competition.
The BBB Foundation offers the Students of Integrity Scholarship to recognize high school juniors and seniors who personify and communicate ethics in the real world, as demonstrated through community service, personal integrity, and academic accomplishments.
The $10,000 scholarship will be awarded to the winning application submitted by students residing in Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington and Western Wyoming.
High school students from across the Northwest completed applications and created 90-second videos that demonstrate how BBB helps people become smart consumers.
The field was narrowed down to 16 finalists who were announced February 24. The scholarship winner will be selected on Monday, March 13.
Mary, the daughter of Steve and Linda Fioravanti, plans to attend two years at North Idaho College, then two more at Patrick Henry College, Virginia, to study sales, marketing and business.
Judging by the quality of her 90-second video, which can be viewed by clicking here, she is already off to a great start in marketing! Questions or comments about this article? Click here to e-mail!
BRUTALITY NOT THE ANSWER
She made the comments during her full length concert SoCalypso held on Friday night at the Grand Stand, Queens Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain.
The topic of domestic was introduced while Rose was performing her song Abatina from her album Far From Home which copped a Victoires de la Musique award World Album of the Year, the French version of the Grammy Awards. Abatina is about a woman who is beaten and eventually killed by her husband.
During her performance Rose simulated being beaten with fake punches and kicks. She also spoke as the abuser to the victim and said put the phone down, shut up and go to your room. At one point she just said the word brutality.
She then spoke directly to the audience which included Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley who had received praise from some quarters and criticism from others for his comment about domestic violence at a public meeting in Maloney where he said he was not in womens bedrooms and they needed to be careful about choosing their partners.
Rose said: Guys never put your hands on your wife or girlfriend.
Respect them. Because (of) your mother. You came from a woman.
Brutality is never the answer. She then had a nugget of advice for women and told them never marry a man for money like Donald Trump.
Roses hit for 2017, Leave Me Alone has become the rallying cry of the eponymous LeaveMeAlone/ LeaveSheAlone anti-gender based violence campaign. During her performance of the song the members of the campaign joined her on stage wearing T-shirts with the slogan leave me alone, or leave her alone for men. One of the founding members is former Miss TT Universe, fashion designer and entrepreneur Anya Ayoung-Chee and she led the group on stage as they danced, pumped their fists and chanted the slogan.
In a release yesterday, the group said the presentation, a collaboration between artist collective TogetherWI and anti-gender discrimination and gender-based violence group Say Something, was meant to bring attention to gender-based violence within the Carnival space.
During the performance on Carnival Friday night, the group celebrated the ownership of a womans space, within the Carnival space as well as beyond that.
The song and campaign symbolise that claiming of a womans space without inciting violence against men. Calypso Rose has given the group the blessing to use this song as the mantra of this awareness of this campaign, and to close the show with her on stage, the release stated.
As far back as Camboulay, the celebration of Carnival is about freedom from oppression and the message of both the song and campaign are to to leave others to be as they choose. It is particularly relevant within the context of Carnival because the festival symbolises freedom of expression, but also pays homage to Calypso Rose who exemplifies the artform of calypso as a woman staking claim within that musical space. TogetherWI, the WI standing for West Indies, is a collective of artists and creatives who have dedicated themselves to re-imaging and re-imagining our region and by extension our world through the power of their work.
The LeaveMeAlone/LeaveSheAlone campaign is the groups first, in partnership with CariMan and Say Something.
Ultimately the music exemplifies the spirit of carnival and so the message expressed here becomes even more poignant at this time of year. The song became popular during the formation of TogetherWI, and so the collective and its first project took shape at the same time, the release explained.
The group began on February 1 and the LeaveMeAlone campaign was launched on February 14.
The group, the release explained, is a collective of creatives initiating change in our society, one poster, T-shirt, video, photo, song, conversation at a time and added that TogetherWI believe art is a crucial part of creating social change.
On February 5, Jamilia DeReveneaux, 27, reportedly received a phone call and left her place of work at the Mandieros Peri Peri Grill at MovieTowne at about 8.15 pm. Minutes later, after loud screams were heard, she was discovered dead with her throat slit. A 30 year-old man, Matthew King, is currently before the court for her murder and DeRevenaux is one of a number of women who have been killed in the past few months.
Immigration beefed up at airport
This follows a report in yesterdays Newsday, that passengers arriving for Carnival from several international flights on Thursday and Friday were left restless and angry after having to wait long hours to clear immigration because there were not enough officers on duty. One person said there were only two officers to deal with passengers.
Posts from affected travellers on social media said passengers, mostly tourists, sought repose on their suitcases, chairs and even the floor in some instances to cope with the inconvenience.
Flights were said to have arrived from Miami, Toronto, New York, St Lucia and other parts of the Caribbean.
Cudjoe told Sunday Newsday she had been in contact with the Ministry of National Security, under whose purview the Immigration Division falls.
We got information from the (Acting) Chief Immigration Officer (Charmaine Gandhi-Andrews) that a full complement of staff is out. In fact, there are 26 officers on schedule right now and there are 15 stations, said Cudjoe, who claimed she had received no personal reports about the inconvenience passengers endured at the airport.
Cudjoe said according to information reaching her, the immigration officers on duty on Thursday and Friday were bombarded with an influx of passengers from several international flights.
What they said is that they are experiencing an influx of a large number of flights that would have come in, a number of chartered flights and other regular flights that came in also. But all of the stations are being operated at this point in time. The minister also said Carnival is in a period where there are no other major international events taking place.
So that the reports from the airlines is that we are expecting quite a large number of people coming in this year. Even so, Cudjoe avoided making any pronouncements about the success of Carnival 2017.
I think it is still too early to call, she said.
But at the end of it all I think we will continue to work with all of the necessary authorities to tally up the numbers to see what the performance actually was.
As of right now, the priority is to get these visitors in and immigration cleared so they could go and have a good time and enjoy the Carnival season.
What we experienced at the airport is very important. Even though immigration is not under the Ministry of Tourism directly, we have to continue to work with immigration and other entities so that so that they could fully understand an appreciate the role that they play as the first point of contact when tourist or even our very own workers come to the airport. In a statement last evening, the Ministry of National Security confirmed a full complement of immigration officers are on duty at the airport.
Immigration officials have noted that the increase in passenger arrivals is in part compounded by the arrival of several charter flights in addition to the regularly scheduled flights.
Flights are coming in at the same time or very close together with hundreds of passengers disembarking from each flight, the ministry said.
The increase in arrivals on account of national festivities and the resultant longer wait time for passengers is not unique to Trinidad and Tobago and at times occurs at international airports in other parts of the world. The ministry said immigration officials at the airport are monitoring the situation and continue to welcome citizens and visitors upon arrival.
In a subsequent statement, the ministry said Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon visited the Chief Immigration Officer at the airport yesterday and spoke with officers on duty.
Dillon and the Chief Immigration Officer discussed measures that have been put in place to deal with increased arrivals.
Dillon commended the officers and encouraged them to warmly welcome citizens, residents and visitors
It May Not Be the Time
You Think It Is
A divorce is a hard and pricey thing to get in Mississippi, though that doesn't necessarily stop peopleone recent study found that the state's divorce rate is seventh highest in the country. What sets itand South Dakotaapart from the rest of the country is that without a true "no-fault" divorce law, if one spouse doesn't want the divorce, it can be just about impossible to end a marriage. So reports USA Today in a lengthy feature on the state of divorce in Mississippi. "It made my skin crawl," says Elizabeth Freels, one of several people the paper profiled, after learning about her state's divorce laws when she tried to leave her husband of seven years in 2001. Her husband vowed that if he couldn't have her, "No one will." Freels was stuck. "I said, 'Are you kidding me?' ... Even in Saudi Arabia you can get a divorce if you want one. Here, you're at the mercy of another person."
Without the money to go through a lengthy court battle, Freels continued to live with her husband until 2005, when she moved their three kids to another town and filed for divorce, even though she knew her unemployed husband wouldn't pay child support. She was still in divorce limbo when their youngest child left for college in 2015, so Freels left behind friends and a good job for Washington state, where she quickly got the divorce she wanted. USA Today also interviewed a woman who fled an abusive husband, but because it's not considered "cruel and inhuman treatment," she can't divorce him without his approval, which he refuses to grant. "If someone's not living with their husband, if they are afraid of them, I'm sorry, that's not a marriage anymore," she says. "That's a piece of paper that is causing 21st century slavery." Read the full USA Today article. (Read more divorce stories.)
When Bill Owens went to collect the body of his son at Dover Air Force Base, he found out that the president of the United States was also on his way to pay his respects as the casket of Chief Special Warfare Officer William "Ryan" Owens was unloaded. But he told the chaplain, "I'm sorry, I don't want to see him. I told them I don't want to meet the president." The elder Owens, himself a military veteran, tells the Miami Herald that more than shunning President Trump, "I want an investigation" into the death of his son, the only American casualty in a botched raid in Yemen, and the first American combat death of Trump's term. "The government owes my son an investigation." Owens says he's been troubled by Trump since he went after a Gold Star family while on the campaign trail.
Says a White House rep, per the AP: "I can't imagine what this father is going through. His son is a true American hero, and we should forever be in his son's debt." But Owens questions the very purpose of the mission: "Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn't even barely a week into his administration? Why? For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemeneverything was missiles and dronesbecause there was not a target worth one American life. Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display?" The entire Herald article, which profiles 37-year-old Ryan Owens extensively, is worth a read. (Read more Navy SEALs stories.)
Malaysia's health minister said Sunday that the dose of nerve agent given to North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un's exiled half brother was so high that it killed him within 20 minutes and caused "very serious paralysis," the AP reports. Kim Jong Nam died Feb. 13 at Kuala Lumpur's airport in what Malaysian police say was a well-planned hit by two women who wiped a liquid on Kim's face. Police revealed Friday that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim, raising the stakes in the case. Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said the dose of VX given to Kim was so high that he showed symptoms within minutes. Kim fainted at the airport clinic and died in the ambulance while en route to a hospital, he said. Per the Washington Post, Subramaniam said Kim suffered a "very painful death."
"VX only requires 10 milligrams to be absorbed into the system to be lethal, so I presume that the amount of dose that went in is more than that," he said at a news conference. "The doses were so high and it did it so fast and all over the body, so it would have affected his heart, it would have affected his lungs, it would have affected everything." Asked how long it took for Kim to die after he was attacked, Subramaniam said, "I would think it was about, from the time of onset, from the time of application, 15-20 minutes." He said Kim's symptoms appeared "within a few minutes" of the attack. Malaysia hasn't directly accused the North Korean government of being behind the attack, but officials have said four North Korean men provided two women with poison to carry it out. The four men fled Malaysia on the same day as the killing, while the womenone from Indonesia and the other Vietnamesewere arrested. North Korea has denied any role in the attack. (Read more Kim Jong Nam stories.)
Kim Jong nam Death: Malaysia airport declared safe from VX toxic nerve agent
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian police on Sunday declared as safe the Kuala Lumpur international airport, where VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Police chief Abdul Samah Mat said that a joint team of police, firefighters, and atomic energy experts analysed Terminal 2, where Kim Jong-nam was attacked, but did not find traces of VX nerve agent, considered as a weapn of mass destruction, Efe news reported.
"Based on our screenings, we have come to three conclusions that there are no hazardous materials detected, the airport is free from any form of contamination, and the airport is declared a safe zone," Samah Mat told the media.
He added that people who were exposed to the nerve agent have also been examined and no remains of the chemical weapon have been found.
Authorities on February 23 raided an apartment rented by four North Korean suspects, who fled after the crime, and sent items from the flat to be scanned for dangerous substances. The results are still pending.
VX, used in the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s, is an oily, colourless liquid, and is considered one of the most toxic nerve agents in the world.
Few countries have access to this chemical -- including the US, China and North Korea -- which has prompted authorities to investigate whether it was brought from overseas.
Kim Jong-nam, the older half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, died on February 13 after being approached at Kuala Lumpur airport by two women who allegedly sprayed his face with VX. He died minutes later on his way to hospital.
Pakistan Airlines with excess passengers
Karachi : Unbelievable yet true, a Pakistani International Airlines allowed seven passengers to travel standing in the aisles all the way to Saudi Arabia last month.
The incident attracted serious concerns over breach of security regulations by Pakistan's loss-making national carrier.
Nothing less than seven passengers were forced to travel standing in the Boeing 777 Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-743 (Karachi-Madina) on January 20 after the airline boarded excess passengers, Dawn newspaper reported.
It seems like PIA has not taken the matter seriously as no action has been initiated in the matter so far.
The Boeing 777 aircraft has a seating capacity of 409, including jump seats for staff, while flight PK-743 carried 416 passengers from Karachi to Madina.
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Here is one answer to the State of Illinois' fiscal problem: Tax Retirement Income.
Let me first state that I am receiving a pension, social security, and have an IRA distribution. All of these are not being taxed on my Illinois 1040 tax return. This really is not fair.
In Illinois, if a business person sold his business and invested the money from the sale in an account that either paid interest or dividends, this money would be taxed in Illinois. This sale is probably the main source of retirement income for the businessman, but because it's not a pension it is being taxed.
There are thousands of retired farmers in Illinois. People who have worked hard all their life and invested in farmland. As they retire, they rent out their land. This income is taxed in Illinois because it's not a pension or classified as retirement income.
The simple fact is retirement income should be taxed. The only reason that it is not taxed is because politicians lack the backbone to offend seniors and do what's right.
In an article written by Dennis Bryne, he reports that Natalie Davila, a former Research Director for Illinois Revenue Department, stated in a publication of the Taxpayer's Federation of Illinois: In 2012, one in four Illinois tax returns claimed a retirement income exemption to avoid paying taxes. Altogether, those exemptions cost the State 2.3 billion -- money that could pay down debt, go to schools and universities, or fund other services that are getting squeezed by the budget.
Many may argue that if we tax retirement income in Illinois, retirees will leave Illinois. I disagree with this because retirees do not want to leave their families here in Illinois. If they do leave, it will save the state money.
Robert Kiesecoms, Harrisburg
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574.
New Delhi:
With the testing process already in final phases, the government expressed hope on Thursday that work on installing 'smart fence' on the 3,323-km-long the Indo-Pak border will begin soon. The testing for the fence is in final stages and soon workfor erecting it along the Indo-Pak border will begin, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said on Thursday.
The new fencing is likely to have a multi-tier securityring comprising an alarm to security force personnel in caseof any infiltration bid or attempts to cut the fence. "The testing for the smart fencing is in the final stage. Pretty soon it will be done and it will be soon erected at theIndia-Pakistan border," Rijiju told reporters at New Delhi.
He said the testing is being done at many places and itsdetails can't be divulged now due to security reasons. "We will have smart fencing at all our borders in phasesbut priority would be Indo-Pak frontier," he said.
Also Read: Watch: India to build fortress wall along porous Line of Control with Pakistan, say sources
A Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System(CIBMS) is also being worked out by the government where the security of Indo-Pak and Indo-Bangladesh borders, bothsensitive and difficult terrain, will shift from the regular troops patrolling system to a quick reaction team pattern where guards strike once they notice a blip of infiltration on their surveillance radars.
There have been several attempts of infiltration by terrorists who cut the fences to enter into India from Pakistan side. India's border with Pakistan runs through four states, Jammu and Kashmir (1,225 km which includes 740 km of Line ofControl), Rajasthan (1,037 km), Punjab (553 km) and Gujarat(508 km). The government has set a target of completely sealing the India-Pakistan border by December 2018.
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Washington:
Islamic State jihadists are forcing children and disabled people into explosives-laden trucks and making them drive at Iraqi security forces in Mosul, a general from the US-led coalition has said.
The barbaric tactic, coupled with other increasingly desperate battle field measures, is a sign the IS group knows defeat is inevitable, officials say.
The jihadists have used exploding trucks, known inmilitary circles as VBIEDs vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices and pronounced "Vee-Bids," to devastating effect in numerous engagements during the Mosul offensive and elsewhere in Iraq.
Speaking to AFP and other reporters in Baghdad this week, US Air Force Brigadier General Matt Isler said the IS grouphad adopted coercive new techniques in its use of suicide car bombs because the jihadists appear to be running out ofwilling 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.
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 thejihadists from Mosul's west bank.
Thursday, they thrust into Mosul airport on the southernedge of the IS strong hold for the first time since the jihadists over ran the region in 2014.
Iraqi troops backed by jets, helicopter gun ships 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.
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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
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Pune:
Tension prevailed on the campus of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) in Pune on Friday 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, told Gavade.
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 Paricharaks 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.
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Kabul:
An Afghan official on Saturday said that 10 police officers and the wife of a police commander have been killed by Islamic State militants in northern Zawzjan province.
Mohammad Reza Ghafori, spokesman for the Zawzjan provincial governor, said that the police officers were ambushed on Friday as they were coming out of a mosque.
The wife of the police commander heard about her husband being shot and rushed to the scene, where she was also killed.
IS-linked militants have been active in Afghanistan's eastern regions, but have recently begun operating in the north of the country as well.
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New Delhi:
The high-decibel campaign for the fifth phase of the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, which had touched a new low by a free flow of scornful words like donkey, Kasab and kabootar, came to a close on Saturday evening.
A total of 51 constituencies, spread over 11 districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, will go to polls on February 27 under this phase.
The political campaigning in the fifth phase of the state polls was marked by war of words among rival parties.
At his rally in Bahraich, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit back at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for his donkey remark, asking him if he was afraid of the four-footed creatures of Gujarat.
I take inspiration from the donkey because I work for people day and night...donkeys are loyal to their master, he had said on Thursday to counter the SP chiefs reference to donkeys of Gujarat in a poll meeting earlier in Rae Bareli.
It works even if it is ill, hungry or tired and completes the task...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, he said.
The Prime Ministers reaction came as the UP CM advised megastar Amitabh Bachchan not to advertise for the donkeys of Gujarat.
Akhilesh was referring to an advertisement in which Bachchan, the brand ambassador of Gujarat Tourism, is seen inviting tourists to visit the Wild Ass Sanctuary located in Little Rann of Kutch in the state.
As if the donkey remark was not enough, BSP supremo Mayawati hit back at BJP president Amit Shah after he used the acronym KASAB for Congress, SP and BSP, saying, there cannot be a bigger Kasab than him.
She also dubbed Shah a terrorist.
Aaj apney desh mein Amit Shah sey bada yehan koi aur Kasab nahin ho sakta hai, arthat atanki nahin ho sakta hai (There cannot be a bigger Kasab, that is a terrorist, than Amit Shah), she said after Shah coined the acronym matching the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack perpetrator.
Akhilesh also hit out at the BJP chief for his KASAB barb, saying KA actually stood for kabutar (pegion) and people will set BJPs pigeons free this election.Shah had said, Until Uttar Pradesh gets rid of K-A-S-A-B, there will be no development in the state. Ka (in Hindi) is for Congress, Sa for Samajwadi Party and Ba for BSP.
The districts going to polls in this phase are Balrampur, Gonda, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Amethi and Sultanpur.
The Eelction Commission has announced fresh date of voting in Alapur (Ambedkar Nagar constituency) on March 9 due to the death of Samajwadi Party candidate Chandrashekhar Kanaujia.
The ruling Samajwadi Party had won 37 seats out of 52 (total seats in this phase, including Alapur) in 2012 while BJP and Congress won five seats each. BSP had won three, while the Peace party won two seats.
Shravasti, Balrampur, Sultanpur and Ambedkar Nagar had emerged as strongholds of Samajwadi Party which won all the seats in the previous state polls.
In all, 608 candidates are in the fray in this phase with maximum of 24 candidates in Amethi and the minimum of six each in Kapilvastu and Etwa seats of Siddharth Nagar district.
Prominent contestants in this phase include controversial minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati (SP), who will be facing Amita Singh (Congress) and Garima Singh (BJP) in Amethi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Rahul Gandhi.
Amita is the wife of Congress leader Sanjay Singh, while Garima is his estranged better half, making it a rani versus rani contest.
SP ministers Vinod Kumar Singh alias Pandit Singh from Tarabganj (Gonda), Tej Narain Pandey alias Pawan Pandey from Ayodhya and BSP state president Ram Achal Rajbhar from Akbarpur are some of the other popular names trying their luck in this phase.
A total of 1.84 crore voters, including 96 lakh women, will exercise their franchise in the fifth phase.
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New Delhi:
Noted industrialist Anil Ambani is all set to brief defence sector analysts in Bangalore on Wednesday about his group Reliance Infrastructure's future investment plans in the segment.
This is the first time ever that Ambani or his group firm Reliance infrastructure is hosting an analyst meet for defence business.
In a brief notification to the stock exchanges, Reliance Infra said the meet is being held to give an update on the group's defence business.
The group officials said Ambani, the group Chairman, will himself interact with the analysts on the defence business and brief them about its future plans and how the defence business is going to be the main growth driver for the group in the years to come.
Almost 100 analysts from Mumbai and Delhi are likely to attend this meet, they added.
While defence is the latest key business for Anil Ambani-led group, it is also present in financial services, telecom, power and other infrastructure sectors.
The Reliance Group's defence play started with the acquisition of Gujarat-based Pipavav Shipyard about two years ago. This remains the largest acquisition in the defence sector in India so far.
Pipavav Shipyard has now been renamed as Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd (RDEL). It owns the largest dry dock in the country.
Recently, the Reliance Group also entered into a joint venture with Dassault Aviation of France to execute the largest offset obligation against the 36 Rafale fighter jets bought by India.
For this, the company is setting up manufacturing facilities in Mihan SEZ in Nagpur.
New Delhi:
World's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal is planning to set up a solar farm on the proposed 6 MT Karnataka project land allotted to it. This decision has been taken on account of the excess global steel capacity and delays in securing raw materials.
The company had entered into a pact with Karnataka government for setting up a 6 million tonnes (MT) steel plant with a captive 750 MW power plant at an estimated investment of USD 6.5 billion.
"In view of excess capacity of steel world-wide and uncertainty in iron ore availability locally, the company is also exploring the possibility of utilizing the land in Karnataka for the establishment of a solar farm for generating solar energy," the global steel giant has said in its latest report.
ArcelorMittal India has received possession certificates for 2,659 acres of private land following the acquisition of 1,827 acres and 832 acres in December 2011 and October 2012, respectively, it said.
A balance of 136.33 acres owned by the Karnataka government is being processed for allocation, it said.
Setting up of the solar park will contribute to the mitigation of Karnataka's power crisis and participation in the National Solar Energy mission of the government of India.
"In this regard, the company has sought the state government's permission to set up a solar farm of up to 600 MW.
"The state government is considering ArcelorMittal's proposal and the company is hopeful of receiving a favorable response to the proposal," it said.
The NRI billionaire Lakshmi Mittal-led company in June 2010 had signed an MoU with the Karnataka government to set up a 6 MTPA greenfield project at Kuditini in Bellary, Karnataka.
After failing for over a decade to set up plants at Odisha and Jharkhand, ArcelorMittal had signed the pact with Karnataka government for the plant but the same is yet to take off.
While the company is facing raw material security issues in Karnataka, the projects in Jharkhand and Odisha were marred by delays.
SPRINGFIELD -- Six years into college, Nida Khan and Jase Camp had shadowed several doctors and even taken histories and performed physicals on patients.
But until this semester -- their third year at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield -- Khan, of Decatur, and Camp, of Lincoln, had yet to truly experience what it was like to be a doctor.
Thats changed in a hurry. Now in their final rotation of an eight-part preceptorship program, Khan and Camp have cut open abdomens, delivered babies and made quick decisions -- under the scrutiny of the lead doctor -- on how to fix whats wrong with a patient.
A preceptorship gives medical students the chance to work alongside a practicing doctor, who provides instruction, training and supervision. Each of the eight four-week rotations is a different area of medicine -- family medicine, emergency, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, psychiatry and neurology.
Khan and Camps class will graduate in 2018, then pursue advanced training in a specific area of medicine before beginning practice. Both are interested in becoming emergency physicians, and both knew young they wanted to be doctors.
Khan was born in Pakistan, but her mom and dad -- Muhammad and Deena Khan, both doctors -- moved to Chicago soon after she was born for Muhummad to perform his residency, and he was hired at the Community Health Improvement Center (now Crossing Healthcare) in Decatur when Khan was 4.
I always wanted to do something in the medical field, said Khan, a Maroa-Forsyth graduate. Ive been going around the hospital with my dad since I was 5 or 6 -- he was my role model. And I always loved the atmosphere.
Camps parents were also an influence -- his dad, Mike Camp, was a firefighter and his mom, Cheryl Camp, a paramedic.
I liked what they did and I was doing really well in school, so I knew early on if I kept at it, I had a good shot at getting into med school, Camp said. I always loved biology and the human body.
Khan went to Saint Louis University and Camp to SIU Carbondale for their undergraduate work, with both focusing on pre-med and deciding on SIU School of Medicine for med school.
Khan said while she was able to take advantage of some job shadowing opportunities and basic patient interaction, the first two years of med school was a lot of classroom learning.
It was a lot of didactic learning -- youre learning the core principles, Khan said. You do get some practice where they put you in a room with actors and you make diagnoses, but its not the same. People dont just come to the doctor with one complaint, they have 10.
But once the preceptorship started, both Khan and Camp said they quickly learned what its really going to be like to be a doctor.
Youre basically doing what an intern would do in their first year of residency, Khan said. You see patients, you decide whats going on and you come up with a diagnosis.
For my first couple weeks I was pretty nervous. It was overwhelming, seeing actual patients. But now were toward the end of the year and Im pretty comfortable. Ive learned what to ask to figure out whats going on.
Camp said his experience in the preceptorship, is what med school is all about.
You take care of patients, come up with management plans and get constructive criticism from the attending physicians, Camp said. Its like that on every rotation. Sometimes youre right, sometimes youre not, but you listen to the criticism and learn from there.
Khan and Camp said each different rotation offered its own set of rewards and challenges. Both said surgery was the most demanding, with plenty of long hours and high-pressure situations.
We got to scrub in and participate in surgeries, Khan said. I sutured some things and I got to cut an abdomen open. Its a completely different environment. I learned a lot on that rotation.
Khan said her most rewarding experience was delivering a baby while on the obstetrics and gynecology rotation, but her favorite was emergency.
Its fast-paced and you work with a variety of cases -- kids, psych cases, trauma -- I like that environment, Khan said.
Camp said he was fascinated by the internal medicine rotation, but in the end, also favors the emergency department.
Internal medicine is notorious for being hard, but its the one I probably got the most out of, Camp said. Medicine is the bread and butter of what everyone is going to do.
But emergency medicine is what I want to do. Its funny because I came to school dead set on being a surgeon. But I just like what emergency medicine offers as far as work style and lifestyle. I like the idea of shift work and not knowing whats going to come in the door next. That keeps it exciting.
New Delhi:
An associate of gangster Manjeet Mahal, who was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh, has been arrested, police said on Sunday.
Nafe alias Mantri was wanted in three cases of murder besides other cases of attempt to murder and robbery. After the arrest of Manjeet Mahal in December last year, Nafe had shifted to Panchkula in Haryana, said Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, DCP (Special Cell).
He had been shifting between his hideouts in Rajasthan, Haryana and in outer Delhi area. On February 25, it was learnt that Nafe had left for Delhi. A trap was laid and he was arrested the same day fromKhyala near Keshopur Depot, said Yadav.
A 32 bore pistol containing five live cartridges was also seized, added the officer. Nafe had first come into contact with Manjeet around 2002when he was in the cable business and the gangster would visit him in his office.
New Delhi :
In a tragic incident, three-year-old twins have been found dead in the washing machine after the duo accidently fell inside the washing tub and ultimately drowned.
The incident has been reported from west Delhi's Rohini. The mishap took place when the young toddlers were alone at the home for few minutes, they climbed inside a washing machine and ultimately drowned.
According to Delhi Police, the mother of the twins wanted to wash clothes but she found out that she has run out of washing powder. She got out of the apartment to get some detergent leaving the twins- Nishant and Nakshya at home where they were playing near the washing machine.
Also read: Delhi University student allegedly gang-raped in Faridabad, 4 arrested
The mother came back six minutes later but to her surprise, she couldn't locate her kids. Soon she calls the police and after a brief search, they found the twins drowned in the washing machine which was filled with around 12-15 litres of water.
For now, the bodies of both the kids have been sent for an autopsy to a Rohini hospital.
London:
Thousands of film lovers were expected to come together in London's Trafalgar Square on Sunday for a screening of "The Salesman" by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who has boycotted the Oscars over US President Donald Trump's policies.
Just hours before the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles, wherethe film is in the running for the Best Foreign Language Film award, the iconic central London landmark will transform into agiant open-air cinema for the 4.30pm (1630 GMT) showing.
"It will be a great opportunity to showcase how London isan international hub of creativity and a global beacon foropenness and diversity," said London mayor Sadiq Khan, who will speak before the screening.
The Iranian filmmaker will not attend the Oscars inprotest at Trump's executive order banning visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries. Farhadi thanked Khan and the cinema community "for this generous initiative", adding he appreciated "this invaluable show of solidarity."
"The gathering of the audience around 'The Salesman' in this famous London square is symbolic of unity against the division and separation of people," he told the Guardian.
Farhadi announced in January that he would not attend the ceremony even if the US government gave him special permission to travel despite coming from Iran, one of the countries on Trump's controversial list.
The Iranian filmmaker stuck by his decision even after a US court ruled against the travel ban. Around 10,000 spectators are expected for the screening,which will be the British premiere of the film, according tothe mayor's office.
British director Mike Leigh is also expected to speak before the screening, followed by a mini concert by The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians. Around fifty film personalities, including Ridley Scott, Kiera Knightley, Terry Gilliam, Glenn Close, and Julie Christie, signed a letter asking that the film be screened in front of the US Embassy in London.
"We wish to hold an event in solidarity with Mr Farhadi himself, but crucially, with the many thousands of innocent people who will now be negatively impacted and harmed by a policy of outright discrimination such as this," they wrote.
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Beirut:
Rescue workers from Syrias White Helmets groupthe subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary -- will not attend this weekends Academy Awards ceremony because of intensified regime bombing, their leader told on Sunday.
I am not going because of our workload due to intensified regime strikes on the provinces of Damascus, Daraa and Homs, Raed Saleh told.
There are many things that have to be done on the ground, such as managing operations and providing emergency vehicles, he said.
Saleh and fellow White Helmet member Khaled Khatib had been set to attend Mondays ceremony in Hollywood, where The White Helmets is shortlisted for best short documentary.
Istanbul-based Khatib, who shot much of the footage, also confirmed that he would not attend the ceremony, despite obtaining an American visa.
I wont travel to OSCAR due to intensity of work, our priority is helping our people, he tweeted in English on Sunday.
I was going to leave on Tuesday, but there was too much work because of the bombing, Khatib told AFP by telephone.
Im also working on producing another film about the White Helmets that has to be ready in two weeks. I will not go.
The two rescuers had feared they could be barred from attending the ceremony because of US President Donald Trumps late January executive order imposing a 90-day entry ban for citizens of seven Muslim majority countries, including Syria.
The ban has since been lifted by a US federal court, and on February 18 the pair received their visas.
More than 310,000 people have died since Syrias conflict erupted in March 2011, and more than half of the countrys citizens have been forced to flee their homes.
Since the White Helmets group was created in 2013, it has hired more than 3,000 volunteers and claims to have saved more than 78,000 lives.
It takes its name from the protective headgear worn by its members.
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New Delhi:
In a gruesome incident, at least 17 people were killed in a road mishap in Meghalaya's West Khasi Hills district on Sunday, the police officials informed.
The police said that the incident took place when a truck carrying 60 people on board rammed into the concrete barricade of a road.
The officials further added that around 62 people were critically injured in the accident in Jdohkroh village of the district headquarters of West Khasi Hills.
The police was assuming that only 30 people were travelling in the truck, but later it was found that many fell into the deep gorge.
The exact number of travellers is yet to be established.
Sylvester Nongtnger, police chief of West Khasi Hills, informed the victims were going towards Nonglang village to attend the synod of Presbyterian Church.
Also Read: Four employees of Jammu and Kashmir Bank killed in road accident in Kathua
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New Delhi:
Bomb explosion took place at the residence gate of Hueiyen Lanpao (local vernacular) editor H Ningomba and ISTV editor B Ningomba in Okram Chuthek region of Imphal in Manipur.
Later on, a live bomb was also recovered in Okram Chuthek and bomb disposal squad reached the spot. There were no casualties reported in the incident.
Earlier on Friday police recovered grenade and a bomb in Manipur's Imphal West district where Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed an election rally on Saturday.
Polling for the 60-seat Manipur Assembly will take place in two phases on March 4 and March 8.
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New Delhi:
A Kerala man who had left home to join IS group has been killed in a drone attack in Afghanistan. The suspect was from Padanna in Kasargod and was identified as 21-year-old Hafiz.
The family members had recieved message on mobile app Telegram that Hafees got killed in a drone attack on Saturday, sources said.
Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties: for the price theirs shall be the paradise. They fight in Allahs cause so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him I th Turrat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) and the Quran. And who is truer to his convenient than alla (Allah) rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. That is the supreme success. Tauba 11, the message read.
Hafiz was one of the 21 youths who had gone missing last year from their native Kerala and allegedly joined Khorasan branch of Islamic State group. IS announced its Khorasan branch an old name for Afghanistan and surrounding areas including parts of India in January 2015.
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New Delhi:
Delhi University teacher Prasanta Chakravarty, who was roughed up during the recent North Campus clashes, has been taken to hospital after complaining severe abdominal pain as a result of internal injuries.
"Passed out with shooting abdominal pain, at Fortis Noida emergency," he posted on Facebook. He said he has been diagnosed with deep bruises and "concealed spasms" on the right kidney and his spine muscles have also suffered serious injuries.
Chakravarty, an associate professor with DU, said people who assaulted him during the clashes appeared to be "some kind of mercenaries" and not students. He had alleged the involvement of outsiders in the violence between student groups ABVP and AISA.
Also Read | Anyone who wants to break India, supports Afzal Guru is anti-national: Kiren Rijiju
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New Delhi:
A fire broke out at the leading English daily Times of India's building in Delhi on Sunday afternoon, a report said.A
A fire official said the flames were reported around 4.45 PM and 10 firetenders were rushed to the spot.
The flames were reported on the first floor of the five-storey building in Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.
The extent of the damage has not yet been ascertained.
A major fire had engulfed parts of the buildingas top floor in May last year.
(With Inputs from PTI)
Live updates:
31 fire engines operating. Fire fighting operations on; no casualties reported: Chief Fire Officer (West) Vipin Kental on TOI building fire pic.twitter.com/M20kBit9Cq a ANI (@ANI_news) February 26, 2017
#5:50PM
A total of 20 fire tenders have reached Times of India building at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in Delhi.A
Delhi: Fire at the Times of India building at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. 4 fire tenders at the spot. More details awaited pic.twitter.com/Ziz5TXJKM1 a ANI (@ANI_news) February 26, 2017
A
Delhi: Fire at the Times of India building in Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. Four fire tenders rushed to the spot. More details awaited pic.twitter.com/y97QIoFxuB a ANI (@ANI_news) February 26, 2017
A
Delhi: Fire at the Times of India building at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. 4 fire tenders rushed to the spot. More details awaited pic.twitter.com/3H4VsDmWgP a ANI (@ANI_news) February 26, 2017
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Jaipur :
BJP General secretary P Muralidhar Rao on Saturday said that several terror outfits and naxals considered BJP as their number one enemy.
Addressing party workers at the party office in Jaipur, Rao said that they should work hard to strengthen the leadership so that the issues of internal and border security could be strengthened.
Rao said that several terror organizations, naxals, maoists take BJP as their prime enemy.
Without naming Pakistan, he said the neighbouring country conspires against India and try to disturb stability of Kashmir.
Also read: Congress has history of belittling own senior leaders, will ditch Samajwadi Party: Ravi Shankar Prasad
He said BJP follows the ideology of nationalism.
Vijay Chauthaiwale?(incharge of Foreign Affair Departmentof BJP) elaborated on the countrys foreign policy and the efforts taken by the Centre to strengthen ties with the foreign countries.
He highlighted the help and aid provided to Indians who faced troubles in the foreign countries.
The party leaders were addressing the BJP members on the second day of a state level training programme in Jaipur.
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DECATUR People had different reasons for coming out Saturday for a Community March/Caravan to express what's good about Decatur and what could be better.
Carolyn Jarrett, 54, brought several young people from Living Word Evangelistic Ministries to expand their worlds and give them a chance to be heard.
Some created the signs they would carry while waiting inside the Macon County Law Enforcement Center for the event to begin.
Jackie Hayes, 58, had a poster inside his SUV about the importance of education that noted in finer print the need for more black male teachers and teaching assistants in the classroom and less use of alternative rooms.
You don't have to drive far to get to work, and it's a really nice place to raise a family, Hayes said.
Also among early arrivals was Carla Pugh, 63, who said she's lived in Decatur most of her life and just enjoys doing the simple things, like going to the public library with her daughter Lorita, 33, when the weather's nice.
In all, about 70 people braved temperatures in the 20s and wind gusts up to 20 mph Saturday morning to walk six blocks north along Franklin Street. A half-dozen vehicles trailed behind.
Once inside the Decatur Civic Center, the group swelled to more than 100 people on the second floor, where Jeanelle Norman conducted a town hall meeting followed by a program of six speakers.
I was really pleased with the messages we heard today, said Norman, who is president of the Decatur Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The information will help us carry forward the work of the NAACP, and the politicians in attendance heard the same things we heard.
Speakers ran the gamut from Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe, who said Decatur has made progress bridging old divisions and must continue to do so, to LaQuane Crue, 17, a junior at Eisenhower High School, who called for change from his fellow students and the schools.
He said many students are living in poverty and feel like the school system doesn't care about them.
It's time to stop talking about it and be about it, Crue said. It's time to stop looking at all the bright things happening in the schools instead of what really needs attention.
His remarks came after those by school board President Sherri Perkins, whose presentation included a declaration that the board is not dysfunctional and a list of accomplishments.
Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world, Perkins said. I take pride in how far we have come and I have faith in far we can go.
Other speakers included Decatur Police Chief Jim Getz, Decatur Township Supervisor Lisa Stanley and John Baird of Illinois People's Action, who carried a sign reading, Today I'm a Muslim, too.
He talked about the issues the faith-based group stands for, including immigration reform and keeping families together, clean energy jobs for poorer communities, big corporations paying their fair share of taxes, and a reduction in or an elimination of predatory lenders, such as those making payday or car title loans.
Baird concluded with an appeal for support for Decatur's Islamic community. Recent events have left them worried and scared, he said. Let's step up and stand by them.
During the town hall portion of the gathering, Decatur's parks, heritage and generosity were singled out for praise. Decatur Township Clerk Ada Owens expressed the sentiments of many when she said, I love Decatur because it's my home, and it's what I believe in.
As for what could be improved, people asked for more celebrations and more jobs, less racial discrimination, a requirement that all city employees live in Decatur, revitalization of innercity neighborhoods and a shared vision.
We need to put action behind our love in the way we treat people, Gregory Moyer said. There are good people here; we just need to come together for the good of all.
Dana Sharp, 55, told the Herald & Review when she read about the march/caravan on Facebook, she felt she had to join in.
In light of the political climate, I think all of us need to do all that we can to support each other on a day-to-day basis, Sharp said. Civil rights has always been very important to me and my family, so this seemed like the right thing to do.
New Delhi :
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on Sunday through 'Mann Ki Baat'. It was the 29th episode of his regular radio programme.A
In this edition of Mann Ki Baat, PM talked about IRSO's record satellite launch, digital transactions, Digi Dhan and the Clean India initiative. He also thanked the Indian Blind team for winning the world cup. While concluding his speech, PM Modi encouraged youth of the nation to come forward and take part in government initiative for nation's growth.A
In the last episode of his monthly radio show, PM Modi focused on the Class X and XII Board examinations. The exam will commence from March 9, a day after the last vote is cast in the assembly polls.
Here are the key highlights from PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat:A
#A PM ModiA concludes his Mann Ki baat address on AIR.
#A aBeti Bachao, Beti Padhaoa movement is moving forward with rapid strides. It has now become a campaign of public education
#A The whole world celebrates 8th March as Womenas Day. In India, more importance needs to be given to our daughters
# Women players are bringing glory to the nation. Congrats to women players won silver at Asian Rugby Sevens Trophy
#A Our Divyang brothers and sisters are capable, strongly determined, courageous and possess tremendous resolve
# PM ModiA appreciates Indian team for winning the Blind T-20 World Cup
# PM ModiA appreciates Doordarshan for broadcasting a special programme of aSwachchhta Samachara.
#A Government, society, institutions, organizations, in fact everyone, is making some or the other effort towards Swachhta
#A The hard work of the farmers has resulted in a record production of more than 2,700 lakh tonnes food grains
#A Economic prowess of villages imparts momentum to the nationas economic progress
#A Agriculture makes a major contribution to the fundamentals of our countryas economy
#A Remembering him, one teach at least 125 persons about downloading BHIM App & procedure of making transactions through it
#A This scheme will complete its 100 days on 14th April, the birth anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
#A I urge my countrymen, especially youth of our country & those who have won prizes, to become ambassadors of these schemes
#Delig hted to learn that till now, under Lucky Grahak & Digi-Dhan Yojana, 10 lakh people have been rewarded
# A lot of emphasis is being laid on Digi Dhan.A People are moving towards digital currency. Digital transactions are rising
# Our society is increasingly turning out to be technology driven. Systems are getting technology driven: PM
#The attraction of science for youngsters should increase. We need more & more scientists.
# Inquisitiveness has played a significant role in the journey of progression of human life and development
#India has successfully tested Ballistic Interceptor Missile. This is a cutting edge technology in the arena of security
#A On behalf of our countrymen, I heartily congratulate the scientists at ISRO
# PM Modi on ISRO's satellite launch:A It is a matter of exultation for us that the entire campaign was led & steered by our young & women scientists.
#A Particularly for my farmer brothers and sisters, our new Satellite Cartosat 2D will be immensely helpful
# India created history by becoming the first country to launch successfully 104 satellites into space at one go
#A After the successful mission of sending Mangalyaan to Mars, recently ISROA scripted a world record in the arena of space
# PM ModiA mentions about Shobha Jalan who on Narendra Modi App asked him to share thoughts on achievements of ISRO
# My gratitude to lakhs of citizens for sending in a multitude of suggestions when I ask for them before Mann Ki Baat.
# The festivals of Vasant Panchami, Mahashivratri and Holi, impart hues of happiness to a personas life
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Sarmiento:
Astronomy afficianados applauded as they were plunged into darkness on Sunday as the moon passed in front of the sun in a brilliant "ring of fire" eclipse. Astronomers and enthusiasts in Argentina were among the first to see the so-called annular eclipse as it crossed South America shortly after 1200 GMT, on course for Africa.
Staring up through special telescopes, protective glasses or homemade cardboard pinhole devices, they watched the Sun all but disappear briefly as the Moon crossed its path.
The eclipse was to be most visible in a 100-kilometre band across Chile, Argentina, Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 100 stargazers gathered on Sunday morning in the southern city of Sarmiento, the point in Argentina where the eclipse was expected to be most visible.
"I have already seen six annular eclipses and each one was different," said Josep Masalles Roman, an enthusiast who came all the way from Barcelona in Spain. "This one is going to be very fine and it is possible that we will be able to clearly see Baily's Beads," a string of points of light produced as the sun's beams break through peaks on the moon's surface.
The spectacle 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. An 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.
Terry Moseley of the Irish Astronomical Associationwarned that viewers should not observe the eclipse with the naked eye. According to the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa(ASSA), the eclipse can be safely observed using a basic pinhole projector.
Also Read: Total Solar Eclipse 2017: Know when and where you can see 'Ring of Fire'
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 onthe ground, says the ASSA website, calling this "the coolest and safest way to watch a solar eclipse".
"As about 90 per cent 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," Moseley told AFP.
Locals in the province of Chubut around Sarmiento said they noted changes in the height of the tide and animals acting unusually. Experts say that as the day darkens, birds and animals enter a night-time routine, thinking sunset is nigh. At the height of the eclipse the Moon is right in the middle of the Sun, leaving a perfect ring of light around theedge.
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Peshawar:
The Hindu community in Pakistans Mansehra district cut short its annual three-day Maha Shivaratri festival by a day mainly due to the prevailing security situation in the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
Members of the Hindu community from across Pakistan gather at the Shiv Temple in Chiti Gati Gandiyan of Mansehra district to celebrate Shivaratri - believed to be the day when Lord Shiva and Parvati got married.
The festival began on Friday amid tight security. Over 700 fasting devotees from as far as Abbottabad, Kohat, Banu, Mardan, Peshawar and Rawalpindi performed puja and traditional rituals such as Ashnan (bathing) of Shiv with milk and honey.
The devotees on Saturday performed the rites of mehndi and Sehra bandi of Shiva. Amid reverberating sounds of bells and chants of religious slogans, devotees circled around the linga, offering their prayers, the paper said.
However, the festivities were cut short a day ahead of schedule as the pundits including Sham Lal, Chaman Lal and Ratan conducted a special puja, it said.
Explaining reasons behind cutting the festival short, Darshan Lal said theres not sufficient space to accommodate all the devotees in the temple and its surrounding village. Secondly, owing to the security situation, the elders had decided to end their celebrations on Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday evening, he added.
The prolonged power outages and the prevailing security situation across the country too had contributed to the pundits? decision to change the schedule in the larger interest of their community, he added.
All visiting devotees had left under tight security provided by the police who had provided adequate security during the festival, he said.
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Washington:
India's envoy to the US Navtej Sarna on Saturday has met Donald Trump, even as his counterparts fromother countries also met the US President at the Oval Office in White House.
This was the first meeting of the top Indian diplomat with Trump after he was sworn in as the US President on January 20.
A 1980 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Sarna arrived in the US a few days before the November 8 presidentialelections last year.
Post-elections, Sarna along with more than a few foreign diplomats could not meet the then US President Barack Obamaduring the transition.
Before leaving his office, Obama had issued an executive order formally credentialing all the new ambassadors includingSarna so as to facilitate them to attend the swearing in ceremony of the new president.
Saturday, Trump met all the new foreign ambassadors and had individual photos with each one of them.
Spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs from 2002 to 2008, Sarna has previously been India's Ambassador to Israeland the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Since arriving in the US, Sarna has met scores of top American lawmakers, has engaged the community across thecountry and interacted with the think-tanks.
Saturday, he hosted a reception for National Governors Association that was attended by Governors from 25 States.
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Washington:
The Kansas governor and his counterpart in Missouri have strongly condemned the shooting incident that resulted in the "tragic" death of an Indian engineer on.
"This sort of senseless violence is never acceptable. Law enforcement here in Kansas will continue to thoroughly investigate this crime," the Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said.
"The friends and family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla are in our prayers. We hope for a speedy recovery for the other men who were shot," Brownback said.
The Missouri Governor Eric Greitens thanked his state law enforcement official for arresting the shooter who had fled the Kansas city after shooting the two Indian men.
"It is alleged that, when the suspect went into the bar, he shouted 'get out of my country' before firing his weapon. We will learn the truth of what happened in the bar soon enough, but what we can say for certain is this: this hate has no place in our state," Greitens said.
"This violence has no place in our state. And if you are a violent criminal who harms the innocent, you will find no quarter in our state. Come across our border, and we will find you and bring you to justice," he asserted.
After the shooting, the suspect fled across the Kansas border into Missouri. "It was Missouri police officers from the Clinton Police Department who arrested him. He was sent back to Kansas andwill face the judgment of the court on Monday," he added.
"We owe our thanks to Missouri law enforcement for their quick action. Though the suspect went quietly, there was no guarantee of that. Anything could have happened. Our police officers put their lives on the line on every call of this kind," Greitens said.
"It was a concerned Missourian who is said to have alerted the police. The suspect had admitted the crime to her and asked her for a place to hide out. She took responsible and decisive action that led to the arrest," he said in a statement.
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Lahore:
Pakistan Rangers have killed four terrorists and detained 600 terror suspects during over 200 search operations in Punjab province under the recently launched nation-wide military operation Radd-ul-Fasaad.
The army last week launched Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad an Arabic word which translates roughly to elimination of discord - across the country, to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of its counter-terrorism operations, days after a wave of suicide attacks that killed more than 125 people, including 91 at a Sufi shrine in Sindh.
An important part of the operation was deployment of paramilitary Rangers in Punjab province to counter terrorism.
The armys media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said Punjab Rangers conducted over 200 search operations in various areas of Punjab including Karor, Layyah and Rawalpindi and arrested 600 suspects, including Afghan nationals.
Four suspected terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with security personnel, it said in a statement.
During the operation, the paramilitary force searched suspected houses, seminaries and shops, the statement said.
Some suspects belonging to Jamat-u-Ahrar (JuA), believed to be facilitators in the recent terror attacks in the country, are also among the arrested suspects.
JuA had claimed responsibility for the bombing on the Mall Road Lahore and the suicide attack on a shrine in Sehwan Sharif Sindh this month.
Weapons and banned literature have been seized during the operation.
The Nawaz Sharif government has approved the deployment of the Rangers in Punjab province for 60 days after the Mall Road Lahore bombing.
It was a long-standing demand of the opposition parties to deploy Rangers in Punjab for operation against militants believed to be holed up in the southern part of the province.
The Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab police has also killed 17 terrorists mostly belonging to JuA after the February 17 Lahore bombing.
The Radd-ul-Fasaad operation is aimed at the elimination of the residual and latent threat of terrorism, consolidating gains of operations made so far and ensuring the security of Pakistans borders.
Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Civil Armed Forces (CAF) and other security and law enforcing agencies (LEAs) are supposed to participate in the operation.
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London:
The UK Commonwealth summit, planned to set free trade deals on course as Britain exits the European Union, will put other leading commonwealth countries including India on course for greater trade liberalisation, a media report said on Sunday.
Lord Marland, chairman of the UK-based Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, has planned the summit to set free trade deals on course as Britain exits the European Union (EU).
The summit, to be attended by Liam Fox, the [UK] international trade secretary, will also seek to put other leading Commonwealth countries such as South Africa, Nigeria and India on course for greater trade liberalisation, The Sunday Times reported.
More than 30 ministers and around 60 business chiefs will attend the summit in London on March 9 and 10.
They are expected to sign an accord that will pave the way for a free-trade deal between Britain and countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada after Brexit, the report said.
We will have more than 30 Commonwealth trade ministers under the same roof for the first time ever. Im hoping we can initiate a Commonwealth trade accord which will endorse the benefits of free trade, Lord Marland told the paper.
There are huge opportunities for Britain. Everyone in the Commonwealth speaks English and it is underpinned by the UK rule of law. We enjoy a lot of cultural links like sport as well, he said.
Ministers and business leaders will chair events on key issues such as finance, technology, good business practice and attracting inward investment at the event next month.
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Washington:
US President Donald Trump has said that he would not attend the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) annual dinner, in a break from tradition.
I will not be attending the White House Correspondents Association Dinner this year, Trump announced on twitter on Saturday.
Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!, he said. In the past few days, Trump has accused the mainstream American media as the real enemy of country.
Said to be the most high-profile annual event in Washington DC, the dinner has traditionally been attended by the US President and celebrities mainly from Hollywood. It was held for the first time in Washington DC in 1920.
This years dinner has been scheduled for April 29.
On Saturday, several major news outlets including The New York Times, CNN and BBC were barred from attending an off-camera White House briefing, an unprecedented move that escalated tensions in the already fraught relationship between the Trump administration and the media.
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Dear Dr. Roach: I hope you can answer some questions about a disease called multiple system atrophy. What does it do to your body? Is the cause known? Is there a cure?
-- D.B.
A: Multiple system atrophy is a group of related degenerative diseases of the nervous system. All of them can cause any of three symptoms: ataxia (a specific type of loss of muscular coordination); Parkinsonism (the specific abnormal muscle control and rigidity that usually is seen in Parkinson's disease); and problems with the autonomic nervous system (the part that regulates blood pressure on standing and bladder control, among many other functions).
MSA with predominant ataxia is also called "olivopontocerebellar atrophy"; MSA with predominant Parkinson's features is also called "striatonigral degeneration"; and MSA with predominantly autonomic symptoms is also called "Shy-Drager syndrome."
MSA is a rare condition, and few doctors are expert in it. I strongly recommend you contact The MSACoalition, an organization devoted to education, support and advocacy for MSA, at www.multiplesystematrophy.org.
Melatonin
Dear Dr. Roach: About your recent column on melatonin: At 70 years old, I was taking melatonin three to four nights a week for several months. Sometimes it helped; other times not. While purchasing a new bottle, I noticed fine print that read: "Consult a physician if using for more than four weeks." I asked the pharmacist why, and she said, "If you are having trouble sleeping, talk to your doctor." I thought melatonin was not addictive or harmful. Why the warning?
-- K.W.
A: Low-dose melatonin is relatively safe, and it almost certainly is substantially safer than most over-the-counter and prescription sleeping medications. Melatonin is proven to be beneficial in people adjusting to new time zones and in people with low melatonin levels. Despite absence of proven benefit in all people, many physicians recommend it for long-term use. I do agree with both your low dose and that you are not taking it every night. I think these will minimize the already small risks.
Why consult a physician? Several potentially serious medical conditions can have insomnia as a symptom, so it is wise to discuss your problem with your doctor. This is not so much because melatonin is dangerous as it is to make sure there's not some other cause (such as high thyroid level) for your insomnia.
Lockjaw
Dear Dr. Roach: Do you have any experience with lockjaw caused by radiation? After almost a year and a half, my brother still is dealing with the difficulty of opening his mouth more than 12 millimeters. He has had physical therapy, acupuncture and use of a TheraBite to try opening his mouth. Will this ever improve, or has the damage caused from radiation become permanent?
-- D.V.
A: Trismus, or lockjaw, is an uncommon but not rare complication of radiation treatment to the head and neck. I have no personal experience with it, but have read that although there are some treatments, much of the time the symptoms are irreversible. Besides the TheraBite system, which is helpful for many, other treatments have included microcurrent electrotherapy and pentoxifylline, which is a medication often used in people with blockages in the arteries.
However, 18 months is a long time, and I am, unfortunately, pessimistic about improvement from this point. I would consider seeking a consultation at a referral cancer center to find the most expertise.
High potassium
Dr. Roach writes: A column on high potassium levels has generated some recent letters and some confusion about the cause of laboratory errors.
Most errors attributed to the lab are due to problems obtaining or storing the sample prior to it getting to the laboratory. In the case of high potassium levels, blood can sit in the lab where it was drawn for hours, causing blood cells to burst and release potassium. A person who is nervous about blood being drawn can breathe rapidly, causing a temporary rise in blood pH, resulting in high potassium. If the samples shake during transportation, it can cause mechanical damage to cells.
An error in a laboratory value doesn't necessarily mean that an error was made by the laboratory.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in his state budget address this month called for spending reductions that need to be real no smoke and mirrors to close an unprecedented deficit poised to top $5.3 billion June 30. He also put tax hikes on the table, specifically on services like auto repairs and haircuts, but not for medicine, food or retirement income.
Rauner said increases cant come without reforms to improve the job climate, and renewed his push for lawmakers to make serious cuts.
"There is no one single bullet, no one single 'must have,' for our administration," said Rauner, whose address was interrupted by laughter from lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled Legislature. "But for the future of our state, change must be real, not just a newspaper headline."
That Rauner a pro-business, GOP governor up for re-election next year is willing to bring up the tax topic is an interesting development. We are not a fan of new taxes and their impact on economies and our viability. We hope lawmakers figure out a solution without adding any fees. But we also see some give-and-take as the only solution to ending our budget statement, which has dragged on for nearly two years and has been causing far too much pain and uncertainty.
As elected officials have wrangled and nitpicked, the state has $11 billion in overdue bills. Pension programs are underfunded by about $130 billion. Educational institutions are hurting. Social service agencies are especially at risk, putting our most vulnerable segment of the population in unnecessary harm.
As weve repeatedly said, the governor shouldnt back down from critical workers compensation reform and other regulatory changes that will re-position this states business climate. We need a long-lasting solution. But we also need to see continued cooperation from the General Assembly, which has rejected the governors two previous annual spending plans.
Were encouraged by the so-called grand bargain in the Senate, which puts into place a two-year property tax freeze, rather than the permanent one the governor wants, among other changes. (Were less thrilled with proposal to increase the personal income tax rate from 3.75 percent to 4.99 percent.)
We hope legislators approve the savings the governor proposed in his budget address, specifically selling the Thompson Center office building in downtown Chicago, changing state-employee health insurance and altering certain purchasing policies, which will save a projected $2.5 billion. Thats a good start.
Still, theres a lot of trimming to go, and were the first to admit the math from Rauner camp is a little sketchy, operating on lots of assumptions. The proposal would spend about $40 billion while counting on only $33 billion in revenue a 22 percent difference. The governor is banking on making up the difference by spending cuts, economic growth and tax increases via the Senate plan.
All of which makes it critical that the Senate steps forward with the kinds of reforms the governor wants. If that works, the governor appears willing to compromise on taxes. And, of course, if the Senate does its job, it falls to the House to follow suit. That means another showdown with Speaker Mike Madigan, D-Chicago, who must be willing to compromise, too.
And then we can end the countrys longest state budget deadlock in nearly a century.
The Senate returns to Springfield this week. We hope theyre done with the laughter. After all, theres nothing funny about the situation our elected officials have gotten us into.
Mark Conrad / For Hearst Connecticut Media
It would take a lifetime to listen to all of them, but you can at least start with a handful. WPKNs fourth annual Music Mash 17 this weekend will feature thousands of vinyl LPs and CDs on sale, along with posters and other memorabilia.
Dozens of dealers are expected to bring their wares to this Bridgeport event, which has grown increasingly popular since its debut in 2013. Everything from rock to garage, psychedelia to ska, and country to jazz (and many others on the musical spectrum) will be available, including some near-mint collectables. The community radio station, which can be found at 89.5FM, is working with Record Riots, which has hosted similar shows throughout the tristate area.
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DANBURYMiddle- and high-school students accompanied by their undergraduate and teacher mentors kept an eye on the door during their Saturday community service project, knowing that Nobel Peace Prize-winner Leymah Gbowee would soon pay a visit.
The students painted, cleaned and organized Jericho Partnership Headquarters on Rose Street as part of Western Connecticut State Universitys Peace Jam conference, where Gbowee was the headliner. When she arrived, Jericho President Carrie Amos began the visit by giving her a tour of the facility.
Amos said meeting Gbowee was a source of motivation for her and all of Jericho, which serves the at-risk community in Danbury through a partnership of Christian organizations.
Shes just a world-changer, Amos said. What she has done for a country we are trying to do for this little city. This is our first year (with Peace Jam), and I suspect it will be the first of many.
Gbowee won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work leading a nonviolent movement of Christian and Muslim women that helped end the second civil war in her native Liberia.
The Peace Jam conference, which WSCU hosted for the first time this weekend, brings middle- and high-school students in contact with Nobel Peace Prize-winners through a series of talks, workshops and community service projects.
Gbowee had kicked off the conference with a Friday evening speech in Ives Concert Hall. She spent Saturday meeting with students, visiting community service projects and giving interviews.
During an interview with Ebong Udoma, of WSHU public radio, Gbowee discussed the difficulties young women face in Liberia trying to get an education. She said her foundation, Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, has helped hundreds of girls complete school and return to help their communities.
This is all that I seek to do, Gbowee said. Inspire another generation of young people.
Working for youth and education, Gbowee said, were the two goals missing from her years of activism before winning the Nobel Peace Prize. The goal of empowering youth, she said, was the main reason she got involved with Peace Jam.
Being part of Peace Jam helped me fulfill that goal, she said. Being here is keeping me young, focused and humble. These are the voices I represent when I speak of youth empowerment.
After the Jericho tour, Gbowee took pictures with the students and was invited to help them paint. Earlier that day, the students said, Gbowee had given them a talk about the importance of diversity and activism.
Leslie Salinas, an eighth-grader from Broadview Middle School who spent the day painting at Jericho, said Gbowee inspired her to continue getting involved in community service.
It makes you feel like you did something that can change someones life, she said. And plus, it can be kind of fun.
The students completed community service projects on the WSCU campus and at Jerichos South Street and Spring Street locations with the help of undergraduates from WSCU and other universities.
Yamans Serrano, a ninth-grader from Breakthrough Magnet School in Hartford, attended the WSCU conference and the University of Connecticuts Peace Jam conference last year. She said Gbowee and Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who was featured at UConn, made her more appreciative of what she has.
I used to dread coming to school, Serrano said. But then when I heard how in other countries girls couldnt work, go to school or go anywhere without men near them, it made me grateful that Im in school. I dont dread it now and I appreciate it more.
Hans Rosling (19482017), physician and epidemiologist, famously upturned assumptions widely held by the public and by the development community assumptions that, thanks to US President Donald Trump, are back in the spotlight. A recurring theme of Roslings was that family sizes have been shrinking even though child survival rates have improved.
Roslings global statistics on total fertility rate and infant mortality rate do not indicate causality, neither are they necessarily correlated. Although such a correlation holds for Asia, it does not in Africa. The infant mortality rate in Niger, for example, has fallen by two-thirds since the 1980s but the countrys total fertility rate has risen slightly, leading to a predicted population explosion from 20 million in 2015 to 72 million by 2050.
The researchers make the case that lack of family counseling or reduced family counseling results in increased abortions.
According to the results of the UN 2015 Revision of world population, the world population reached 7.3 billion as of mid- 2015, implying that the world has added approximately one billion people in the span of the last twelve years. Sixty per cent of the global population lives in Asia (4.4 billion), 16 per cent in Africa (1.2 billion), 10 per cent in Europe (738 million), 9 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean (634 million), and the remaining 5 per cent in Northern America (358 million) and Oceania (39 million). China (1.4 billion) and India (1.3 billion) remain the two largest countries of the world, both with more than 1 billion people, representing 19 and 18 per cent of the worlds population, respectively.
The Millennium Development Goals was to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two thirds between 1990 and 2015. While the MDG Target will not be achieved globally by the end of 2015, progress in reducing under-five mortality has been very significant and wide-reaching in recent years. Between 2000-2005 and 2010-2015, under-five mortality has decreased by more than 20 per cent in 156 countries, with widespread reductions of 20 per cent or more recorded in Africa (42 out of 57 countries), Asia (43 out of 51 countries), Europe (39 out of 40 countries), Latin America and the Caribbean (24 out of 38 countries), and Oceania (8 out of 13 countries). Between 2000-2005 and 2010-2015, under-five mortality fell by more than 30 per cent in 86 countries, of which 13 countries saw a decline of more than 50 per cent.
Globally, total fertility is expected to fall from 2.5 children per woman in 2010-2015 to 2.25 in 2045-2050 and to 2.0 in 2095-2100 according to the medium-variant projection. However, in Europe and Northern America, total fertility is projected to increase between 2010-2015 and 2045-2050 from 1.6 to 1.8 children per woman in Europe and from 1.86 to 1.9 children per
woman in Northern America. In Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Oceania fertility is expected to fall between 2010-2015 and 2045-2050, with the largest reductions projected to occur in Africa. Thus, in all major areas of the world, fertility levels are projected to converge to a level at or just below the replacement level by 2095-2100.
In recent years, fertility has declined in virtually all major areas of the world. In Africa, where fertility levels are the highest of any major area, total fertility has fallen from 4.9 children per woman in 2005-2010 to 4.7 children per woman in 2010-2015. Fertility levels have also fallen in Asia and Oceania over the same period, from 2.3 to 2.2 children per woman in Asia and from 2.5 to 2.4 children per woman in Oceania. Recent fertility declines have been slightly larger in Latin America and the Caribbean where fertility has fallen from 2.3 to 2.15 and in Northern America where fertility has fallen from 2.0 in 2005-2010 to 1.86 in 2010-2015. Europe is the only major area that was an exception to this trend. In recent years, total fertility in Europe has increased slightly from 1.55 children per woman in 2005-2010 to 1.6 children per woman in 2010-2015.
The Federal Government has reviewed the visa processes for foreigners who wish to visit Nigeria for business and tourism purposes, with a view to removing bureaucratic bottleneck and encouraging business travellers and tourists, thus giving a boost to the economy.A statement issued on Sunday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the measures were part of the action plan for the ease of doing business as well as efforts to boost tourism, within the overall context of the Administrations economic diversification agenda. The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has reviewed the requirements for Nigerian visas to make them more customer friendly, and details of this review are available on the NIS official website, www.immigration.gov.ng.Types of visas currently reviewed include Visa on Arrival (VoA) processes, Business Visas, Tourist Visas and Transit Visas, the Minister said. Alhaji Mohammed explained that Business Visas are available for foreign travellers who wish to travel to Nigeria for Meetings, Conferences, Seminars, Contract Negotiation, Marketing, Sales, Purchase and distribution of Nigerian Goods, Trade Fairs, Job Interviews, Training of Nigerians, Emergency/Relief work, Crew members, Staff of NGOs, Staff of INGOs, Researchers and Musical Concerts.He said Tourist Visas are also available to foreign travelers who wish to visit Nigeria for the purpose of tourism or to visit family and friends while Nigeria Visa on Arrival is a class of short visit visa issued at the port of entry, and it is available to frequently-travelled High-Net-Worth Investors and intending visitors who may not be able to obtain visa at the Nigerian Missions/Embassies in their countries of residence due to the absence of a Nigerian mission in those countries or exigencies of urgent business travels.The Minister said other actions that have been taken by the NIS for the ease of doing business and facilitation of travelling for Nigerians and foreigners alike include the harmonization of multiplicity of Airport Arrival and Departure Form/Cards into a single form for all agencies of government to save foreign visitors from the current frustrating practice of filling 3 different forms or more and the decentralization of Immigration services to the State Commands.Re-issuance of passports for change of names due to marital reasons or lost cases have been decentralized to all State Commands and Foreign Missions to save passport holders from additional costs and inconvenience of travelling to the Service Headquarters in Abuja, while additional 28 offices have been opened for issuance of Residence Permits in Nigeria, bringing the issuance of Combined Expatriate Residence Permit And Aliens Cards (CERPAC) closer to the doorstep of employers of expatriates at all 36 states and FCT.The Minister said the measures by NIS fit perfectly into the 60-day national action plan for ease of doing business in Nigeria that was approved recently by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), as well as the administrations efforts to boost international tourism.
The anti-corruption crusade of the Federal Government has so far yielded N57.9b and $US666.676m, according to Attorney General of the Fede...
No fewer than four persons have been killed in Ondo town in a clash between two cult groups.According to a source, the two rival cult groups were fighting over the move of some former members of the All Progressives Congress who had earlier defected to the Alliance for Democracy but planned to return to the APC.The clash was said to have started at the APC secretariat located at Yaba Street in Ondo town before it spread to different locations in the town.After the clash, bodies of those killed were found at Enuowa Street.Some residents of the street told our correspondent that one of the cult members killed wore APC-branded clothes used at the inauguration of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Ondo State Police Command, Mr. Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident.He said the command had commenced investigation into the killings.Joseph, however, noted that the clash had nothing to do with the reception organised for former Governor Olusegun Mimiko in Ondo town on Friday.He said, It was a clash between cult groups. The deceased were members of the groups and we have begun investigation on the incident.Joseph also stated that the command had arrested two people in connection with the clash. He noted further that the suspects were under interrogation to know their level of involvement in the case.Meanwhile, the Deputy Chairman of APC in the state, Mr. Ade Adetimehin, has denied the allegation that APC members were involved in the clash.He said members of the APC in the state were law-abiding and would not be involved in violence at any level.I dont know those who were involved in the clash. But I am sure that they are not members of the APC, Adetimehin stated.
The President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has denied snubbing the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday, at the inauguration of Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu.The statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, by Sarakis Special Assistant on New Media, Bamikole Omishore, debunked the video being circulated on social media, describing it as untrue.According to Omishore, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu was granting an interview when the Senate President greeted him and others, but he could not respond so well at that particular time.That was why Tinubu called Saraki and the Senate President replied with a courtesy and reminded him that he greeted him but didnt want to interfere with his interview.The social media has been awash with a video clip, which captured the Senate President, reportedly taking a pass at the APC national leader, without showing courtesy.
Bola Tinubu, national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has expressed his wish to be Nigerias president, if there is a vacancy at Aso Rock.Tinubu said vying for any office in Nigeria is an opportunity to serve his country. He was said to have made the comment at the inauguration of Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo state,You see there is nothing wrong with such ambition. It depends on the timing and the environment and what political leadership dictates. I will not brush aside such an aspiration, Tinubu said.It has been historical even that Buhari tried first, second, third, and fourth before he got it, he said.Resilience, determination, and clarity of purpose. Maybe as a senator, maybe as a president, you cannot rule it out. How can I rule such a thing out, the opportunity to service my country but you only do that when there is a vacancy.Speaking about the health condition of the president, Tinubu said Buhari has been very honest in disclosing that he needs medical attention.An honest man disclosed to you that he is going to leave, he is going to have a medical check-up, he has disclosed that he needed more time, he said.He has told you, he has told us honestly that he needed medical attention. What his doctors will discuss after that is subject to experts who should not be discussed until he is ready to disclose it. He told us that he cannot return now, what else do you want him to do.Only God gives life, and only God can take it. The man that I have seen is well, alive. We should promote welfare, praying for the wellbeing of our leaders.
Irans ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad published Sunday an open letter to Donald Trump, welcoming his criticism of the US political system but taking issue with his visa ban and attitude to women.Many Iranians see the new US president as cut from the same cloth as Ahmadinejad, who shocked the establishment with his sudden rise to power in 2005, combining hardline rhetoric and populist economic policies to win a powerful following among Irans lower classes.At times in the long and rambling letter, published in English and Farsi on his website, he appears to find a kindred spirit in Trump.Your Excellency (Trump) has truthfully described the US political system and electoral structure as corrupt and anti-public, he writes.But much of the letter is spent exhorting Trump to end interventions in the Middle East and ditch the arrogance of past US administrations.Ahmadinejad also takes issue with Trumps visa ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.The presence and constructive effort of the elite and scientists of different nations, including the million-plus population of my Iranian compatriots has had a major role in the development of the US the contemporary US belongs to all nations.He also finishes with a short lecture on respecting women a possible reference to Trumps recorded claims that he has sexually assaulted some.The great men of history have paid the highest level of respect to women and recognised their God-given capabilities, Ahmadinejad writes.Ahmadinejad has a fondness for writing to world leaders, having sent letters to former US president Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the pope as well as an 18-page missive to previous US leader George W. Bush.When Trump was elected in November, many Iranians joked about the similarities to their former president, whose tenure ended in 2013.When Ahmadinejad said that he intended to export his method of managing the world, we didnt take him seriously wrote one bemused commenter on social media.
Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani has alleged that some top government officials are wishing President Muhammadu Buhari dead because they want to become the Vice President.Sani said this while speaking to reporters shortly after inspecting artefacts of Mallam Aminu Kano at Mumbayya House Centre of Democracy, Kano.He said those aspiring for such position will fail immensely.He said, Unfortunately for them, neither the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, nor Buhari trusts them.Osinbajo is a trusted ally to his boss and he dislikes anything that would make him compromise the trust he enjoys.The Senator added that some of the Presidents aides were not trustworthy.Buhari has a daunting task of fumigating his government, cleanse it and flush out these hyenas who eat from the nations treasury without pains, he said.He added, it is open fact that today, politicians are only interested in getting power to use as launching pad of their personal businesses.The President had left Nigeria for a 10- day vacation in the United Kingdom in January.He however extended his vacation, stating that he needed longer period of rest as advised by his doctors.
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, summoned the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to Aso Rock following the resurgence of violence in Southern Kaduna.According to The Punch, Idris was summoned towards the tail end of last week to provide an explanation on the recent violence which resulted in the deaths of 21 persons in the area.It was gathered that the acting president demanded from Idris, the plans the police had to contain the situation and the necessary security measures to help forestall a re-occurrence.Recall that on Monday, 21 persons were killed in renewed attacks in Southern Kaduna. The attack led to the re-imposition of a 24 hour curfew in two local governments in the area.
The two Germans kidnapped in Kaduna State have been released. A German archaeologist, Peter Breunig, and his colleague, Johannes Burin...
The two Germans kidnapped in Kaduna State have been released.A German archaeologist, Peter Breunig, and his colleague, Johannes Buringer, were released on Saturday night, police sources stated.Yes, they were released last night (Saturday) by their kidnappers. No ransom was paid, a senior police officer said in Kaduna on condition of anonymity.We are expecting an official statement from Force Headquarters , Abuja with details of their release.Officials at the police headquarters in Abuja also confirmed the release, saying investigations are ongoing to arrest the kidnappers.Investigations are very much on, and we believe we will get them (the kidnappers), a senior officer knowledgeable about the investigations said in Abuja.It can be recalled that the Germans were kidnapped on Wednesday in Jenjela village, Kagarko emirate of Kagargo Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Two local hunters who tried to prevent their kidnap were killed in the process.The kidnappers later demanded N60 million as ransom, while the police deployed special forces and aerial surveillance to secure their release.Acting President Yemi Osinbajo was later briefed by the Inspector General of Police on the kidnap.
Azerbaijans military fired howitzer and artillery shells across the Line of Contact into Artsakh yesterday and last night according to a statement released by the Artsakh Ministry of Defense.
The ministry reports that 18 shells were fired towards the Artsakh village of Talish in the northeast.
Overall, the Azerbaijani military fired 2,200 rounds of various caliber weapons including 36 artillery shells (D-30 and D-44), and 77 mortar shells.
Moscow, Paris, Washington, 26 February, 2017 - The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France and Richard Hoagland of the United States of America, released the following statement today:
According to reports from the Ministries of Defense of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as other sources, in the early morning of February 25 there was a serious breach of cease fire on the Line of Contact, resulting in casualties. Several bodies remain in the no-man's land. The Sides accuse each other of an incursion attempt.
The Co-chairs call upon the Parties to keep heavy military equipment, which had been moved earlier close to the LOC, in its present positions and to allow recovery of the dead, as it was agreed upon yesterday under mediation of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chaiman-in-Office.
The Co-chairs reminded the Parties of their commitments to refrain from the use of force.
The eighth Annual Bubbly on the Bayou champagne brunch fundraiser is on March 5 at Patton's in Slidell. The event benefits the East St. Tammany Rainbow Child Care Center and begins at 11 a.m. Lonnie Scaglione Favre is the 2017 Honorary Chair. The restaurant is located at 127 Cleveland Ave. Pictured is Favre.
Bullet that hit man near New Orleans parade came from portable toilet, police say
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.
There are very few people in the world who do not have a smart phone. There are even fewer people of that number who...
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!
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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.
Crescent Elementary School was first constructed in Crescent in 1958.
The school merged with the Council Bluffs Community School District in 1966 following a vote of the residents after a mandate of the Iowa Legislature that required unattached districts to join a district with a high school.
During the 1997-98 school year, the students, staff, parents and community raised funds for new playground equipment. Then misfortune struck when school then nearly destroyed by fire in July 2006.
Because of the fire, Crescent students attended school at the former Washington Elementary School for the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years while their school was being reconstructed and expanded.
The district believes the Missouri River flood in the summer of 2011 may have affected enrollment, as some area families were displaced. At the start of the 2009-10 school year, the decision also was made to relocate the sixth-grade classrooms to the districts middle schools.
Crescent Elementary was named a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School. The Blue Ribbon program, run by the U.S. Department of Education, recognizes schools for their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.
The Alliance for Crescent Elementary was formed in 2012 with the goal of increasing science, technology, engineering and math opportunities, as well as reading support, in order to recruit and retain students. During the 2013-14 school year, Crescent was one of 44 schools nationally to pilot the elementary level of the Project Lead The Way STEM curriculum.
CRESCENT Community members in Crescent are worried about what will happen to their city if the Council Bluffs school board votes Tuesday evening to shut down their school.
The administration of the Council Bluffs Community School District is recommending the closing of Crescent Elementary School to improve academic achievement, save money and address dwindling enrollment.
About a dozen speakers criticized the proposal earlier this month at a school board hearing, and an organized opposition group held a meeting Thursday in part to rally speakers to address the board prior to the vote.
Opponents of the school closing asked for more time to work with the district to address enrollment decline, while also expressing a belief that more school-age children will live in the Crescent area in the near future.
They cast doubt on the districts argument that combination classrooms are driving down test scores, saying that Crescent students still are performing above many of their peers.
Sharon Oamek, who operates Honey Creek Creamery, cited a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia that showed property values typically decrease when a community school closes another major concern.
This will affect us, Schmidt said. I hope it all works out. Its a sad deal.
School board members declined to say how they plan to vote Tuesday, but they told The Nonpareil they are still listening to the feedback thats been pouring in, as well as the districts arguments for closing the school.
At the meeting, they will hear from the public and then have discussion as a board. They will vote on whether to shut down the school. Because of a deadline for open enrollment, board members arent expected to postpone the decision for a meeting, although they could choose to delay the decision until the following school year.
If they approve the closure, they will also be asked to make a boundary adjustment to move part of Crescents territory to College View Elementary and give current students in that portion of the district a choice of schools.
Emotions are running high for the decision, and opposition to the closing of the school prompted the distribution of an action alert flyer outside Lewis & Clark Elementary School asking those parents to join the Crescent cause.
Diane Ostrowski, the districts chief communications officer, said distribution of the flyer was halted because it wasnt approved. She characterized the flyers statements as misinformation.
It didnt meet any of our requirements for flyer distribution, Ostrowski said. We stopped it.
Ostrowski said the recommended closing of Crescent Elementary would result in a stronger Lewis & Clark Elementary, providing benefits to both groups of students. Should Crescent Elementary close, she said families will still have a really great small school experience in a little bigger building.
At the Feb. 14 school board meeting, Superintendent Martha Bruckner said the decision to close a school is one of those that was likely to leave school board members with sleepness nights.
Troy Arthur, the school board president, said the focus has to remain on whats best for the students a point articulated both by proponents and opponents of the school closure.
We really do want to make a decision that is best for all of our kids, Arthur said.
DENISON The Denison Job Corps Centers Certified Nursing Assistant trade has been approved to be a registered apprenticeship program through the U.S. Department of Labor and the State of Iowa Apprenticeship Office.
Through our partnerships with local employers, (CNA) students will increase their clinical hours and increase their Job Corps work-based learning hours, said Denison Job Corps Center Director Jim Whitmire. This is an additional credential gained through working with employers, being assigned a mentor and continuing to develop and practice skills.
Whitmire said Job Corps has an agreement in place with Eventide for students to work on basic nursing assistant skills and also focus on training for dealing with patients with dementia.
Job Corps is also in the beginning stages of a partnership with Crawford County Memorial Hospital to expose students to hospital and acute care settings, he said.
At any given time, Job Corps has 60 training slots for students in the basic CNA program, which is geared specifically toward nursing assistant training.
CNA graduates are certified by the state and often take jobs in long-term care facilities.
Working as an apprentice in a hospital setting will help students find hospital employment after graduation from the program, Whitmire said.
Upon completing our entire Job Corps training they will also receive their state apprenticeship certificate, which will make them much more employable and open up the doors to a variety of employment settings, he said.
The apprenticeship program is part of a new partnership between Denison Job Corps, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Iowa Apprenticeship Office.
Each CNA students mentor will work with the student to develop the competencies required by the state for the student to become an apprentice-level nursing assistant, Whitmire said.
We are marketing it to our existing students as an advanced nursing assistant program, he said. It is something above and beyond the normal nursing assistant training programs.
Whitmire anticipates that students with the apprentice certification will see an increase in wages and opportunities.
Increased clinical hours and working in an acute care environment will result in higher wages and access to different career pathways, he said.
Career opportunities in hospitals can be more lucrative in the long run, he said.
In the healthcare industry, there seems to be a longer ladder in a hospital environment versus a nursing home, he said. Students and employees are exposed to different opportunities and training and that in turn would result in higher wages in a long-term attachment to the workplace.
The first students in the apprenticeship program will be enrolled this month.
Several students who are about to complete the CNA program and several Job Corps students in the Western Iowa Tech Community College Licensed Practical Nurse program have been identified as possible initial students for the apprenticeship program.
The program will take 12 weeks to complete.
Job Corps provides hands-on training and training in theory for students in the CNA program through the certification exam.
From that point they go on to be with the employer to start the apprenticeship, Whitmire said.
Once the employer-mentor signs off that a student has achieved the competencies required by the state, Job Corps will submit the students information for state apprenticeship certification.
The certification will be an additional tool on graduates employability belt that will help secure placement, he said.
The CNA program graduates 120 to 130 students every year.
About 90 percent of Denison Job Corps students are from the state of Iowa. Many students in the CNA program are also working on high school diplomas, Whitmire said.
Upon completion of the CNA program, Job Corps provides job placement assistance for up to a year.
Once our graduates finish, we have staff located throughout the state, and we have staff here on center that work with them on the application and job interviewing skills, he said. Once they are attached, we have systems in place to help them stay attached.
Students from the CNA program have a very high placement rate following graduation, Whitmire said.
Since July 1, 2016, 38 out of 43 graduates were placed for a success rate of 88.7 percent. The average initial wage was $13 per hour.
While this a decent starting wage, our goal for the apprenticeship program is to increase wages and career pathways opportunities for our graduates, he said.
The extra on-the-job training time and DOL apprenticeship certification will assist them in meeting the goal.
CHI Health Mercy Hospital will honor six southwest Iowans at the 2017 Heritage Awards Dinner on Saturday, March 25 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs.
The gala event, with a theme of Tradition of Excellence, will begin with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. and gourmet dinner at 7 p.m., followed by the recognition program.
# # #
The name Dixie Quicks puts a smile on faces across the Council Bluffs-Omaha area.
A gem in Council Bluffs, this landmark is always busy with people and it is easy to see why. Behind the counter, you can see the friendly faces of those who work there waiting to greet you at the door.
The guys behind the establishment are Rob Gilmer and the late Rene Orduna.
Gilmer was born on Jan. 11, 1963 to Merritt Gale Gilmer and Claramartha Brawn Gilmer. He and his four siblings were raised in Long Island, New York. His father and mother were both educators. He attended Northport High school in Long Island and attended the School of Visual Arts, a private arts college in New York. He graduated with honors from both schools. It was at the School of Visual Arts where Gilmer found his passion: art.
Orduna was born in Omaha to Jose Orduna and Delores Castraneda Orduna Wright on Aug. 14, 1953. He attended school in Omaha and was an honors graduate from the College of Life. He spent most of his adult life working in and out of restaurants. Food and people were his passion.
The couple met at a nightclub in New York in 1983. Gilmer was a busboy, and Orduna was the manager for the cabaret. They married on Nov. 11, 2011. The couple lived in New York until 1986, when they took a trip back to Ordunas hometown of Omaha to visit his brother, who was getting married.
Orduna came from a large family, and they accepted Gilmer with open arms. The duo loved Omaha so much they decided to stay.
In 1996, they opened Dixie Quicks at 15th and Dodge streets in Omaha. It was a small restaurant with around 10 tables. Known for its addictive French toast, Dixie Quicks was one of the first restaurants in the area to serve brunch.
The restaurant became even more popular after a segment on the show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Dixie Quicks held two locations in Omaha before moving to Council Bluffs, where it currently operates.
Attached to the restaurant is the RNG Gallery. Gilmer is responsible for the art that hangs in the studio. He especially likes to showcase local artists just starting out. He believes that this is not only a good confidence boost for the artist but also brings more to the community. The studio holds shows that feature art in all forms.
In November of 2016, Orduna passed away from kidney cancer. It was a long journey that started at Mercy Hospital, where his condition was diagnosed. Gilmer is so thankful they went to Mercy.
Gilmer still runs Dixie Quicks and keeps it hopping every day. He spends time in the gallery, in the restaurant and with his friends and family living a beautiful, full life.
CHI Health Mercy Hospital will honor six southwest Iowans at the 2017 Heritage Awards Dinner on Saturday, March 25 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs.
The gala event, with a theme of Tradition of Excellence, will begin with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. and gourmet dinner at 7 p.m., followed by the recognition program.
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If anyone knows medicine its Dr. Joseph Hoagbin, chief medical officer for CHI Health Mercy Hospital. Having been with Mercy since 1976, Hoagbin is a very familiar face around the halls at the hospital.
Hoagbin grew up in Ypsilanti, Michigan, born on July 14, 1949 to Joseph and Eileen Hoagbin. He and his brother, Paul, had a normal childhood. Their mother was a hairdresser, and their father worked as a research engineer for the University of Michigan.
Hoagbin was always an inquisitive child. One day, his mother came home from the doctors office crying. He knew right then he wanted to be a doctor. He said none of his patients were ever going to cry. He started on the medical path and never looked back.
Hoagbin is a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School. He did his post-graduate training at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. After graduating, he interviewed on the coasts and ended up in the Midwest.
He took a position as an emergency physician at Mercy, planning to stay there for a year to try and figure out what he wanted to do. However, during that first year, he realized that he had found not only his calling but his home. Forty-one years later, Hoagbin remains in love with Mercy and its patients, providers and all healthcare staff and is affectionately known only as Dr. Joe.
Hoagbin has been involved in a number of different projects and groups over the years. He and coworker Barbara Roenfeld developed Mercys first occupational health program. The model that was designed was the first direct health model for employers in the area.
He has also been very influential with the local emergency medical services programs in Council Bluffs and southwest Iowa, including paid and unpaid departments. During his off-work time, he would go to their stations and do training on proper field work to provide the best care possible while on the way to the hospital.
Hoagbin trained new emergency medical technicians and paramedics at Iowa Western Community College, where he was the medical director of pre-hospital training programs.
He has served on the Iowa Health Care Collaborative, Partnership for Patients, as president of the medical staff at Mercy Hospital, president and medical director of the Midland EMS Council and medical director for the Council Bluffs Fire Department and other EMS service programs in southwest Iowa and has many awards and recognitions.
Hoagbin married his husband, Todd Fossum, in 2008. He enjoys spending time with Todd, spoiling his dogs, visiting with friends, going to concerts and, of course, his beloved Mercy Hospital.
CHI Health Mercy Hospital will honor six southwest Iowans at the 2017 Heritage Awards Dinner on Saturday, March 25 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs.
The gala event, with a theme of Tradition of Excellence, will begin with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. and gourmet dinner at 7 p.m., followed by the recognition program.
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John Jerkovich was born on September 15, 1956. He was the fourth of 10 children born to Charles and Patricia Jerkovich in Council Bluffs. He had seven sisters (three of whom are identical triplets) and two brothers.
John comes from a family who knows and understands hard work and pushing ones self to do better.
His father, Chuck, who served in the Army and was a Korean War veteran, worked for Bemis Bag Company in Omaha from 1949 until his death in 1985. His mother, Pat, had the full-time job of taking care of 10 children. She was 42 years old when she got her drivers license.
At age 50, she went back to school to get her LPN. In 1988, she left nursing to help John at Heartland Properties and finished her career there before passing away in 2004.
John graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1974 and attended Iowa Western Community College from 1976 to 1977. In 1984, at the urging of his father, he went to back to school to obtain his real estate license.
Chuck attended every class with him but never took the exam for his license. After John obtained his real estate license, he worked for Hunter Realty, where he met his future partner of Heartland Properties, Barb Coats.
In 1986, after one year of courting, he married Tracy Thraen of Omaha. John and Tracy have been married 30 years and have three sons: Charles, Grant and Garrett, all of whom are Creighton Prep graduates.
In 1988, John and Barb Coats bought a building at 729 S. Main St. and started the real estate company known for the past 29 years as Heartland Properties. Barb sold her ownership interest in Heartland Properties to John in 1988 to spend more time with her family. John is currently partners with Jason James. Heartland Properties has 48 agents and eight full-time staff members who make the company the success it is today.
Heartland Properties has been an integral part of southwest Iowas economic growth and has added several hundred million dollars to the tax base in Council Bluffs and the surrounding area. Johns first development was Heartland Country Estates with Don and Barb Coats in 1992.
After Heartland Country Estates was completed, John started a development company with Bob McCarthy, initially called J&M Development, which transformed into Western Iowa Land Development and has since built many familiar subdivisions. John also helped develop and build over 200 homes for the Council Bluffs Infill Program and participated heavily in other developers subdivisions.
John was on the board of the Council Bluffs Community Betterment Foundation, Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce and Mercantile Bank, and he currently serves on numerous boards including the Municipal Housing Agency of Council Bluffs, H.H. Red and Ruth Nelson Foundation, and Midstates Bank Advisory Board.
The honors he received over the years speak highly of his achievements. He has been, and continues to be, a generous donor to numerous charities in area, such as the Charles Lakin Campus, Childrens Square U.S.A., Abraham Lincoln High School, St. Albert Schools, Creighton Preparatory High School, the University of Iowa, Iowa Western Community College, the Council Bluffs Public Library, Bayliss Park Veterans Memorial, Celebrate CB Pride Parade, Treynor Schools, Lewis Central Schools, YMCA, Gale Wickersham Stadium, the Bayliss Park Fountain renovation, CHI Health Wings of Hope and the Jennie Edmundson Cancer Foundation.
Fast-tracked by both houses of the GOP-controlled Iowa Legislature and signed into law immediately by outgoing Gov. Terry Branstad, there are still plenty of questions and concerns about the states new collective bargaining law.
In essence, the revised law strips all collective bargaining topics other than wages from public employees. Exempted from most, but not all, of the new laws list of prohibited bargaining topics were public safety employees, an employment category that includes police officers and firefighters.
While much of the focus has been on the impact of the new law on employees health insurance coverage now an illegal topic for all but public safety employees for many city, county and school district employees, health insurance coverage is a moot point for periods ranging from one to three years.
The City of Council Bluffs provides health insurance coverage for all employees through the Iowa Governmental Health Care Plan, a plan adopted a decade ago at the recommendation of the citys firefighters union as a means of reducing the cost of health care.
Council Bluffs police officers and firefighters bargain separately, and three-year contracts for both unions continuing through June 30, 2020, were recently approved by the City Council.
Most clerical workers are represented by the Communications Workers of America, and the citys contract with those represented by the CWA extends through June 30, 2019. Most other employees are represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The citys contract with AFSCME-represented workers is good through June 30, 2018.
The legislation creates two classes of union employees that are treated differently, Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh said. We think all of our employees are important, and they are all part of the same health insurance plan. Were going to take care of our employees.
Walsh said the citys personnel policies dictate that all employees receive the same health insurance benefits, and the City Council would have to approve any changes in that policy.
Im not aware of any intent on the part of the council to change those policies, he said.
Mary Davis, Pottawattamie Countys human relations director, said the county deals with six bargaining units, five of which have approved contracts that are good to June 30, 2020.
Those bargaining units include workers in the roads department, courthouse employees and 911 Communications Center employees, all of which are represented by AFSCME; detention employees and nurses, who are represented by the Teamsters Union; and sheriffs office deputies and corporals, who are represented by the Deputy Sheriffs Association. All but the Deputy Sheriffs Association have contracts approved through June 30, 2020.
Like the city of Council Bluffs, all county employees are covered by a single health insurance plan provided by the Iowa Governmental Health Care Plan. Davis said any effort to provide differing coverages for the various bargaining units would require approval by the Board of Supervisors.
Council Bluffs teachers and the school board approved a one-year extension to the existing two-year contract hours before Branstad signed the new law. Toby Rees, chief human relations officer for the district, said the extension runs through June 30, 2019.
The Council Bluffs Community School Districts two other bargaining units, custodians and nutritional services workers, who are represented by the Service Employees International Union, and district clerical workers and para-educators, who are represented by the CWA, are currently in the first year of two-year contracts that will expire June 30, 2018.
The school district is self-insured, and current contracts call for full-time (40 hours) teachers to receive a $1,016 stipend to apply to their health insurance costs, full-time workers (40 hours) represented by the SEIU receive $640.02 and full-time workers (35 hours) represented by CWA receive $632.90.
Council Bluffs Fire Chief Justin James said the 107 men and women on his department are upset and concerned by the changes in the states 40-year-old collective bargaining law.
James, who served as president of the citys fire union for seven years early in his 17-year career with the department, said he was particularly upset by the new laws differences in bargaining rights for public safety employees and other public employees.
I think the laws creation of two classes of employees is going to cause trouble in the future, he said. Other workers are just as important to public safety as police officers and firefighters. Public Works employees are out there right now cleaning snow off the streets, and that is certainly a public safety issue.
If you think back to the summer of 2011 and the flooding of the Missouri River, it was Public Works employees who were out there working double shifts to help make sure the levees held, and that was clearly a public safety issue. To say that these people are not part of public safety is absurd.
James said the new law includes transportation workers bus drivers in the same class as public safety workers to protect a $40 million federal grant but excludes correctional workers.
How does it make sense that correctional workers are not considered public safety employees? he said.
Commenting that the now-replaced collective bargaining bill was written to protect the public from bad politicians, James said, Im guessing if the collective bargaining bill had gone to a vote of the people, they would have voted it down.
Were all here to serve the public, he said. If its good enough for the goose, its good enough for the gander and should be good enough for the Legislature. They did not think this out very well.
Council Bluffs residents will have their opportunity to weigh in on Mayor Matt Walshs budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1 at Monday nights City Council meeting.
For the first time in more than a decade, city residents will see a small increase in the city property tax levy needed to balance the citys budget for the coming fiscal year.
Walshs preliminary budget for the coming year calls for a city property tax levy of $17.9072 per $1,000 of taxable valuation, up 16 cents from the current $17.75 levy.
He said the increase in the citys property tax levy was needed to repay the first $7.5 million of the $20 million bond voters approved for a new Council Bluffs Police Department headquarters.
Property tax levies have not yet been announced by the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors or either of the citys two school districts. The county and school district levies will be added to the proposed Council Bluffs levy to calculate city property owners overall tax bill.
Walsh estimated city property tax collections for the coming fiscal year at $43,306,289, up $979,578, or 2.31 percent, from current fiscal year estimated property tax collections of $42,326,691.
He said $527,313 of the $979,578 increase in the total estimated property tax collection will be generated by the increase of 16.436 cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation increase in the citys debt service levy for the police headquarters bond.
Overall, the budget anticipates the total amount of revenue available for fiscal year 2018 at $171,233,109 with slightly more than 25 percent of that total coming from property taxes. Other city taxes including sales tax, gaming taxes and hotel-motel tax are expected to generate an additional $20,211,355 in revenue, with the balance of operating revenue coming from other contributory sources.
Among the other contributory revenue sources and current revenue estimates are $7,590,721 from insurance contributions, $3,946,079 from Community Development Block Grants, $2,063,995 from other grants, $6,988,355 from sewer fees, $5,620,664 from refuse fees, $7,467,600 from Road Use Taxes, $210,000 from parking and $7,251,700 from other fees and charges for service.
The budget also estimates $2.2 million in property tax replacements from the state for lost commercial property tax revenue and $704,000 in revenue from red light cameras. TIF revenues will add $4,743,176 and other financing sources will add $47,077,264. Licenses and permits are expected to generate $4,383,430.
Total spending for the coming fiscal year is currently estimated at $171 million.
Parents who want to enroll their children in a school outside the Council Bluffs Community School District or any parent wishing to enroll children out of their assigned district have until Wednesday, March 1, to file open enrollment paperwork.
Council Bluffs Superintendent Martha Bruckner said Crescent Elementary School families would be given an extra week should school board members vote to shut down the school. The district intends to give its approval to requests made by Tuesday, March 7.
If the board votes to close the school, a letter with additional information will go home to families next week.
The Underwood Community School District does not have a formal agreement with the Council Bluffs school, nor would any receiving district be obligated to accept a late request for open enrollment
Underwood Superintendent Ed Hawks said the best option is to file a timely request.
Doing that before March 1 eliminates any questions, Hawks said.
Requests can be withdrawn after the March 1 deadline, so if a family submits paperwork but decides to remain at a Council Bluffs school or should the board not vote to close Crescent Elementary they are not locked into leaving for another district.
Assistant Managing Editor Scott Stewart can be reached at (712) 325-5748 or by email at sstewart@nonpareilonline.com.
Another expansion is planned for the Tyson plant in Council Bluffs.
The meat processing company wants to grow its pepperoni and dry sausage operation with the help of state financial assistance from the High Quality Jobs Program totaling more than $1 million.
The city council will vote on the matter on Monday evening because a financial obligation from the city is required. In the this case, the Advance Southwest Iowa Corp. is recommending a five-year property tax abatement of 50 percent as the local sponsorship for the state benefits.
The project budget is $51 million, with $18 million in new construction and nearly $33 million in equipment acquisition and installation. This involves adding new coolers, dry rooms, freezer and shipping docks, plus additional new production equipment.
The proposed expansion, needed to meet a growing worldwide demand for prepared foods, will create 50 new full-time positions in the plant, 2101 S. 29th St., which is on the north side of the large Tyson complex.
Mayor Matt Walsh was pleased with the news.
Its a great project, he said.
Several months ago, the Tyson Fresh Meats plant, along 23rd Avenue, announced a $27 million, 55,000-square-foot expansion of its case-ready beef and pork plant in Council Bluffs.
Its scheduled to be completed this summer, creating 350 jobs.
With council approval, this latest expansion would begin next month with completion in early fall of 2018.
This is all good news for the company and the city, said Bob Mundt, president and CEO of the Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce.
Tyson continues to grow in the community, Mundt said.
The lets change everything frenzy of the current session of the Iowa Legislature continues unabated. Republicans won majority control of both chambers of the Legislature in the Nov. 8 election, and that dynamic makes passage of ill-advised changes in the states gun laws more likely.
Iowa would have what is, in our opinion, an absurd stand-your-ground provision and see other sweeping changes to its gun laws under a bill approved Thursday by a Republican-led legislative panel.
The roughly 40-page bill, introduced last week, includes a range of proposals in how Iowa would regulate the use of firearms. Some aspects of the bill have appeared in other proposed legislation over the years, but those attempts were halted by Democrats who held legislative control in the Senate.
A three-member subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee signed off the bill, which would remove background check restrictions on private handgun purchases and allow people to carry concealed weapons without a permit.
It would also stop colleges from banning weapons on campus, allow firearm permits to last a lifetime, prohibit local governments from passing gun restrictions and allow children under age 14 to use handguns with supervision from a parent. The bill would also allow guns on the Capitol grounds.
The main focus in the hour-long meeting, and to us by far the most alarming, was the stand-your-ground provision, which would allow people in Iowa to use deadly force anywhere if they believe such force is necessary to avoid injury or risk to ones life or safety. People could use deadly force even if an alternative course of action was available, and it allows people to be wrong in that estimation of danger.
Rep. Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, and a vocal supporter of gun rights, told the Associated Press, Our intent is to protect Iowans at all costs. This will allow Iowans more freedoms and the ability to exercise those freedoms in a responsible fashion.
How is allowing people to carry concealed weapons without obtaining a permit, which includes a mandatory background check and safety training, responsible? How is allowing an individual to sell a handgun to someone, including individuals they do not know, without a background check responsible? How is allowing people to use deadly force even if an alternative course of action is available responsible?
We do not advocate laws federal, state or local that inhibit the Second Amendment rights of responsible citizens, but not all citizens are responsible.
Amber Gustafson, of Ankeny, leads the Iowa chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Iowa is a model already to the rest of the United States, she said. We can show the rest of the U.S. how its possible to have a robust, exciting and engaging gun culture while keeping good laws in place that protect the most vulnerable among us.
We agree. The changes proposed by the three-member panel border on the irresponsible. They are not good for Iowa or for the responsible gun owners who live here. They deserve to be shot down.
Several years ago, Mayor Tom Hanafan and the Council Bluffs City Council approached the Iowa West Foundation and requested that we implement a plan to beautify the roads and entryways to the City of Council Bluffs.
Mayor Hanafan approached Iowa West at that time because he thought, and Iowa West agreed, that it was important to beautify our community, to help with its image and to improve property valuations for the businesses.
Iowa West Foundation voted to approve a Streetscape Master Plan. Iowa West then bonded $7.3 million dollars to implement the streetscape plan and agreed to pay for all of the streetscape improvements that you now see in our community. Iowa West Foundation also annually contributes $500,000 to fully maintain the streetscape.
The boulevards on U.S. Highway 6, Veterans Memorial Highway, the 100 Block of Broadway and the South Expressway are examples of the streetscape improvements that have been completed. We have found that the surrounding businesses and community have greatly benefited from the beautification and increased valuations of the businesses. Many of these improvements have included putting medians in the various entries.
We followed the recommendations of professional landscape architects to include the medians as part of the beautification. Those same professionals have done the proposed design for West Broadway.
The community has responded very favorably to the streetscape improvements. We have heard numerous comments from citizens about how beautiful the city now looks and how it has improved the citys image. There have also been very positive responses from the business community.
While I am no longer on the Iowa West Foundation Board, it is my understanding that the Foundation has voted to include and pay for the streetscape improvements for West Broadway, the main artery in our city.
The foundation hired an architect to put together a Streetscape Master Plan, and West Broadway is one of the key components of this Master Plan. It is really the most important street that remains to be improved under the streetscape plan.
Both proponents and opponents of the medians can agree that we want to see West Broadway flourish. The difference is in how we see that happening.
Opponents are content with the status quo and fear change, despite proof to the contrary. Proponents are in favor of a visionary change to help the community grow and continue to bring more impactful businesses that benefit Council Bluffs as a whole.
The City Council is going to vote Monday night on whether to continue with streetscape beautification on West Broadway. If the City Council votes down the medians and the streetscape improvements, then obviously Iowa West Foundation will honor that decision and the Streetscape improvements will not go on.
We would encourage the citizens of Council Bluffs to let their City Council members know that they have enjoyed the beautification of our streets and entryways and that it has enhanced the image and valuation of the businesses and surrounding properties.
Obviously, if the City Council feels that they no longer want to beautify the community in places like West Broadway, we will have to accept that decision.
Unfortunately, the net result will be that West Broadway will not look nearly as attractive as it could and Broadway may end up looking very much as it does in its present form, lacking the appeal and beautification that it really needs in order for the businesses and the community to continue to thrive. That would be a major step backward.
We hope that the silent majority will voice their opinion and become active to help move this project along in a successful manner. We would like to complete the Streetscape Master Plan that Mayor Hanafan and now Mayor Walsh have had the great vision to bring to Council Bluffs.
John P. Nelson is chairman of the SilverStone Group.
Our legislators need to address animal welfare, Iowa puppy mills
Each year, the Humane Society of the United States compiles USDA inspection information on commercial dog breeders all over the country. They then determine the top 100 worst breeders from among them and produce a report they call The Horrible Hundred.
Iowa dog breeders have been included on this list every year with the number growing most years. This year has seen the largest increase 15 USDA-licensed commercial dog breeders (aka puppy mills) in Iowa are included, raising us to the second-worst state in the nation.
Last year, we were No. 4 with 11 breeders listed. Iowa is getting better at being worse when it comes to dog breeding.
I volunteer at the Pottawattamie County Animal Shelter and was there in 2013 when the 19 puppy mill dogs were seized from a garage in Neola. I saw firsthand how these puppy millers treat dogs.
Each dog had hernias, ear infections and abscessed teeth. They were found with water bottles, used to feed hamsters, as their source of water, and their food dishes did not contain food, only dried feces.
I adopted a 10-year-old Shih Tzu. She had a broken jaw, few teeth and was gray in color, though her actual color is mostly white. She was fearful of humans for about one and a half years after I got her. It took her that long to trust humans. She has recurrent abscesses on her splayed feet from living cages with wire floors.
What saddened me the most about the situation was that, at the end of a long court case, the judge came to the conclusion that it would be a good thing to allow the miller to sell four of the dogs intact to help pay fines to the county. That is very wrong on so many levels and shows a great disregard for animal welfare.
Why does Iowa refuse to acknowledge that this is a problem? Please I am asking our legislators to address this problem.
Iowa is No. 2 in the nation for the number of USDA commercial dog breeding facilities. We need state oversight. Please Iowa, contact your legislators.
You can write, call or see them in person at forums like the Legislative Coffees at Wilson Middle School on March 11, March 25 and April 8 at 9 a.m.
Please go to iafriends.org for more information on puppy mills in Iowa and ways that you can help.
Lee Ann Walker, Council Bluffs
While an early version of this handset was shown at CES in January, Asus has decided to delay its launch until Q2 to improve its specs and to provide "an awesome smartphone to use."
This handset was supposed to retail in the US unlocked for $399 USD. Its highlights include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, a 5.5-inch full HD display, as well as a dual camera setup capable of 2.3X optical zoom. We can only hope that the price remains unchanged while some specs get a minor improvement, but that remains to be seen.
"Unfortunately, the ZenFone 3 Zoom has been delayed until Q2. We're reworking it with better specs so you and many others can have an awesome smartphone to use," reads a Facebook post by Asus. For now, the changes have not been detailed, while the launch date is not set, either. When asked about it, Asus only mentioned that the updated ZenFone 3 Zoom could reach the US between April and June.
Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom arrived last week in Taiwan, being supposed to hit the US market this quarter as well. Sadly, Asus North America has decided to spice up the specs of this handset, thus delaying its arrival by a few months.
- 5678 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2013 Codrut Nistor - Senior Tech Writersince 2013
In my early school days, I hated writing and having to make up stories. A decade later, I started to enjoy it. Since then, I published a few offline articles and then I moved to the online space, where I contributed to major websites that are still present online as of 2021 such as Softpedia, Brothersoft, Download3000, but I also wrote for multiple blogs that have disappeared over the years. I've been riding with the Notebookcheck crew since 2013 and I am not planning to leave it anytime soon. In love with good mechanical keyboards, vinyl and tape sound, but also smartphones, streaming services, and digital art.
The LG G6 is now official: 5.7" display with an aspect ratio of 2:1, Snapdragon 821, 4 GB of RAM, and an interesting dual-camera setup. Noticeably absent is support for LG's Friends.
4 Reviews
After months of speculative waiting, LG has finally officially announced its next flagship phone: the G6.
The G6 is the Korean companys follow-up to last years G5, an innovative if ultimately disappointing phone. The G6 packs all the specs that should be in a proper 2017 flagship:
5.7 2880x1440 display (2:1 aspect ratio) display
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 quad-core CPU / Adreno 530 GPU
4 GB RAM
32 GB onboard storage, expandable up to 2TB
Dual 13 MP rear-facing cameras
5 MP front-facing camera
3300 mAh battery
Android 7.0 Nougat
USB Type-C
Quick Charge 3.0
NFC
Wireless charging (U.S. version only)
There are quite a few unique traits on the G6. The most prominent is its 5.7 2:1 aspect ratio (or 18:9, if youd prefer). This creates a screen that looks quite tall compared to other phones with the more traditional 16:9 widescreen ratio. This form factor offers some benefits, though. When running two apps side by side, theyll each display at the same size, which can be easier on the eyes when shifting from one app to the other. Also, this aspect ratio opens the potential for both eyes to get their own 1440x1440 screen when using VR, although LG has yet to move into that space with gusto. Although the screen sounds big on paper, the G6 is not much bigger than the G5 (which had a 5.3 screen) thanks to its slim bezels. LG pegs the screen-to-body ratio at 80%.
Another interesting piece lies on the back. The dual camera setup is more than just a gimmick; each lens has a different viewing angle for different styles of shots. One camera features a standard 71 degree field of view, while the other has a 125 degree field of view of wide angle shots. Both lenses tap into the same sensor, which means that users can take shots at 13 MP, no matter which lens they tap into. Initial hands-on previews show that the transition between the standard and wide-angle lenses is seamless in the cameras UI, which will greatly add to ease of use.
A notable omission is modularity. Gone is support for LGs Friends, the Korean giants take on add-on modules for the G5. The Friends met with a very tepid response when announced last year, and LG has so far released only 4 modules. Given that the G5 was highly criticized for its implementation of modularity, it shouldnt be too surprising that LG has seemingly abandoned that platform altogether.
The G6 runs Android 7.0 Nougat and comes with Google Assistant right out of the box. This is Googles update to the venerable Google Now service. Google Assistant promises better voice recognition, contextual commands, and a slew of other improvements and features. This support makes the G6 the first phone to support Google Assistant outside of Googles own Pixel handsets.
Its interesting that LG went with the Snapdragon 821 instead of Qualcomms upcoming Snapdragon 835, but they may be trying to push out a flagship in Q1 this year. Samsung has sealed a deal to exclusive rights to the 835 until April for the Galaxy S8, and that may have been too long for LG to wait.
The G6 will come in three colors: white, black, and titan (a sort of metallic gray). The G6 also features IP68 water- and dust-resistance. Pricing hasnt yet been announced, but expect it to be around $550-650 (based on LGs previous G series pricing schemes). The G6 will be available for purchase in South Korea on March 9th. Other markets should expect the device in late March or early April.
I am so excited about this book list; I have finally gathered enough books to share a list of picture books with Muslim characters. Some of these books are specifically about being Muslim; others are not. This is not a definitive list, there are more picture books with Muslim characters out there, I just didnt get my hands on them yet, and I only share books I have read. Please leave a comment with a title of any book you feel should have a place on this list and I will make an effort to add it.
Cultural diversity is important, and one way to celebrate diversity is through books. Whether you are a Muslim parent searching for books that reflect your childs experience, a teacher looking to diversify your bookshelf to include all your students, or a mom like me just hoping to read good books with a variety of experiences both reflective or new to share with your children books are an awesome option. For a more in-depth discussion about diverse books check out my post about why every child needs to read diverse books here.
This post contains affiliate links.
Malala Yousafzai: Warrior with Words by Karen Leggett Abouraya is the only non-fiction picture book in this list, and while Malala is not a character, she is certainly a hero. Malala was a young girl in Pakistan when she stood up for education as the Taliban was stripping rights away from people in her Pakistani village. Malala stood up for every childs right to an education while the Taliban was banning education for girls. She inspired many and angered the Taliban, who sent a gunman to kill her. She didnt die, and the fear the Taliban hoped would silence her didnt quiet her, it motivated her. That is what bravery is; facing danger without showing fear. She survived and speaks out still for the rights of all children to get an education. I cant read this book without tears flowing. Obviously, very young children will not be ready for this book, I had read it with my son when he was nine and my daughter when she was five. There is no right or wrong time to share this book, read it and chose a time when you think your child will be able to understand and appreciate the importance of Malalas message.
One Green Apple by Eve Bunting is a treat. Sometimes learning about the world means learning about people in our own classroom. The book is not about apples really at all. Instead, its about Farrah, a young Muslim girl who has come to the United States from an unnamed country and her first day at school. The day is spent on a field trip to an orchard, where the children pick apples and make apple cider. I immediately related to this as my first day of work at a school in my new country was trying, although I could speak the language unlike Farrah, it was still daunting to be new in unfamiliar territory. This is a great chance to talk to your children about when they encountered something new or unfamiliar to foster a connection between them and Farrah. The melting pot analogy is turned into an apple cider one as all the children throw their apples in and work together to press it into cider, even Farrah helps.
Deep in The Sahara by Kelly Cunnane is a beautiful story of a little girl who so wants to wear a malafa, the colorful cloth that her aunt, cousin, grandmother, and mother wear in public. She notes its beauty, how it moves in the wind, how she wishes to be a lady in one soon, but in the end, it is when she tells her mother that she wishes to wear it to pray like her mother that her mother wraps her in one and they pray together. This is a beautiful book, the illustrations by Hoda Hadadi are stunning, and the intergenerational story of a loving family in West Africa will resonate with you no matter what faith you may or may not practice.
Nabeels New Pants: An Eid Tale retold by Fawzia Gilani-Williams is a funny tale about a family who was all too busy preparing for Eid to help Nabeel shorten his new pants. He decides to do it himself, but trouble starts when everyone else decides they arent too busy after all. Kids will love this book that reminds me very much of a Tomi de Paola book, not only the illustrations by Proiti Roy but the lighthearted tale too.
My Fathers Shop by Satomi Ichikawa is a funny story about Mustafa who is supposed to be learning new languages with his father so he can learn how to sell rugs to tourists at his fathers shop in Morroco, only Mustafa is off on his own adventure. Wearing an old rug with a hole in it, he goes through the market and attracts the attention of a rooster and a whole gaggle of tourists. In the end, Mustafa learns some new words but not the ones his dad was planning on teaching him. This is a funny book your kids will love.
Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns; A Muslim Book Of Colors by Hena Khan is as much a book about the basics of the Muslim religion as it is a book about colors. A little girl goes through various religious and cultural items of various colors while the rhyming text explains their significance. The test is fun to read, and the illustrations are beautiful, this is a great book to introduce simple facts about Islam to children. I also appreciated the diversity in illustrations that depicted various cultures it made the book feel like it could be set anywhere in the world not just in some far off country which helps our children relate to the story if they can imagine this girl walking down their street too.
Night of The Moon by Hena Khan is a wonderful book, though its pretty long. The story follows Yasmeen a young Muslim American girl as she prepares and then celebrates the month of Ramadan. Readers learn a lot about traditions and practices of Ramadan as Yasmeen attends parties, gets presents, watches her parents fast and of course celebrates at the Mosque. What I adore about this book is that it shows the diversity of modern day Islam in the United States, her mother doesnt wear a hijab, but some women at the mosque do, there are Muslims of various races, and from different countries. I think this is a very important message to teach our children, that no one group or ethnicity or religion has only one single story there is diversity in everything and that richness is wonderful! I highly recommend this book.
Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan is a wonderful story about how many first generation immigrant children often have to follow the rules that their parents set out for them, even if they dont fit the cultural norms of their new country. In this Rubina is invited to a birthday party and her mother doesnt understand that only she is invited and forces her to take her little sister. Things do not go well, but in the end, the family adjusts to how birthday parties are celebrated in their new country, but not without some bumps.
Im New Here by Ann Sibley OBrien is my daughters favorite book right now. I bought it at the school book fair a few months ago, and she takes it to school every day in her backpack to read for independent reading. I totally get why she loves it, the story is pretty universal, even if you arent an immigrant. The book is a collection of three stories of children who are immigrants; Maria from Guatemala, Jin from Korea, and Fatimah from Somalia. Readers see the struggles that the children face learning a new language, feelings of isolation, and then each child gaining confidence in their new home. All children can relate to new experiences, and this book helps to go a little further and imagine not knowing the language it also shows the power of kindness children can show to someone new and how a little goes a long way. I love that the author didnt explain Fatimahs hijab because it left the door open for children who do not know what it is to ask without feeling like they are being rude. After reading my own daughter remembered a time when we were at a swimming pool in Chicago and a woman was wearing a hijab, this was years ago, but she didnt want to ask at the pool because she didnt want to be rude. That is exactly why diverse books are so powerful; they give our children a safe place to ask questions they may be too shy to ask in the moment.
Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed is a touching story about friendship in a refugee camp. Lina and Feroza meet when they each find one sandal belonging to a pair when aid workers deliver clothing to the refugee camp where they are living. Instead of one girl having both, they decide to share and their friendship blossoms. The details about how and why they are at the refugee camp are subtle, younger children may not grasp on to them but older children will and it will spark wonderful questions and discussion. The heart of this story is hope amid terrible circumstance and friendship that feeds that hope.
Do you know a title that should be on this list? Tell me all about it in comments!
Nearly 700,000 trees ordered for spring planting
Nebraska Association of Resources Districts announces nearly 700,000 trees and shrubs have been ordered for Nebraskans across the state for planting in spring 2017 so far. Each seedling does its part in enhancing the states beauty and conserving our natural resources.
Since the Natural Resources Districts creation in 1972, more than 96 million trees and shrubs have been planted across the state with the help of the NRDs.
For less than a dollar a tree, conservation trees shade and shelter homes, reduce energy costs, protect and increase crop yields, reduce soil erosion caused by water and wind, improve water quality, control snow, preserve winter moisture, protect livestock, provide food and cover for wildlife, control noise, capture atmospheric carbon, raise property values and add beauty to our landscape.
Each of the 23 natural resources districts administer their own tree program. Available species and tree and shrub options may differ from district to district depending on what grows well in different areas of the state.
Many NRD Conservation Tree Program order deadlines are coming up. Some are due as soon as Wednesday. Contact the local Natural Resources District to put a tree order in.
To locate a local NRD, go to nrdnet.org. To learn about the wide variety of trees each NRD offers, go to nrdtrees.org.
Archery fishing applications will be accepted soon
The application period for archery paddlefish permits begins at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Mail applications must be received in the Nebraska Game and Parks Commissions Lincoln office by 5 p.m., and online applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. on March 14.
Permits will be issued in a random drawing based on preference points earned. Applicants with the most preference points will receive the greatest priority. Any permits remaining following the drawing will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 1 p.m. on May 1. A total of 275 permits are available.
New in 2017 is a $7 nonrefundable application fee, which is included in the permit prices. The permit fees are $33 for residents and $57 for nonresidents.
An applicant will receive a preference point if he or she is not awarded a permit in the drawing. An additional preference point will be added each year he or she is unsuccessful in the drawing. Any person who is issued a paddlefish permit and any person who does not apply at least once during five consecutive years will lose all accumulated preference points.
Read the 2017 Nebraska Fishing Guide for more information. Download an application form at outdoornebraska.gov/fisheriesforms/.
The 2017 archery paddlefish season is June 1-30.
Lawn, landscape classes offered to homeowners
Maximize lawn and landscape care skills by attending the Lawn and Landscape Care for Homeowners program from 1-5 p.m. on Saturday at the Lincoln-Logan-McPherson Extension Office, 348 W. State Farm Road, in North Platte.
This program is designed for homeowners who want to learn more about successful landscape plants for western Nebraska, resource efficient home lawn maintenance, coping with insects in the landscape and pesticide safety and calibration. Presenters from UNL Extension and Nebraska Forest Service staff will cover these topics.
The registration is $10 per participant. Register by Monday by calling or visiting the Lincoln-Logan-McPherson Extension Office at 308-532-2683. Registrations will be $15 per participant at the door.
For more information or any questions, contact Randy Saner, extension educator, at rsaner2@unl.edu, or call the office at 308-532-2683.
Womens dual hunter education classes offered
LINCOLN Women and girls can attain certification in both firearm and bowhunter education in a single womens-only class offered in Lincoln by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
The four classes are held at the Nebraska Game and Parks Outdoor Education Center, located at 4703 N. 44th St. Classes are from 6-9 p.m. on March 7, 6-9 p.m. on March 9, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 11 and 8 a.m. to noon on March 12.
The classes, which include several female instructors, focus on safety, firearm training, archery, hands-on demonstrations, live fire and field experiences.
To register, visit register-ed.com/events/view/94533. For more information, call Christy Christiansen at 402-471-5547.
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission received the Land Stewardship Award from the National Wild Turkey Federation 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.
For more information on turkey hunting in Nebraska, visit Outdoornebraska.gov/wildturkey.
All turkey hunters, take a look at your calendars.
Nebraskas spring archery season begins March 25. That is just under a month away. The shotgun archery season begins April 15, with a youth shotgun season starting one week earlier. Our spring turkey season ends May 31, so it is one of our longest hunting seasons.
If you happen to be a turkey hunter in the Cornhusker State, these are the Good Ol Days. It is unlikely that there have ever been more turkeys in Nebraska as there are today. A resident permit is $30, and non-resident tags are $109. The special youth tags are $8.
The wild turkey was native to Nebraska. As far back as 1804, Lewis and Clark reported seeing wild turkeys along the Missouri River in present-day Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa and South Dakota. The eastern wild turkey subspecies is known to have been native to Nebraska. Some biologists believe that the Rio Grande subspecies may have also been native to Nebraska, particularly the central and western parts of the state. There is evidence that the Rio Grande subspecies had a range that extended north into the south-central plains, at least as far north as Kansas.
When pioneers moved into Nebraska, they needed food, and turkeys were a source of food for the table. By 1915, turkeys had all but been wiped out in Nebraska. An attempt was made to stock turkeys along the Missouri in 1931, but the project was abandoned because birds were too difficult to trap and relocate.
The next attempt to reintroduce turkeys into Nebraska came in 1959. A total of 28 Merriam turkeys were released in the Pine Ridge. These birds had been trapped in South Dakota and Wyoming. Merriams were not native to Nebraska, but the experiment worked.
In fact, the results were so good that the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission began working on another release project and released 518 live-trapped Rio Grande turkeys into river bottom habitats in central and south-central Nebraska in 1961 and 1962. Four years later, an estimated 3,000 birds were in the state.
The reintroduction and growth of Nebraskas turkey population is a real game management success story. In the last 25 years, the population has exploded. Ask a biologist today how many turkeys there are in Nebraska, and they will shrug their shoulders and give you an answer like, A lot!
Some people may argue that turkeys may be too successful. There are areas in the state that are almost overrun with these birds. Statistically, turkeys are found in more square miles of habitat than any other game bird in North America. Wild turkeys can now be found in every state but Alaska.
Not long ago, there was an article put out by the National Wild Turkey Federation that stated Nebraska was one of the best turkey hunting destinations in the United States. Lincoln County was named one of the places with the highest turkey density in the country.
Good luck to everyone who intends to hunt this spring. Enjoy the spring turkey season in Nebraska.
Archery news
The Advantage broadhead from Rocky Mountain archery is companys newest broadhead to hit the market after a long hiatus. The Advantage is a 100-grain, 4-blade, cut-on-contact head that features a short profile with superior flight characteristics and maximum accuracy, even at the high speeds of todays bows. The new broadhead reminds me of the Razorhead hunting points used by Fred Bear and Bear Archery.
The new Rocky Mountain Advantage broadhead is said to have excellent penetration capabilities with the main stainless steel blades measuring .040-inch thick and the bleeder blades .036-inch thick. The cutting diameter of the Advantage head is 1 by 1 inch and has the sharpness to blow through bone. While the main blade will cut straight through thick hide and bone, the bleeder blades on this Rocky Mountain head creates an extra wide wound channel.
If you are looking for an uncomplicated broadhead with good accuracy and bone-crushing penetration, look no further. One thing I really like about this design, like the old Razorheads, is that you can easily re-sharpen them with a flat file in the field. They are also very affordable at about $25 for a pack of three broadheads. Check them out for yourself at huntrockymountain.com.
Fishing
Dont worry too much about the recent cold snap and snow. The fishing tapered off as the storm moved through the region, but it will bounce back. Sutherland Reservoir and Lake Maloney were producing some nice walleye catches before the storm. Id expect the fishing to be back at that level by Tuesday with the temperatures forecasted.
Fishing slow and getting your bait on the bottom is key to early spring walleye. I like using a Lindy rig to do my bottom bouncing.
I also like a very sensitive, ultra fast tip on the rod Im using. I want to feel the slightest nibble as Im drifting or trolling.
One more fishing item watch this column for information on an upcoming kids event. Ill have all the facts you will need right here.
Members of the Nebraska Wheat Board and the Nebraska Wheat Growers Association recently returned from a four-day trip to Washington, D.C., where they discussed the challenges facing both the Nebraska and United States wheat industries with congressional leaders and national wheat organizations.
Each year, NWB and NWGA participate in the U.S. Wheat Associates and National Association of Wheat Growers Winter Wheat Conference in Washington, D.C. Both state and national wheat issues ranging from trade policy to research support to environmental issues are discussed. The organizations also take time to visit with each of the states five congressional representatives on Capitol Hill about the challenges facing Nebraska wheat farmers. This year, the six members representing NWB and NWGA were Bob Delsing, of Hemingferd; Larry Flohr, of Chappell; Brent Robertson, of Elsie; Kent Lorens, of Stratton; Von Johnson, of Cambridge; and Randon Peters, of McCook.
Delsing, Flohr, Robertson, Lorens and Johnson all participated in meetings with U.S. Wheat Associates to discuss international marketing, the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program, hard white wheat and the effects of changes on trade agreements may have on wheat markets.
Its important that we participate in these meetings so Nebraskans voices and issues are heard on the national level, said NWB chairman Brent Robertson. Half of our states wheat is exported, so supporting international marketing efforts is vital to maintaining our industry.
Peters participated in meetings with the National Association of Wheat Growers ranging from farm bill conversations to research policy and environmental regulations. He currently serves as the chairman of NAWGs domestic trade and policy committee, where meeting attendees and wheat farmers from around the country discussed concerns and priorities for the upcoming Farm Bill.
The wheat market and all commodity markets are down right now, but costs and regulations are up, Peters said. Its a privilege to represent Nebraskas farmers and farmers from around the country to help guide meetings where we can discuss what needs to change and how we can help make those changes happen.
All six representatives visited with congressional leaders on Capitol Hill. Each office was presented with information on the wheat industry as well as a map showing the wheat production areas and wheat-related industries that had an economic impact in each congressional district.
What Nebraska wheat farmers are doing has a much broader reach and a greater impact than many people realize, Robertson said. Having supportive ag policies coming out of Washington, D.C., will benefit farmers, consumers, rural and urban economies in our state. Thats why it was important for us to take the time while we were in D.C. to discuss issues with our leaders.
The Nebraska Wheat Board administers the check-off of 0.4 percent of net value of wheat marketed in Nebraska at the point of first sale. The board invests the funds in programs of international and domestic market development and improvement, policy development, research, promotion and education.
Series of miracles set Ekstedt on his journey in life
A near-death experience in a car crash and a trade of his bicycle set the compass that directed the rest of Jan Ekstedts life.
Ekstedt is currently the pastor at First Christian Church in North Platte.
I always knew I was going to be a pastor, but I ran away from it, Ekstedt said. The reason why I knew I was going to be a pastor was because when I was just 18 months old, my mother and I were in a horrible auto accident that involved our car being hit by a logging truck.
The logging truck slid into the car on a rainy day and pushed it head-on into a telephone pole.
I went through the windshield and landed in a field where nobody even knew I was there, Ekstedt said. It trapped the driver and killed her, and my mother was trapped, but they got her out of it.
My mother kept screaming for me and people that were there at the scene just thought she was delirious because they couldnt see me.
Ekstedt was unconscious 40 feet away with glass in his eyes, a broken arm and a fractured skull.
Finally my mother talked somebody into going back to take a last look and the guy found me, Ekstedt said. He was a naval medic from World War II, and he washed my eyes out right there and saved my sight, and saved my life, of course.
His fathers side of the family had a lot of missionaries and ministers, who said God saved Ekstedts life for a reason.
I grew up thinking that I was going to be a pastor, he said.
But a few years later, life took him in a different direction when Ekstedt traded his first bicycle for his first violin.
I was in the second grade, 7-8 years old, he said. There was a girl my age who lived in our neighborhood. She and I got into an argument, and I knew she played violin, so I said, You know what, Im going to play violin better than you can. So I traded my bike for a violin.
Ekstedt said music got hold of him and he went on to a successful career in music.
I played in the Seattle Symphony, Ive played in the Reno Philharmonic and the Reno Opera Guild, Ekstedt said. I played in the Spokane Symphony during the Expo in 1974. Played in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, a very good orchestra.
As a young man, he also played with some popular entertainers after the music store he was working at in Seattle transferred him to Reno, Nevada.
When I was in Reno, people got to know I could play the violin and they asked me to join the union so I could be hired to play shows, Ekstedt said. From 1978 to 1981, I played a lot of shows.
Ekstedt played with Sammy Davis Jr., John Denver, Ben Vereen, Eddy Arnold, Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds and many others.
I played with Liberace when he was the highest-paid entertainer in the world, Ekstedt said. The interesting thing as a comparison between two different performers was that Liberace had a wonderful show, but it was the same every time. Every word, every note was exactly the same every time. It was all very, very staged.
However, a Sammy Davis Jr. show was much looser.
When I played Sammy Davis Jr., youd go to the rehearsal and there were 60 pieces of music on the stand, Ekstedt said. You couldnt rehearse it all, there was so much music.
The conductors name was George Rhodes.
With Sammy, you always knew you were going to do the overture, Candy Man and [Mr.] Bojangles, Ekstedt said. The conductor would lead us through 10 bars of the overture, 10 bars of Candy Man and 10 bars of Bojangles. Then hed say, You guys sound pretty good today, I dont think youre going to get me in trouble. I have a tee time in 30 minutes, well see you tonight, and that was the rehearsal.
Music had changed the course of Ekstedts life, but God brought someone from his youth back into his life and the direction changed once again.
I grew up knowing I was going to be a pastor, but it took me until I was 52 years old to decide to go to seminary, Ekstedt said. I had failed marriages. I was married and divorced twice before I was 30 and suffered from alcoholism for about 20 years of my adult life.
Ekstedt, who quit drinking 28 years ago, said God sent his wife, Elaine, to him.
We had known each other as kids, had gone to the same churches, went to the same school, Ekstedt said. When we got married, she said, You know, everybody knew you were going to be a minister what happened?
He told her music had just kind of kept him away from it.
I really felt like because I was an alcoholic and had been married and divorced twice that God didnt want me to be a pastor, Ekstedt said. Elaine said, Well, maybe its time to rethink that.
She persuaded him to take just one class in seminary to see how it would go.
So, I did, I took one class, and the teacher of that class, Brian McClaren, encouraged me to keep going, Ekstedt said. I just kept taking classes and ended up getting a masters degree of divinity in 2003. Then I was ordained with Disciples of Christ in 2005.
First Christian Church is the third church he has pastored.
I love the people here, he said. Theyre wonderful people, not just in this church, but also around town.
He said he still loves performing and loves being a pastor as well.
Music was pretty good to me, Ekstedt said.
A jogger was punched several times by two assailants -- one of them armed with a gun -- during an attempted armed robbery early Sunday, Fitchburg police said.
Two men in a vehicle drove up to the victim around 7:15 a.m. near the intersection of Longford Terrace and Portarligton Lane, police said. After exiting the car, the men demanded money and valuables from the jogger, while one of them pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the victim, according to police.
Police said the assailants punched the jogger several times before fleeing west on Longford Terrace in what was described as a "brown Ford Taurus or Chevy Malibu-type sedan."
The assailant who displayed the weapon was described as a black man with a slender build who was about 25 years old. He was said to be 6 feet tall and was wearing a "Carhartt"-type jacket, police said.
A complete description was not available for the other assailant.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the police department at 608-270-4300 or Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014.
Northwest Indiana has been awash in craft breweries for a few years, but the newest wave of artisan beverage makers are putting out coffees more complex than any barrel-aged porter or Belgian Farmhouse Ale.
A growing crop of local coffee roasters have sprung up across the Region as part of the so-called Third Wave of Coffee, a long-percolating movement that aims to elevate coffee into an artisanal foodstuff like craft beer.
Coffee by Gillepsie in Dyer, Dagger Mountain in Valparaiso, and Maple City Roasters in Michigan City all have been growing as consumers gravitate toward higher quality, more sophisticated coffee. Infusco Coffee Roasters in Sawyer in Southwest Michigan and any number of roasters in Chicago are also making coffee where customers know where in the world the beans hail from and when it was roasted.
I think that roasting your own beans is becoming much easier, said Gabriel Mauch, a co-owner of Grindhouse Cafe in Griffith, which carries locally roasted coffees. With companies like Genuine Origin, small roasters are getting access to the same quality beans that larger roasters have access to. Small roasters will pop up all over the country because of that access and the demand for fresh and local products. I think theres a ton of great coffee from Chicago, but places like Dagger Mountain are putting out a product just as good as the best roasters in Chicago.
Needmore Coffee Roasters, a small-batch roaster of organic, ethically sourced coffee including a Cowles Bog Blend, had operated in Chesterton for a few years, introducing many to locally roasted coffee at the European Market downtown, where it was a staple. It's relocated downstate to Bloomington, where it's opening a coffee shop. And Smalltown Coffee Co. in Highland has been catering special events and is looking to soon start distributing its beans around the Region.
Java lovers in Northwest Indiana can order locally roasted coffee beans online, sign up for monthly subscription services such as through www.Indianacoffees.com, or find them at local coffee shops.
Dagger Mountain
Dagger Mountain is now owned by Daniel Evans and Ashton Whitley, who bought out the business, invested in a new, much-larger customized roaster imported from Germany, and are bottling cans of small-batch iced coffee at Windmill Brewing in Dyer.
The roastery and chic coffee house in a garage in an industrial park in Valparaiso is brewing enough for about 300 cans at a time, which its selling at the cafe.
Were dialing it in to get it to taste good, Evans said. Its got a summertime lemony note, nuttiness from the Brazilian beans. Its about 40 percent Kenyan and has natural Ethiopian tastes like blueberry, and has notes like lime.
The new owners also bought a new roaster from Germany thats three times bigger than their previous set-up, which will boost their production capacity.
That thing pumps out clean beautiful coffee, he said. It means more consistent quality."
Dagger Mountain was always a coffee roaster first and foremost, distributing to places like Grindhouse and Roots Organic Juice Cafe in Valparaiso, but the unexpected popularity of the coffee shop has made that more of a focal point. It was deliberately located off the beaten path. That's because Dagger Mountain didnt want bad Yelp reviews from coffee drinkers weaned on sugary and lactose-heavy Frappachinos. There's no cream and sugar at Dagger Mountain so customers can fully appreciate the delicate flavors of the coffee.
Coffee drinkers are now largely gravitating toward higher quality food and beer, and theyre also starting to eschew stale mass-produced coffee, Evans said.
People want to be connected with their food locally, they want to know what their eating and consuming and coffee is no exception, he said. Coffee doesnt havent to be terrible. It doesnt have to be something you swallow in the morning just to get through the day. Its a nicer product.
Maple City Roasters
Maple City Roasters has been roasting coffee in Michigan City for nine years, but current owner Scott Ott bought it in 2012 after a trip to Costa Rica to see how coffee was farmed.
Im a coffee drinker and I was there learning about coffee and roasting, he said. At the time I was looking for a new job so I decided I would see if I can make this work.
Under his management, business has tripled in each of the last three years. He delivers freshly roasted coffee including the best-selling Bonzos Blend of South American Espresso, Central American and Asian coffee to customers from Crown Point to Southwest Michigan. Customers include coffee shops, bed and breakfasts and private businesses of all sorts.
Ott has a 1-pound roaster, a 12-pound roaster, a 75-pound roaster and grand expansion plans.
Weve got the capability to roast 2,000 pounds and get it skidded out the doors in eight hours, he said. Were looking at distributing to big-box stores.
Ott goes to Costa Rica and Columbia every year to source beans. He brews about 35 different flavors of coffee, including single-origin and blended varieties.
Once the Folgers people try fresh roasted beans, its hard to go back, he said. Were following right behind craft beer.
Coffee By Gillespie
Lutheran Pastor Christopher Gillespie had been roasting as a hobby, and sharing his coffee with friends and family come Christmas and Easter. He kept hearing they wanted to buy it so he set up a small-batch roastery that delivers coffee in two to four days to customers all over the world. Thanks to the reach of internet, hes recently make shipments to Hong Kong and London.
Most of the coffee you drink has been sitting on the shelf for weeks, he said. My goal is to make it as fresh as possible.
All of his coffee, almost all single origin, is roasted to order. His wholesale business serves customers like churches, schools and offices. Many of his customers sign up for subscription services, where they get a different bag a month depending on what he gets in.
One of the advantages to selling a beverage with psychoactive properties is that people drink it all the time, he said.
The pastor of Grace Lutheran in Dyer runs Coffee By Gillepsie online out of his home. He's hoping to build up the business enough so it could support his work as a minister.
Its been a challenge for churches, especially smaller ones that are struggling financially, he said. My goal would be to grow the business to the point where it would fund my ability to serve the congregation.
He works with several importers, paying them Fair Trade wages. He roasts beans to preferred brewing type, whether automatic, French press or drip.
So many diverse and volatile compounds come out in the roasting process, he said. When its single origin you can taste different flavor notes when its from the same source whether its from the spring or fall, he said. With most blends, its coffee from multiple years, masking almost all the unique flavor.
Gillepsie looks as it as a craft, appreciating the change to hone his skills and introduce people to a better coffee experience.
With Third Wave specialty coffee, its like a guild of craftsmen, he said.
Smalltown Coffee
Annette McKeown and Elizabeth Steel are starting Smalltown Coffee, a Highland-based roaster that has been doing special events like showers and is looking to open a cafe.
They moved back to the Region a few years ago and felt like there werent enough coffee roasters here. They hoped to put something out like Stone Creek Coffee in Milwaukee or Higher Grounds in Traverse City, Michigan.
It was important to us to roast with excellence, brew with excellence, roast to perfection, and brew better coffee, McKeown said. We got a good response. People said they never drank coffee black before and didnt know this was what coffee was supposed to taste like.
The company has been building up a website, www.smalltown.coffee, and scheduling events like the Fetching Market. It will start as a roaster, and hopefully eventually branch into retail, wholesale and subscription service.
Millennials prefer black coffee without chemicals, she said. Theyve learned to taste the beans themselves. Coffee has a more diverse tasting profile than even wine, and theres such so much fun and community in grabbing a cup of joe.
A quick look online at the Urban Dictionary reveals no Korean origin for the word Niro.
Italy and Japan have one, but nothing from Korea.
And thats just fine with Korean automaker Kia as it breaks out of the box with its first compact hybrid crossover utility vehicle branded with a new nameplate the 2017 Kia Niro.
The Kia Niro is a fresh approach to hybrid packaging that goes beyond the common cookie-cutter gasoline/electric powered passenger cars from Japanese competitors.
Niros design elements are young with slick flowing contours that reduce drag and enhance styling.
A high beltline connects the front fascia led by Kias signature Tiger Nose grille, to the rear hatch bookended by bright LED tail lamps.
Providing the motivation is a 1.6 liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine the musters 104 horsepower teamed with an electric motor for a total output of 139 hp.
A smooth shifting six-speed dual clutch automatic transmission governs the front-wheel drivetrain.
Niros fuel economy is impressive, with the entry level FE model priced at $22,890 reaching combined city and highway fuel economy of 50 miles per gallon.
Kia Niro LX and EX run $23,200 $25,700 respectively to yield 49 mpg, followed by the Touring model for $29,650 that achieves 43 mpg.
Engineers have placed Niros Lithium Ion battery pack under the rear seat to create a flat load floor and cargo capacity of 54.5 cubic feet when the second row seatbacks are lowered.
Recently, I tested the Niro Touring model to experience its ride quality, handling and performance.
Niros acceleration lacks enthusiasm, but justified considering its horsepower rating.
Ride quality is exceptional, however, delivered by a low center of gravity and aluminum suspension components that iron out road imperfections.
Interior appointments are equally impressive with an acoustic windshield and extensive use of sound insulation that quiets the cabin.
Seats are comfortably absorbent with pleasing cushion density and bolstered to fit todays American-size occupants. Heated and ventilated front seats are offered.
Head and legroom is generous with space that flirts with midsize interior volume for five occupants.
Large instruments and simple switchgear deliver at-a-glance operation. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are standard across the model line.
Lights, cameras and action will be focused on food and festivities after the last Oscar is handed out at The 89th Academy Awards.
A lavish menu of small plated creations, along with assorted spirits, decadent deserts and more will be in the spotlight at The Governors Ball, held Sunday night, immediately following the Oscars ceremony. The fabulous feast has celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck at its helm.
Known as the chef to the stars, Puck has presided over the culinary festivities at the ball for the past 23 years. The elite party, which this year celebrates the 89th Academy Awards, will be held in The Ray Dolby Ballroom on the top level of the Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood.
More than 1,000 guests annually attend the affair.
"It's all about organization," said Puck, about planning the esteemed culinary party for the movie industry's greats. During a recent phone interview from California, the celebrated chef talked about cooking for the Governors Ball.
Puck said working the culinary side of the famed party is "a lot of work" but it's always a wonderful experience.
"There's so much excitement in the city alone at this time," he said, adding it's akin to the celebrations and buzz in any town the Super Bowl would be held in.
The chef said he sits down with other ball organizers about a month before the affair to talk about the final rundown of the menu.
"We have, all together, more than 30 different dishes. All are served in small portions," he said.
Puck said there is a dedicated team of workers who assist him with the culinary side of the ball.
"We have 300 chefs (working) in the kitchen and 600 people in the dining room," Puck said. He explained servers bring food to guests' tables or circulate to deliver food to people mingling around the room. Puck's sons Byron and Oliver also will help their dad with Governors Ball duties.
Pounds and pounds of ingredients will be used to create menu items including "50 pounds of black truffles" and "30 pounds of caviar."
Among new dishes Hollywood's elite will find on the menu this year will be Moroccan spiced Wagyu short rib topped with a Parmesan funnel cake; taro root tacos with shrimp, mango, avocado and chipotle aioli; gnocchetti with braised mushrooms and cashew cream; and lobster corn dogs. Puck said he's also added a few vegan dishes to the menu this time around, including a vegan pasta.
Also featured will be made-to-order sushi; custom poke bowls and various shellfish. Among Puck's longtime Governors Ball favorites that also will star include baked macaroni and cheese; chicken pot pie with shaved black truffles and smoked salmon Oscars.
Puck said some of his show biz friends will often ask what he'll be serving at the ball.
"I saw Barbra Streisand and she said, 'I don't care what you cook as long as you make the chicken pot pie with black truffles,' " he said.
The chef doesn't always get a chance to see all of the nominated movies, but he did see one on the list for Best Film this year.
"I saw 'Moonlight,' and I loved it," he said.
Puck said he really doesn't theme his menu to any of the movies that are up for Oscars.
"If I did it for one, I'd have to do all of them. ... And If I did (a menu) for 'Moonlight' or 'La La Land' it would have to be L.A. things," he said, about the cuisine. (That would take away from his desire to make a variety of foods in different styles).
The chef, whose Beverly Hills' Spago restaurant is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, said, in addition to the ball, he's also prepared the menu for parties for the Directors Guild of America Awards and the Writers Guild of America Awards.
Guests won't really find Puck eating much at the ball, although he'll occasionally indulge in some treats.
"I taste all the way through. But my favorite part is the desserts," he said.
And whenever he sees people he's friends with, the chef will stop and talk for awhile.
"I'll sit down and have a glass of wine or champagne with them," he said.
The celebration is really a festive reunion of sorts for the chef.
"It's like a family party. I know everyone and I go from table to table," he said. He'll mingle a bit with a variety of stars whether that's Streisand, Ryan Gosling or Martin Scorcese.
In addition to presiding over the Governors Ball, Puck's newest project is his first New York restaurant CUT, a steakhouse concept that opened recently in the Big Apple.
The Academy Awards will be held Sunday in Hollywood, California.
Call it the case of the disappearing sculpture.
That's what started Donna Seaman on her quest to chronicle the lives and works of the seven female artists featured in her newly released book, "Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists" (Bloomsbury 2017; $35).
I remember going to the Chicago Art Institute and seeing this large sculpture they had at the end of the corridor, says Seaman, who grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York but now lives in Chicago. But then she disappeared.
The sculpture was by Louise Nevelson, who at one time had quite a following in the U.S., but like the six other 20th century females artists featured in Seamans book, is almost forgotten despite her talent.
Intriguingly, though I had heard of Nevelson, I didnt recognize any of the other names when I first started reading Seamans fascinating book. But reading about Gertrude Abercrombie and seeing her strikingly haunted paintings, I realized my mother had one in her study.
But though I loved that painting, I only remembered the male artists whose works hung in our home, such as Chagalls The Rabbi of Vitebsk and Winslow Homers The Gulf Steam (all reprints I assure you) and not this one? Was it a male thing?
Could be, says Seaman, one of Chicagos best-known book critics and editor of adult books at Booklist, a book-review (and now online) magazine thats been published by the American Library Association for more than 100 years.
Its about whos writing history, she says. Women werent written about in a critically relevant way. Newspapers were interested but not the critics. And so these women disappeared.
While doing her extensive research, Seaman asked museum curators to bring out the works of Lois Mailou Jones that had been tucked away in storage for who knows how long.
They hadnt seen them before, she recalls. And they kept saying these are wonderful.
Though Seaman chose most of the artists she highlighted Joan Brown, Leonore Tawney and Ree Morton because she liked their work, her essay on Christina Ramberg was much more personal.
I knew Christina, Seaman says. She died very young. The moment she became ill, we knew she wasnt going to be around very long and I knew someday I would write about her.
MICHIGAN CITY Come this St. Paddy's day, someone is bound to ask you, "Just how Irish are you?"
A program at the Michigan City Public Library on March 9 may be able to help find the answer to the question.
The library is hosting the only Indiana stop for a daylong workshop featuring two members of the Ulster Historical Foundation of Belfast, Ireland.
Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt from the foundation will be touring the United States from March 3 through 22, making stops anywhere from Arizona to Tennessee. The only Indiana stop will be from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 9 at the Michigan City Library. There is no cost, but participants must register at the library by calling 219-873-3049.
"Basically, its a one-day series of workshops that will serve as an introduction to Irish-Scot-Irish family history research, explore the different types of records that are available, how to use those records, and examining other types of online sources that can help your family research," said Kevin Keenan, guild secretary of the foundation.
Formed in 1956, the foundation is one of the principal genealogical research agencies in Ireland and a leading publisher of quality historical, educational and genealogical books. It also operates a membership association called the Ulster Historical Genealogical Guild, with the aim of bringing together people from all over the world in their quest to discover their Irish and Scots-Irish ancestors. Additional information about the foundation can be found at its website, ancestryireland.com.
Robin Kohn, of the Michigan City Public Library, 100 E. Fourth St., said the library jumped at the chance to host the program.
"We have a number of people in the area with Irish ancestry," said Kohn, adding participants will likely have Irish roots and "they have gotten bitten by the genealogy bug."
"Many people believe that researching Irish ancestors is impossible because of the destruction of the Public Record Office in 1922. While many records were destroyed, others survived and large collections have come online in recent years," Keenan said.
Mullan and Hunt will provide information on how to get the most out of Irish resources and records, gain strategies for breaking down brick walls and grasp important historical context that may help fill in gaps in research, he said, adding the workshop is for both beginning and experienced genealogists.
A 29-year-old Waunakee man was arrested early Sunday morning on a tentative OWI charge after being caught driving on a bike path, the Dane County Sheriff's Office said.
Around 3:05 a.m., a deputy spotted a vehicle headed south on a bicycle bath that runs parallel to Highway 12. The driver stopped where the trail meets Highway P near a traffic signal "and appeared to be waiting on the red light," the sheriff's office said.
The deputy caught up to the man, who had a blood alcohol level of .20 percent, and arrested him for his first offense OWI, the sheriff's office said.
In addition, he was cited for driving on the prohibited bike path, which carries a fine of $175.30.
Can you open your mind?
Thats the question one Midwest museum is posing to visitors.
Along the banks of downtown Cincinnati sits the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center a facility that prides itself on being a museum of conscience, a convener of dialog and a center that educates.
This month, the museum opened the Open Your Mind: Understanding Implicit Bias learning lab, designed to assist the public in understanding and recognizing bias and other forms of discrimination. The lab is participatory, involving educational and entertaining hands-on exercises.
Partnering with the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University, the lab also explores recent debates on implicit bias, which are the attitudes or stereotypes that affect a persons understanding, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner.
In fact, research has show that all people harbor implicit bias even if they seem to hold no explicit prejudice, says Jamie Glavic, director of marketing and communications at the center.
While at the center visiting the lab, which is free with general admission, visitors will want to check out a number of other exhibits including Faith and Fashion: The Crowns of African American Women.
The exhibit, which runs through April 1, highlights the various self-expressions of women of all ages and celebrates African-American church culture.
Church services are a time of worship and praise, Glavic said. Oftentimes, in African-American churches, in addition to hearing songs and sermons, observers cannot help but look in amazement at the various hats of its female parishioners.
In addition to exploring the various colors of crowns, personal narratives will account for the historical celebration of how Black women broken away from their domestic uniforms for Sunday services.
With more than 100,000 visitors annually, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center serves to inspire modern abolition through connecting the lessons of the Underground Railroad with todays freedom fighters, Glavic said.
Our physical location in downtown Cincinnati is just a few steps from the banks of the Ohio River, the great natural barrier that separated the slave states of the South from the free states of the North, she said. Since opening in 2004, we have filled a substantial voice in our nations cultural heritage, providing a vivid account of the inspiring narrative of the antebellum Underground Railroad.
This distinct experience is the tie that connects Americans to the universal and ongoing struggle for freedom, Glavic said.
We believe in inclusive freedom all people enjoying rights and privileges of equal kind, equal number and equal quality, she said. We teach people to embrace their common humanity and to realize their power to advance freedom - the birthright of every human being.
Other exhibits currently at the museum include a virtual experience that commemorates Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks historic demonstration and From Slavery to Freedom, which portrays three centuries of slavery from its introduction into the Americas to its abolition at the end of the American Civil War.
Beginning March 24, a new exhibit, Mandela: The Journey to Ubuntu, which commemorates the life and legacy of former South African President Nelson Mandela through photographs.
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, go to freedomcenter.org.
WHILE YOURE IN THE AREA:
Harriet Beecher Stowe House
Details: This house is operated as a cultural site and focuses on the life of the author of Uncle Toms Cabin.
John Rankin House
Details: Located in Ripley, Ohio, this house along the Underground Railroad is one of the states best documented stations.
PORTAGE For more than 26 years, Randy and I have lived here in the city that is the largest part of Portage Township. Portage Township is made up of Portage, Ogden Dunes, the Duck Creek subdivision and the unincorporated South Haven community.
We have been blessed to see these communities grow and mature over the years and have been proud to call this our home. While much of this column is about the positive things that go on in the city proper, many times you will see great things going on in these four communities because of Portage Township Trustee Brendan Clancy, his chief of staff, Nina Rivas, and their team.
One of today's topics brings back fond memories for us as parents and leaders in the Portage Little League community.
I remember very vividly the spring of 1999. Randy Jr. and Justin Olson were on the same Minor League team when we found out Justins dad was going to run for mayor for this third-largest city of Northwest Indiana. We were watching Chris play in an extra-inning game that went well past 9:30 that night when we found out from a friend that Doug Olson won that election.
It was where Randy Jr. hit his first home run and where Chris was picked to be on the All-Star team by his peers. It was weekends sitting on bleachers in either the scalding heat or under a blanket in below-normal, chilly breezes.
Over a year ago, the Portage Township trustee saved the former Portage Little League Park from the wrecking ball by purchasing the property before imminent demolition by the city. Clancy worked with members of the Little League board so that we may preserve the history of that park for all that played there. The township has removed dead trees, cleaned up brush, removed trash, kept the grass mowed, removed old fence guards and other general clean up since the purchase, but now comes the opportunity for the public to come out and give feedback on a presentation of proposed park features.
A public meeting will be held between 5:30 and 7 p.m. Thursday at the Bonner Senior Center, 5800 Lexington, to collect comments on the development of Evergreen Park. This is part of the township's five-year parks and recreation master plan.
Its so exciting to be able to preserve old memories and offer families the opportunity to create new ones as well.
Public participation is vital to ensure this plan addresses the communitys needs. Memories, old pictures and any history the community may have to offer are also welcomed to help marry the new and old.
Come on out to help Portage Township preserve and create new memories at this park for many years to come. But if you cant make it, questions and comments can be directed to Portage Township Park Superintendent Joy Lundstrom at joy.lundtrom@portagetrustee.org or 219-759-5471.
VALPARAISO Locked inside a galvanized steel box and buried inside the walls of what is now City Hall is a treasure trove of early city artifacts.
There are photographs, city directories, sketches of a new high school, advertising leaflets and newspapers.
The time capsule had been buried in the walls of the brick building in 1919 when it was under construction to become the city's new post office, said Sharon Swihart, the city's clerk-treasurer.
In either 1986 or 1987, when the building was being revamped into City Hall, the time capsule was discovered. The box and its contents have been sitting in Swihart's office ever since.
This past week Swihart, with the city's Board of Works approval, turned over the artifacts to the Porter County Museum.
"We are going to preserve and digitize the items to share with the public," said museum Director Kevin Pazour, adding the museum was very appreciative of being able to take care of the find.
Pazour, who attended the meeting to accept the items, also gave board members a quick lesson in Valparaiso history. Feb. 23 is considered Valparaiso Day because on Feb. 23, 1837, the city's name was officially changed from Porterville to Valparaiso. A century later, on Feb. 23, 1937, the mayor declared it to be Valparaiso Day.
Valparaiso There were no gender reveal cakes or silly games, but it was still a celebration of and preparation for new life at Moraine Ridge Wildlife Rehabilitation Center Saturday.
The center, which rehabilitates injured and orphaned mammals, birds and reptiles, hosted its first-ever Spring into Baby Season baby shower at the organizations education center in Valparaiso.
Visitors arrived with gifts from the organizations wish list of items needed to prepare for the influx of orphaned baby animals, including blankets and bedding, laundry detergent, dish soap, bleach and paper towels.
Mary Esparza, of Hammond, and her friend, Samuel Jones, of Chicago, made the trek to donate bird seed and to learn about possums.
It was their first time to the center.
Emily Hoak helped her daughter, Eliza Snyder, 3, with nature crafts offered by the center for visiting children.
I thought this would be nice, Hoak said. I try to take her out to nature things.
Nicole Harmon, the centers humane educator, said last year, the center cared for 1,405 animals, at least 50 percent of which were babies.
Harmon said orphaned infant animals whether they are rabbits, opossums, squirrels or songbirds need constant care and feeding from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Mammals need to be fed every three to five hours, while songbirds need food every 15 minutes, Harmon said.
In summer, the center has help from college interns and more volunteers, but from March to May, the task falls on just a few volunteers, Harmon and the center Director Stephanie Kadletz. The center also relies on a handful of trained foster care volunteers who care for the animals in their homes.
The centers staff works hard to educate area residents about what to do when they find injured and orphaned wildlife, Harmon said. Thankfully, she said, most people call before they show up at the center with the animals so staff can assess via telephone whether the animals really need to be brought to the center.
We always try to get the animal back with its parent first, Harmon said.
Frequently, homeowners will find a nest of baby rabbits, thinking theyve been abandoned, which is not usually the case, Harmon said.
Mom leaves them alone for most of the day and comes back only twice a day to feed them, Harmon said. "'Put the baby bunnies back in the nest should be our motto. Mom will come back, I promise.
Harmon said it is never a good idea for a person to raise or keep wildlife themselves.
For more information on wildlife and a list of needed wish list items, see the Moraine Ridge Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers Website at www.mrwildliferehab.org.
MERRILLVILLE Crew Carwash donated $12,400 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana.
During its Boys & Girls Crew fundraiser earlier this month, Crew Carwash provided a freeUltimate Wash, a $20 value, to any customer who came by the new Merrillville facility, located at 501 W. 81st Ave. Crew accepted cash and credit card donations and is donating 100 percent of all proceeds to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana.
The initiative resulted in a total of $12,400 to be donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana, an organization that enables all young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.
As part of our continued efforts to give back to communities throughout Indiana, we are so happy to give this donation to the Boys &Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana," said Sally Grant, Executive Vice President of Crew Carwash. This partnership not only helped raise money for this wonderful organization, but also gave us the chance to serve first-time customers in the Merrillville area and hope they become lifetime customers.
Funds raised will benefit six local Boys &Girls Clubs in Lake County. The clubs to receive the proceeds from this fundraiser include: Cedar Lake, East Chicago Katherine House, John Will Anderson Gary, Hammond, Lake Station and Merrillville.
EAST CHICAGO A charter grade school is among the properties slated for soil sampling this spring, as state and federal agencies move north of the USS Lead Superfund sites borders to investigate contamination left by industry, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management confirmed.
East Chicago Urban Enterprise Academy, 1402 E. Chicago Ave., sits half a mile east of the old U.S. Reduction Co. site, a shuttered aluminum and lead smelter at 4610 Kennedy Ave. that first opened in 1912 between McCook and Melville avenues. Indiana Pallet is the current property owner of the old smelter site.
Academy students took to the playground Wednesday on an unusually warm February day. School Principal Veronica Eskew said as the days grow warmer, so do her concerns about the school's proximity to the USS Lead Superfund site and surrounding industry.
I just want our kids to be safe, and our staff, anybody that comes on our property. This is a step in the right direction. Once we know, we can do something about it, Eskew said.
Eskew said the state health department conducted on-site blood lead testing at the school over a two-day period in November. State health officials said none of the children tested had elevated blood levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's threshold for action.
However, from 2005 to 2010, children living in the census tract that contains the lead-tainted West Calumet Housing Complex were twice as likely to have an elevated blood lead level than if they lived elsewhere in the city.
Children are particularly at risk when exposed to lead, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Candidate for cleanup?
State and federal environmental officials noted IDEM staff will conduct soil screenings for lead and other metals at the old U.S. Reduction site, near public right-of-ways, residential areas and school properties in the area north of Chicago Avenue and east of the current Indiana Pallet site.
It's unknown how many properties are being targeted. Other schools north of Chicago Avenue and east of the old industrial site also will be tested, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.
School City of East Chicago Superintendent Paige McNulty was unavailable for comment last week.
If sampling shows contamination at levels which may raise concerns about public health, IDEM will continue to evaluate the site as a possible candidate for Superfund listing, according to the EPA, the federal arm of IDEM.
The EPAs Superfund program was established in 1980 in response to growing concerns over health and environmental risks posed by hazardous waste sites, according to the EPA. It allows EPA to clean hazardous waste sites and to force responsible parties to perform cleanups or reimburse the government for cleanups led by EPA.
Since news first broke last summer about dangerously high lead levels in the soil in the West Calumet Housing Complex and two neighborhoods to the east, much of the EPAs focus has been excavating toxic soil for homeowners south of Chicago Avenue in the USS Lead Superfund site.
The 322-acre site was first proposed for the EPA's Superfund National Priorities List in 1992, but it wasn't listed until 2009. It's bordered by East Chicago Avenue to the north, 151st Street to the south, Parrish Avenue to the east and the Indiana Harbor Canal to the west. It includes Carrie Gosh Elementary School, vacated last summer amid worries of lead exposure.
The legalities of cleanup
Emails obtained through a public records request show the EPA planned as early as Oct. 31 to test the soil at East Chicago Urban Enterprise Academy.
In the email exchanges, a contractor working with the EPA told the federal agency that testing the site makes perfect sense because aerial contamination and contaminated backfill have no reason to stop at Chicago Avenue.
The EPAs email exchanges show there were concerns about engaging in work outside the legal boundaries of the USS Lead Superfund site. EPA officials requested the contractor track costs separately so as not to bill Atlantic Richfield and DuPont two industrial companies previously deemed responsible for cleanup south of Chicago Avenue, but that are not the subject of the investigation planned north of the street.
Ultimately, due to funding and scope-of-work concerns, an EPA spokesperson told The Times the agency later decided IDEM would handle the sampling.
The EPA entered into an access agreement Oct. 31 with the charter school propertys owner, the East Chicago Urban Enterprise Association, in which Rita Jacque Gillis, executive director, gave EPA permission to collect soil samples, excavate, backfill and restore the property to its pre-excavation condition. Gillis did not respond to a request seeking comment last week.
The department currently is developing a work plan to include soil screening at these sites. No cost estimates were immediately available, IDEM said.
This action is out of an abundance of caution," IDEM said.
IDEM staff, however, already have some understanding of the extent of the contamination near U.S. Reduction.
Past investigation
That same site was the focus of a 2002 investigation to determine if the area qualified for further investigation as an EPA Superfund site candidate. IDEM staff took 81 surface soil samples in the area to the east and west of the facility. Lead concentrations ranged from as low as 17 parts per million to as high as 6,700 parts per million.
The EPA's residential cleanup standard is 400 ppm. The agencys time-critical removal action level is 1,200 ppm. In West Calumet, the highest concentrations found were at 91,100 ppm.
In a 2004 letter to the EPA, IDEM did not recommend further action at the U.S. Reduction site, and instead deferred all future investigations and cleanup of residential properties to the EPAs Superfund program, citing U.S. EPAs handling of the USS Lead facility approximately 1 mile south.
IDEM at the time also concluded that the contaminant levels encountered were inconclusive as to whether or not the U.S. Reduction Co. is a potential responsible party regarding contaminated nearby properties.
An IDEM spokesman did not respond last week to questions as to why department officials are taking a second look at the U.S. Reduction Co. site, other than to say it's a precautionary measure.
'A red flare'
Critics, including local environmental activist Thomas Frank, said the EPA and IDEM should have more seriously considered U.S. Reductions proximity to residential areas and schools. He wants more properties tested including nearby Washington Park.
This is the framework Ive been trying to work the EPA into, to address the contaminants where the contaminants migrated, and not just within the (USS Lead Superfund site) legal boundaries, Frank said. Theres a lead smelter (U.S. Reduction) sitting right across the street. Thats just a red flare.
The city welcomes the expanded testing, East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland said in an emailed statement last week.
It is paramount that we know the locations of as many of the lead- and arsenic-contaminated sites as possible This knowledge is vital to the health and safety of our residents, especially when it comes to our children," Copeland said.
MICHIGAN CITY Northwest Indiana's only zoo is adding a couple of animals that are both unusual and exotic.
It's part of the ongoing effort to keep interest high at the Washington Park Zoo. Attendance has risen in recent years following a number of changes and improvements in the past decade.
The zoo is closed to the public until April 1.
Two boer goats and two Mexican alligator lizards will arrive sometime in the spring.
Amber Jenks, the senior zookeeper, said boer goats can top 200 to 300 pounds when fully grown.
The ones coming are still babies and won't be released until they are weaned, she said. They'll be included with more traditional goats that now occupy the petting zoo.
"It'll be nice to have a really nice big species like that for the kids to come and see at the zoo," said Jenks said.
Boer goats, much larger than a traditional farm goat, were bred for their meat in the early 1900s in South Africa.
Jenks said the lizards are no more than 12 inches long at maturity. They are bright blue and green with some of the scaly features of an alligator. They're native to Mexico, Central America and South America.
"They're like really beautiful animals," said Jenks. The new lizards will be added to the species that already exist in the Rotary Children's Castle at the zoo.
The zoo also will add a 65-gallon tank containing fish native to Lake Michigan this year. Jenks said the zoo is working with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources on selecting the fish species to place in the tank.
Staff members at the zoo and the Michigan City Zoological Society, which raises money to help operate the zoo, exchange ideas on the types of new animals they want to add the following year, with the focus being species people rarely get a chance to see.
Jenks said she hopes to use the new animals in ongoing education programs at the zoo that shed light on issues like habitat and the impact development has on wild animals.
Adding a gift shop and other physical improvements were among the many changes that resulted from serious discussion about a decade ago about the zoo's future and a desire for it to become more self-sufficient.
City Council president Chris Schwanke said the zoo still receives city funding, but finances haven't been a major issue in the five years he has served on the council.
"It's a wonderful addition in Michigan City to have that zoo. It's a shining star in Michigan City as well as for Northwest Indiana," Schwanke said.
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VALPARAISO For 23 years the Valparaiso Family YMCA has hosted the Ringing in S"rping race. This year's event is April 1 and will feature a local course through the neighborhoods around the YMCA located at 1201 Cumberland Crossing Dr. The race is organized by the YMCA and a committee who are committed to running. Over 1,800 runners gather at the Y for one of the finest first races of the year.
The race begins and ends at the Y at 9 a.m. for adults. The 5K and 10K participants and prediction walkers all start at the same time. Young racers can sign up for the Little Ringer Race set up for children ages 6 and under on a 125 yard course. The Little Ringer race begins at 10:15 a.m.
The race is a Gold Cup Series race, and includes chip timing, gear check, early shirt/bib pick up, USATF certified course and free child care (preregistration is required). Each registered participant receives a zip long sleeve shirt but a $15 discount is an option if no shirt is desired. Extra Mile Fitness located at 1330 E. Lincolnway provides early pick up services.
Over 200 volunteers help make this race a success. Many hands make light work and there are several stations that need you! Individuals or groups may contact Jodi Jackson, Events and Volunteer Coordinator, at jjackson@valpoymca.org if you are interested in helping as a volunteer.
Registration is open for Ringing In Spring 5K/10K. Register online from www.valpoymca.org.
We're growing accustomed to a growing role of the Hoosier state on the national political stage, and that's a good thing for Indiana.
On the Republican side of the D.C. political aisle, former Gov. Mike Pence is now Vice President Pence, and former Sen. Dan Coats is poised to become the president's intelligence director.
Now a Hoosier Democrat is creating strong buzz and could be headed, in the future, for a major seat of national political prominence as well.
The Democratic party, still reeling from GOP President Donald Trump's blindside at least to Democrats victory would do well to consider a son of Indiana for future national party leadership.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg was considered an intriguing, albeit dark horse, candidate to become the Democratic national Committee's next chairman. He dropped out of that race Saturday.
But his name and record are gaining momentum.
Buttigieg, 35, would bring fresh ideas and a strong millennial appeal to the party's leadership. He's an openly gay political leader in a red state, Harvard-educated and a military veteran who served in Afghanistan.
He was 29 when he won his first mayoral election in 2012, becoming the country's youngest mayor of a city of more than 100,000 residents. In 2013, GovFresh.com named Buttigieg national Mayor of the Year along with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
South Bend, a blue collar Hoosier community that's seen its share of economic struggles, has begun taking on a new look under Buttigieg's leadership.
Just drive through downtown South Bend and youll see a city on the rise. Streets are being repaired, the Century Center displays dramatic lighting at night, and people are visiting even when Notre Dame isnt playing a home game.
His strong stances on transparent government and focus on retaining and attracting businesses to South Bend could have wider application in the national political vernacular.
He's not a nationally known Washington insider, and that could serve as one of his biggest assets.
Buttigieg would bring fresh perspective to a struggling party not the least of which are Midwestern, Hoosier values of common sense.
Though he left the chairmanship race, Buttigieg's strong candidacy for this role of great political prominence continues to shine a positive light on the Hoosier state.
We believe the party would miss a huge opportunity by passing on the new and dynamic qualities he could bring to the national organization.
Our political system benefits from having a strong and healthy two-party structure. This native son of the Hoosier state could help achieve that.
Viewed from afar these days, it might be easy to conclude that life in Washington, D.C., has become a reality show gone awry.
Cabinet-level nominees stepping down amid claims of wrongdoing; a president seemingly at war with the press and members of his own team; an intelligence community at odds with the source of its authority; and a bureaucratic swamp that refuses to be drained.
Not to be overlooked, however, are the real issues facing Congress, the White House and the nation as the hard work of governing marches on.
Thats why representatives of 30 state-based technology groups including the Wisconsin Technology Council joined with industry leaders in Washington this month to trade ideas and to talk tech with members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
The agenda included advancing technologies and policies to better secure the internet from cyber-attacks; advancing tax and regulatory changes to spur the growth of Americas $1 trillion tech industry; building tech platforms to support adoption of the internet of things; releasing unlicensed wireless spectrum for rural broadband and Wi-Fi; ensuring that free trade remains a priority; keeping highly skilled immigrants in the United States; and building a skilled tech-based workforce from the nations grade schools on up.
Bipartisanship is needed to get that work done.
A leading proposal making the rounds on Capitol Hill is the CHANCE in TECH Act, a plan to address workforce issues found in Wisconsin and almost every other state. CHANCE in TECH is an acronym for Championing Apprenticeships for New Careers and Employees in Technology.
The proposal calls for a long-term adjustment in how students are trained for science, technology, engineering and math jobs the so-called STEM professions in an age when those skills are required for a growing number of careers.
It envisions a combination of apprenticeships, internships and work-based learning accelerators that would put more students on the track of learning skills and earning certificates valued by industry. It urges industry itself to step up with the necessary help, and calls for a combination of public and private funding to support the system.
These skills arent necessarily acquired through a traditional four-year college track, but rather can start in K-12 education, continue into higher education and include industry-recognized certifications, read a bill summary from CompTIA, the nations leading tech association.
Experts who addressed the tech leaders during the Washington fly-in agreed the need for workforce training is most evident in cybersecurity, which one speaker described as the new space race.
At a Tech Council Innovation Network meeting Feb. 21 in Madison, Special Agent Byron Franz of the FBI underscored the urgency when he told about 100 listeners: There are cyber missiles landing in Wisconsin every single day as hackers try to steal trade secrets from companies.
Cyberattacks are rampant in industry as well as within government institutions, as Franz and others explained, yet there are relatively few people trained for cybersecurity careers. Many of those jobs dont require a four-year degree and years of experience, but certificates and hands-on training that can allow young people to get a foot in the door.
Because theres a shortage of teachers at all levels, industry partnerships are needed to expose students to careers. Also needed is leadership from state governments to help fund such programs. Federal speakers in Washington also urged schools and universities to take part in federal training programs such as the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Training.
Uncertainty in Washington doesnt mean emerging national problems such as workforce training and cybersecurity go away. It does reinforce the need, however, for cooperation across political, business and educational lines.
Growing up in the 1930s, '40s and '50s in the most ethnically diverse community in the Calumet Region, the Indiana Harbor section of East Chicago, it was not that unusual to find at least a dozen different nationalities living on your particular block and with at least one immigrant living in each household.
I find the hysteria and misinformation toward Mexicans upsetting. As a child, I lived next door to a Mexican family. I have played, gone to school and worked in the steel mills with Mexicans. And I can honestly say I have never met a more loyal, proud and harder-working people.
The only correct decision to make for the 11 million undocumented workers if they have been productive, paid taxes and have no serious criminal record is to provide them with a path to citizenship.
Don Davis, Crown Point
The 14 Republicans representing California in Congress recently asked the Department of Transportation to delay approval of a federal grant, which would provide indirect funding to Californias high-speed rail line, until an audit of the proposed high-speed systems finances is completed. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao agreed, putting off the decision on awarding the $650 million federal grant for electrification of a Caltrains Bay Area commuter rail system.
The upgrade, from diesel trains to electric trains on a section of rail between San Jose and San Francisco, has been in the works for 18 years. But the electrification is also now needed for the high-speed rail system to connect San Jose to San Francisco, which ultimately put this funding in limbo.
In normal political circumstances like this with a Republican president and GOP control of Congress it wouldnt seem likely that the federal government would be sending California federal taxpayer money for this or other high-speed rail projects anytime soon.
But these arent normal times. Before a recent meeting with executives from major airlines, President Trump complained that America doesnt have one fast train. Trump has promised a $1 trillion infrastructure plan that has yet to be fleshed out.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe even made a pitch for high-speed rail technology to Trump. With the latest magnetic technology from Washington, D.C., up to New York where Trump Tower exists, only one hour would it take if you ride the MagLev train from Washington, D.C., to New York, Abe said.
With the uncertainty around Trump, Congress and the future of high-speed rail funding, the states ongoing revisions to the trains business plan amount to moving the deck chairs on the Titanic because they dont solve the fundamental problems: lack of funding, cost-overruns, delays and mismanagement.
The Los Angeles Times recently obtained a report by the Federal Railroad Administration that found the first 118 miles of high-speed rail track in the Central Valley could cost taxpayers 50 percent more than estimated and may already be seven years behind schedule.
Thats the area of the train system Merced to Shafter that was supposed to be the easiest and cheapest to build. Imagine the cost overages and delays when the project gets to urban areas in San Francisco or Los Angeles.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority disputed the story and says its upcoming March 2017 report to the Legislature will show the spending is for additional features and demonstrate the project is making progress.
Its going to be impossible, however, for the rail system to live up to its lofty promises on construction costs, ticket prices or ridership. Killing the project entirely before larger amounts of money are poured into it is probably the best taxpayers could hope for. But thats not likely to happen on Gov. Jerry Browns watch. Brown has been committed to creatively diverting money to the rail system and will continue to do so.
So California should take a cue from President Trump, who has called for increased private-sector investment in infrastructure projects, and explore whether or not there are standalone sections of a high-speed rail system that make financial sense for private companies.
Private-sector money was supposed to flow into the state for this project but it hasnt. Given Trumps push for private infrastructure investment, companies might be willing to revisit or study the issue if theyre given the freedom to choose the route and technology they believe could be most desirable to customers, and thus potentially profitable. That would likely mean a truly high-speed train, running at over 180 miles per hour, between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Without a detour into the Central Valley, a high-speed train connecting Southern California and the Bay Area might be able to produce travel times that attract customers who would otherwise drive or fly.
Its unlikely companies will find a way to make high-speed rail in California a profitable proposition, but its worth a shot since the status quo is so much worse continued mismanagement, construction delays and billions of wasteful spending.
Baruch Feigenbaum is assistant director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation.
SACRAMENTO Theres something creepily totalitarian about Orange Coast Colleges handling of the now nationally known incident involving 19-year-old Caleb ONeil, who was suspended from the college for two semesters for secretly videotaping one of his instructors engaging in an anti-Trump rant. The suspension was bad enough, but the college also insisted that ONeil apologize to the professor and hand in an apologetic essay about his transgressions. Fortunately, after a groundswell of public support for the student and academic freedom generally the college backed down and rescinded the suspension and other sanctions.
For those who have missed the Register articles, human sexuality instructor Olga Perez Stable Cox was caught on video telling her class that Donald Trumps presidential victory was an act of terrorism. The most frightening thing, she said, is that the people who are leading the assault are among us. ONeil eventually posted the video after being unsatisfied with the colleges response. It went viral. As someone who campaigned for Trump, ONeil had reason to fear the instructors views could have repercussions on his grades. After all, hes one of those among us.
ONeils supporters, including some local Republican leaders, blasted the professor for using her teaching position to shame students. The union representing faculty there criticized ONeil for not engaging in an open dialogue. The school administration said it would investigate the complaint filed against the teacher, but the only obvious repercussions so far are the harshly punitive sanctions it tried to impose against the student.
The colleges letter to ONeil, published on a website, understandably drew a backlash. It said that ONeils essay should, among other things, discuss his thoughts and analyses on the impact of the video going viral and the ensuing damage to Orange Coast College students, faculty and staff. So he was going to be required to write an essay and the school was telling him the basic view he had to express in it.
Cox says she has received angry emails and messages and now feels paranoid and like shes been attacked by a mob of people all across the country. Any threats and intimidation are wrong, of course. But this whole situation could have been avoided had the college administration acted in an even-handed manner in the beginning. We dont want a world where college professors are afraid to speak forthrightly to their classes, but students are at least owed an apology when subjected to an inappropriate rant.
ONeil was being disciplined for violating the schools prohibition on unauthorized recording, which is a picayune point, given that this is a taxpayer-funded school. The First Amendment should still apply there. The punishment was outsized compared to the transgression. And even such a punishment would have been more tolerable if one could have any confidence the college treated with any seriousness Coxs in-classroom transgression.
This scene has sparked anger because it confirms the worst fears conservatives have about liberal intolerance in academia. In a sane world, a few apologies would suffice. Hey, I was distraught about the election and was unfair in my comments. OK, I was upset by your remarks and believed that a video was my only recourse. The administration would step in and everyone would sing Kumbaya. Instead, lawyers got involved, and there was even a threatened recall of college board members. Its the result of a college that decided to dig in its heels rather than pursue fairness. The punitive response suggests the problem at Orange Coast goes a lot deeper than one professors lack of a filter.
Ironically, Coast Colleges, the community college district that includes Orange Coast, has an entire Office of Equity, Inclusion and Compliance. One document posted on its website details the evils of microaggressions common, subtle messages that communicate racial indignations. Such indignations typically are unconscious in nature, but they have an integral influence on students perceptions of campus climates as hostile, alienating and isolating.
The controversy isnt racial, although Cox reportedly referred to white supremacy and evoked the Civil War. But if a college system is so worried about unconscious, little aggressions that create a hostile and alienating classroom environment, shouldnt it also be worried about instructors who make loud, conscious and aggressive statements that are alienating to students with a minority political viewpoint? The hypocrisy here is almost too rich for words.
I admire ONeils willingness to fight back. It seems likely hes not the only student to endure such things, so this is a worthy fight. But perhaps he should find a school that values his temerity. Americans and academics, in particular need a healthy reminder of why free expression is the foundation of a free society. And why petty, unjust bureaucrats remain its enemy.
Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. He was a Register editorial writer from 1998-2009. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org.
Homebuilding and new home sales soared in Orange County last year, driven by job growth, rising demand and an abundant supply of new home projects to choose from, industry reports show.
And O.C. stood apart from neighboring Southern California counties, where construction and sales either grew at a more lackluster pace or declined.
Orange County developers took out 12,157 building permits in 2016, the most since 2000, according to Construction Industry Research Board data.
The last time Orange County saw this many homes being built, Hillary Clinton still was in the White House as first lady. John Paul II still was the pope. The 9/11 terrorist attacks still hadnt occurred. And iPods, iPhones and YouTube hadnt been invented yet.
SEE HOW BUILDING PERMITS STACKED UP IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Figures from the CIRB report, which tracks building permits in the state, also showed:
Of the 12,000-plus new homes built, 7,962 were either condos or apartments. Although CIRB doesnt track how many were for-sale units and how many were rentals, apartments most likely dominated since CoStar figures show there were 10,000 apartments under construction by the end of last year.
For-sale housing was booming as well. Single-family permits (the best indicator of for-sale activity) totaled 4,195 last year, the most in 12 years.
Renters and buyers were flocking to absorb all that new product. Even though thousands of new apartments came on the market last year, vacancy rates remained below 4 percent. In addition, Orange County builders sold 4,690 new homes in 2016, CoreLogic figures show. Thats the highest new-home sales tally in a decade.
Its based on a shortfall in housing stock, both resale and new, in the Orange County and L.A. market, said Bill Holford, president of Olson Communities, a Seal Beach-based homebuilder. Theres such a shortfall. People are clamoring for those (new home) communities.
O.C.s anomalous rise
Other Southern California counties failed to see a significant increase in new housing such an increase or had a decrease.
In Orange County, for example, building permits were up 12 percent from 2015 levels.
Riverside County was the only other in the region to see construction rise, with permits up 5 percent. Construction permits, meanwhile, fell 11 percent in Los Angeles County and 4 percent in San Bernardino County. In the region as a whole, building dropped 3 percent.
New home centers also were busier at Orange County developments where sales increased 29 percent in Orange County, according to CoreLogic. The gain for the rest of Southern California was 8.5 percent.
This is a reversal of building patterns seen during the pre-recession housing boom, when most new home construction was in the Inland Empire.
From 2000 through 2004, the Inland Empire averaged almost 36,000 building permits a year, outstripping Los Angeles Countys average of 20,600 permits a year and Orange Countys average of 10,300.
Last year, Inland Empire jurisdictions handed out 10,271 permits, compared with Orange Countys 12,000 and Los Angeles Countys 20,339, the most in the region, but still down 2,500 permits from 2015.
This is an anomalous period for Orange County, said housing consultant Mark Boud, president of San Clemente-based Real Estate Economics. Beyond the next few years, we may very well never be able to bring on this level of supply again in Orange County.
Jobs, demand up
Whats behind Orange Countys building boom?
Experts summed up their answers in two words: Supply and demand. Both are up, boosting Orange County home sales.
State figures show Orange County added 31,400 jobs in 2016, equivalent to 2.6 new jobs for every new home built last year.
The long-term ratio is 1.4 jobs-to-1.0 home, so demand is about two times higher than supply, Boud said.
In response, developers have been busy.
Orange County is home to four of the largest 19 master-planned communities in the country, and all of them have accelerated their construction pace, said Irvine-based housing consultant John Burns.
The two biggest landowners, Irvine Co. and Rancho Mission Viejo, decided to ramp up the volumes dramatically, Burns said. At the same time, the (Great Park Neighborhoods) in Irvine and Baker Ranch in Lake Forest offered more homes for sale than ever before.
Sales nearly doubled to 535 transactions at the Great Park Neighborhoods, the ninth-highest tally among the nations 50 top-selling master-planned communities, according to a ranking by Burns firm, John Burns Real Estate Consulting.
Sales at Rancho Mission Viejos Esencia development near San Juan Capistrano increased 52 percent to 458 homes last year, the 16th highest sales tally in the nation; and Baker Ranch ranked 19th after sales rose 26 percent to 448.
The Irvine Co.s developments ranked first among U.S. master-planned communities with 1,989 homes sold last year, up 19 percent, Burns ranking showed.
Demand in Orange County is extraordinary, said Dan Kelly, a senior vice president with Rancho Mission Viejo, the South County land holding firm behind development of Sendero and Esencia and, in years past, Mission Viejo and Ladera Ranch. The community has come together (at Rancho Mission Viejo) far more rapidly than we ever thought it would.
High demand, low supply
Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire, on the other hand, do not have any notable master plans, Burns said. There is plenty of demand there, he said, just no supply.
Apart from Antelope Valley, developable land is scarce in Los Angeles County, Boud said.
In the Inland Empire, commuter headaches caused by infrastructure improvements along the 91, 15 and 60 freeways are hampering demand, as are tighter mortgage qualification standards, he added.
Once these infrastructural improvements are completed, more housing demand will likely flow to the Inland Empire, Boud said. But for now, it remains stymied.
Orange County, on the other hand, remains extremely attractive to homebuyers, Rancho Mission Viejos Kelly said. And given the limited number of existing homes for sale, more buyers are turning to the new home market.
New homes offer better architecture, more natural lighting and wiring that can handle all the electronics found in modern homes, such as electric-vehicle charging stations, he said.
You add it all up, its a very compelling story, Kelly said. I would say the builders are going, not at the hyper-frenzied pace of the (boom), but at a substantial and steady pace that is very strong.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7734 or JeffCollins@scng.com
Top U.S. master-planned communities
2016 Ranking* Project Location Developer Net Sales 2015 Net Sales 2016 1 yr ch 1 The Irvine Ranch Orange County The Irvine Co. 1,674 1,989 19% 2 The Villages Central Florida Villages of Lake Sumter 2,294 1,966 -14% 3 Nocatee Jacksonville, Fla. The PARC Group 1,105 973 -12% 4 West Villages Sarasota, Fla. West Villages Partnership 851 848 0% 5 Lakewood Ranch Sarasota, Fla. Schoreder-Manatee Ranch Inc. 535 775 45% 6 Summerlin Las Vegas The Howard Hughes Corp. 602 769 28% 7 Cane Bay Plantation Charleston, S.C. Graming Brothers Real Estate & Development 520 569 9% 8 Inspirada Las Vegas Beazer, KB Home, Pardee & Toll Brothers 389 564 45% 9 Great Park Neighborhoods Irvine FivePoint Communities 282 535 90% 16 Rancho Mission Viejo South Orange County Rancho Mission Viejo 302 458 52% 19 Baker Ranch Lake Forest Shea Homes and Toll Brothers 355 448 26%
Source: John Burns Real Estate Consulting
*2016 sales ranking
O.C. apartment construction
Orange County had close to 8,500 apartments under construction this month, down from just over 9,800 in December.
Building Name City Developer Name Number Of Units Jefferson Platinum Triangle Anaheim JPI/TDI 390 The Parallel Anaheim The Wolff Co. 386 Vivere Flats Anaheim Mack Urban 244 The George Anaheim Lyon Living 340 Pearl La Floresta Brea Morgan Group 204 580 Anton Costa Mesa Legacy Partners 250 Baker Block Costa Mesa CityView 240 Alexan Aspect Fullerton Trammell Crow 323 Brookhurst Place Garden Grove Kam Sang Co. 180 Huntington Beach Huntington Beach 4Terra Investments 510 Residences at Pacific City Huntington Beach DJM Capital Partners 516 Portola Court Phase II Irvine Irvine Co. 56 360 Fusion Irvine 360 Residential 208 Vireo at Park Place Irvine Sares-Regis Group 520 Westview Apartments Irvine The Irvine Co. 583 Metropolis Irvine Garden Communities 457 Elements Phase I Irvine Garden Communities 388 Irvine Gateway Irvine Fairfield Residential 363 Valentia in La Habra La Habra Fairfield Residential 335 The Picerne Laguna Niguel The Picerne Group 425 Gateway Village Laguna Niguel Alliance Residenital LLC 351 Villas Fashion Island Newport Beach Irvine Co. 524 NA Orange NA 12 Eleven10 West Orange The Picerne Group 260 The 301 Santa Ana Wood Partners 182 Esencia Sur Trabuco Canyon Western National Group 150
Source: CoStar
There are gas pumps, coolers crammed with soda, beer and milk, racks of beef jerky, and potatoes, bananas and onions for 38 cents a pound.
The newest Kwik Trip in Dane County is a bit smaller than most, is located in a former Shell station along Highway M in the town of Westport and doesnt offer hot foods like hamburgers, slices of pizza and chicken sandwiches.
There is however, right near the bakery case, a walk-in humidor stuffed with cigars.
The La Crosse-based convenience store company is rolling out a plan to replace its 30 Tobacco Outlet stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa with what are being called Kwik Trip Express stores. The stores are smaller than regular convenience stores, can be more easily incorporated into urban areas where land is at a premium and could help Kwik Trip rapidly expand by purchasing gas station convenience stores and converting them to the Kwik Trip Express brand.
Tobacco Outlets are typically located in strip malls but by transforming the stores into convenience stores, it will bring most of the items offered at a regular Kwik Trip as well as a full-line of tobacco products more directly to customers, said John McHugh, a Kwik Trip spokesman. And that includes the cedar-lined humidors with glass doors.
That was a trademark of our Tobacco Outlet stores so we will keep those humidors, McHugh said. Were still in the early stages of this and were trying to see how the consumer reacts to this.
Kwik Trip, with 555 stores and over 18,000 employees, is a Wisconsin success story with convenience stores dotted throughout three states. The stores have become wildly popular by offering a wide range of bakery, produce, meats, hot food, beer and soda and in many cases car washes. The company is in the midst of a rolling renovation plan that is upgrading older Kwik Trip stores that in some cases, like in Cross Plains, has involved building brand new stores and then removing the old store.
The Madison area has three Tobacco Outlet stores, on North Sherman Boulevard and in Monona and Middleton. Its not clear when those stores would close and be merged into Express stores.
The Kwik Trip Express model was unveiled late last year and now includes six stores, two in the Green Bay area; one in New Berlin that opened earlier this month; stores in Fort Dodge and Des Moines, Iowa; and a Waukesha store scheduled to open next month.
The town of Westport store that opened in December, is considered a replacement of the Tobacco Outlet store on East Washington Avenue and is in a space that had been Trader Gus Shell which also included Athens Gyros. The gyro portion is now operating out of a trailer behind the Kwik Trip Express but a full restaurant under a new name is under construction next door to the convenience store. Athens Grill is scheduled to open this spring and will include a 3,000-square-foot casual restaurant with up to 70 seats, a full bar, drive-thru and a production facility in the basement.
The Kwik Trip Express is another convenience store addition to Dane County where there are now 20 Kwik Trip-branded locations but only two within the city limits of Madison.
In 2014, the company opened a 6,500-square-foot convenience store with a beer cave in the ground level of Varsity Quarters, a six-story, 129-bed apartment building at 1423 Monroe St. Located on the site of the former Stadium Bar and across from Camp Randall, the store does not have gas pumps or parking. Instead, it relies on foot traffic from the area that is heavily populated with students.
In December 2015, the company opened a $3.8 million, 7,160-square-foot convenience store at 4825 American Parkway in the American Center business park that includes five gas pump islands, a car wash and a picnic area.
In early 2016, Kwik Trip proposed building a full-size convenience store at the corner of Acewood Boulevard and Cottage Grove Road on the site of a former Sentry grocery store that closed in 2014. The plan, however, was ultimately rejected by the city after protests by the neighborhood over concerns about traffic, lighting and beer sales.
The Kwik Trip Express model, however, could help fuel expansion into the city.
We want to make sure the brand experience is still there, McHugh said. In your urban markets, its hard to find suitable locations and this might give us some options there.
Former Sentry site could be home to credit union
While plans for a Kwik Trip were doused last year, a new plan for the former Sentry store site on Cottage Grove Road is being proposed.
UW Credit Union has been speaking with city officials and neighborhood residents about the construction of a credit union on the site.
Justine Kessler, director of brand marketing for the 223,000-member Madison-based credit union, said in an e-mail last week that the credit union is working with the city to clarify zoning so it can obtain a conditional use permit so that we have a full understanding of what is acceptable for the parcel. There is additional information-gathering that will take place before we take any steps toward advancing the project, Kessler said.
UW Credit Union has about 15,000 members within a 3-mile radius of the proposed development site with 2,200 homes and nearly 1,900 vehicles financed in the area.
However, the credit union could also have a challenge getting its proposed project approved. Ald. Amanda Hall, who represents the area, said Kwik Trip was technically rejected by the city because it was a single-story use. Unless the credit union proposes a mixed-use project with multiple stories, it could also face opposition, Hall said.
They seem pretty gung-ho but I dont see the logic in it because of the significant zoning hurdle, Hall said.
New stores set
for West Towne
West Towne Mall last week announced three new additions to its 828,602-square-foot shopping center.
Torrid, a clothing store for plus-sized women, is scheduled to open a 3,050-square-foot store in late March. The stores collection includes apparel, plus-size lingerie and accessories for women who wear sizes 10 to 30. Torrid has over 400 stores in North America and seven other Wisconsin locations including at East Towne Mall and at the Outlet at the Dells in Wisconsin Dells.
Barbara Originals opened in early February and showcases works of art by local artist Barbara Scharpf, who creates palette knife paintings. The store offers decor including handcrafted pillows, jewelry boxes, photo frames and other items and is located near New York & Company. Scharpf is also founder of Creative Womanhood, an organization designed to encourage and inspire women to discover their artistic talents.
The mall also announced that Good Eats Subs is scheduled to open this spring in an 853-square-foot food court space.
HUNTINGTON BEACH A two-alarm fire at a condominium complex displaced 20 people, including 19 adults and a child, according to Metro Cities Fire.
A call reporting the blaze came in about 3:25 p.m. and the fire was extinguished by 4:09 p.m., said shift supervisor Steven Perez.
No injuries or deaths were reported, but 20 people were displaced from their homes. Assistance from the American Red Cross has been requested for temporary housing, he said.
An estimate of damages was not available. Investigators are still looking into what caused the fire, Perez said.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7909 or dbharath@scng.com
OCC made right call
Re: OCC students suspension lifted [News, Feb. 24]: I was so pleased to read that Caleb has been allowed back into OCC and that he didnt have to write that stupid essay. Evidently, all the support he received from those of us who thought he had been deeply wronged did not go unnoticed. Hopefully Cox will keep her political views to herself now and not inflict them on her students.
Dorothy Cummings, Placentia
Not enough
So, the administration at OCC decided to reinstate student Caleb ONeil. This is great news. What is not great news is the teacher, Cox, has yet to be punished, reprimanded or otherwise slapped on the wrist for starting the whole mess. Cox is a bully and should be dealt with accordingly. But, the administration at OCC decided to wimp out and call it a draw.
And now, Rob Schneiderman, president of the local teachers union, is whining about faculty and students being less likely to explore controversial issues and students giving presentations being concerned that they now may be cyber bullied as a result of this decision. Is he kidding? This wasnt about exploring controversial issues. This was about a teacher bullying conservative students by calling them the enemy and using disgusting and abhorrent language in describing President Trump. There was no exploring here.
This was a one-sided attack during class. Cox should be suspended without pay or just fired immediately. With 42 years as a teacher, she should have a nice pension guaranteed for life thanks to the generosity of taxpayers. Meanwhile, our school system continues its hard turn to the left.
Rodger Clarke, Santa Ana
Who is the bully?
I have been following the Caleb ONeil story since it started. I find it interesting how a teacher can stray from their appointed (paid) duties to teach a particular subject and not be told to stick with the subject matter, but a student gets suspended for an infraction deemed more egregious than the teachers digression.
But now, the teachers union leader is disappointed the administration caved to bullies. Now, he says, outside speakers are hesitant to present on campus and students giving presentations are concerned. Has Schneiderman been living under a rock the last 20 years regarding conservatives trying to speak on campus? Give me a break.
Bill Hopkins, Garden Grove
What are you afraid of?
Re: Body cameras are becoming the norm [News, Feb. 23]: I couldnt help noticing the contrast in two Register articles. Police departments are using body cameras to record interactions between officers and the public, and the officers are generally in favor of the policy because it protects them from false accusations of brutality or other improper conduct. On the other hand, the continuing saga of the Orange Coast College teacher, and student suspended for recording her in class, continues, with the teacher apparently receiving no consequences for her unprofessional behavior. What are teachers afraid of? In most jobs, your performance is evaluated based on a review of your actual work. Why is it that the work product put forth by community college teachers, whose pay comes largely from our taxes, is shielded from our purview?
Kevin L. Cook, Ladera Ranch
Hayden would have defended Nguyen
Re: Nguyen forcibly removed from Senate chambers [News, Feb. 24]: Having known Tom Hayden since 1982, I was happy to attend his recent memorial service at UCLA. What I wasnt happy hearing about was state Sen. Janet Nguyen being escorted from the Senate floor after criticizing Toms long and steady opposition to the Vietnam War. If there is one thing I know about Tom Hayden, who served nearly 20 years as a state legislator, it is this: He would have been the first to come to Nguyens defense.
Thomas Paine and his fellow Founding Fathers understood that free speech was a cornerstone of our democracy. When elected officials cut off their colleagues and have them forcibly removed from the chambers, they might as well be shredding the fabric of American life. In the case of Nguyen, Im sure Tom would have reminded everyone what Paine said so long ago: I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Denny Freidenrich, Laguna Beach
Bad apples
Re: Eyes on Anaheim [News, Feb. 24]: Its ludicrous to hear that Anaheim police are questioning the videos showing an LAPD officer losing it. We literally can see the smoking gun in his hand. Why does law enforcement insist on defending the bad apples on the force? This only serves to taint the reputation of the good officers who serve and protect us.
Gil Sanchez, Santa Ana
Ferguson meet Anaheim
And so, Ferguson comes to Anaheim. A group of teenagers trespass on a police officers lawn, damaging his property. The officer foolishly confronts them instead of hiding in his house as required by law and custom. The teenagers naturally threaten and assault him, and he compounds his foolishness by discharging his firearm into the ground. The community naturally riots and destroys additional property in the neighborhood.
The police chief expresses solidarity with the parents of the innocent teenagers while grudgingly acknowledging his responsibility to enforce the law. Our local newspaper focuses on the problem of the firearm discharge, taking care to avoid any criticism of the trespass, assault, threats and vandalism.
The foolish law-abiding citizens of Anaheim are put on notice. City Hall and the media will always take the side of the lawless against the law-abiding. Just suck it up.
Russ Neal, Huntington Beach
Represent us
Re: Irvine residents host anti-Trump town hall meeting without Rep. Mimi Walters: I enjoyed seeing so many of my friends, neighbors and co-workers featured in your slideshow from University Hills missing person townhall discussing Rep. Mimi Walters. Therefore, I was surprised that her spokeswoman dismissed these constituents as a small, vocal group of paid activists. First, the group is not small. They represent a large portion of her constituents, who voted for Hillary Clinton by 5.4 points. They are justifiably concerned that Rep. Walters votes 100 percent with the president yet refuses to meet with them. Second, they are not paid. Rep. Walters is attempting to discredit them by making this accusation. Where is her evidence? She has provided none. The president may attempt to fool the public with this strategy. Rep. Walters underestimates the intelligence of her constituents.
Kathleen Treseder, Irvine
Let us have a say
These last several years we have seen our political discourse on a national and local level become increasingly polarized and contentious. The presidency of Donald Trump has seen drastic shifts in policy and rhetoric that have left some Americans worried and others reassured. What worries me is the retreat and aloofness of our local elected congressmen. How am I supposed to have a conversation with my congressman if he wont host a town hall? How am I supposed to know his views on upcoming legislation and policy if he wont address the topics? And how is he supposed to know how his constituents feel if he never interacts with us?
Wanting to have a town hall is not an act of resistance, and it is a misrepresentation of the situation to suggest that only those opposed to Trump want to hear from their elected leaders. Having conversations is crucial for a working democracy, and ours is breaking down on a very local level.
Megan Knowles, Costa Mesa
Not a peaceful protest
Last Thursday night our kids got an ugly lesson in bare-knuckle left-wing politics. Our family lives around the corner from our congressman, Ed Royce, and we didnt appreciate the union-paid crowd that descended on our neighborhood.
We saw the SEIU logo on the buses dropping off activists who held a protest in front of Royces home. A demonstration like this in a park or public square is a peaceful protest. But when it moves in front of our congressmans home, it crosses the line into intimidation of the congressman and his neighbors.
Bruce Buettell, Fullerton
Slipping homeownership isnt just a Southern California problem.
U.S. Census Bureau stats for 2016 show continued dips nationwide, statewide and in Los Angeles and Orange counties. But surprisingly, there was against-the-grain progress in the Inland Empire.
My trusty spreadsheet tells me that in 2016 an average 47.2 percent of households in the L.A.-O.C. metropolitan area lived in homes they owned vs. 49.1 percent in 2015. In both years, that was the lowest ownership rate among the nations 75 largest metro areas.
And numerous California markets joined L.A.-O.C. near the bottom of the list: San Jose was second worst with 50 percent ownership; San Diego was fifth worst at 53.3 percent; San Francisco was sixth worst at 55.8 percent; Fresno was eighth worst at 56.2 percent. (FYI: Best ownership rate? Grand Rapids, Mich., at 76 percent.)
These signs of regional homebuying hurdles make the rise of ownership in Riverside and San Bernardino counties impressive: 63 percent ownership in 2016, almost at the national level and up from 61 percent in 2015.
Nationwide, ownership averaged 63.4 percent last year, down from 63.7 percent in 2015 and the 69 percent high in 2004. Of course, the peak hit when high-risk mortgages made homebuying far easier.
Here are five questions raised by the report:
1. Whats up in the Inland Empire?
Theres little doubt the two counties booming job market and reputation as Southern Californias housing bargain helped boost ownership. Want to know why the 91 is so packed with cars?
Last year, the Inland Empire had the highest ownership rate among the seven California markets tracked and ranked 35th out of the 75 metros nationwide vs. a 52nd ranking in 2015.
2. How rare was that increase?
Last year, the nationwide ownership rate fell to a 41-year low, improved in only 16 states and was up in just 27 of the 75 major markets tracked. In fact, the Inland Empires 2 percentage point improvement was 11th best last year among the 75 metros.
3. Why declining ownership in so many places?
Affordability has been a challenge in many markets across the nation. Recent employment increases and salary gains have been negated by rising home prices since the recession ended and by pricier mortgages starting late last year. Stingy, risk-averse lenders dont help the house hunters challenges.
Ponder that U.S. home prices rose 6 percent in the year ended Sept. 30, according to federal mortgage regulators indexes. Prices rose in 49 states by the same math (including Californias 7 percent gain, 10th best) and in 99 out of 100 metros tracked (New Haven, Conn., the lone decliner.)
4. Can you find anything to buy?
Supply of existing U.S. homes is tight as homeowners opt to stay put longer. And developers are slowly getting in gear with new home construction hitting its highest level in nine years in 2016. But last years development boomlet is still 18 percent slower vs. the average homebuilding pace of the previous 55 years.
Those are key reasons why nationwide homeownership declined for the 12th consecutive year in 2016 to a low last seen in 1965. Its not much better statewide. California ownership slipped to 54.2 percent last year third worst among the states down 0.1 percentage point in a year and well off its 60.2 percent high of 2006.
5. What to do about it?
Improving ownership levels is a dicey endeavor.
As we saw a decade ago, easy-money lending is not a simple solution. The ensuing housing crash slashed ownership as numerous families were left financially scarred and other potential owners were scared off by housings financial risks.
Building more homes, especially lower-cost residences, could help. But a recent survey by Harvard researchers of American attitudes about new construction suggests the development isnt a popular option.
Only 28 percent of homeowners polled said theyd support a significant homebuilding initiative in their community. Add to that just 59 percent of renters told pollsters theyd want more housing.
Homeownership supporters say its an important quality-of-life, community-building issue. But West Virginia, with the highest homeownership, ranked dead-last (50th) in Gallups annual ranking of state-by-state well-being. Meanwhile, low-ownership California ranked 13th.
Might slipping homeownership be less problematic than we think?
Contact the writer: jlansner@scng.com
After finishing her favorite Cuban sandwich from Portos Bakery & Cafe in Downey, Monica Oviedo becomes giddy when she learns the Los Angeles institution is days away from opening in Orange County.
Ive already clocked how long its going to take me 15 minutes, said Oviedo, of La Habra, whos been trekking to Portos bakeries in Los Angeles for 16 years.
When the long-anticipated Buena Park cafe opens Wednesday at 7640 Beach Blvd. with actor Andy Garcia at the ribbon cutting, expect epic lines. Over its 46-year history in Los Angeles, the Cuban bakery has earned a reputation for serving addictive and dirt cheap sweet and savory baked goods.
Portos expansion to Orange County, and next year to West Covina, comes as Cuba has seized a moment in the pop culture zeitgeist.
Former President Obama reestablished diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba in 2015. The death of Fidel Castro in 2016 helped accelerate the diplomatic thaw. Travel is again permitted to the once-forbidden island nation. And now Cuban Americans and even boxes of Portos treats are at the center of a Netflix reboot of One Day at a Time.
The TV familys obsession with the Cuban bakery hits close to home for hard-core fans like Oviedo. Shes tried every item behind the counter 98-cent potato balls, 80-cent cheese rolls, 99-cent croquettes. Her go-to cake? Mango mousse.
Ive never had a bad meal here, the 48-year-old said.
Keeping up with demand
The scene at the three Portos bakeries in Glendale, Burbank and Downey can be best described as controlled chaos.
In Downey, the cafes second largest after Buena Park, employees look like Secret Service agents armed with ear buds and walkie talkies.
Their main duty: traffic control.
As diners enter the 17,000-square-foot cafe, lines snake in different directions. The crowds can be intimidating, but theyre reeled in by something sweet the intoxicating aromas of freshly baked goods.
Betty Porto, whose mom baked cakes while living in communist Cuba in the 1960s, said front-door greeters help guests figure out where to queue.
When people come in, the biggest complaint we get is they dont know what to do, Porto said.
For Kim Battle, the line tends to go quickly because the Lakewood resident said shes always preoccupied with the countless choices behind the counter. By the time she orders, she hardly notices the wait.
Sitting in the Portos patio on a recent Wednesday, she and her daughter Shawnta are sharing a half-dozen potato balls. The original menu item is stuffed with soft mashed potatoes and seasoned ground beef.
Its like a shepherds pie in a ball, Battle, 49, said.
Bringing Buena Park into the fold
Though fans say Portos is worth the wait, the family-run operation is constantly evolving to maximize efficiency.
Several years ago, the company opened a test kitchen in Commerce, where bakers tweak recipes and create new menu items. The commissary helps prevent gridlock at the three stores.
When Downey opened in 2010, the family designed it to minimize wait times. Buena Park will look similar only bigger at nearly 25,000 square feet. The Beach Blvd. location near Knotts Berry Farm is a new frontier for the brand. In such a dense tourist zone, Porto expects the cafe to be one of the chains highest volume stores.
Like Downey, Buena Park will have four different order stations: an express lane for top selling pastries, a pre-order pick up counter, a coffee bar and a bakery line. The latter is often the longest line; its the only spot where you can buy any item off the vast menu from guava strudels to tiramasu cakes and grilled sandwiches.
On peak Saturdays, up to 40 workers at the front of the house keep lines moving, tables clean and displays filled with eye-popping pastries. Behind the scenes are teams of bakers, cake designers, pastry chefs and grill cooks cranking out hundreds of scratch foods in a fast-paced environment.
Only the finest ingredients are used, Porto said. Her mother, from the very beginning, would not skimp on quality. Frosting is made with the Belgian chocolate and tarts are topped with pristine ripened fruits.
We will never compromise, Porto said.
With top-notch ingredients and high labor costs, how does Portos keep its prices so low?
Volume. The three cafes serve 4.5 million customers a year. They sell 1.5 million cheese rolls and 600,000 potato balls a month. The company uses its buying power to keep prices low. Porto, who studied law in college, said she and her siblings are tough negotiators.
But not because they seek personal profits.
Our business comes from large families. They are not rich. We want to respect their pockets, Porto said.
Controlling Their Destiny
Word of mouth recommendations have made Portos a household name in the greater Los Angeles area; many customers have been coming for decades.
But in recent years, the family has been caught off guard by a new legion of fans: millennials.
Right now, thanks to BuzzFeed, one of the bakerys hottest sellers is the Milk N Berries cake a twist on a classic Tres Leches but more indulgent, filled with fresh berries and iced with whipped cream. In January, BuzzFeed called it a flavor explosion, which triggered a host of orders.
That sells more than anything, Porto said.
Last year, Yelp named Portos bakery the best restaurant in the country based on positive reviews. Consumer demand is why they are expanding to Buena Park and West Covina to accommodate the masses traveling to their packed Los Angeles cafes.
We were looking for years in Orange County, Porto said.
As theyve grown, Porto said theyve vowed to own their property. That allows them to control rent and parking.
In Downey, they bought the property, building the store and two-story parking structure behind the Firestone Boulevard cafe. In Burbank, parking was such a huge problem, the family bought another building nearby just so they could add 27 more spaces for guests.
In Buena Park, the family snapped up an empty 3-acre Beach Boulevard parcel made available when state redevelopment funds dried up a few years ago. The deal allowed them to build a modern restaurant and cafe from the ground up.
We want to control our destiny, Porto said.
Baking to survive
Taking charge is at the heart of the Porto family legacy.
When Fidel Castro rose to power in Cuba, Raul Sr. lost his job at a cigar distribution warehouse. He was sent to a labor camp. His wife Rosa, an office manager at the cigar company, also lost her job.
She was left to fend for herself and three children: Betty, Raul Jr., and Margarita.
Rosa, a college graduate, was raised by a strong independent mother who came to Cuba from Spain. Self sufficiency runs through her veins. In 1960, the savvy business woman launched an underground baking operation in her house just to survive.
Using her moms tried-and-true recipes and a Sunbeam mixer, she made yellow sponge cakes, soaked in simple syrup and rum and filled with custard. She also made meat pies (pastel de carne).
Her clients would bring her ingredients (eggs, flour, sugar) to make the cakes and pay her with government rations: pigs, chickens, rice and beans.
It was a black market barter-and-trade operation; when police came to raid houses, the tight-knit neighborhood protected Rosa, hiding cakes and baking appliances so she wouldnt get caught. The Portos lived this way for a decade before they were all approved to relocate to the United States.
She took a risk because it was either that or starve, Betty Porto said.
Living the American Dream
In 1971 when the family emigrated to Los Angeles, Rosas reputation preceded her. Before landing, a Cuban immigrant she met on the plane placed an order.
More came knocking.
The moment they found out she was here, they started calling, Betty Porto, 59, said.
For five years, she ran the business out of the familys small apartment near Echo Park. She baked day and night. Betty said she and her siblings would go to bed late because their beds doubled as makeshift cooling racks.
She put sheets on the bed and kept flipping cakes, Porto said.
In 1976, Rosa secured a $5,000 loan to open a 300-square-foot shop in Los Angeles at Silver Lake and Sunset Boulevard. In 1982, she relocated to Glendale. At that time, Betty had graduated from college. She and her brother, an economics major, immersed themselves in the business.
Other stores followed in Burbank and Downey.
As they grew, so did the bakery case.
Wedding and quinceanera cakes, guava pastries, chicken empanadas, potato balls, meat pies and ham croquettes are long-time staples on the menu. But over the years, Portos added the famed cheese rolls, sandwiches, croissants, coffee and elegant European-style cakes and pastries, including their signature Refugiado with guava and cheese.
With her three children running the business, Rosa Porto has since retired. Last year, Rosa and the bakery were honored with a lifetime achievement award by the California Restaurant Association.
At the time, she was asked about the long hours she endured, and the risks she took to keep food on the table. Betty Porto said shell never forget her moms response.
I finished one cake and I wanted to start another, Rosa said. I did it because I loved it.
When does a protest go so far over the line that reasonable people should start protesting the protest?
Possibly now. Wells Fargo has been targeted for destruction by people who are angry that the bank made some of the loans to finance the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio sent a letter to Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan to express deep concern, citing the threat of climate change, negative environmental consequences, and the human and tribal rights of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Three times in the letter he hinted at divesting some of the $165 billion in pension fund assets he controls for city employees.
The city council of Seattle has already voted to yank its $3 billion in annual cash flow away from Wells Fargo, and the city of Los Angeles is under pressure from a group called Revolution LA to cut all ties with the bank. Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Davis have already agreed to pull their money out. Similar actions are in the works in Alameda, in East Orange, N.J., and in Iowa City, Iowa.
No one in these cities needs energy, of course. They recharge their iPhones by plugging them into cow pies and waiting for lightning to strike.
This shouldnt be a partisan argument. President Trump signed an order in January that restarted construction of the pipeline, but as recently as last fall, Hillary Clinton was unwilling to condemn the project, which labor unions support because its creating jobs.
If a job-creating domestic energy project is going to be put in the same category with South African apartheid and conflict diamonds, what else will require boycotts and divestiture in the name of politico-moral rectitude?
Maybe public pension funds wont be allowed to invest in anything but the Ivanpah solar plant in the Mojave Desert. And even that may not qualify, seeing as it sets birds on fire during the day and runs on natural gas at night.
Meanwhile, Californias scorched-earth war with the Trump administration is heating up.
Thanks to a waiver from the U.S. government, California has been allowed to enforce more stringent standards than the rest of the country, but Trumps new EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, has indicated that he may not support the continuation of that waiver.
So lawmakers in Sacramento are rushing to lock in the Obama-era environmental rules by writing them into state law. A quick gut-and-amend of a blank budget bill created the new SB49, which would make the most stringent federal environmental rules the new baseline in California, prohibiting any changes to them even if the federal rules are later undermined, amended or repealed.
SB49 would also authorize any person acting in the public interest to file a lawsuit to enforce these standards and requirements.
The Delta smelt now have more lawyers than O.J. Simpson.
The problem here is that these politicians, in their pursuit of moral righteousness, are taking a vow of somebody elses poverty.
If the public pension funds investment portfolios dont perform up to expectations, taxpayers have to make up the difference. If energy and transportation costs go up when they could be going down, higher prices increase the cost of living and drive up the poverty rate.
The Census Bureau says the poverty rate in California, taking into account the cost of living, is 20.6 percent, the highest in the nation.
Wheres the moral outrage over that?
Susan Shelley is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. Reach her at Susan@SusanShelley.com and follow her on Twitter: @Susan_Shelley.
Bishop Michael Smith, Bishop of Meath, recently presided at the canonical establishment of the monastery at Silverstream Priory in the Diocese of Meath.
The newly granted canonical status is a recognition of the growth and stability of Benedictine Monks of Silverstream Priory and of its contributions to the life of the Diocese of Meath and of the whole Church in Ireland.
The Diocese of Meath includes the greater parts of the counties of Meath, Westmeath and Offaly, and a portion of counties Cavan, Dublin, Longford and Louth
The event was the official canonical establishment of the Benedictine community at Silverstream Priory as an autonomous monastery of diocesan right. The celebration included the solemn reading, by the Bishop of Meath, of the canonical Decree establishing the monastery; the installation of the Conventual Prior; the renewal of the vows of the professed monks in the context of Holy Mass; and the singing of the Te Deum Laudamus , the Church's ancient traditional hymn of thanksgiving.
The Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration took root at Silverstream, in Stamullen, Co Meath, early in 2012, at the invitation the Bishop of Meath, the Most Revd Dr Michael Smith. Two American monks, Dom Mark Daniel Kirby (the prior) and Dom Benedict Andersen, arrived at that time to begin the foundation in the house formerly occupied by the Visitation nuns at Silverstream.
Silverstream is home to a community of eight male religious who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. The community came from Tulsa, USA, in 2012 and occupies the former residence of the Visitation Sisters in Stamullen, Co Meath. Tthe makeup of the community is international with members coming from Co. Meath, Australia, Denmark, and the United States
The monastery is contemplative in nature, with a particular focus on the Liturgy and Eucharistic Adoration. The communitys constitution and canonical norms were approved by the Holy See earlier this month.
Bishop Smith signed a Decree on 25 February, erecting the Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar as a monastic Institute of Consecrated Life of diocesan right in the Diocese of Meath.
This Decree is believed to mark the first formal establishment of a monastic community in the Diocese of Meath since the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1536.
Bishop Smith said, The history of religious life has seen many developments over the centuries and I am delighted to recognise the unique presence of this new monastery in the Diocese of Meath. Through their prayer, study and hospitality, the monks are speaking to the heart and their quiet witness is a reminder that the Lord continues to provide the Church with new gifts and grace.
Bishop Smith celebrated Mass in Silversteam Priory accompanied by Very Reverend Dom Mark Kirby, Conventual Prior of the Institute.
Noble Wray has the look of a man on a long vacation.
The former Madison police chief is back in town and enjoying some new perks, like becoming a grandfather for the first time, since completing in November a one-year assignment with the U.S. Department of Justice observing and advising police departments around the country.
Im slowing down now for the next few months, said Wray, 56, as he relaxed at a West Side coffee shop just hours after the longtime partner of his youngest son, Elliott, gave birth to a baby boy a few blocks away at St. Marys Hospital.
Some rare down time has allowed Wray to reflect on what he has learned from other departments in the last year as the leader of the Department of Justices Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), and how that can help inform the Madison Police Department, its sometimes-embattled chief, Mike Koval, and policing in general during President Donald Trumps administration.
Among the top takeaways: Madison police need to start wearing body cameras, and officers need to stay on their beats longer.
Most departments have turned the corner on accepting (body cameras), Wray said. They have seen it over and over again how they have helped provide information that might have been perceived differently by the citizen and the officer.
Wray said it was a mistake for the City Council to reject funding for police body cameras in November 2015 after a citizen-led panel concluded the city first needed to focus on efforts to build trust between police and the community.
Wray, who retired as chief in 2013, countered that part of that breakdown in trust occurred after the controversial fatal shooting of an unarmed Paul Heenan by officer Stephen Heimsness on Madisons Near East Side in November 2012.
The Dane County District Attorneys office and an internal investigation cleared Heimsness of any wrongdoing, although he retired in October 2013 after the department later moved to have him fired for unrelated policy violations. But if police had been required to wear body cameras it could have provided an objective account of the incident, Wray said.
I cant imagine how many nights I was going, Damn, I wish we had had a camera on (Heimsness), Wray said. Its a no-brainer. Youre trying to get at the truth.
The city later agreed to pay Heenans family $2.3 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit over the shooting. That settlement would stand as a record for a fatal police shooting in Wisconsin until last week, when the citys insurance company agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of Tony Robinson, a black teenager who was shot and killed by officer Matt Kenny in March 2015, for $3.35 million.
Although part of that incident was caught on Kennys squad car video, many believe questions about what happened in the narrow stairway of an apartment building on Williamson Street where Kenny shot Robinson could have been resolved had the officer been wearing a body camera.
Both shootings created major use-of-force issues for Madison police and eroded the community policing efforts started by former Madison police chief David Couper and continued by Wray and Koval.
The public backlash that followed the shooting of Heenan, who was white, was the most controversial period of Wrays nine-plus years as chief. He said he empathized with Koval, who is facing a Police and Fire Commission review over how he has handled some of the aftermath of the Robinson shooting.
Its not easy, especially after officer-involved shootings, Wray said. Theres so much pain inside and outside the organization and you look for ways to relieve that pain.
Those meetings I went to on the East Side and people were yelling me, that was tough. I remember my wife and my son were at one of those meetings and they said to me, Why are you taking that? I told them I had to take it because theres a human being whos not here anymore and Im not blaming anyone, but people are hurting.
Seek first to understand
Wray said he agrees that cameras arent a panacea. But if theyre included as part of a broader strategic plan to build trust between the police and the community, Wray said, he believes the citizen panel, the council and mayor will be more comfortable with them.
In many communities, its not a matter of if, but when, the next police-related shooting of an unarmed black man is going to occur. To ensure that they can survive it, police departments need to work with community and outside agency leaders to build trust between them, Wray said.
We usually dont talk to people to understand, we talk to be understood, Wray said. Thats wrong. We need to seek first to understand, then to be understood.
Trust begins with officers listening at every traffic stop, every time somebody calls the police department. You have to work in a way where people believe you have their best interests at heart, he said.
Its also important for the police to listen to each other, he said. Wray recalled encountering a police officer in Baltimore in tears last year because a citizen called him a racist at a traffic stop.
That is the challenge with police officers right now, he said. When a high-profile incident like Tony Robinson takes place, the entire department is looked at in a different way and (the officers and others) lose their individuality, they lose what they came to that profession for: the nobility of it and the humanity of it because they are all viewed the same way.
In visits to departments around the country last year, Wray said he learned that most officer-involved shootings of unarmed black people werent isolated incidents by rogue cops.
There is usually a culture. So it begins with recruitment, hiring, leadership. All of those things culminate in one of those incidents. They are not done in isolation, Wray said.
One key to strengthening relationships in the community, Wray said, is keeping officers on beats longer than a year before moving them to another assignment.
I think thats critical, Wray said. This is a debate going on nationally. The question is not about keeping somebody on the same beat forever, but how do you increase someones time on a beat?
When he attended community meetings, Wray said citizens showed higher levels of respect for officers if they knew them.
Critical reviews necessary
If he could start over as Madison chief, Wray said, hed engage in more strategic planning and have assessments done of his department every five years to identify any growing problems.
In the year he spent with COPS, he said about a dozen chiefs allowed the Department of Justice to assess their departments. Its a framework for how to improve no matter how good you are as an agency, Wray said.
He backs the decision the City Council made in June to spend $400,000 to hire an expert to examine the Madison departments policies, procedures, training and culture.
I think its very impressive for our city government to want to allocate resources for our department to improve, Wray said.
Koval, who calls Wray a mentor, confidant and good friend, said he doesnt disagree despite a very public spat with the council at the time over the funding, which he said could have been better spent on more urgent needs. After the assessment comes out, Koval said, hell include any constructive feedback from it in his strategic planning.
But his actions at the council meeting and during a confrontation with Tony Robinsons grandmother, Sharon Irwin, that same night when he allegedly called her a raging lunatic, are the basis for a complaint Irwin filed against Koval with the Police and Fire Commission.
Wray said Koval needs to insulate himself better within the department as a matter of protection.
The unique thing about Madison is that people think they can walk up to the chief and tell him things, Wray said. So my staff would tell me that you cant let just anybody have a meeting with you.
That might be a tall order for Koval, who likes to connect with the community.
The tension is palpable because you have an intense desire by the community for the chief to be their chief, and then theres this intense desire within the organization for the chief to be their chief and back them up, Wray said. A lot of chiefs see themselves as either/or.
Stress of the job
Wray was a diplomat, walking a fine line between protecting himself and working with the community. Koval wears his emotions on his sleeve and freely admits that he lacks Wrays panache.
Ive tripped over that fine line a few times, Koval said.
But Wray and Koval agree on much especially where it comes to community policing and talk by phone about twice a week, although they havent talked since December. Wray wouldnt say what he tells Koval but said he worries about his friend who supervised hiring during his time as chief.
Wray remembers how previous chiefs Couper and Richard Williams stumbled at times under pressure, and that he himself had a heart attack when he was 37, five years before being named chief.
Theres a learning curve to any job, Wray said.
To clear his head, he used to drive over to the East Side YMCA in the morning and shoot baskets by himself.
For Koval, the stress of the job includes waiting to hear whether the more then $20,000 he has spent on legal fees so far to deal with the Irwin complaint will be reimbursed.
If I win, I get to put in for a resolution, which I hope the council will vote to reimburse me, he said. If I lose, thats $22,000 that might arguably not be compensated for.
Koval said he takes long walks, has long talks with his wife and prays to keep himself grounded.
But having either hired, trained or worked with all but eight of the Madison departments 470 officers, Kovals stake in the department is too personal to effectively leave it behind. To clear his head, Koval rides a beat four to eight hours a week.
Avoiding that kind of stress is on Wrays mind as he contemplates his next move. He said private and public agencies continue to pay him as a consultant and he is contemplating writing a book. He hasnt ruled out running for political office some encouraged him to run for mayor after he retired but he said he likes how he feels right now.
I would literally make less money (as mayor), Wray said. I have to be honest. Going to work every day and making less money? From a health standpoint, I would put all my energy into it. After 10 years as chief of police, I just dont know.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the circumstances of Wray's departure from the Madison Police Department in 2013. He retired from the chief post.
In Trump We Trust .com, that is.
Not your politics? Maybe check out ThrowOutTrump.com.
Actually, theyre both empty websites, what you call parked domain names: bought and paid for, but not used.
More interesting is that they both belong to the same guy Donald J. Trump.
CNN had the idea to search for all websites registered by the Trump Organization, and it turned up more than 3,000 all the way back to the original DonaldJTrump.com, registered in 1997.
Trumps company nabbed TrumpEmpire.com from a cybersquatter in Mexico last June.
The bulk of the names are not surprising. DonaldTrumpRoomFragrance.com, CelebrityApprenticePoker.com and Trump.cheap are the sort of sites youd want to reserve if you owned a consortium of restaurants, casinos, real estate, perfumes, steaks, wines, companies and brands of every kind.
But whats TrumpArmy.com about? The Trump Organization registered it in 2011, long before Trump commanded the U.S. Army. The site itself is no help; TrumpArmy, like most of his websites, is a GoDaddy template.
The Trump Organization (which is being run by Trumps family while its namesake runs the United States) told CNN: We take the protection of our corporate identity and our intellectual property very seriously ... this includes trademarking both positive and negative domain names and taking firm legal action when necessary to protect our name and intellectual property.
Indeed, at least 11 of Trumps websites contain the words scam or fraud. They include TheTrumpNetworkFraud, which was registered in 2009 shortly before the Trump Network launched. The Trump Network which sold vitamins and health products was later likened by some to a pyramid scheme.
DonaldTrumpPyramidScheme.com is a Trump property, too.
So are TrumpScam.com, TrumpFraud.com, TrumpFraud.net and TrumpFraud.org, all registered two months after Trump announced his most recent campaign for president.
Other preemptive registrations reveal earlier flirtations with politics. ThrowOutTrump.com and TrumpMustGo.com were both registered in 2012 long after he bowed out of that presidential election.
For whatever reason, Trump snatched TrumpIsFired.com in 2010.
Trump may own nothing in Russia, but he does own TrumpRussia.com registered July 17, 2008, along with TrumpItaly.com, TrumpUruguay.com and nearly a dozen other Trump-branded countries.
Trumps is a family corporation, of course. Not every Trump.com refers to Donald Trump.
Nearly 300 domain names refer to Ivanka Trump, including WomanWhoWorks.com, which forwards visitors to the first daughters website.
Ivanka gave birth to a baby boy last Easter. One day later, the Trump Organization registered three forms of the childs name as websites.
Theyre all empty. According to CNN, only a small fraction of Trumps thousands of domain names link to actual websites. The rest just sit there as placeholders in a business and political legacy that predates the World Wide Web.
A news search turns up no evidence of any product, brand or sales pitch for In Trump We Trust when InTrumpWeTrust.com was registered in 2014.
The websites still a blank page three years later, though the slogans on a coin.
Donation: PenFed Credit Union President and CEO James Schenck presented a $10,000 check to the Offutt Air Force Base Top 3 Association Executive Council on Feb. 22 at PenFeds branch in Papillion. PenFed is a member of the Offutt Air Force Base Advisory Council. The Top 3 Association, a non-profit organization located at Offutt Air Force Base, provides professional development, leadership classes, continuing education and recognition events for airmen and non-commissioned officers stationed at Offutt Air Force Base. Since opening its Papillion branch in 2016, the PenFed Foundation has donated more than $40,000 to veterans and community organizations in the Greater Omaha Area, including: American Legion Post 339 for the homeless veterans food bank; Top III Association on Offutt Air Force Base; and Eastern Nebraska Veterans Home.
Laundry Love: To help combat homelessness and near homeless individuals in Council Bluffs, Sams Club and Promise Partners have joined together in this years Laundry Love Project, an annual event that allows for struggling residents to wash clothes, eat a provided meal and learn about community resources. There will be a celebratory recognition event at 9 a.m. on Monday at Sams Club, 3221 Manawa Centre Drive. This event will recognize the Sams Club associates who volunteered more than 100 hours assembling care packages that will be distributed at the Laundry Love event on May 4 at Wash Daze Laundromats. There will also be a check presentation given to the Youth & Families Committee of Promise Partners by Sams Club.
Hunger relief: On Monday, Toppers Pizza will partner with Feeding America to help raise money for hunger relief. From 4 to 9 p.m. Monday, the local Toppers will offer a $4.99 special for up-to-2 topping pizzas, with $2 benefiting Feeding America. Toppers locations in Omaha include: 7010 Dodge St. and 741 N. 114th St.
Supermarket sweep: The Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals hosted a Supermarket Sweep on Feb. 16 at the Shadow Lake Hy-Vee location, raising more than $700 to support the Tri-City Food Pantry and the communities of La Vista, Papillion and Ralston.
Trivia Night: Members of the Pilot Club of Omaha will host Trivia Night on March 10. Proceeds from the event will Benefit Tie One on for Brain Cancer, brain cancer survivors raising research funds. For more information, go online to Facebook, Tie One on for Brain Cancer. The event will be held at Bethany Lutheran Church, 4200 N. 204th St. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and questions start at 7. Cost is $15 per person or recruit your own team $80 per team eight people maximum. There will be raffles, door prizes and desserts for sale. Prizes will be awarded for the best decorated table, best snacks, best team shirts or uniforms, rowdiest table and other random categories. To reserve a spot, call or email Gera Schultz at 402-301-5857 or gera.Schultz@gmail.com.
Nominations sought: The Earth Day Omaha Coalition are accepting nominations for Earth Day Omahas Friend of the Environment Awards, with new categories added to recognize the growing number of organizations and individuals in the Omaha metro committed to environmental issues. In addition to recognizing an individual and a non-profit organization, the three additional categories in the 2017 nominations are business, youth, and lifetime achievement. Nominations for the Friend of the Environment Awards are open until April 7 and can be submitted at the Earth Day Omaha website at earthdayomaha.org. Award winners will be announced at the Earth Day Omaha event on April 22.
Benefit dinner: A benefit dinner and silent auction will be held for the Brock Melton Fund from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at The Ruskin Community Center in Ruskin, Nebraska. A free will donation will be accepted for dinner. The silent auction closes at 1:30 p.m. In the event of inclement weather, the benefit will be rescheduled to March 5.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) It was called the war to end all wars. But it wasnt.
The United States entered it to make the world safe for democracy, only to have to fight totalitarianism again a quarter-century later.
It was called the Great War, the World War, but finally became known as World War I.
For America, it started 100 years ago this year, and the Grout Museum District a collection of five Waterloo museums is preparing a centennial exhibition of the many uniforms and artifacts it has amassed over decades from families of local residents, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.
Much of the Grout collection will be on display for six months, beginning in June, in an exhibit titled From the Prairie to the Trenches: Iowans in the Great War.
We have such a large collection, said Chris Shackelford, the Grout districts exhibits and programs assistant. Some is in archives, and a smaller amount is on permanent display in the Grouts Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum. Its going to be really nice to get out so much of what we have.
After nearly three years of war in Europe, the U.S. joined the battle in April 1917.
By the time the war ended 19 months later, in November 1918, 4 million Americans had served, half of them overseas, and 116,000 lost their lives. Another 200,000 were wounded.
Some of the items at the Grout include uniforms of Pvt. Leonard Walters of Tipton, Iowa, who served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps as an orderly or ambulance driver, and of Lt. Col. C.C. Bronson of Waterloo, a member of Iowa Gov. William Hardings personal honor guard during the war. (The uniform is rare in that the sleeves bear red stars which soon became impossible to wear when they became the emblem of the Red Army following the birth of the Soviet Union in October 1917.)
Another uniform is that of a U.S. Army Air Service mechanic, Pvt. John H. Rohrssen of Barclay Township in Black Hawk County, who was stationed at Kelly Air Field in San Antonio. He served on border patrol against the forces of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, who raided Columbus, New Mexico, and locations in Texas in 1916.
A complete horse cavalry saddle and stirrup set, various boots and munitions and a Marlin potato digger light machine gun also will be included.
Theres so many complete sets of personal belongings, said Nick Erickson, museum collections registrar at the Grout, who is writing and researching a University of Northern Iowa graduate paper on the war. The peak donation time for World War I veterans was the 1970s and 80s, because thats when most of the First World War veterans were dying.
Now some individuals who kept their parents artifacts are simply looking for a rightful place for those artifacts, as they themselves age.
In addition to marking the 100th anniversary of Americas entry into the war, were trying to place special interest on minority populations and womens involvement in the war, Shackelford said. More than 200,000 African-Americans served in World War I.
Therell be a large section devoted to the training of African-Americans at Fort Des Moines, Camp Dodge, Shackelford said, as well as ... anecdotal stories about womens service, not only just in the armed services but the Red Cross and other service organizations affiliated with the military.
Erin Dawson, the Grouts exhibits curator, added: They served alongside, not quite in yet. But the service of women was important, she said.
Another portion of the exhibit will feature the reactions to the war on the homefront.
Tentative start date for the exhibit is June 27, Dawson said. It will run concurrent with a year-long Korean War exhibit set to open in July. One historic figure connecting the two exhibits, and conflicts, is Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and Grout staff said that will be acknowledged.
MacArthur, best known as commander of U.S. ground forces in the Pacific in World War II, was a commander in the Armys 42nd Rainbow Division during World War I; the division included Iowa units.
Copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
COUNCIL BLUFFS Terry Hilt has a suggestion for Iowa lawmakers who are opposed to raising the states minimum wage.
Tell them to try to live on $7.25 per hour and try to support their families, he said. Its tight at $7.25.
Thats the wage hes earning for 20 hours of work a week at a state program helping seniors get back in the working world. Hes living in a homeless shelter.
Iowa legislators are mulling a bill that would prevent cities and counties from setting a minimum wage that is higher than the statewide wage of $7.25. Others are also talking of boosting that statewide minimum so Iowa can compete with states like Nebraska that pay a higher rate.
Hilt, 61, made $15 per hour as a machinist before getting hurt on the job a couple of years ago.
Even $9 per hour was tough to live on, which he did for a while doing temporary work after losing his machinist job.
It got to the point where I got swamped with bills, the Council Bluffs man said. I couldnt pay my rent, so I got evicted, and I came here. I never thought in a million years I would be in a homeless shelter.
Since Thanksgiving, Hilt has been living at the Joshua House at the New Visions Homeless Shelter in Council Bluffs.
The state program, West Central Community Action, provides him 20 hours a week of work. He earns $260 every two weeks.
That wont go far for him to live on his own and pay rent and utility bills and buy food, he said.
Hilt isnt alone in that situation, either. About 30 percent of the 100-plus men living at the shelter are working at minimum wage, said Brandy Wallar, program director for New Visions Homeless Services.
After subsidies are taken out and child support and taxes, they cant afford fair market rent and housing, she said. Its not enough to survive on.
Four counties in Iowa have adopted a locally higher minimum wage. The actions taken in Polk, Linn, Johnson and Wapello Counties would be overruled if the bill under consideration by the Iowa Legislature becomes law.
House Speaker Linda Upmeyer said earlier this month on the public television show Iowa Press that Republicans were focused on a single, statewide minimum and are not interested in raising the wage.
I dont hear members wanting to change the minimum wage, said Upmeyer, of Clear Lake. I think what we need to keep in mind is that businesses can pay, employers can pay, anyone can pay more than what is minimum wage.
Thats the view of Bob Mundt, president and CEO of the Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce. The minimum wage is a floor on what a company can pay but it is free to pay more.
Companies are going to pay what they need to pay to get good workers, Mundt said, adding that the Iowa Chamber Alliance favors a uniform minimum wage statewide.
Gov. Terry Branstad recently supported a modest increase to the state minimum wage. And at least one local Republican lawmaker is willing to review the state minimum wage.
Rep. Mary Ann Hanusa, R-Council Bluffs, said she believes the state should have a uniform wage, but that it should be higher.
I would not cap it at $7.25, she said. We should at least look and discuss the possibility of raising the minimum wage. A lot of companies are exceeding the minimum wage for their employees.
Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh, also a Republican, said $7.25 is not a livable wage and ends up costing taxpayers with subsidies.
If you pay an adult $7.25, governments will have to subsidize them with programs like food stamps, child care and HAWK-I insurance, programs that will cost taxpayers money, he said.
Democrats in the Legislature are opposed to the bill that would prevent local governments from setting their own minimum wage.
They (Republicans) want to take away local control, said Rep. Charles McConkey, a Democrat who represents Carter Lake and western Council Bluffs. They want to tell these cites and counties they cant raise their minimum wage. They are stripping away the right of home rule. I believe cities and counties should have the right to govern themselves.
McConkey has co-sponsored a Democrat-led bill that would raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour over a three-year period, which would exceed the $9-per-hour minimum wage voters approved for Nebraska. The bill remains in committee.
This report includes material from the Associated Press.
The United States has fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity, President Donald Trump said last week, and he wants to make sure the U.S. is at the top of the pack among the worlds nuclear powers. He has bluntly criticized the treaty that sets the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals at equal levels as one-sided. And hes called for a formal nuclear posture review.
Words like those cause ears to perk up at Offutt Air Force Base, where Gen. John Hyten, who heads U.S. Strategic Command, is the keeper of the keys to the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Hes also the chief adviser to the president and senior military leaders on all matters nuclear.
His top concern, Hyten said in an interview this month with The World-Herald, is not so much the size of the U.S. nuclear force but whether it remains fit to deter its enemies. He believes updating the arsenal much of it built in the 1980s or earlier is more important than enlarging it.
If you look at every element of the nuclear enterprise, it has to be modernized, Hyten said. All our stuff is old. Its still ready, safe, secure, reliable. But its old.
He believes the size of his current force is enough to deter Americas adversaries, and he could even live with cuts as long as Russia cuts its arsenal too.
Nobody wants to decrease our deterrent posture, Hyten said. Not with Russia the way it is right now, not with China building in the Pacific. And not with, goodness, whats going on right now in North Korea and Iran.
He does welcome the nuclear posture review.
Every new administration that comes in, one of the first things they should do is take a look at our nuclear capabilities, because it is the most sobering, daunting, powerful element of our defensive architecture, Hyten said. The way you do that is through a nuclear posture review. I look forward to participating in it myself.
Hyten said no timetable has been set for the review, but he expects it will take 12 to 18 months. StratCom will be heavily involved.
In this building there are some of the best and brightest nuclear thinkers, nuclear operators in the country today, Hyten said. And well provide the expertise we need to do it.
Trump has consistently said he wants to be less predictable than his predecessors, and the broad strokes of his nuclear policy have yet to be colored in. In the early days of his administration he has shown a great deal of deference to his new defense secretary, retired Marine Gen. James Mattis who also commands the respect of many of Trumps critics.
I think Mattis is the wild card here, said Kingston Reif, director of disarmament and threat reduction policy for the non-proliferation advocacy group Arms Control Association. He may be the check on some of those more Strangelovian impulses.
The New START treaty with Russia, signed in 2010, requires both the U.S. and Russia to cut the size of their nuclear arsenals to 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 delivery systems (sea-launched missiles, ICBMs and nuclear bombers) by February 2018 and maintain parity for 10 years. The treaty is up for renewal in 2021, but Trump has complained to Reuters that it is a one-sided deal.
Russias nuclear force also is old, but the country is several years into a program to modernize its aging nuclear force, while the U.S. remains a few years behind.
That worries Michaela Dodge, a senior policy analyst specializing in nuclear weapons policy with the Heritage Foundation, a national think-tank that generally advocates for conservative causes.
There already is a nuclear arms race, she said, but the U.S. isnt in it.
In recent years Republicans and Democrats have more or less worked together on the early stages of funding the expensive new bombers and submarines and gravity bombs Pentagon officials say will be needed to deter future attacks on the U.S. and its allies.
But in an era of strong taxpayer resistance to big spending programs, the reconstruction of the U.S. nuclear force is sure to be one of the biggest. A new report by the Government Accountability Office estimated the cost of rebuilding the arsenal at $400 billion over the next 10 years.
And the work will continue for years, or even decades, beyond that. For example, development work on the new Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine already has started, even though the first subs arent scheduled for delivery until the early 2030s.
Hytens job, as he sees it, is to keep making the case for updating the arsenal hopefully, stiffening the spines of wavering members of Congress who balk at the price tag. Thats the same thing his two predecessors, Adm. Cecil Haney and Gen. C. Robert Kehler, did during their StratCom tours.
The good part right now is that we have broad support in the new administration, broad support in the Congress to modernize all elements of it, Hyten said. But because they are nuclear weapons and because there will be some expense for the taxpayers, I think thats why it gets so much discussion.
As the new chairwoman of the Senates Strategic Forces Subcommittee, Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer will have a lot of influence over future spending on nuclear weapons.
Like Hyten, she is committed to rebuilding the bombers, submarines and missiles that make up Americas nuclear force even if the price is high.
We didnt build new types of nuclear delivery systems for the last 25 years. I think we need to modernize, Fischer said in an interview Saturday.
But, she added, I dont believe our (arsenal) is second-rate.
Fischer interprets Trumps call for expansion as support for the modernization program which, she notes, President Barack Obama also backed.
Im not disputing that its going to be expensive, she said, but we have to make the commitment.
In spite of Trumps criticism of the New START treaty, Fischer believes its a framework that the U.S. and Russia should stick with.
Im not advocating re-looking at these treaties at this point, the Republican said. We are on target right now. We need to meet the obligations, and the Russians need to meet the obligations.
Although Trump has complimented Russian President Vladimir Putin on his toughness and leadership, Fischer said she has no illusions about the threat the Russian leader poses to the U.S., and to his neighbors.
I think Putins a thug, she said. We need to be aware of what (the Russians) are doing. We need to monitor them.
Theres been some talk in recent years among anti-nuclear activists on the left and budget hawks on the right about scrapping the air, land and sea triad that has formed the bedrock of nuclear deterrence since the 1960s.
Like his predecessors, Hyten said all three legs of the triad are essential. ICBMs are cheaper and faster to launch, heavy bombers are highly flexible, and submarine-launched missiles are easiest to hide and most likely to survive a first strike.
Each element of the triad is fundamental to defending ourselves against any threat on the planet today, Hyten said.
The last nuclear posture review took place soon after Obamas famous Prague speech in 2009, during which he called for an eventual end to nuclear weapons in the world. It was undergirded by the assumption that Russia wasnt an adversary, Dodge said, and that a nuclear confrontation with the Russians was unlikely.
If you assume Russia is friendly, you probably have a different target set, Dodge said. Eight years later we kind of have more evidence that its not true.
Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, doesnt know what form Trumps call for an expanded arsenal will take. He believes the president will quickly run into economic reality if he tries to propose more weapons, or new ones.
Trump is going to be more than busy trying to find funding for the modernization program, Kristensen said. He cannot afford to come in with fantastic new weapons systems in the nuclear realm.
Reif hopes Trump will stick with Obamas policy of pledging no new classes of weapons, no new nuclear capabilities, and no new missions for the nuclear force. He believes the current arsenal is more than capable of defending against even a more aggressive Russia.
Theres been no military requirement, no need to develop new types of warheads or delivery systems, Reif said. There arent gaps. The alleged gaps are mirages.
Most Nebraskans respect gun rights. They also respect local control.
Those two Midlands principles are at odds in Legislative Bill 68, which would allow state law to pre-empt local gun ordinances. Unless state lawmakers can find an acceptable compromise, they will have to choose sides.
Short of a compromise, senators should stand with local control and oppose the bill. Gun rights advocates have not shown harm to Nebraska gun owners that outweighs the public safety benefits of the more restrictive local ordinances.
Omahas gun ordinances are the main target of Lincoln State Sen. Mike Hilgers bill. Gun rights advocates call the rules confusing. But consider the message from Omaha police and prosecutors. They consider Omahas gun possession restrictions, including on minors and people convicted of certain misdemeanors, vital tools against gang violence.
Omaha city ordinances prohibit minors and people convicted of certain violent misdemeanors from possessing handguns within the city limits. They also restrict how guns can be carried in vehicles and in public. And they require gun owners without a state concealed-carry permit to register handguns with local police.
An Omaha police officer testified recently about how Omahas ordinances helped officers arrest a 38th Street Blood gang member after he posted photos of himself driving with an openly displayed and loaded AR-15. Thats a person the Omaha gang unit had identified as dangerous, not a Holdrege farmer driving to Omaha for cancer treatments.
Lawmakers, in testimony on LB 68 and similar bills in previous years, have heard scant evidence of otherwise law-abiding gun owners being stopped and ticketed for passing through Omaha with guns improperly carried.
Patricia Harrold of Papillion, a member of the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association who testified in support of LB 68, said she inadvertently violated one of Omahas gun ordinances while teaching a class. She self-reported, worried she might lose her Defense Department security clearance.
But she didnt.
Every time we talk about this issue, we hear about the grandma from out of town who is driving through Omaha with her guns, but shes not getting arrested, Omaha Police Sgt. John Wells told The World-Herald. Were getting 18-, 19-, 20-year olds who have firearms and bad intentions.
Stopping gang members is the real-world benefit of Omahas gun ordinances. Before pressing to remove that valuable tool, state lawmakers must explain which problems LB 68 would solve.
Then they can weigh benefits and costs.
Supporters of pre-empting local gun ordinances believe that requiring handgun registration infringes on their rights. Its clear that a patchwork of local gun ordinances can be confusing to law-abiding Nebraskans, the overwhelming majority of gun owners. Nebraska is one of six states where state gun laws do not pre-empt local codes.
But the point of local governance is to allow municipalities to decide how best to manage local issues. Of particular concern is a broad provision of LB 68 that would allow gun owners and organizations to sue cities that continue to enforce local ordinances. Thats an assault on local control.
Wells told The World-Herald last week that gun rights advocates and law enforcement agencies are trying to find common ground. Thats encouraging. The two sides found consensus in 2009, when the Legislature passed a law to ensure that anyone who holds a state permit to carry a concealed weapon can carry in Nebraskas cities.
Gun owners deserve to have their concerns addressed. Roughly 1 in 5 Nebraskans own a gun, according to a study of gun ownership published in 2015 in the journal Injury Prevention.
But LB 68, as written, is an overreach. A change that drastic should be saved for a time when police and prosecutors overzealously enforce city ordinances and violate the 2nd Amendment.
Until then, lawmakers should prioritize safeguarding the public not just Omahans, but also the out-of-town grandma driving through the city with her guns.
The writer is issues chair for Common Cause Nebraska.
Nebraskas revolving door has been turning at the state level for decades. Elected officials serve the people one day and then step through the revolving door and serve special interests the next.
Both the official and the special interest recognize the economic advantages of teaming up for private gain.
The public elects officials expecting them to serve their constituents and the best interests of the state. Elected officials gain special insights and relationships with their colleagues that make them valuable to lobbying firms and special interests.
Those interests are willing to pay handsomely for that knowledge, and many officials are drawn to the lobbying ranks. For state legislators, it often means giving up a $12,000-a-year elected position for a substantial raise in the private field of lobbying.
There are serious problems with this. It is possible for special-interest groups to make promises of future jobs if elected officials will advance favorable legislation.
The public gives elected officials the opportunity to serve, but the knowledge gained is a public trust. It should not be bought and sold or used against the public interest.
There have been many attempts in the Nebraska Legislature to pass revolving door legislation that would prevent elected officials from immediately becoming paid lobbyists after leaving office.
Most bills have called for a one-year or two-year cooling off period before officials could join the lobbying ranks.
In 1993, during his first year in office, Sen. Curt Bromm of Wahoo made one of the earliest attempts at revolving door legislation. The bill made it to the floor but was quickly defeated. Bromm went on to serve from 1993 to 2004, rising to the position of speaker. In 2005, Bromm registered as a lobbyist and earned $116,000 in his first year. Nebraska Telecom and Nebraska Cable each paid him $5,000 a month to promote the broadband prohibition bill.
While in office, Bromm introduced the bill that would have prohibited municipalities and public power districts from providing broadband services, including high-speed computer service. His efforts failed.
In 2005, Speaker Kermit Brashear, an Omaha lawyer under contract to Cox Cable, introduced the prohibition bill.
With the help of Bromm, who was by then in the lobby, Brashear got the prohibition in place. Brashear went on to join the lobbying ranks a year after leaving the Legislature.
This year, State Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell is making his second attempt to close the revolving door with Legislative Bill 153.
The bill would put a two-year prohibition on elected officials in Nebraskas executive and legislative branches from becoming paid lobbyists.
His bill would not prevent former officials from testifying at hearings or promoting legislation. It simply says they could not accept payment for their services.
The bill has been referred to the Government Committee, which has a history of opposing such legislation.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a nonpartisan think tank, 34 states already have revolving door legislation. Nebraska continues to be one of the 16 states that doesnt.
It is time to close the revolving door. Our elected offices should not be used as a graduate school for lobbyists. The promise of financial gain should not be used to influence legislation.
The public trust should not be for sale, and those who serve should have a higher standard.
Goal should be abstinence
The Omaha Public Schools human growth and development curriculum dedicates several days to the fact that alcohol and drug abuse are detrimental behaviors. This is very commendable. Likewise, emphasizing the danger of catching a sexually transmitted disease through sexual activity is a positive feature of the curriculum.
What is our goal for a student? Isnt it to lead a happy, healthy, productive life? A curriculum that stresses positive values needs to be used.
What are these values that would resonate with a student? To start with, we could emphasize that with every privilege there is a corresponding obligation. In other words, saving the unique treasure of a persons virginity for marriage is the biggest guarantee to both health and happiness. This is without a doubt the best way to preserve each persons innate human dignity, which in turns protects a family, the true foundation of a prosperous nation.
Georgia Ebel, Omaha
Stothert has best infrastructure plan
Thank you for the news article that discusses the two major mayoral candidates views on transportation (Strategies differ for planning, paying for infrastructure projects, Feb. 21, World-Herald).
The key here is to prioritize the appropriate projects in the right way and have a reasonable and reliable funding source attached to them. I believe Mayor Jean Stotherts focus on doing this through the transparent six-year capital improvement program is the best way to proceed.
Judy K. Bolom, Valley
Mellos ideas are popular
After Mayor Jean Stotherts State of the City address (Mayor: Omaha is safer and more prosperous, Feb. 18 World-Herald), it became abundantly clear that she is a big fan of opponent Heath Mellos plans to reinvent City Hall.
Months ago, Mello shared his plans to bring more transparency and innovation to Omaha. Some of his ideas include putting the citys checkbook online and creating programs to encourage partnerships between different startups and City Hall.
Omaha needs a change, and I think that Heath Mello is the right choice for that change. That is why I am voting for Heath Mello for mayor.
Michael Berry, Omaha
Bacon breaks a promise
When he was running for the U.S. House against Brad Ashford, Don Bacon said in an October debate the following: Brad was mentioning about listening to protesters, obviously we have to listen to that. But I think part of that is doing town halls. Getting out and hearing more people. . . . Part of doing town halls and getting out throughout our community is hearing the voices of the people. So I commit that, once elected, that I will be doing town halls in every part of this district . . . north Omaha, South Omaha, the west, Valley, Waterloo, Gretna, Papillion, you name it. Were going to be accessible and available. You shouldnt be just in your office.
Now Bacon has said he wont hold any town hall meetings.
My, how politicians soon forget. I guarantee Rep. Bacon that his constituents will not forget.
Chris Froning, Papillion
Upset about the dialogue? Win an election
Is anything more disingenuous than threatening to disrupt a town hall meeting and then blaming our elected officials for not having them?
It is impossible for an elected official to represent everyone in their district. Some people have beliefs that are not in line with others. So how does one prioritize whom to listen to or which position to support?
I would first listen to those who elected me. A candidate is elected by voters because of who they are and what they believe.
Elections have consequences. One side wins and another loses. One side gets to implement its policies, while the other doesnt. Otherwise, why hold elections?
Maybe those who feel disenfranchised should find a better strategy to get their people elected. Leadership is not borrowing the tactics of the Tea Party and taking them to the extreme.
Dan Brandt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
Robotics will be big in Nebraskas future
When 1,000 Nebraska students gather for two days of robotics competition at the SAC and Aerospace Museum (Contests test students robotic skills, Feb. 18 World-Herald), curious minds need to know: What is robotics and why the enthusiasm by our young people?
Robotics is a branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operations and application of robots. Our future young scientists and engineers are demonstrating their passion in advancing their education and careers in science, technology, engineering, and technology (STEM) by building and competing with robots.
With nearly 100 teams from 26 Nebraska schools participating, hands-on robotic activities result in endless opportunities in their future STEM education and career fields.
Robotics is a major step in immersing our students in real-world science and technology challenges.
With career technical education, Nebraska depends on their future.
John Witzel, Papillion
One way to address panhandlers
Since the City of Omaha is afraid to pass an ordinance prohibiting panhandling for fear of stepping on someones freedom of speech, why dont officials at least pass an ordinance prohibiting loitering on the center dividers of the street at stoplights?
The intersection of 72nd and Dodge Streets is such a sight, with panhandlers on every corner and center island holding signs, asking for money.
I do not appreciate having someone stare me down waiting for a handout while Im waiting for the light to turn.
Something needs to be done about this situation. It really makes Omaha look bad.
Lula West, Omaha
Trumps program will help all Americans
What exactly do the liberals find so bad about President Donald Trumps plans?
Do they not want a safer country, better health care at a better cost, better schools, safer borders, more jobs with better wages, elimination of useless regulations?
All of these things have been out of control for a long time. President Barack Obama promised a lot of things but did the opposite.
Call me crazy but I want all the things Trump promised to come true. I want the country that our forefathers built.
Therese McGinty, Bellevue
Patriotism requires activism
Why does the right feel it has the corner on patriotism? My philosophy leans to the left, but it doesnt mean that I love my country any less.
It is because I love my country that I am concerned about the Trump administration. It is because I love my country that I am doing things now that I never thought Id do in a million years making calls to my legislators, congressman and senators. I recently testified at the Legislature.
I am marching, going to my elected officials offices and attending meetings to discuss what steps we can take to protect our rights, as well as the rights of others.
It is because I love my country that Russias intrusion into our electoral process is alarming, and I feel strongly that it needs to be thoroughly investigated. My hope is that the moderates on each side can find a way to come together.
However, I dont think that this will happen with the current administration. I dont see how the country will come together under this leadership.
Sandra J. Carpenter, Omaha
A British civics lesson
I had to laugh the other day watching protesters in the United Kingdom carrying signs saying Hes not our president.
Theyre right, and Queen Elizabeth II is not our queen.
Stephen Bloodworth, Omaha
Happy hour in the produce aisle
What is happening in the state of Nebraska? A group of people are trying to shut down the liquor stores in Whiteclay, Nebraska, while Hy-Vee is installing bars in its grocery stores (Hy-Vees bar-restaurant combo reflects growing grocery niche, Feb. 23 World-Herald).
I guess this means my spouse can shop for groceries (which I hate to do) while I sit at the bar and have a couple martinis. It will certainly change my attitude toward grocery shopping.
Frank Duncan, Omaha
Fifty is the magic number.
Thats the age doctors recommend for beginning regular colon cancer screenings. The exception is for people with a family history of colon cancer. A physician might recommend that first screening at a much younger age.
The most common and preferred test is colonoscopy, which examines the large intestine for suspicious cell clusters or polyps. In colon cancer, healthy cells in the large intestine become damaged, and errors develop in their DNA. The damaged cells then divide and accumulate to form tumors in the colon.
Nationwide, an estimated 96,000 new cases of colon cancer will be diagnosed this year while colon cancer deaths are estimated to reach 40,000, according to the American Cancer Society.
About 840 Nebraskans will be among those diagnosed, and about 330 will be among colon cancers victims, according to Dr. Alan Thorson, a colon and rectal surgeon with Colon and Rectal Surgery Inc. and Colonoscopy Center Inc.
The good news, he said, is that colon cancer has been on a steady decline nationally and locally over the last decade. He credits colon cancer awareness campaigns for helping to improve the numbers. Screening, he said, is the best prevention because it allows cancer to be caught early, and even stopped before it starts.
Colonoscopy is recommended every 10 years, beginning at age 50 for many people. The examination can detect colorectal polyps that need to be removed.
It doesnt spread very quickly, Thorson said of colon cancer. It can take five to 10 years for a polyp to become cancerous. It gives us a lead time to find a polyp and take it out. Thats the goal.
Most people dread a colonoscopy because of the preparation required the day before, including consumption of a liquid that evacuates the colon and allows doctors to get clear views of it with a tiny camera. But properly completing the prep is how doctors can use colonoscopy to spot small colon cancers while they are treatable, before they spread to other parts of the body.
People should have the tests regularly until they reach age 75 or so, Thorson said.
After that, it depends.
I tell my patients that after 75, they should assess their overall health when they decide whether or not to continue screening, Thorson said. If they are remaining healthy and active with a life expectancy of at least five years, they may choose to continue screening. I dont use a strict age cutoff.
When to get a colonoscopy
If someone in your family a parent or sibling, for example has been diagnosed with colon cancer, you should have your first colonoscopy 10 years before the age they were when their cancer was detected.
If there is no history of colon cancer in your family, get your first colonoscopy at 50. If no polyps are found, repeat every 10 years.
For an African-American with no family history of colon cancer, that first screening should take place at age 45.
Source: Guidelines of the American College of Gastroenterology
Capturing the state on canvas, artist creates stirring homage with painting series
Artist and Nebraska native Todd A. Williams says he became a painter so he could capture the beauty he saw around him as a child.
To help celebrate Nebraskas 150th anniversary, hes completed a series of paintings that depicts every county and is showcased in Painting the Legacy of Nebraska, an exhibition heralding nostalgia and history. Endorsed by the Nebraska Sesquicentennial Commission and managed in part by the Friends of the Nebraska Sesquicentennial, Painting the Legacy of Nebraska is traveling to different venues in the state throughout the year, beginning March 1 at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln.
Williams has been giving the public a sneak peek of the exhibition 12 images at a time through a collectors calendar series. We caught up with him to discuss the project.
Q: How did the project begin, and how has it evolved?
A: The project started in 2011. However, I was first inspired to do this collection by prior trips to Europe. I did a series of paintings: Vienna, Prague and throughout Italy. I started painting Legacy of Nebraska in my hometown of Central City in Merrick County, and in the surrounding counties. In 2012, I met with Michael Smith at the State Historical Society to explore more of the history and historical landmarks throughout the state. He told me about the sesquicentennial coming up in 2017 and encouraged me to contact the Nebraska 150 committee because he thought it would be a perfect fit for my project.
Q: How do you choose your subjects?
A: As a child growing up in Nebraska, I was always inspired by the beautiful sunsets, which first led me to become an artist. In choosing the different scenes for each county, I had help from a lot of state and county historical societies, local historians and sponsors.
Q: Which Nebraska county was your favorite?
A: Two of my favorites are Reaping The Harvest, from Keith County, and Sioux Encampment, near Chimney Rock in Morrill County. For Reaping The Harvest, I loved the story the painting tells of the work ethic of the Nebraska people. The painting depicts a storm approaching at dusk, yet the workers continue to complete the task at hand they dont give up. For Sioux Encampment, Ive always loved the Native American history in Nebraska and the historical significance of Chimney Rock during the migration to the west.
Q: Along the same lines, which was the most challenging?
A: Each county presented its own challenge. As an artist creating a painting, I deal with a lot of factors. I tried to envision the collection of work as a whole exhibition, with a variety of subjects.
Q: Where do you paint each one?
A: Some were done on location, while others were done in the studio from a photo reference.
Q: How long does each work take?
A: I liken it to a surgeon. It takes a lot of experience to know what works and what doesnt. The time varies with each subject and the research done and can vary from several hours to several weeks or months.
Q: Did you research each county first?
A: Yes. I traveled to all 93 counties to research each and gain knowledge from locals. Mostly, I visited with county seat newspaper workers and volunteers from the county historical societies.
Q: How did you make each painting a part of Legacy of Nebraska?
A: I want each painting to capture the essence and spirit of the people or landscape of our great state. It was important to me to show others the great beauty and history that are unique.
See the collection and the exhibition schedule, toddwilliamsfineart.com.
Ambedkar University postpones event on Kashmir fearing DU like violence
India
pti-PTI
New Delhi, Feb 26: Fearing DU like violence on its campus, the Ambedkar University in the national capital has postponed an event marking the 26th anniversary of the alleged Kunan Poshpora mass rape in Kashmir.
On February 23, Ambedkar University and an NGO Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) were to organise an event to observe the Kashmiri Women's Day of Resistance on the 26th anniversary of the alleged mass sexual violence unleashed by the army against the villagers of Kunan and Poshpora in Kashmir.
Less than 24 hours before the event, the speakers were sent an email informing them that the seminar has been postponed citing the alleged threats to "freedom of speech". "The AUD administration want some changes in the shape of the event from the faculty and we will do that and reschedule a date and place sometime in March as you can see the times are bad for the university as a place for free speech and free discussions and critical engagements in our society," the university said in an email to the speakers of the seminar. Gowhar Fazili, a scholar who was supposed to present a paper entitled "Familial Grief, Resistance and the Political Imaginary in Kashmir", confirmed receiving the email.
"The institutions, academicians and activists buckle before the Right-wing threats with such ease," he told PTI. Other speakers of the seminar were Bhavneet Kaur from Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, who was slated to speak on "The politics of emotion: women's narratives of memory, resistance and the Everyday in Kashmir", Vanessa Chishti, OP Jindal University-"the woman's question in Kashmir", Iffat Fatima, director of documentary 'Khoon Div Baarav' and Essar Batool, co-author of Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora. Delhi University's Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP workers.
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.
PTI
Anand Mahindra's tweet about UPI at country's 'last tea shop' is every Indian's emotion
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Delhi: Six held in connection with Faridabad gangrape
India
ians-IANS
By Ians English
New Delhi, Feb 26: Delhi Police arrested six youths in connection with gang raped of a third year student of Delhi University in Faridabad.
Police said on Saturday that the incident came to light on February 18 after the victim, a student of PGDAV collage Delhi's Nehru Nagar, filed a complaint against six of her friends, who allegedly gangraped her in Faridabad.
The victim in her complaint to police has stated that on February 3, two of her friends, Gaurav and Sunny, took her to Faridabad on a bike for partying after a college function. The bike belonged to another friend, Sachin.
"They took her to another friend Rohtash's house where Gaurav, Sunny, Sachin and Rohtash gangraped her. They also threatened her with dire consequences if she approaches police," Deputy Commissioner of Police Romil Banniya told IANS.
Banniya said, another friend Vinod, who dropped her to Delhi had also raped her in his car after parking it in an isolated place .
"Since the incident started in Delhi, a case of rape was registered against all the accused youths. The police on Saturday arrested six students, including one Bunty, who was a co-conspirator" The DCP said.
IANS
Digvijaya says fake diary entries to malign Congress
India
pti-PTI
Bengaluru, Feb 26: Congress today dismissed as "fake" the reported diary entries of payoffs to party leaders and alleged that the matter was raised to "malign" it.
Challenging the NDA government at the Centre to take action if they have any evidence, Congress termed the issue as a "conspiracy" against it, "at the behest of the Prime Minister's office." "If it is true, we challenge the Centre to take action. For 11 months you just sat on it...my information is that the investigation in this case was finished and the case closed. It has been reopened on the pressure by the Prime Minister's office," Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh said.
Speaking to reporters after the state Congress' co-ordination committee meeting here, he charged, "If you (BJP) have facts, take action. But the fact is that it is fake diary...the fact is that it is being planted by the income tax authorities." A political slug fest has erupted in Karnataka over the reported diary entries by a political aide of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, indicating alleged payments to Congress central leaders by state ministers, with BJP demanding dissolution of the state Assembly and fresh polls.
Excerpts from the diary allegedly of Siddaramaiah's Parliamentary Secretary K Govindaraju, made public by the media, showed a few acronyms similar to names of some Congress leaders and the amount in crores of rupees against them, which was purportedly paid or received. The Income Tax department had in March 2016 conducted searches at the residence of Govindaraju, a Member of the Legislative Council, and seized several documents.
Govindaraju, on his part, had rubbished the charges of payments to Congress central leaders, and said he had nothing to do with the diary and the handwriting being shown by the media was not his. Siddaramaiah, who had maintained silence since the excerpts from the diary were made public, today called it a "political conspiracy" by not only the state unit of BJP, but also the national BJP and the Union government.
"They want to malign our Congress party and want to damage the image of our government, but they cannot succeed," he said. Asked will this controversy hamper the party's prospects in the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2018, Siddaramaiah said, "No, we will come back again in the coming Assembly elections. There is no doubt on that... there is no doubt in my mind. I am categorically making it very very clear that we will come back 100 per cent."
In a counter attack, Congress Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao had yesterday released excerpts of a dairy allegedly belonging to BJP MLC Lahar Singh Siyora that showed payments made between state and central leaders of the saffron party. Rejecting these charges, Siroya had said that he had never maintained any diary and his signature in the alleged documents was forged as it misspelt his name as Lehar Singh instead of Lahar Singh.
PTI
32,000 girls converted to Islam and sold as ISIS slaves: This is The Kerala Story
Indian doctor recalls his Islamic State ordeal
India
oi-Vicky
It was an ordeal he will never forget. Dr Ramamurthy Kosanam, who was freed from IS captivity, said the Islamic State is looking to take over India. Kosanam after being freed from IS captivity reached India on Saturday.
Thankful to Prime Minister,NSA and other officials for the help. I will never forget: Dr.K Ramamurthy,Indian doctor freed from ISIS in Libya pic.twitter.com/tPQAvcjbxo ANI (@ANI_news) February 26, 2017
"I was subject to mental torture and forced to watch videos", he said. The Islamic State operatives were impressed with India. They had a lot of interest in India, he added.
"One day the IS operatives came to my room and told me to go with them. There was another Indian and they lodged us in a jail at Sirte in Syria," Kosanam said.
ISIS did not do anything to me physically, but abused me verbally, they were educated youth well aware about India: Dr. K Ramamurthy ANI (@ANI_news) February 26, 2017
"We were taught about Islam and how to pray five times a day. This went on for two months, he also said. I was not harmed by them because they want qualified persons. They took me to an operation theatre but did not force me to perform any surgery", the doctor also said.
During Ramadan '16, ISIS ppl approached me as they needed doctors at their hospitals;I refused as I was 61 at that time: Dr Ramamurthy pic.twitter.com/geHGnkHOox ANI (@ANI_news) February 26, 2017
OneIndia News
32,000 girls converted to Islam and sold as ISIS slaves: This is The Kerala Story
Islamic state operative from Kerala killed in drone strike
India
oi-Vicky
An Islamic State operative from Kerala was reportedly killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan.
Hafeezudeen, who was missing from Padanna, Kasaragod since June 2016, was reportedly killed in a drone attack on Friday in Afghanistan. This message was conveyed by his friend Ashfaq to a relative of the deceased in a telegram message. Ashfaq too had accompanied him to Afghanistan to be part of the Jihadi forces.
Meanwhile, two alleged Islamic State operatives have been held in Gujarat. Following a detailed investigation backed with tracking by the Intelligence Bureau, the police managed to apprehend the two persons from Rajkot and Bhavnagar.
The police are interrogating the two accused to find out about their modus operandi. Prima facie it appeared that the duo had on the basis of their handlers were planning strikes as well as a recruitment drive in Gujarat.
OneIndia News
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Story first published: Sunday, February 26, 2017, 13:13 [IST]
J-K: BSF trooper on LoC commits suicide
India
ians-IANS
By Ians English
Jammu, Feb 26: A Border Security Force trooper on Sunday committed suicide at an outpost on the Line of Control in Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
Police officials identified him as constable Parmod Kumar, who tried to kill himself at the Khara One post, was shifted to a hospital where he was declared dead.
Last year in October, a BSF jawan allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle in Jaisalmer district. The jawan was posted on a border outpost at the Indo-Pak border.
According to reports, a total of 262 BSF personnel had committed suicide between 2004 and 2012.
IANS
Kansas killing: Naidu demands 'strongest action' from US
India
pti-PTI
Hyderabad, Feb 26: Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday condemned the killing of an Indian engineer in Kansas, saying the US government should respond to such incidents and take the 'strongest action'.
"USA should respond to this incident. American President and people of America, they should come out openly to condemn such actions...and then take strongest action. Also send a message that it is not acceptable," Naidu told reporters in Hyderabad.
"These kind of incidents involving racial discrimination are shameful. They will dent the image of USA. So the US President, administration and civil societies should unequivocally respond and condemn such incidents. I as a central minister condemn such incidents," he said.
According to reports, the shooter who has been arrested, yelled 'get out of my country' before opening fire on 32-year-old Srinivasa Kuchibhotla and his Indian colleague Alok Madasani on Wednesday night.
Srinivas was killed while his friend was injured. A third person, an American man identified as Ian Grillot, 24, who tried to intervene also got injured in the firing at the Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe in Kansas City in the US state of Missouri.
Naidu said he spoke regarding the incident to his cabinet colleague and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who gave appropriate directions to the Indian high commission.
"It is shocking that Kuchibhotla was shot dead in an alleged (case of) racial discrimination. It caused mental agony to all Indians. I express my sympathies to the bereaved family. The moment I came to know about the incident I spoke to Sushma Swaraj. She accordingly gave instructions to the Indian High Commission in USA," he said.
PTI
Kerala guv writes to CM Vijayan to take action against finance minister
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Kerala: Fire at Padmanabhaswamy temple leaves two injured
India
oi-Vikas
By Vikas
A major fire broke out at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on Sunday morning, said reports. Two persons are said to have been injured in the incident.
As many as 16 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flames.
The fire, which broke out around 3.30 - 4.00 am, has now been brought under control.
According to reports, a godown, located around 25 meters from northern entrance of the temple, was totally gutted by flames.
Temple authorities have ordered a probe into the matter. It is suspected that a waste burned near the temple on Saturday evening might have triggered the fire.
OneIndia News
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Story first published: Sunday, February 26, 2017, 9:28 [IST]
Municipality alone knows why bridge work handed to firm repairing watches, says former dy CM
KVIC to hold meeting at Sabarmati Ashram
India
pti-PTI
Ahmedabad, Feb 26: For the first time in over 61 years of its existence, Khadi and Village Industries Commission will hold a monthly meeting at the historic Sabarmati Ashram here tomorrow.
During its 642nd meeting at the Ashram tomorrow, KVIC management is expected take some important decisions pertaining to welfare of millions of artisans, including increase in their wages, said KVIC Chairman V K Saxena.
"Though KVIC was formed over 61 years back, we never held a single meeting at Sabarmati Ashram, which is considered as the progenitor of Khadi. This is for the first time when KVIC will hold such a meeting at the Ashram," said Saxena.
"In this 642nd meet, to be held tomorrow, we will take several key decisions related to the welfare of artisans," he added. The Sabarmati Ashram, also known as Gandhi Ashram, was home to Mahatma Gandhi from 1917 until 1930.
"Sabarmati Ashram was the epicentre of Khadi movement in India. This meeting is a way of expressing our gratitude to Bapu's devotion to the development of Khadi," added Saxena.
PTI
Malayalam actress who was kidnapped under pressure
India
ians-IANS
By Ians English
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 26: The family members of the Malayalam actress who was kidnapped are under tremendous pressure from some quarters, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Kerala said on Sunday.
Talking to reporters here, former Kerala unit President of the BJP President V. Muraleedharan said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan knows precisely the "hands" behind the incident.
Muraleedharan said he met the actress and her family.
He said if one were to relate statements of Vijayan, who said it was the work of prime accused Pulsar Sunil and five others, there is some mystery behind it.
"Vijayan was in a hurry to announce this was the work of the prime accused only. The CPI-M backed Kairali TV channel aired a news item portraying the victim in poor light and you should remember that the chief of the channel, John Britas, is also the media advisor to Vijayan," Muraleedharan said.
"The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists is now trying to play things down," the BJP leader said.
"It was a leading film personality (Bhagyalekshmi) yesterday (Saturday) who said the actress' mother is unhappy with the way the case is progressing but soon after that, her brother denied it," Muraleedharan said.
"Yesterday (Saturday), the actress was supposed to meet the media but she was asked by police not to speak to the media. We demand that either a central agency or a court-monitored probe should take place for the truth to prevail," he added.
With Vijayan announcing that Pulsar Sunil was behind the actress's abduction, the police would not be able to go forward, he said.
On Saturday, the BJP and Congress strongly condemned Vijayan's controversial statement, which forced the Chief Minister to retract it.
"I made the statement based on a newspaper report I read while taking part in a meeting. The report mentioned the prime accused is behind the episode and there was no conspiracy. I said the media should find out the conspiracy and police are currently doing their job," Vijayan told reporters here on Sunday.
Kerala Congress President V.M. Sudheeran said Vijayan is playing hide-and-seek and "this can be made out from his weak defence after his Saturday's statement turned out to be controversial".
Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said while Vijayan says there is no conspiracy, the police state that there is.
"The need of the hour is a court-monitored probe," he said.
The police have arrested all the six persons associated with the actress' abduction on February 17, when she was taken around Kochi in a vehicle for two hours and later let off.
IANS
NPP to go solo in Meghalaya polls: CM Conrad Sangma
BJP to decide on continuing support to Meghalaya's MDA govt
Meghalaya: 16 killed in after truck rams into a barricade
India
ians-IANS
By Ians English
Shillong, Feb 26: At least 16 people were killed on Sunday when a truck they were travelling in rammed into the concrete barricade of a road in Meghalaya's West Khasi Hills district, police said.
More than 50 people were critically injured in the accident in Jdohkroh village, 11 km from Nongstoin, the district headquarters of West Khasi Hills.
Meghalaya: 16 killed & over 50 injured as a truck taking 70 people to a nearby church, overturned in West Khasi Hills district, this morning pic.twitter.com/DSRGQVc9Vv ANI (@ANI_news) February 26, 2017
"Twelve people died on the spot and four succumbed to their injuries in hospital," Sylvester Nongtnger, the police chief of West Khasi Hills, told IANS. The dead included nine were women and a 13-year-old girl.
Nongtnger said all the victims were proceedings towards Nonglang village to attend the synod of Presbyterian Church.
The injured, including the driver and helper of the truck, have been rushed to nearby hospitals and to the Shillong Civil Hospital, the police said.
Quoting witnesses, the police officer said the accident occurred due to speeding.
"Nonetheless, we are investigating the cause of the accident," the police said.
IANS
Siddaramaiah says Karnataka to go ahead with Mekedatu dam
India
pti-PTI
Bengaluru, Feb 26: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today termed Tamil Nadu's objection to the proposed Mekedatu dam project across Cauvery river as politically motivated, and said the state government will go ahead with the project.
Stating that there is no technical or legal issue concerning the project, he assured that Tamil Nadu would not face any problem as it would get its stipulated share of 192 tmc ft of water in the years with normal rainfall. "Technically or legally there is no problem at all, it is being done in our territory", Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
Pointing out that as per the Cauvery tribunal award, 192 thousand million cubic feet of water has be released to Tamil Nadu in a normal year, he said "...what we are doing is build a balancing reservoir for power generation and drinking water needs. We will continue to give their share of water in normal years."
"They (Tamil Nadu) are using it politically, since the beginning they have been doing it. Legally, technically there is no problem. There will be no problem for them," he said. Tamil Nadu government has protested against Karnataka's decision of constructing a reservoir at Mekedatu by calling it "unilateral action", and has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in the matter.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami had yesterday written a letter to Modi in this regard. Asked whether he is hopeful of convincing Tamil Nadu on the project, Siddaramaiah said "since they are politicising it, they are not ready to accept the truth. They are looking at it politically."
Asked about the state government's next move, he said "we will go ahead with the project." Karnataka cabinet had recently taken a decision to implement the Rs 5,912 crore Mekedatu Multipurpose (drinking and power) Project across the river Cauvery, which involves building a balancing reservoir with a capacity of about 66 tmcft, near Kanakapura in Ramanagaram district.
PTI
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar slams Modi, says PM should focus more on weakening economy
\"We have made this Gujarat\": PM Modi's new election slogan
Teach 125 others how to use BHIM app: Narendra Modi
India
ians-IANS
By Ians English
New Delhi, Feb 26: Declaring digital payments will help fight corruption and proliferation of black money, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said each citizen should teach 125 persons how to use the BHIM digital payment app.
"Remembering Babasaheb Ambedkar, you teach at least 125 persons about downloading the BHIM app," Modi said in his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' radio broadcast.
To encourage digital payments after the November demonetisation of high-value currency notes, the government has recently launched the Bharat Interface for Money mobile app.
IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said earlier this month that the BHIM app had already crossed 140 lakh registrations.
"Lucky Grahak Yojana will complete 100 days on April 14, the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar," the Prime Minister said.
Following the ban on Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes, the government launched the Lucky Grahak Yojna for consumers and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana for merchants to incentivise them and promote digital payments. The schemes will remain open until April 14.
There are 15,000 daily winners qualifying for total prize money of Rs 1.5 crore, as per the schemes. In addition to this, there are over 14,000 weekly winners qualifying for total prize money of over Rs 8.3 crore every week.
Customers and merchants who use RuPay Card, BHIM/UPI, USSD based *99# service and Aadhaar Enabled Payment Service are eligible for wining daily and weekly lucky draw prizes.
The government has given away over Rs 153.5 crore reward money to nearly 10 lakh citizens under these schemes, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said earlier this week.
"It is a delight to learn that till now, under the Digi-Dhan Yojana, 10 lakh people have been rewarded, over 50,000 traders have won prizes and an amount of almost over a 150 crore rupees has been earned as prize money by people who have promoted and carried forward this great campaign," Modi said.
IANS
How this de-radicalisation programme by ATS is changing those who came under ISIS influence
Two home-grown suspected terrorists arrested by Gujarat ATS
India
ians-IANS
By Ians English
Ahmedabad, Feb 26: The Anti-Terrorists Squad of Gujarat Police on Sunday said it had arrested two brothers who, it claimed, were home-grown terrorists believed to be working for Pakistan's ISI.
Police said as per the initial information, accused Waseem Ramodiya and Naeem Ramodiya were preparing for a terror strike at a temple atop a hill in Chotila in Surendranagar district, 55 km from Rajkot.
The ATS said 98 gm gunpowder, two face masks, battery used for making bombs and about a dozen wicks made of jute thread were seized from the accused, apart from eight issues of Islamic State magazine "Dabik", believed to be the organisation's mouthpiece.
Stored on two seized laptops and mobile phones were techniques to make explosive devices and guerrilla warfare -- as well as lone-wolf attack -- tactics, the ATS said adding that other "objectionable literature" was found stored on the computers.
ATS Deputy Superintendent of Police K.K. Patel said: "Acting on specific information, the Gujarat ATS team picked up the two suspected terrorists with IS links."
He said the two brothers were under ATS surveillance for the last one-and-half years after it was found that they were allegedly in touch with the IS through Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Patel said police decided on Saturday night to arrest the two after they came to know that they planned to strike "in a day or two" at the Chotila temple where thousands of devotees visit daily.
The famous Somnath and Dwarkadhish temples in the Saurashtra region were also on their radar and the accused had already done a recce of the two famous Hindu pilgrimage spots.
Two teams of ATS arrested Waseem from near Rajkot while Naeem was arrested in Bhavnagar past midnight. The police said Waseem's wife too was involved in the IS network.
A police official said Waseem had left studies for Masters in Computer Applications course to "do something big for Islam".
He said the two brothers came in contact with the IS in 2015, and held several meetings through Skype with an IS handler who was heard advising Waseem in one of the audio recordings to collect at least 400 gm gunpowder for a "major strike". Waseem allegedly promised to carry out the instruction "as early as possible".
The ATS said its operation began after a live bomb was detected in Khodiyarpara locality in Rajkot on February 14. A probe into the crime led police to nearby Morbi town. Information given by the owner of a shop from where a battery was obtained for the explosive device further led to the Ramodiya brothers.
IANS
Column - UP polls: Now it is the turn of the east
India
oi-Ratan Mani Lal
The plains of eastern Uttar Pradesh have always been highly politicised and rebellious. Egos of the people are on the short fuse all the time and insults are not taken lightly. It is a region dotted by ancient temples and vast fields, and even if not much development or industrial activity is visible, the people have an opinion about everything.
There was a time when the Ram temple issue emanating from the events of 1989-1992 had triggered off political and social upheaval across the country. Although the temple is not close to being built in view of the matter being subjudice, the issue is regularly raked up at times it is suitable to politicians. But this year, the run-up to the fifth phase of polling due on February 27 in 52 constituencies including Ayodhya, has not seen a serious effort to make the temple into an election issue.
Could it be because of the studied avoidance of the issue by Bharatiya Janata Party's top campaigner Prime Minister Narendra Modi? Or the general disinterest of the people in the region could be responsible for parties preferring not to talk about it?
The constituencies in 11 districts that will see polling on February 27 include Amethi, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Bahraich and Basti. Except for certain pockets, none of the districts have a predominant minority population. The region has seen localised communal clashes as well, especially in the town of Tanda a few years ago. Some districts like Bahraich, Balrampur, Basti share the international border with Nepal, and have seen a mushrooming of religious structures in the past years.
The year marks a quarter century of the demolition of the disputed shrine in Ayodhya, and the memories of that fateful day in December 1992 are still fresh in the minds of old timers. Ayodhya has remained stuck in a time warp especially in view of the security restrictions in the temple town, while the adjoining Faizabad town has seen some new construction and development of roads. The Cantonment in Faizabad is an old one, having been established by the British Government in 1856 AD. The British Infantry was located in this Cantonment till World War II even though no major battle had been fought here.
The Ram temple is more an item of faith than a political issue for most people in Ayodhya, and they agree that the issue is now being used for politics by all parties. Since the BJP has also claimed that a solution to the issue would depend on the court verdict in the case, it is no longer an election issue. Even Modi has refrained from attaching any hype to the temple issue in his rallies so far.
The region, often termed neutral territory in UP, has had no particular affinity for any political party and in the past few elections the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party have had their sway over most constituencies. The Bahujan Samaj Party also has had its stronghold in places like Tanda and Akbarpur, but lost them to the SP in 2012. While the challenge for the SP is to retain their seats, the BSP and the BJP appear determined to make things difficult for the SP.
The alliance between the SP and Congress is seriously fractured in Amethi. In this high-profile contest, Congress leader and erstwhile Amethi royal Sanjay Singh's wife Amita Singh is pitted as Congress candidate against the Samajwadi Party's Gayatri Prajapati and Sanjay Singh's previous wife Garima Singh who has been fielded by the BJP. While for Sanjay Singh it is a matter of prestige, local sentiment seems to run in favour of his ex-wife Garima who is still regarded as maharani by the people of Amethi.
Another interesting place in this round is Bahraich. It is remarkable that Prime Ministers make it a point to come here for campaigning. Be it Manmohan Singh or Narendra Modi, they have always included Bahraich in their campaign itinerary. This border town, close to the jungles of the Tarai and once a hotbed of smuggling and pro-Khalistan extremism, is a bustling, crowded place dotted with grain markets and cold storages. SP's Waqar Ahmed Shah has been winning this seat since 1993 but since he has been unwell for several years, this time the BJP and the BSP are looking for an opportunity to dislodge the SP.
The word of mouth reports of polling trends in the previous four rounds will influence the voters in this area to some extent. Till then, the campaign speech by Modi in Basti and Bahraich and by Akhilesh Yadav in Bahraich have given the people much food for thought.
OneIndia News
Venkaiah Naidu wants US to openly condemn killing of Indian
India
ians-IANS
By Ians English
Hyderabad, Feb 26: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday asked US President and people to come out openly and condemn the killing of Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla, saying such racist attacks are not good for the US and the world.
Terming the Kansas shooting in which Srinivas was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani was injured, as shameful, he said this was blot on US which claims to be the oldest democracy.
"American President and people should come out openly and condemn such actions and then take strongest action and send a message that this is not acceptable," Naidu said.
Stating that seven incidents of this nature occured, the central minister said that they are sending wrong message which was not good for US, its people and the world.
Naidu said that when small incidents occur in India, it was blown out of proportion and the country which claims to be the oldest democracy tell the world that this is what happening in India.
The Minister said the US should answer the questions raised by Srinivas' wife so eloquently even in this hour of grief.
Naidu said the incident had caused anguished to Indians and brought sorrow to Telugus.
He said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj acted swiftly and directed the Indian embassy to make arrangements for bringing home the slain techie's body.
Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white man who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, 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.
Kuchibhotla of Hyderabad and his colleague Madasani from Warangal district in Telangana were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an MNC.
IANS
5 teens accused of terrorism appear before London court
International
ians-IANS
By Ians English
London, Feb 26: Five teenagers appeared before a court here accused of planning terror activities related to the Syrian conflict, according to judicial sources. The youths were questioned by judges at the Westminster Magistrates' Court in the British capital, which hears all terrorism-related cases, Efe news reported.
Four of the accused, with ages ranging between 16 and 19 years, have been charged with planning a trip to Syria in order to join the ranks of the Islamic State terror organisation.
The fifth suspect, aged 15, was charged with possessing information on manufacturing homemade explosives.
Only one of the suspects' identities has been revealed: that of 19-year-old Ahmed el-Tigani Alsyed.
Four of the suspects are set to appear before London's "Old Bailey" Central Criminal Court of England and Wales on March 17, while the 15-year-old is due to reappear before the Westminster court on May 2.
--IANS
vgu/
French President hits back at Trump over Paris remarks
International
ians-IANS
By Ians English
Paris, Feb 26: In response to unfavourable comments over Paris, French President Francois Hollande warned his American counterpart Donald Trump over showing 'defiance towards an allied country', media reports said.
"There is terrorism and we must fight it together. I think that it is never good to show the smallest defiance toward an allied country. I wouldn't do it with the US and I'm urging the US president not to do it with France," Xinhua news agency quoted Hollande as saying on the sidelines of the Paris agriculture fair.
"I won't make comparisons but here, people don't have access to guns. Here, you don't have people with guns opening fire on the crowd simply for the satisfaction of causing drama and tragedy," he added.
Hollande called on Trump to show more solidarity after he told the story of a friend named 'Jim' who thought that 'Paris is no longer Paris' after a series of attacks which rocked the French capital.
"I don't go there anymore. Paris is no longer Paris," Trump quoted as saying Jim 'a very, very substantial guy', who was once a regular visitor to the French capital.
At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor in Maryland on Friday, Trump made the comments to endorse his claim that "national security begins with border security" and defend his travel ban.
IANS
Indian envoy meets Trump in Oval Office
International
pti-PTI
Lalit K Jha Washington, Feb 26: Indian ambassador to the US, Navtej Sarna, has met US President Donald Trump at the Oval Office in White House.
This was the first meeting of the top Indian diplomat with Trump after the latter sworn in as the US President on January 20.
A 1980 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Sarna arrived in the US a few days before the November 8 presidential elections last year. Post-elections, Sarna along with more than a few foreign diplomats could not meet the then US President Barack Obama during the transition.
Before leaving his office, Obama had issued an executive order formally credentialing all the new ambassadors including Sarna so as to facilitate them to attend the swearing in ceremony of the new president.
On Saturday, Trump met all the new foreign ambassadors and had individual photos with each one of them. Spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs from 2002 to 2008, Sarna, has previously been India's Ambassador to Israel and the Indian high commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Since arriving in the US, Sarna has met scores of top American lawmakers, has engaged the community across the country and interacted with the think-tanks.
On Saturday, he hosted a reception for National Governors Association that was attended by Governors from 25 States.
PTI
OneIndia cares: American who tried to save Indians in Kansas Bar needs funds for medical bills
International
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
"Heal the world make it a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race."
Ian Grillot is recovering in hospital after after being shot at while saving two Indians at a bar in Kansas on Thursday. As shots rang, Grillot without caring for his own life lunged at the shooter. While trying to save the lives of two Indians, he took a bullet.
[Murdered Indian engineer's wife breaks silence, seeks answers from the US]
The killing of Srinivasa Kuchibhotla a Hyderabad based engineer has sent shock waves across the world. It was clearly a racial attack as the shooter yelled, "Get our of my country," before he shot at the Indian. Another Indian, Ashok was injured in the attack as well.
In these days of hatred, it is overwhelming to see the likes of Ian. He stood up for two people he did not even know too well. In this day and age when people shun their own, Ian comes as a welcome surprise. For those thousands of Indians in the US, Ian is a hero.
[Indian shot dead in Kansas, shooter yelled 'get out of my country']
For Ian, it was just another evening who walked into his favourite bar to unwind. Adam Purinton, the killer, however changed everything when he walked up to the two Indians and shot at them. Ian was not even in the line of fire, but he did all he could to diffuse the tension as he feared many more would have been shot. In the bargain, he took the bullet.
[Hyd engineer shot in Kansas was 'top of his class kind of guy', say friends]
Today as Ian recovers in hospital, a post that speaks about his lengthy road to recovery. How he will afford the treatment and walk on his feet again is a worry that is on his mind. A gofundme.com account has been set up for him.
On the page, it says," February 22, Wednesday night -- Ian found himself in the wrong place trying to be a helping hand. Ian stood up for two people being mistreated by a man who was in the wrong. Said man left and later returned to Austins Bar and Grill to open fire. Ian thought all rounds were done and tried to go after the man. This resulted in Ian being shot. He's going to have a lengthy recovery road and is already worried about how he will afford it which is the last thing he needs. Please help him to not worry about these bills. Thank you, His Sisters."
Let us do our bit for Ian. He stood up for all of us so that racism does not win. We at OneIndia.com laud the efforts of Ian and pray for his speedy recovery.
You can contribute to Ian here: Ian's Road to Recovery
Pakistan airline flew with 7 passengers standing during flight to Saudi
International
pti-PTI
Islamabad, Feb 26: The PIA allowed seven passengers to travel standing in the aisles all the way to Saudi Arabia last month, prompting a probe into the serious breach of security regulations by Pakistan's loss-making national carrier, according to media reports.
As many as seven passengers aboard the Boeing 777 Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-743 (Karachi-Madina) on January 20 were forced to stand throughout the over three-hour flight after the airline boarded excess passengers, Dawn newspaper reported.
The PIA management appears to have taken this lightly as no action has been taken against those responsible for the bizarre incident, the paper said. PIA spokesperson Danyal Gilani said the matter was being investigated.
Gilani told the BBC that an internal investigation had begun "and appropriate action will be taken once responsibility is fixed". If someone was found responsible for any wrongdoing, the PIA would take stern action against them under the company rules, he said. The Boeing 777 aircraft has a seating capacity of 409, including jump seats for staff, while flight PK-743 carried 416 passengers from Karachi to Madina.
The report said allowing seven passengers to travel by standing all the way to the destination constituted a serious air safety breach as in the case of an emergency, passengers without seats would not have access to oxygen and could also cause congestion in case of an emergency evacuation.
The boarding passes issued to the extra passengers were hand-written and not computer-generated, sources said. The computer-generated list, provided to the aircraft crew by the ground traffic staff, did not mention the excess passengers, the report said.
PTI
What does the US actually want in Syria?
Syrian Army- Key town from IS in Aleppo taken
International
ians-IANS
By Ians English
Damascus, Feb 26: The Syrian Army captured a key town in the northern countryside of Aleppo province on Sunday, following battles with the Islamic State.
Capturing the town of Tadef enables the Syrian army to secure transportation routes in eastern Aleppo, and constitute a base for launching attacks and undermining the presence of the IS militants in that part of the province, the Syrian army said in a statement, according to state news agency SANA.
The town is also located southeast of city al-Bab, which was recently captured by Turkish forces and allied rebel fighters.
The Syrian Army unleashed a wide-scale offensive in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, after succeeding to wrest control over the city of Aleppo last December.
The offensive enabled the military forces to assume control of territory 600 km east of Aleppo.
Also, the army has laid a siege along the southern rim of al-Bab city, to secure the eastern part of Aleppo city from IS attacks, or the possible advance of the Turkish-backed rebels.
Observers believe that there was a Russian-Turkish understanding for splitting the battles in al-Bab.
For the Turks, capturing al-Bab cuts the way in the face of the growing Kurdish influence in northern Syria, a red line drawn by Turkey.
For the Syrian army, laying a siege to al-Bab from its southern edge prevents the IS fighters to withdraw toward other stronghold in eastern province of Deir al-Zour, or northern city of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terror-designated group.
The Syrian government has always looked to the Turkish moves in northern Syria as an encroachment upon the sovereignty of the country, claiming that Ankara was capturing areas in northern Syria to build a wall, which could be a prelude to setting Ankara's long-demanded safe zones in northern Syria, near the Turkish borders.
IANS
Syrian cinematographer barred from entering US to attend Oscars
International
pti-PTI
Los Angeles, Feb 26: A Syrian cinematographer, who worked on this year's Academy Award nominee for best documentary short subject "The White Helmets", has been barred by the US immigration authorities from entering the country.
The 21-year-old cinematographer Khaled Khateeb, who was planning to join Raed Saleh, leader of the White Helmets Syrian rescue group and subject of Netflix's Oscar-nominated documentary, was expected to arrive here a day before the ceremony, reported Deadline.
The Department of Homeland Security has decided to block Khateeb from the country after they obtained some alleged "derogatory" information about him. However, a spokesperson for the film said that the filmmakers will have no comment on the situation or do "any interviews until the red carpet event at the Oscars."
The 40-minute documentary, produced by Joanna Natasegara and directed by Orlando von Einsiedel, focuses on the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated warriors, who have saved more than 60,000 civilian lives in war-torn Syria.
PTI
After 35 yrs, Trump to be the first president to skip White House press dinner
International
pti-PTI
Washington, Feb 26: Donald Trump on Sunday announced that he would skip the glitzy White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) annual dinner, to become the first US President to miss the gala in decades amidst his raging tiff with the media.
"I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!," Trump tweeted. The black-tie dinner, which raises money for journalism scholarships, takes place every spring and is usually attended by the president, journalists, celebrities and Washington insiders.
The last president to miss the dinner was Ronald Reagan, who sat out because he was he recovering from an assassination attempt in 1981, although he still delivered remarks by phone, CNN reported.
According to NPR, Richard Nixon was the last president to simply skip the event, doing so in 1972. Trump's announcement came a day after the White House excluded several major broadcasters and newspapers like The New York Times, CNN and BBC from an off-camera press briefing. He has frequently described negative news coverage as "fake" and accused the media of being the "opposition party" and on Friday delivered his most slashing broadside yet, telling the Conservative Political Action Conference that major news outlets were "the enemy of the people".
The WHCA dinner was held for the first time in Washington DC in 1920. This year's dinner has been scheduled for April 29. "The level of tension seemed incongruous with a black-tie event that is typically a jocular, if occasionally sharp-edged evening. The dinner, which has attracted A-list celebrities in recent years, features a presidential roast of reporters and a comic routine by a notable entertainer.
Presidents are expected to be self-deprecating, which Mr. Trump is decidedly not," The New York Times said. "The event may also evoke dark memories for Mr. Trump, who was brutally mocked at the 2011 dinner by President Barack Obama and the late-night host Seth Meyers, both of whom skewered the real estate developer for his seemingly far-fetched political aspirations and reality-show gaudiness.
Cameras captured Mr. Trump in the audience, stone-faced, and the evening has since been cited as a prime motivator behind his presidential run," the influential American newspaper commented. Reacting to Trump's decision, The Correspondents' Association, in a measured statement, said that it "takes note" of it. Jeff Mason, its president, wrote that the dinner "has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic."
PTI
Who was Banda Singh Bahadur? Remembering the first Sikh ruler on his death anniversary
US: Sikh leader calls for unity among Indian-Americans
International
pti-PTI
Washington, Feb 26: A top Indian American Sikh leader has condemned the shooting incident that resulted in the 'tragic' death of an Indian engineer, saying there is need for the community to unite.
"Our first priority needs to be ensuring the safety and security of every Indian and Sikh living in the United States," Gurinder Singh Khalsa, founder and chairman of the Indian-based Sikhs Political Action Committee said.
Khalsa also announced to organise the community nationwide to work with the states and federal government to ensure that Indians and people of Indian origin no longer become victim of hate crimes.
While the new immigration guidelines nominally continue the previous administration's emphasis on targeting criminals, there are significant changes, he said.
For example, under the Obama administration, only those convicted of crimes were eligible for targeted deportation. The new rules expand to include anyone charged with a major crime or perceived as a danger to national security by Homeland Security, he said.
"There is a lot of uncertainty about the rules right now," said Khalsa, based on the feedback he has been receiving from people across the country.
"Frankly, we were shocked at the speed with which these changes were made," said the Indian American Sikh community leader from Indiana.
Khalsa, who is close to the vice president, Mike Pence, however, noted that now is not the time to panic.
"We are working tirelessly to seek clarification from federal officials. That effort is stretching our resources to the limit, but we will get answers as quickly as we can," he said, adding that it is time for Indians of all faiths and creeds to work together on this issue.
"Indians and Indian Americans have a lot of economic influence in the United States. We turned those resources towards ensuring a safe, secure political environment for ourselves and our children," said Khalsa.
The Sikh leader also plans to travel to Washington DC in the next few days to meet with members of the Congress and the Trump administration about clarification on the new guidelines.
"The tragic death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in a hate crime killing in Kansas is further proof that xenophobic rhetoric can and does have consequences," he said.
"We all need to work together to ensure that this type of violence is never repeated. We must decide how we will react to attacks like this. It is my hope that this will become an opportunity for Sikhs and all Indians to become more politically active," Khalsa said.
PTI
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by Graham Pierrepoint
Anyone interested in UK politics will likely be well aware of Jeremy Corbyn, the polarizing leader of the opposing Labour Party. Labour are not currently in governmental control and are therefore operating as the shadow government and, as such, they are expected to act as a worthy opposition to MPs who are currently running the country. Many have spoken out against changes that current Prime Minister Theresa May has been making regarding certain privacy policies and, indeed, her pursuit of a hard Brexit but many more have also been critical of Jeremy Corbyn, who has been criticized heavily for failing to provide an effective opposition against Mays Conservatives.
Corbyns woes hit a new high last year when the vats majority of his then shadow cabinet walked out in protest of his removal of MP Hillary Benn, and in protest of his role in the EU referendum. Many were critical of Corbyn to the extent that they felt he did not mount a suitable defence against the leave camp, headed by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove however, it is thought that the Labour leader has in fact harboured a keen interest in the UK leaving the Union. Corbyn then faced off against party rebel Owen Smith in a leadership contest in Fall 2016, which he resoundingly won since then, however, he has faced further concerns over where he is leading the Labour Party, and how effective his voice is in representing the UKs working class.
This week, Labour and Corbyn are reeling from a tremendous by-election defeat in the constituency of Copeland, which has famously been a safe seat for the party since 1935. Shockingly, Labours Gillian Troughton faced defeat against Conservative Trudy Harrison who now succeeds as Copeland MP. The result has brought familiar concerns regarding Corbyn back to the fore and he has been asked whether or not he feels he is to blame for the twist defeat.
Despite Labours loss in Copeland, however, Corbyn has been quick to advise that he will not be standing down as Labour leader. He advised that the party had triumphed in Stoke-On-Trent over the controversial UKIP leader Paul Nuttall, who has recently faced tabloid storms over claims he is thought to have made regarding his connection to people killed in the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium disaster. Corbyn, however, hasnt hidden the fact that he is disappointed in the Copeland result but it is likely that he will continue to face calls, even from those within his own party, to stand aside.
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Virgil Wells of Boring sells trees and turns them into bowls, back scratchers on other items
In this Oregonian file photo, a marijuana grow sits ready for harvest just outside Ashland in Jackson County. A lawsuit contends former County Commissioner Doug Breidenthal took cash payments for marijuana consulting while he was in office.
(Beth Nakamura/Staff)
MEDFORD -- A lawsuit contends a former Jackson County commissioner took cash payments for marijuana consulting while in office and bilked investors to finance a pot shop.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court contends Doug Breidenthal committed elder abuse and breached fiduciary duty, the Mail Tribune reported in a story on Sunday.
The lawsuit was filed by Larry and Mary Nelson of Prescott, Arizona, and Greg Allen. The Nelsons say they gave Breidenthal $150,000, and are seeking triple damages of $450,000 under Oregon's Elder Abuse Statute.
"We put up the house for it," said Larry Nelson, 81. "We're sitting in a spot where he thinks he owns the whole business. We were supposed to be partners."
Allen said he gave Breidenthal $79,000. The total being sought in the lawsuit is $529,000.
"His hypocrisy knows no bounds," said Allen, 53. "This guy's a shape-shifter. He's self-serving, and he talks a good game."
The lawsuit also seeks to freeze American Cannabis Co.'s assets.
Breidenthal, who lost his bid for re-election in the primary last year, didn't respond to the newspaper's repeated contact attempts by phone and email.
American Cannabis Co. was scheduled to open earlier this month, but the Nelsons and Allen confronted Breidenthal. They said Breidenthal locked them out after a meeting with an attorney to resolve problems they found when examining business documents.
Allen said the problems included Breidenthal being the only person listed with two businesses associated with American Cannabis Co., and that Breidenthal's name is the only one on an Oregon Liquor Control license for the pot shop.
Allen said he approached Breidenthal last spring looking for someone local who could introduce him to others in the marijuana industry. Allen has been involved in marijuana ventures in Arizona since 2009, and in Rogue Valley Remedies LLC in Medford.
--The Associated Press
Gov. Kate Brown didn't waste any time after her reelection. On Wednesday, Nov. 9, she was right back on the campaign trail.
Her calendar shows she spent six hours campaigning that day. She thanked donors, gave media interviews and chatted about the election results, her campaign manager says.
But she was also getting a head start on her 2018 race, where she'll likely face stiff competition from Republicans.
Since winning the state's highest office less than four months ago, Brown has devoted an average of six hours a week to calling potential donors, meeting with supporters and other campaign activities, an Oregonian/OregonLive analysis of her calendar shows. That adds up to about 73 hours strictly campaigning.
Over that same period, her calendar shows she has spent an average of 37 hours a week on state business, including working on her budget proposal and assessing the snowstorm damage in Ontario. Those official work hours also include frequent drives between Salem and Portland, daily lunch breaks and appearances at events such as religious services or constituent photo opportunities.
Gov. Kate Brown talks to Malheur County Sheriff Brian Wolfe in front of a collapsed building near Ontario. Brown got a call early Feb. 9 that the Eastern Oregon city and surrounding communities needed help responding to damage from heavy snow. She dropped everything and, on Feb. 10, went there to try to bring attention and emergency resources to their needs.
Key staffers say the scheduled items on Brown's calendar don't reflect all the time she spends fulfilling her role as governor. While campaigning eats into portions of many work days, Brown spends hours most evenings reviewing policy briefs, reading materials to prepare for her next day's appointments, editing drafts of official correspondence and the like, they say.
Brown declined to comment for this story, but members of her staff answered repeated questions on her behalf.
"She often works past 11 p.m.," spokesman Chris Pair said.
Brown's out-of-the ordinary early focus on her re-election campaign is explained by the unusual circumstances in which she assumed the governorship, then won election to it, political science professors say.
Nearly all governors start out elected to a full four years in office, giving them two years before they need to start campaigning in earnest again. But Brown was appointed to replace disgraced former Gov. John Kitzhaber in early 2015 and had to run for the remainder of his four-year term the following year.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown at the Democratic Party of Oregon election night gathering at the Oregon Convention Center, Nov. 8, 2016.
She woke up last Nov. 9 knowing she had won - and that she had little time to build a war chest to launch another public campaign by 2018. That has put Brown into a campaign cycle that is not unlike that of members of the U.S. House of Representatives who perpetually run for re-election to fill two-year terms.
She is logging hours toward that end at a notable pace. For comparison, when Washington Gov. Jay Inslee was two years out from his reelection in late 2014 and early 2015, he devoted about half as much time to fundraising and campaigning as Brown has.
Her total to date of "70 hours strikes me as a little bit high, but only because it's a bit early," said Bill Lunch, political science professor emeritus at OSU. "But she has a limited timeframe, too, so it's understandable."
Since her election, Brown has raised $200,000 and has $1.2 million in cash on hand. Experts say she'll need millions more to convince voters to keep her on the job for another term.
Jim Moore, of Pacific University, said the potential for stiff competition has amped up Brown's fundraising drive.
"What you're seeing is pretty normal, especially because she's going to be up for reelection in a couple years, and especially because there are a few credible candidates," he said.
Two potential candidates from the right are Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, the first Republican to win a statewide office in 14 years, and Rep. Knute Buehler of Bend.
Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, left, and Rep. Knute Buehler, of Bend, are possible Republican candidates looking to challenge Gov. Kate Brown for her seat in 2018.
Richardson told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Friday that he has no current plans to run and thinks Buehler would make "an excellent governor." Buehler would not comment on his plans for 2018.
Brown beat Buehler in the 2012 race for Secretary of State. But Buehler has gained strength as a candidate since then, in part by showing his prowess at raising money. As of Friday, he had virtually matched the incumbent governor at fundraising in 2017, raking in $97,033 in campaign contributions compared to Brown's $97,454.
"There's a hunger for a strong Republican candidate, and it seems like people are coalescing around him," Moore said.
Brown doesn't just need to guard against the opposing party.
One of the reasons to start campaigning early, Lunch said, is to discourage competitors in the Democratic primary. With enough raised, potential candidates might hold off on challenging her. So far, no likely candidate has emerged from Brown's party.
Either way, the 2018 campaign almost certainly will garner a lot of attention - and money.
Lunch said Brown needs to raise at least $2 million, though $3 million or $4 million would be better for such a high-stakes race. Moore said she could be looking to raise as much as $10 million.
The last time Oregon saw an ultra-big spending race for governor was in 2010 when Kitzhaber raised $7.5 million and his GOP challenger Chris Dudley took in $10.5 million in donations.
"If Knute Buehler is seen by Republicans as someone who has a chance, there's going to be a ton of money coming in," Moore said.
Brown clearly has the upper hand, however, he said. Because Buehler is a relative newcomer, he'll need to raise roughly twice as much as Brown to have a shot at the governor's seat.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown speaks during a press conference in the Capitol ceremonial office in Salem, Ore., Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. Brown is asking Oregon's attorney general to bring legal action against the federal government over President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration.
As long as she continues to stand up to the Trump administration, as she did by strengthening Oregon's sanctuary status and fighting his travel ban, Brown will be able to ride a wave of Democratic support, he predicted.
A Republican, though, can't win a statewide election by supporting Trump's policies. Buehler would have to differentiate himself from his party's standard-bearer.
"In Oregon, the Republican party is in danger of becoming a third party," Moore said. "The base is smaller for Republicans. So to win, you have to break into the middle somehow."
***
Oregon was one of a handful of states not affected by the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling throwing open the door to gigantic troves of campaign cash. That's because Oregon doesn't put limits on campaign donations, including those from corporations and political action committees.
Still, campaigning in Oregon is not what it used to be, says Len Bergstein, a lobbyist and political consultant who served as campaign manager for former governor Bob Straub.
Once, he said, the election cycle was clearly defined: There were times to govern, and times set aside to campaign. Now, though, "there's a perpetual campaign mentality," he said. "All offices, at all levels, campaign parts of the job are now always present."
And today's races are more intense and costly, Bergstein said.
Brown looks to be gearing up for a big race, Moore said. She has the incumbency on her side, as well as a campaign staffers she can roll from one election to the next.
But in one way, she could be at a disadvantage. Research shows that, while female candidates regularly raise campaign money on par with their male counterparts, they report being excluded from the circles that include the wealthiest and best-connected donors.
According to the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which publishes nonpartisan research on women in politics, these circles are often essentially "old boys' clubs," made up of companies with few women executives or board members.
To combat this, the foundation encourages female candidates to get an early start on campaigning - as Brown did.
Since Oregon's Legislative session opened Feb. 1, she has dedicated less time to campaign activities. She spent two full days in late January on the East Coast meeting supporters, but as of Feb. 19, had only spent 5 1/2 hours campaigning since the session started, her calendar shows.
Her campaign manager, Thomas Wheatley, says she's focused on governing.
"We are a long way off from the election," he said, noting that Brown hasn't officially announced her candidacy. "Certainly there's an expectation after the legislative session that she'll spend more time talking to supporters and working on campaign activities."
Campaign season will begin in earnest next year, and her campaign schedule will be "more rigorous" then, Wheatley said. That works out well for Brown and other candidates, as the Legislature will convene for a short session: five weeks, compared to about five months in the current long session.
Governing, Wheatley said, always takes precedence over campaigning.
***
After judges, Brown is the next-highest-paid elected official holding state office in Oregon. She draws an annual salary of $98,600, plus $1,000 per month for expenses. She is also provided a Salem home to live in and a car and driver to take her to events and to and from work each day.
Most salaried workers are expected to put in at least 40 hours a week. Brown's calendar shows that she spends an average of 37 hours a week on scheduled state business, including frequent meetings with key advisers, hours-long tours of local businesses and quick check-ins with individual lawmakers.
Bergstein, who also served on Straub's gubernatorial staff, scoffed at the 37-hour count.
"I don't think the governor leaves their job behind them," he said. "I find that they're on the job all the time. If you're counting something less than 24 hours a day as governor's work, someone's undercounting the time on the job."
Pair, Brown's spokesman, echoed Bergstein, saying she serves as governor 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Items that don't appear on her calendar, he said, include unscheduled calls, informal meetings, work she does at home and in response to emergencies.
For instance, Pair said, Brown called him at 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, then texted him about a different issue at 6 a.m. the next morning. "This was after spending much of her day working and traveling and before a fully booked day of meetings and events," he said.
***
Though national politics will certainly affect Brown's 2018 run, her chances hinge in part on her leadership in the current legislative session, in which lawmakers are tasked with closing a $1.6 billion budget gap and crafting a transportation funding package.
So far, she's been left out of talks orchestrated by Democratic leaders to bring union and business leaders to the table to talk about new revenue and spending cuts. Senate President Peter Courtney dismissed her proposed budget in a diatribe about the lack of leadership in Oregon.
Brown's office says she is proud of her proposed budget, delivered on time in December. She built it using a mix of targeted taxes and other fees to avoid the more draconian cuts proposed by the Legislature's budget co-chairs.
Her willingness to call for specific higher taxes allowed her to put forth a plan that better meets the education and healthcare needs of people she met with who need critical services, said Pair.
"Legislative session is an important and busy time but success can only really be measured at its close and certainly not in its third week," he said. "Oregonians are ultimately the ones to judge what Governor Brown's legacy will be."
-- Anna Marum
amarum@oregonian.com
503-294-5911
@annamarum
Renowned Portland consulting firm Ziba Design draws inspiration from around the world for its work, dreaming up imaginative food packaging, kitchen appliances, electronic gadgets and vacuum cleaners.
And it hires from around the globe, too - nearly 10 percent of its 75 Portland employees come from other countries. They work under a class of visa known as an H-1B, meant to allow foreign workers with highly specialized skills.
Christof Mees
"If you want to innovate something meaningful, you have to have more than one perspective in the room," said Ziba chief executive Christof Mees, himself an immigrant from Germany.
So Ziba, along with Intel, Nike and many other large Oregon employers, is watching closely as the Trump administration contemplates overhauling the program. Those businesses defend the visas as essential to their research and say the U.S. doesn't issue nearly enough visas to meet their needs.
The visas infuriate many information technology professionals, however, who charge that some employers abuse the program. They focus their ire on Indian outsourcing firms, who use an outsized share of visas in Oregon to import contractors from overseas for comparatively unsophisticated technical work at the low end of the H-1B pay scale.
Oregon H-1Bs, by the numbers
Total, 2016
: 4,135 applications certified (number of visas actually granted is likely lower.) Oregon's total nonfarm employment was 1.9 million in 2016.
Average wage
: $77,488 (many employers submitted a wage range for certain jobs; this average reflects the bottom end of that wage.) Oregon's average wage in 2015 was $48,312.
Note: Data is for visas certified by the U.S. Department of Labor. Some visas are not issued.
Longstanding tensions over the program have only grown amid a larger immigration debate under President Donald Trump, who has sent contradictory signals on the visa program. A draft memo leaked last month was followed by silence from the Trump administration, leaving workers in the U.S. and abroad - along with their employers - confused about what's coming next.
So companies like Ziba, alarmed by the new administration's overall approach to immigration, are coping with an uncertain future. Mees said he relies on a staff that includes people from Britain, South Korea, Japan and elsewhere to bring insight from a variety of cultures.
"You can't be innovative without diversity," Mees said.
Overall, H-1B visa holders represent a tiny share of the American workforce: They're capped by law at 85,000 per year, with recipients chosen by lottery. Fewer than 40 percent of applicants actually receive visas.
Companies typically pay several thousand dollars in legal and government fees for each H-1B visa, and must pay their workers a "prevailing wage" for each occupation.
But those jobs are concentrated in technology, one of the nation's hottest sectors, with companies like Google, Microsoft and Intel topping the list of visa sponsors.
Relative to other states, Oregon employers do not use a high volume of H-1B visas. The Department of Labor says it certified 4,135 applications from Oregon employers last year - though the number of visas actually granted is likely lower than that.
Certified H-1B visas in Oregon, 2016
Company, certified applications, minimum average wage
Intel, 550, $90,543 Infosys, 424, $78,089 Wipro, 243, $70,123 Nike, 110, $74,263 Syntel Consulting, 96, $79,001 OSHU, 85, $74,955 IBM India, 74, $76,686 Tata Consultancy Services, 69, $64,530 Cognizant Technology Solutions, 68, $77,299 Accenture, 59, $79,675 Oregon State, 57, $75,009 HCL America, 47, $59,300 Advantage IT, 44, $52,709 University of Oregon, 36, $62,400 UST Global, 36, $63,957 Mentor Graphics, 33, $78,800 Deloitte Consulting, 32, $78,755 Hexaware Technologies, 30, $67,665 VRN Jobs, 28, $79,545 LAM Research, 26, $102,403
Companies in
bold
are information technology consultants using outsourced labor.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor
Note: Visas certified by the Department of Labor are sometimes not issued. Some applications include a range of salary; the average pay reflects the minimum of that range.
That ranks Oregon No. 24 among states, both in the total number of certified applications and certifications per capita. Since the visas typically last for three years, there could be more than 10,000 people working in Oregon on H-1B visas at any given time.
H-1B certifications were for jobs that paid, on average, a minimum of $77,000 annually. That's 60 percent above Oregon's average wage for all jobs, reflecting the specialized nature of the work.
Some companies paid considerably more - Intel received 550 certifications last year for Oregon, the most of any company in the state, for jobs paying an average minimum of $90,500. The chipmaker is among the nation's largest users of H-1Bs, with 1,836 visa applications certified in 2016 alone.
At top engineering schools such as MIT, Caltech and Stanford, more than 40 percent of graduate students are from other countries. At Portland State and Oregon State, more than half of the graduate engineering and computer science degrees go to international students.
Intel has long maintained that H-1Bs are essential to its business, especially given the dearth of advanced engineering degrees awarded to Americans at top research universities. The chipmaker has cultivated ties to Trump since his election last fall, and Intel CEO Brian Krzanich says H-1B visas are a key reason why.
"We believe that we must be part of the conversation to voice our views on key issues such as immigration, H1B visas and other policies that are essential to innovation," Krzanich wrote in a letter to employees after he made a surprise visit to the Oval Office last month.
Intel declined additional comment, as did Nike, which had more than 100 H-1B applications certified last year. And several H-1B holders in Oregon also declined to comment, either directly or through their employers or attorneys, citing concerns about how immigration authorities might react to any public comment in Oregon.
But Oregon Health & Science University, which employs about 150 H-1B visa holders among its 15,600 Portland workers, said the program is an essential part of its operation. The university says they're usually working on federally funded research projects, hired for specialized knowledge of research topics including HIV vaccines, cancer and cytomegalovirus.
"These people are usually either medical residents, postdoctoral students or physicians who are being recruited here for their specific skill set," said vice provost David Robinson.
Intel, Nike, OHSU and Ziba are some of Oregon's best-known names. But if you look at the list of top H-1B visa certifications in the state, many of the recipients are companies most Oregonians have never heard of.
They have names like Infosys, Wipro, Tata and HCL. They're outsourcing companies from India that contract with large corporations to help manage their internal computer systems, a class of job known as information technology. That is relatively straightforward technical labor, very different from the kind of highly specialized design work at Ziba or cutting-edge research at OHSU.
Among the top 20 companies that had H-1Bs certified in Oregon last year, three-quarters went to these IT outsourcing companies. On average, the outsourcers paid just over $70,000 annually - 10 percent less than direct employers' H-1Bs.
That's where the main tension around the visa program emerges. Information technology workers complain the outsourcers bring thousands of workers to the country every year, inflating the labor pool and depressing wages.
In high-profile cases at Disney and Southern California Edison, large companies laid off American workers and replaced them with foreign contractors.
Foreign contract employees often work at the very same companies that hire visa holders directly. Oregon's largest concentration of these contract workers is in Hillsboro, where Intel has three large campuses (Intel would not say whether it uses Oregon's largest outsourcing firms, the Indian IT contractors Infosys and Wipro).
Portland immigration attorney Jimmy Go says the outsourcers operate differently than companies looking to hire foreign workers directly, so it's time to stop treating them the same way. He suggests two different classes of visa for two different types of jobs.
"One key part of the solution is that the H-1B visa category needs to be bifurcated," Go said.
Trump has sent contradictory signals on H-1Bs, declaring during the campaign that "we need highly skilled people in this country" - but also stating that "companies are importing low-wages workers on H1-B visas to take jobs from young, college-trained Americans."
To Lisa Ellis, a senior analyst with Bernstein Research, such contradictory positions suggest the new president hasn't given the issue a lot of thought and hasn't made it a priority. She doubts much will change under the new president.
Any edict from Trump is unlikely to be as sweeping as last month's temporary ban on immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Much of the H-1B program is enshrined in statute, so the president would need congressional authorization to make fundamental changes.
A draft executive order on the H-1B program began circulating last month, but Trump still hasn't issued an official order. That leaves employers and workers scratching their heads, trying to plan for an uncertain future.
"The language of the leaked order, the language that was in the press, was fairly benign," Ellis said. "It doesn't actually tell anyone to change anything, per se."
However, the president does have authority over implementing the rules and might be able to tighten requirements over wages or qualifications. And members of Congress from both parties are considering legislation to enact similar reforms.
"I get the frustrations that people have that the H-1Bs are coming and taking their jobs," said Portland immigration attorney Brent Renison said. However, he said if the visas also provide very real value to U.S. companies that might otherwise move their research work abroad.
It would be perfectly sensible, Renison said, for the new administration to evaluate wage levels in the program or to limit the number of visas awarded to outsourcing companies. But he said early signals from the administration suggest a less constructive approach.
"The question is: What are they going to do to correct these abuses without destroying the whole system?" Renison said. "I'm not entirely confident they won't do the latter."
The Oregonian/OregonLive data editor Melissa Lewis contributed to this report.
-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699
Mike Zacchino
Timber Joey and Jack Jewsbury
Timber Joey and Jack Jewsbury participate in this year's Polar Plunge at Broughton Beach on the Columbia River to raise money for Special Olympics Oregon. Over 125 teams participated in this year's Polar Plunge, Feb. 25, 2017.
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Mike Zacchino
Timbers Army members
Four members of the Timbers Army, along with other members, raised $3,700 for Special Olympics Oregon for this year's Polar Plunge at Broughton Beach on the Columbia River.
A member of Special Olympics Oregon said the final tally would not be available for a couple of days, but estimated that donations of approximately $250,000 would be raised, with another $100,000 coming from sponsors.
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Mike Zacchino
Timber Joey
Timber Joey waits on shore before running into the water in this year's Polar Plunge at Broughton Beach on the Columbia River.
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Mike Zacchino
Jack Jewsbury
Jack Jewsbury eyes the river at Broughton Beach on the Columbia River before running into the cold water with other members of the Timbers Army
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Mike Zacchino
Timber Joey and Jack Jewsbury
Jack Jewsbury, left, and Timber Joey run into the water at Broughton Beach on the Columbia River
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Mike Zacchino
Timber Joey
Timber Joey waves as he leaves the water in this year's Polar Plunge at Broughton Beach.
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Mike Zacchino
Jack Jewsbury
Jack Jewsbury leaves the water at Broughton Beach on the Columbia River.
WASHINGTON -- Congress returns to Washington this week to confront dramatic decisions on health care and the Supreme Court that may help determine the course of Donald Trump's presidency.
First, the president will have his say, in his maiden speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. Majority Republicans in the House and Senate will be closely watching the prime-time address for guidance, marching orders or any specifics Trump might embrace on health care or taxes, areas where some of his preferences remain a mystery.
Congressional Republicans insist they are working closely with the new administration as they prepare to start taking votes on health legislation, with the moment finally upon them to make good on seven years of promises to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. House Republicans hope to pass their legislation by early April and send it to the Senate, with action there also possible before Easter.
Republicans will be "keeping our promise to the American people," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said as he sent lawmakers home for the Presidents Day recess armed with informational packets to defend planned GOP changes to the health law.
But land mines await.
The recess was dominated by raucous town halls where Republicans faced tough questions about their plans to replace the far-reaching law with a new system built around tax credits, health savings accounts and high risk pools. Important questions are unanswered, such as the overall cost and how many people will be covered. There's also uncertainty about how to resolve divisions among states over Medicaid money.
The lack of clarity created anxiety among voters who peppered lawmakers from coast to coast with questions about what would become of their own health coverage and that of their friends and family. It's forced Republicans to offer assurances that they don't intend to take away the law and leave nothing in its place, even though some House conservatives favor doing just that.
"What I have said is repeal and replace and more recently I have defined that as repairing the ACA moving forward," Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., insisted to an overflow crowd in his politically divided district this past week. "I think we have a responsibility in Washington to try to make the system better."
It remains to be seen whether the release of detailed legislation in the coming days will calm, or heighten, voters' concerns. Details on the size of tax credits to help people buy insurance, and how many fewer people will be covered than the 20 million who gained coverage under Obama's law, could create bigger pushback and even more complications.
With lawmakers set to return to the Capitol on Monday, it will become clearer whether the earful many got back home will affect their plans. GOP leaders are determined to move forward, reckoning that when confronted with the reality of voting on the party's repeal and replace plan, Republicans will have no choice but to vote "yes."
Many Republicans say that how they will handle health legislation will set the stage for the next big battle, over taxes. And that fight, many believe, will be even trickier than health care. Already, it has opened major rifts between House and Senate Republicans.
Senators also will be weighing the nomination of federal appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch, Trump's pick for the Supreme Court. Hearings soon will get underway in the Senate Judiciary Committee; floor action is expected before Easter.
Despite Gorsuch's sterling credentials, Democrats are under pressure from their liberal supporters to oppose him, given voters' disdain for Trump and the GOP's refusal last year to allow even a hearing for Obama's nominee for the high court vacancy, federal appeals Judge Merrick Garland.
Yet some Democrats are already predicting that one way or another, Gorsuch will be confirmed. Even if he doesn't pick up the 60 votes he needs, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., could use a procedural gambit to eliminate Democrats' ability to filibuster Gorsuch, an outcome that Trump has endorsed.
Congress is awaiting a budget from the Trump administration, and the slow process of rounding out Trump's Cabinet will move forward as Republicans tee up more nominees over Democratic protests. The Senate has confirmed 14 Cabinet and Cabinet-level officials, fewer than other presidents at this point.
The most controversial nominees, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt have been confirmed. Next up: financier Wilbur Ross for commerce secretary, Rep. Ryan Zinke to lead the Interior Department, retired neurosurgeon and 2016 GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson to be housing secretary and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the energy department.
How Democrats vote will be telling, given the extreme pressures on them to oppose Trump at every turn. It's a dynamic to which those with potential presidential ambitions are particularly sensitive. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, among others, took heat for voting in favor of Carson in committee, while Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York as opposed nearly all the nominees.
-- Erica Werner
In 1857, the first federal lighthouse on the Oregon coast lit up - a shining beacon for ships at the mouth of the Umpqua River. Four years later, it collapsed into the river.
It wasn't a great start to the storied history of Oregon lighthouses, but it did make sense - the Pacific Ocean is punishing on the rugged northwest coastline, a situation that was treacherous for both ships and lighthouses alike.
Today, 11 lighthouses remain along the coast. Some are public, others private. Some are old, others recent additions. Together they represent a crucial element of Oregon's maritime past, when a lighthouse could mean the difference between safe passage and disaster. And even though nearly a dozen beacons lit up the coast, hundreds of vessels still met their fates on the huge waves and jagged rocks of the Oregon coast.
The importance of lighthouses for ships has faded in the 21st century, but they're still strong beacons for visitors by land. Take a beautiful lighthouse road trip down the Oregon coast, and see the structures that made all the difference for yourself.
A wave crashes over the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse off the Oregon coast.
Tillamook Rock
You'll need a pair of binoculars to get a good look at the Tillamook Rock lighthouse, easily the most dramatically-placed beacon in Oregon. Constructed atop a rock more than a mile out to sea, the lighthouse was first lit in 1881, abandoned in 1957 due to the expenses of keeping up with wear and tear from punishing waves. Tillamook Rock is not open to the public, but is visible from Ecola State Park near Cannon Beach.
Not open to the public
Cape Meares
The lovely Cape Meares Lighthouse lacks the drama of its neighbor to the north, and is easily accessible to the public. First lit in 1890, the lighthouse was cared for by a number of families over the years, and today is managed by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. See it at the Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint, which is also home to the popular octopus tree.
Open April through October, daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; no reservations required
Yaquina Head
Yaquina Head is the tallest lighthouse in Oregon, standing 93 feet tall, a full 162 feet above sea level. It was first lit in 1873 and managed by three keepers. It has withstood fierce storms and a lightning strike on its way to the 21st century, remaining one of the most popular lighthouses on the coast. You can see it at the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area north of Newport.
Open year-round for ranger-led tours, times vary; reservations must be made in person
Yaquina Bay
Only in operation for three years, the Yaquina Bay lighthouse was a beautiful but controversial project that led to its abandonment for several decades. In 1974, a century after its light was extinguished, the lighthouse was fully restored and opened to the public. Today you can visit it at the Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site in Newport.
Open year-round for self-guided tours, Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (hours reduced in off-season); no reservations required
Cleft of the Rock
A privately-owned lighthouse, Cleft of the Rock was built in 1976 by Jim Gibbs, former keeper of Tillamook Rock. The structure, built on a cliff 110 feet above the Pacific, is a replica of the Fiddle Reef Lighthouse on Vancouver Island. Cleft of the Rock is closed to the public, but can be seen from Highway 101 or the Amanda Trail south of Yachats.
Not open to the public
Heceta Head
One of the most popular and scenic lighthouses on the Oregon coast, Heceta Head features beautiful architecture in a stunning setting north of Florence. Several families cared for and lived at the lighthouse between 1894 and 1932, and today it's a part of an Oregon state park. Heceta Head is also visible from the Sea Lion Caves.
Open year-round for ranger-led tours, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (hours reduced in off-season); no reservations required
Umpqua River
The Umpqua River was the site of Oregon's first lighthouse - the doomed beacon that only last four years - but as the river became an important shipping channel, plans began for a new lighthouse, this time perched 100 feet above the Pacific Ocean. Today the lighthouse is managed by Douglas County Parks in the Umpqua Lighthouse State Park.
Open May through October, tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (some nighttime and off-season tours offered); no reservation required
Cape Arago
Cape Arago is easily the most difficult lighthouse to find on the Oregon coast. Perched on a rock off the southern coast, the single lighthouse is all that remains from a large complex of buildings - including two other lighthouses - once accessible from the mainland by bridge. Today, that access is gone, limiting views of the lighthouse to far-away viewpoints at Sunset Bay and Yoakam Point State Parks.
Not open to the public
Coquille River
Perched on the north jetty of the Coquille River in Bandon, the Coquille River Lighthouse has survived several scares since it was first lit in 1896. Two schooners hit the jetty only eight years apart, in 1897 and 1905. Then, in 1936, all but 16 buildings in Bandon were destroyed in a forest fire. The lighthouse was abandoned in 1939, and reopened to the public in 1979 as part of Bullards Beach State Park.
Partially open to the public from mid-May through September, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; no reservations required
Cape Blanco
Built in a majestic setting on a grassy cliff more than 200 feet above the ocean, the Cape Blanco lighthouse was lit back in 1870, managed by keepers James Langlois and James Hughes for four decades. Today the scenic lighthouse is part of Cape Blanco State Park.
Open for tours from April through October, Wednesday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; no reservations required
Pelican Bay
Oregon's newest lighthouse, Pelican Bay was first lit in 1999, becoming the second private lighthouse in Oregon to be officially commissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard. Located on a cliff above Brookings, it's also the southernmost lighthouse on the coast. You can find it near Brookings Harbor, where the lighthouse is visible on a hill behind a Best Western hotel.
Not open to the public
--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB
Bill Paxton, known for his roles in such movies as "Aliens," "Titanic" and "Twister" and who recently guest starred in "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD," has died. He was 61.
Multiple media report that Paxton died after complications from surgery. He is survived by his wife and two children.
"A loving husband and father, Bill began his career in Hollywood working on films in the art department and went on to have an illustrious career spanning four decades as a beloved and prolific actor and filmmaker," a family representative said in a statement to People Magazine. "Bill's passion for the arts was felt by all who knew him, and his warmth and tireless energy were undeniable."
Most well known for his roles in sci-fi adventure films of the '80s and '90s, Paxton was one of few actors who faced off against the genre's most prolific creatures. He and Lance Henrikson are the only two actors to fight losing battles against an Alien, a Predator and a Terminator, as iO9's Beth Elderkin notes.
Paxton was born in Fort Worth, Texas, to Mary Lou and John Lane Paxton.
His first film role was as an uncredited appearance in 1975's "Crazy Mama." He was cast as a soldier in the Bill Murray film "Stripes" and later as a punk leader in James Cameron's "The Terminator" in 1984.
The following year, Paxton played the antagonistic older brother Chet Donnely in "Weird Science." And in 1986, Cameron cast Paxton again in "Aliens." That role earned Paxton acclaim from sci-fi nerds and video game enthusiasts everywhere.
His character Pvt. William Hudson's iconic "Game over, man" line is oft repeated in Internet forums and web comics.
Since then, Paxton has been a consistent presence in Hollywood, from big-budget blockbusters such as "Titanic," "Apollo 13" and "Twister" to guest turns in television shows such as "Agents of SHIELD" and "Miami Vice." His most recent role was that of Detective Frank Roarke in the new "Training Day" TV series.
As news of his passing spread, fans shared their condolences on social media.
Bill Paxton faced a Predator, an Alien and a Terminator. Beneath every role was a genuine kindness and love for life. He will be missed... pic.twitter.com/oOQtiY1n32 Ziggy (@mrjafri) February 26, 2017
I enjoyed every role that Bill Paxton played, but most recently his role as Sam Houston in "Texas Rising". Condolences to his family. pic.twitter.com/t5BC1CdlUm Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) February 26, 2017
Actor Bill Paxton has died due to complications with surgery. He was 61. My childhood thanks you, Bill Paxton. RIP. #RIPBillPaxton pic.twitter.com/MugTK7Tg0W Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) February 26, 2017
We're so sad to hear actor Bill Paxton has passed away at 61. We loved him in Aliens, Terminator, Twister, Titanic, Apollo 13, & more. RIP. pic.twitter.com/0fzugFBxr9 Nerdist (@nerdist) February 26, 2017
--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344
@edercampuzano
ecampuzano@oregonian.com
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A girlfriend and boyfriend accused of breaking into multiple storage units, stealing the contents and pawning the items are facing multiple felonies.
Whitney Marie Huntley, 23, Bay City, and Kyle James Swarthout, 26, who is now in prison, face identical sets of charges six counts of breaking and entering a building with the intent to steal, six counts of conspiracy to commit breaking and entering, and one count of felony firearm.
The charges were filed after an investigation into locks being cut from multiple storage units at a Larkin Township facility in May and June of 2016. An affidavit filed in the case states a suspect in the break-ins had told her mother about the thefts, and that the items were being pawned in Midland and Bay City.
Not long after, Midland County sheriffs detectives learned the other suspect had sold stolen firearms.
Three pawn shops in Bay City and one in Midland had records of transactions with one of the suspects, listing fishing rods and reels, and a large amount of tools.
The stolen and pawned items also included generators, power washers, ice cream makers, leaf blowers, a lawn mower and more. About 10 firearms were stolen as well.
One suspect was driven around the county to point out additional storage facilities that were broken into, the affidavit states.
The charges all relate to break-ins at the Mini Storage, 3606 N. Eastman Road.
During the investigation, Swarthout, who had been paroled on March 15, 2016, was returned to prison for the alleged parole violation, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records.
Huntley and Swarthout have been arraigned on the charges. Midland County District Court Judge Michael D. Carpenter set bond at $20,000 cash or surety for Huntley, and $25,000 cash or surety for Swarthout.
The case against Huntley has been bound over to the circuit court.
Swarthout is set for a preliminary exam in district court on March 1.
Growmark Chairman and President JOHN REIFSTECK has won the Director of the Year award from the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.
Nominees are evaluated on how well the nominee understands his cooperative; the ability to provide leadership and be a team player; the possession of good business judgment; and the ability to communicate effectively.
The NCFC Foundation will provide a $5,000 donation to the University of Illinois scholarship fund in Reifstecks honor. He has served on the board since 1993 and has been chairman and president since 2013.
The Bishops of PRAIRIERTH FARM, Atlanta, have been named MOSES Organic Farmers of the Year.
The award recognizes organic farmers in the Midwest who practice outstanding land stewardship, innovation and outreach. Winners are chosen by the board of the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service.
Dave Bishop, his son Hans, and Hans wife, Katie run the 300-acre farm with diverse crops and livestock. The farm has been certified organic since 2004.
TANGLED ROOTS BREWING CO. of Ottawa has released Forty1 Eighty8, a pale ale made using only hops and barley grown on the brewery's own farms. Its believed to be the first beer of its kind ever produced in Illinois.
The beer is available in the brewerys tap room and its flagship restaurant, The Lone Buffalo, both in Ottawa.
BRIAN and JEN CORBLY of rural Carlock have purchased the former Carroll Auto & Tire in Congerville and renamed it Corbly Auto & Tire.
Laura and the late Harold Carroll owned the station, founded in 1966 by Harold's father, John.
Brian Corbly has been a mechanic at the station for 18 years. The station offers auto, truck and trailer repairs, fuel, tires, auto parts and vehicle maintenance products. The convenience store offers beverages, candy, snacks and other grocery items.
The gas station is open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. Repair shop hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
HOT SPOT GROCERY & LIQUOR, 1102 N. Hershey Road, Bloomington, and COLFAX GROCERY, 114 N. Main St., Colfax, have signed on a U-Haul neighborhood dealers.
Todays larger wind farms can include hundreds of 280-feet tall turbines and cover thousands of acres, generating enough megawatts to power all the homes in the Twin Cities and more.
Although generating electricity on this scale is a modern day triumph, harnessing the prairie wind goes back a long way. Before the sleek, modern behemoths of the 21st century there were the much smaller, water-pumping windmills of the 19th century.
These older windmills, roughly averaging some 40 feet in height, were well-engineered machines, favored by farmers for their ingenious practicality. They also drew admirers from afar, offering as they do a striking vertical presence in a horizontal world.
Its been more than a century since the heyday of the old water-pumping windmill, though survivors, many in various stages of neglect, can still be seen scattered hither and yon throughout Central Illinois.
The first such windmills were developed in the mid-1850s by Connecticut machinist Daniel Halladay. They differed dramatically, both in form and function, from traditional European windmills (think Don Quixote) built and operated to mill grain hence the mill in windmill. In contrast, American windmills, often called wind engines, were used almost exclusively to pump water from groundwater wells for livestock and household needs.
The golden age for water-pumping windmills on the Corn Belt stretched from the 1880s into the 1920s. One can track the early rise of these wind pumps in McLean County by examining two 19th century sources. Of the 50-plus detailed lithographic illustrations of farmsteads in the 1874 Atlas of McLean County, only two feature windmills. Yet 13 years later, in the 1887 Portrait and Biographical Album of McLean County (see accompanying image), windmills are visible in about 25 of the some 85 farm illustrations.
The American windmill is a relatively simple yet elegant machine. Most feature a light tower frame (or derrick) of four sloping legs. The fan, usually comprised of curved steel blades in a rosette pattern, sits on a platform atop this tower.
Unlike its old world counterparts, the American or prairie windmill is self-governing. This means the fan automatically rotates with favorable shifts in wind. The rotating blades and their maximum speed are also kept in check to prevent the whole mechanism from being shaken apart by centrifugal forces during extremely high winds.
A gearbox and crankshaft convert the rotary motion of the fan into reciprocating vertical strokes of a pumping rod, which runs the length of the tower down to the terra firma and the groundwater well.
Early windmills had open gearboxes that required farmers to scale their towers every few days to lubricate the contact points, a laborious and dangerous chore that led to a fair number of serious accidents and more than a few fatal falls. The development of enclosed or self-oiling gearboxes, in which the moving parts were bathed in light lubricating oil, was a major timesaver and safety improvement, for they required servicing but once or twice a year.
Illinois was a major state for windmill manufacturing, with Batavia as the undisputed center. Windmill inventor Daniel Halladays company, the U.S. Wind Engine & Pump Co., relocated from New England to Batavia in order to be closer to its emerging markets in the Corn Belt and Great Plains. Batavia, straddling DuPage and Kane counties west of Chicago, would earn the nickname Windmill City.
Windmills were first constructed of wood. The use of galvanized steel, which came into widespread use in the 1890s, revolutionized the industry.
In the early 20th century, Palmer-Darnall Co., 209-211 E. Front St. in downtown Bloomington, acted as a dealer for Chicago-based Aermotor Windmill Co., one of the nations leading manufacturers (Aermotor still makes windmills, though the company is now based in San Angelo, Tex.) And in the summer of 1902, Charles A. Downs, as travelling agent for the U.S. Wind Engine & Pump Co., set up shop at a downtown Bloomington hotel to take orders for immediate delivery. Downs advertised several of the companys windmill models, including the Halladay, Comet, Gem and Standard.
The coming obsolesce of the windmill on the Corn Belt can be glimpsed in an advertisement for gasoline-powered pumps in the March 1, 1911 Farmers Voice, a Bloomington-based weekly. The farm pump engine is fast supplanting windmills in every part of the country, declared Fuller & Johnson Mfg. Co. of Madison, Wis. Unlike windmills, dependent as they are on the vagaries of Mother Nature, the farm pump could operate 365 days a year. Fuller & Johnson asked farmers to consider purchasing such an engine for less than the cost of an unreliable, lazy, rickety, dangerous windmill!
The death knell for the windmill came in the form of the Rural Electric Act, which in the late 1930s brought electricity to Corn Belt farms. And with electricity came not only electric lights but electric pumps, which soon supplanted windmills as the power source of choice for farmers needing to pull groundwater up to the surface.
A 1969 survey of the rural McLean County landscape identified 304 standing windmills, though not a single one was in operation. Even so, as testament to their simplicity of form and sound engineering, the general condition (of many) was surprisingly good. At the time, a few had even been repurposed as television antennas.
Windmills are still manufactured in the American Southwest, where they are used by mainly by remote livestock operators pumping water and aerating ponds.
There are those with an interest in preserving and restoring Midwestern windmills. Paul Behrends of rural Foosland, a village in Champaign County, operates Pauls Windmill & Crane Service. Behrends, whose great uncle was an executive vice president of Aermotor Windmill Co., is a full-time windmiller, having sold, serviced and installed them throughout the Midwest for a quarter- century.
On April 6, 1858, Abraham Lincoln debuted a curious lecture he called Discoveries and Inventions at Centre Hall in Bloomington. (A year later, poor attendance led to the cancellation of a repeat performance!)
In this lecture, Lincolns observations of, and speculations on, wind power, though far from novel, were certainly prescient. Of all the forces of nature, I should think the wind contains the largest amount of motive power that is, power to move things, he declared. Yet apart from sailing vessels and a few windmills and pumps no very successful mode of controlling, and directing the wind, has been discovered.
Concluded Lincoln: The wind is an untamed and unharnessed force; and quite possibly one of the greatest discoveries hereafter to be made, will be the taming and harnessing of the wind.
My two sons used to come home from a day at high school complaining that ludicrous accusations of racism were as common as the desks in the classrooms. I chalked it up to adolescent exaggeration.
After having spent the current academic year as a teacher surrounded by rowdy high-schoolers, I can attest that they were right.
In the hallways, at assemblies, in my classroom, "That's racist!" was a common refrain for most of the early fall.
Usually it was a punch line: Making a reference to the wipe-able board at the front of the classroom, aka a "whiteboard"? "That's racist!"
When I asked a Latina student if her mother was broken up about the recent death of Mexican balladeer Juan Gabriel, a non-Hispanic pupil jokingly suggested it was "racist" of me to single out this Mexican-descended student for her opinion.
During a class in which we analyzed "the Lennie standard" a shorthand term for the legal decision barring the death penalty for persons with intellectual disabilities I posted a picture of Bobby J. Moore, the defendant in the Supreme Court case. And boom: Someone shouted, for a laugh, that showing the picture of the subject of our investigation was "racist!"
Other times it was clear that the person lobbing the term was simply misunderstanding the charge of racism. One day, a student, who was herself an immigrant, described hearing a peer's voice in a training video. "Oh, I think this boy speaking is Asian," she said. Another pupil chimed in: "That's racist!" My co-teacher said, "No. That student was, in fact, born and raised in China. Noticing this is not racist, it is a factual observation."
As recently as October, I had not heard "That's racist!" in relation to a genuine race-fueled confrontation or slight. It seemed to be a throwaway line that was injected into nearly any conversation for ironic or humorous effect, even sometimes by students of color.
This all changed in November.
After the presidential election, the concept of racism got real and played itself out in classrooms, hallways, playgrounds and on school buses. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights advocacy organization, after the election, K-12 teachers across the country reported an upswing in verbal harassment, the use of slurs and derogatory language, and disturbing incidents involving swastikas, Nazi salutes and Confederate flags.
All of a sudden, students were no longer toying with the term "racism." After the president's inauguration, there were the realities of Muslim-country bans, an uptick in high-profile deportations and the associated racial profiling that accompanies both.
At least in classrooms I've observed, instead of being used as a laugh line, students are now using the term "racism" with more reverence. Because of the spike in race-fueled graffiti, bullying and actual assaults of minority students in schools, racism is now typically discussed as part of larger conversations about how student communities get roiled when peers act out in what can sometimes be politically tense school climates.
Though due to a negative circumstance the normalization of anti-immigrant and anti-minority bigotry it's a good thing that young people (and even some adults) are refocused on the painful reality of everyday racism.
The truth of the matter is that, regardless of our race, ethnicity, gender or religion, we all have prejudices and biases that have been passed on to us by family, friends, institutions and society at large. It's time to understand which of these views we each hold and why.
For eight years, Americans got to pretend that racism was over because, after all, the nation had come together to elect, and then re-elect, our first African-American president.
However, it's pretty obvious that none of us is as enlightened and free of bias as we had wished whether we're white people harboring bias toward minorities, or people of color who have decided that all white people are supremacists.
Last week, responding to pressure from Jewish groups who had criticized him for not speaking out against a national rash of anti-Semitism, President Trump finally uttered the words so many of us had been waiting for since election night when he promised to unite our country: "We have to fight bigotry, intolerance and hatred in all of its very ugly forms."
Let's hope this isn't just a throwaway line. The nation needs our president to really mean it and start acting like the "least racist" person he believes himself to be.
Samsung held their Galaxy Tablet event earlier today. Samsung introduced two new tablets, the Galaxy Tab S3 and the Galaxy Book powered by Wintel. Our report presents you with several videos covering an overview of both devices and a few video shorties from Samsung.
Samsung spent the first half of their presentation today rehashing how Samsung had learned from the Note 7 disaster and that they're now going out of their way to ensure that quality control is at an all time high. They then shifted to talk-up the coming 5G networks coming next year via Verizon who came on stage to say that testing will continue throughout 2017 but that they looked forward to seeing the first 5G smartphone debut late next year.
That last tidbit of information could make people delay a purchase of a new smartphone this year because no matter how sexy a smartphone is, no one wants to miss out on the Gigantic leap in speed that a 5G network and 5G ready smartphone will deliver. Verizon said that they'd be talking more about the new 5G network later during the week at the Mobile World Congress event.
The videos below provide an overview of both new tablets in more depth. But it was clear to me that they're shooting at Apple again by making it abundantly clear that their tablets come with their next-gen S Pen and a keyboard free in the box, not sold separately (like Apple). You just knew that they loved to say that as if it was a direct poke in Apple's eye.
Galaxy Tab S3 vs iPad
New Windows based Samsung Book
Simple Samsung Videos without Audio
Galaxy Tab S3 Design
Accessories
New S Pen
Samsung Galaxy Book
The Samsung Galaxy Book caters to productive on-the-go professionals who are looking for a powerful computing device that isn't tied to the desktop. The Samsung Galaxy Book is lightweight and has a versatile form factor, easily transforming from a tablet to notebook. This tablet is a new Windows 2-in-1 powered by Intel.
On Thursday we posted a report titled "Samsung will introduce the Galaxy S8 at a Special New York Event on March 29 and Ship in April. This was confirmed at the end of today's presentation with their new promo ad below.
A Few Shots from the Samsung Tablet Event
Samsung Introduced a New Touch Controller for Galaxy Gear VR Headset
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U.S. Reportedly Found Little Terror Threat From Seven Targeted Countries
02/26/17
Source: RFE/RL
The Associated Press reported on February 24 that U.S. security analysts have found no clear terror threat from citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries targeted in President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban.
According to a draft document obtained by AP, analysts at the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence unit concluded that citizenship in the targeted countries is an "unlikely indicator" of a person's potential to conduct a terror attack and that few people from those countries have carried out attacks or been involved in terrorism-related activities in the United States.
The countries listed in the temporary travel ban were Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
Trump cited terrorism concerns as his reason for signing the sweeping temporary travel ban on January 27, which also halted the U.S. refugee program. A U.S. district court judge in Washington state blocked the government from carrying out the order earlier this month.
Public support for Trump's #MuslimBan is in free fall. pic.twitter.com/SZjiu2MtRf CAP Action (@CAPAction) February 17, 2017
Doubts about whether Trump's order appropriately targeted countries which are the source of terrorist threats to the United States was a major issue raised by the U.S. appeals court in San Francisco which upheld the lower court's block on the order.
AP said a spokeswoman for Homeland Security did not dispute the authenticity of the draft document but said it was not a final, comprehensive review of information from all the government's intelligence sources.
"The document you're referencing was commentary from a single intelligence source versus an official, robust document with thorough interagency sourcing," spokeswoman Gillian Christensen told AP. "The...report does not include data from other intelligence community sources. It is incomplete."
AP said the three-page analysis, which Trump reportedly requested after the order was blocked by the courts, was based on publicly available information such as press releases about Justice Department terrorism cases, the State Department's visa statistics and country reports on terrorism, and the 2016 Worldwide Threat Assessment from the U.S. intelligence community.
Not one person from any of the 7 countries in #MuslimBan has ever committed a crime like this in the US.
Not. One.https://t.co/JwuzniHEb6 Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) February 26, 2017
AP said the analysis challenged Trump's core claim that the United States was endangered by visitors from the seven targeted countries. Of 82 people the U.S. government has determined were inspired by a foreign terrorist group to carry out or try to carry out attacks in the United States, it said that just over half were U.S. citizens born in the United States.
The others were from 26 countries, led by Pakistan, Somalia, Bangladesh, Cuba, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Uzbekistan. One person each was from Iran, Sudan, and Yemen, but none from Syria -- the nation restricted most severely in the Trump order, which included an indefinite ban on taking in Syrian refugees.
The analysis also found that terrorist organizations in Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan are regionally focused, while groups in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen do pose a threat to the United States.
We challenged accuracy of tally in Trump list of those detained by #MuslimBan https://t.co/w02FHAbPM7 ACLU National (@ACLU) February 26, 2017
The White House has said it is in the process of writing a replacement order that will be issued next week, but AP said the revised order is expected to target the same seven countries as the original order.
Trump told a gathering of conservatives in Washington on February 24 that "we will not be deterred from this course."
He vowed that would "never apologize" for protecting the safety of the American people and promised that "we are going to keep radical Islamic terrorism the hell out of the country."
Based on reporting by AP
Iran's budget bill proposes $125M to deal with dust storms
02/26/17
Source: Tehran Times
TEHRAN - The national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year (March 2017-March 2018) has proposed a budget of 5 trillion rials (nearly $125 million) to mitigate the effects of dust storms, MP Abbas Papizadeh said.
"#Khuzestan is alone"
Source: Mosalas magazine
Dust storms which consistently disturb local residents of southwestern province of Khuzestan coupled with public utility outage has become a national concern lately. Dust particles originated from host spots (mostly dried up wetlands) located in Iran or Iraq are the main reasons for the storms.
In that regard a budget of 300 billion rials (nearly $8 million) has been recently allocated to repair and maintain the power grid damaged by the dust storms, Mehr news agency quoted Papizadeh as saying.
However, he said, the budget won't do because the next time the dust storm hit the area it would cause damage to the power grid once again, so the budget is only a short-term fix.
"Up to now, the province has already sustained losses of 500 billion rials (nearly $12.5 million)," the MP stated, "So such [small] budget won't help resolve the issue in the long run."
Unfortunately the losses dust storms incur on the economy of the country amounts to more than $125 million a day, Papizadeh warned, "due to the latest dust storms stricken the area Iran's oil production has dropped by 800,000 barrels."
The complaint of Ahvaz
Source: Hamshahri Javan magazine
Elsewhere in his remarks Papizadeh highlighted that a budget of $100 million will be withdrawn from the National Development Fund and channeled into projects to fight and control dust storms.
President Hassan Rouhani presented the administration's draft of the national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year 1396 to the Majlis on December 4.
The proposed national budget amounted to about 10.849 quadrillion rials (about $486 billion), an 11 percent rise year on year. Next year's national budget is set with a focus on unemployment, water resources, railways and the environment.
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.
Soon, your Samsung phone may be able to recognize your iris and log you into your Windows PC.
Iris-scanning via phone is not yet a feature available for Samsungs latest Galaxy Book 2-in-1s, which were announced at Mobile World Congress. But the company wants to quickly bridge the gap between its Galaxy smartphones, which run on Android, and its Windows PCs and 2-in-1s.
Software called Samsung Flow links the companys Android smartphones to Windows PCs. Samsung and Microsoft are looking to collaborate on logins via Windows Hellodesigned to use biometric authentication to log into PCsand one big Flow feature is the ability to use Galaxy smartphones to wirelessly log into the new Galaxy Book.
Samsung is providing the ability to log into its Windows 10 PCs with Galaxy smartphones for convenience and security. For example, users will be able to bypass Windows Hello and keep retina scan information on a smartphone once that feature is available.
Otherwise, a user now can swipe a finger on a Galaxy smartphone or use pattern authentication to log into Galaxy Book. Thats a unique feature and independent of Windows Hello. The Galaxy Book doesnt have a fingerprint scanner, so the smartphone is needed for that. An NFC connection is established for smartphone-based logins into Windows PCs.
Samsung is working with Microsoft to integrate more advanced authentication features, said Eric McCarty, vice president of mobile product marketing for Samsung Electronics America.
Samsung has some unique biometric authentication technology on its handsets that could be used to log into Windows PCs. The now defunct Galaxy Note 7 had an iris scanner, which could make it to future Galaxy handsets.
In addition to its efforts on authentication, Samsung is trying to figure out ways to better link up its Android handsets, Windows PCs and Tizen OSes. There is a considerable gap between Samsungs Windows PCs and devices with Tizen, like smartwatches and TVs. Samsung Flow links the Galaxy Books only to Android handsets, not Tizen devices.
Thats a big hole in an otherwise strong product lineup, and keeps it a step behind main rival Apple, whose devices link up seamlessly.
Samsung is also looking at ways for wearables to better communicate with its PCs, McCarty said.
These are forward-looking plans, and Samsung has to determine the best user experience and utility for customers, McCarty said.
The mobile industry is so anxious for 5G that its now planning something thats almost 5G, but will be ready a year earlier.
On Sunday, many of the worlds biggest equipment vendors and mobile operators joined hands to accelerate the 5G NR (New Radio) specification that will define many elements of 5G. The new technology they plan to produce will handle some of the planned uses of 5G but will be ready for large-scale trials and deployments in 2019 instead of 2020, they say.
Theres a lot at stake with 5G for both carriers and the companies that supply their networks, who are all gathering this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The next generation of technology will give operators new services to sell, like multi-gigabit broadband and special offerings for the internet of things and connected cars, and it should help vendors emerge from a years-long sales drought following the rollout of LTE.
The official 5G NR specification is expected to be finished in time for large-scale deployments starting in 2020. It will be part of whats called Release 15 from the 3GPP, the group that standardized LTE. The new specification thats being proposed, called Non-Standalone 5G NR, will use LTE radios and back-end software while adding another mode that will be able to support some 5G use cases, according to a press release by its backers.
Most of the main industry players are part of that group. Vodafone, AT&T, and carriers from many other countries are on board, along with hardware makers like Qualcomm, Intel, Ericsson, Huawei and ZTE. They plan to propose Non-Standalone 5G NR at a 3GPP meeting next month in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Nokia and Verizon are notable exceptions. At a Nokia event in Barcelona on Sunday, Nokia President and CEO Rajeev Suri said they were implementing the first commercial end-to-end 5G solution with fixed wireless networks in several U.S. cities. Intel is also involved in that rollout, which is based developments from the Verizon 5G Technical Forum.
The group will still support the true 5G specification, called Standalone 5G NR, and gave assurances that their interim system will be compatible with that specification once its done.
A grassroots movement of fired-up citizens demands resistance to the White House and shifts Washingtons balance of power along the way.
It worked for the tea party.
Now President Donald Trumps opponents hope the same tactics bring them similar success.
Armed with a playbook on civic engagement, the Indivisible movement has inspired a deluge of phone calls, letters and emails to members of Congress in Southern California and nationwide, urging them to protect the Affordable Care Act and oppose rollbacks of environmental laws and other Republican priorities.
Those messages have fueled protests in many House Republicans backyards. Sign-waving protesters greeted Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, on at least two recent occasions, including a campaign fundraiser Wednesday, Feb. 22, at the Mission Inn in Riverside.
Trump critics throughout the country are pressuring House members to hold town hall meetings. Republicans who hold the meetings often face overflow crowds and sharply worded questions, especially about Obamacare. In some cases, lawmakers cut their town-hall meetings short or left through side doors to avoid public wrath.
Pictures of Republicans like Calvert who arent holding town-hall meetings end up on fliers captioned Missing. The face of Rep. Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, appeared on the sides of milk jugs in his district.
Its a flashback to 2009 and 2010, when Obamacare opponents angrily confronted congressional Democrats at town hall meetings. Then as now, lawmakers blamed the protests on out-of-district agitators.
With the help of conservative groups like FreedomWorks, the tea party is credited with helping the GOP gain control of Congress, blocking parts of President Barack Obamas agenda and nurturing the populism that led to Trumps surprise win over Hillary Clinton.
Liberals hope the same mix of passion and coordination stymies and eventually topples Trump.
Boosting their cause is a groundswell of anti-Trump sentiment that spurred millions to attend womens marches the day after Trumps inauguration. The same backlash inspired protests at airports following Trumps executive order barring citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States.
John Berry, a cabinet member of the Redlands Tea Party Patriots, said hes amused that progressives are copying tea party tactics after denouncing the tea party as racist.
Its the same old activists wearing a new hat, he said. This is a center-right country. The Democrats and liberals are a patchwork of divergent interests. Thats why it will never work.
One of the leading anti-Trump movements is a coalition of groups known collectively as Indivisible.
Marcia Godwin, an associate professor of public administration at the University of La Verne, described Indivisible as a warp speed, super-sized version of the tea party movement.
It took until the summer after Obamas inauguration for district-level protests to hit congressional offices and we are only a month into the Trump administration, Godwin said. The success of the womens march and the continuing rise of social media have sparked a wider and quicker response.
Former Democratic congressional staffers set the foundation for Indivisible, according to published reports.
There was this overwhelming cry from different groups of people about not knowing what steps to take in order to fight, Sarah Dohl, an Indivisible board member and a former communications director for a Democratic congressman from Texas, told CNN. We thought we could help.
Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda is free and available online. Today, there are 7,000 Indivisible-linked groups in all 50 states, CNN reported.
The 26-page guide offers step-by-step instructions for communicating with members of Congress while admiring the tea partys effectiveness and blasting its motives.
If a small minority in the tea party could stop President Obama, then we the majority can stop a petty tyrant named Trump, the Indivisible guide read.
Indivisible is in Republican and Democratic congressional districts. The chapter in Californias 42nd Congressional District, which Calvert represents, is called Indivisible 42.
Julia Peacock, one of Indivisible 42s more vocal members, lives in Calverts district. A registered Democrat who spoke to Mission Inn protesters, Peacock said she took it for granted that Clinton would win and watched election night results in horror.
After I stopped crying and feeling like I was going to die, I decided to get active, said Peacock, who teaches high school in Perris.
Indivisible 42 is nonpartisan and its members include Democrats, Republicans and independents, Peacock said, adding the goal isnt to unseat Calvert, who represents a Riverside County district with a plurality of GOP voters and is the Inland Empires longest-serving congressman with more than 20 years in office.
That said, the fallout of our activism could very well end in candidates who will take him on (in 2018), she added.
On a Facebook Live video recorded at the Mission Inn protest, Peacock said she brazenly announced that Im running for Congress against Ken Calvert. Peacock could not be reached for comment to clarify her remarks.
Calvert, who won re-election last November with 59 percent of the vote, hasnt held a town hall meeting since 2009, according to Indivisible 42. Calverts spokesman disputes that.
Indivisible 42 visited Calverts Corona district office at least twice this month. In one instance, Calverts staff met with some from the group as more people waited outside.
In an emailed statement, Calvert said while he didnt think Indivisibles members are paid activists, I do believe they are following the playbook written by the national Indivisible organization, which is organized by (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi loyalists in Washington, D.C.
Lets be clear, the people who have protested my meetings in the district as well as my office and called for a town hall want me to take my marching orders from Nancy Pelosi and follow her liberal agenda, he said. However, thats not the agenda I campaigned on or was elected to support, so the bottom line is thats simply not going to happen period.
The reality is these Nancy Pelosi supporters want to yell and scream at me at a town hall and thats not going to solve our nations problems, Calvert added.
Instead, Im meeting with people who arent interested in political stunts and shoving a camera in my face, but in sitting down and discussing the complicated challenges facing our country including how to replace the failed Obamacare with a system that works better for Americans.
If Calvert is so confident in his support, he shouldnt object to a public forum with his constituents, Peacock said.
If (a town hall) does get loud, it wont be because were not reasonable human beings, she said. It will be because hes not answering questions.
Academic observers say its too early to tell whether Indivisible and groups like it can repeat the tea partys success.
Right now, this (anti-Trump) movement is about everything, said Dan Schnur, a political scientist at the University of Southern California. And at a certain point in the not-too-distant future, theyre going to have to decide they cant just be a no-Trump movement. Theyre going to have to establish a more specific set of policy priorities.
The movements future depends on a sustained level of passion and money for logistical support, said Shaun Bowler, a distinguished professor of political science at UC Riverside.
The thing is, we are not quite sure what it takes to move from something temporary to something more permanent, he said. The move from protest to organization is not an easy one and not one that just happens.
How Trump enacts his policies, not just the policies themselves, may give the resistance momentum, Bowler added.
Its also unclear whether, like the tea party, the resistance goes after Democrats deemed to be too soft on Trump. Thanks to the tea party, many congressional Republicans fear a challenge from within more than a Democratic opponent.
The anti-Trump movement might have a harder time recruiting followers than the tea party, said Patrick Miller, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Kansas.
Any new movement on the left faces the challenge of mobilizing a group of people who are not just politically more diverse but also demographically, Miller said. So that can impair the success on the left now as compared to what we saw under the tea party.
But if activists on the left can mobilize and coordinate people to become involved in politics at the grassroots level and vote at higher rates despite any challenges, then they can see some success going forward.
Bill Paxton, a four-decade-long star on broadcast and cable TV, and the big screen, has died, his family announced today.
His career spanned such films as Apollo 13, Aliens, Twister and Weird Science and the HBO series Big Love. At the time of his death, Paxton was starring in the CBS TV series Training Day.
He died of complications from surgery, his family announced in a statement to the media. Bill Paxton was 61.
Bill Paxton was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1955 and arrived in Hollywood at age 18, working as a set dresser for Roger Corman. Roles in low budget films and television led to some quirky credits, including writing and directing the award-winning Fish Heads short film that aired in 1980 on Saturday Night Live.
A small role in Alien led to a starring performance as Private Hudson in Aliens in 1986, according to his biography at imdb.com.
His big break came in One False Move, and other roles included Tombstone, Apollo 13, True Lies, `Titanic and the HBO series Big Love.
Paxton reportedly lived in Ojai.
The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers has registered its dissatisfaction with government's replacement of the CEO of Ghana Oil Company (GOIL).
According to them, it comes as no surprise that barely a day after the political removal of a CEO that has clearly more than performed with only two years to retirement and fuel prices at GOIL has had to go up from the previous GHC4.140 to now GHC4.260.
"The danger signs are indeed on the wall now more than ever at a time when fuel prices keep going up by the day and the government seems unable to do much immediately though it has affirmed severally it will reduce the taxes," Executive Secretary of the group, Duncan Amoah, said in a statement.
The group prayed the replacement will not lead to the situation where "we will not have cause to miss or regret this political tinkering that has gone on with GOIL anytime soon lest we lay the blames squarely at the appointing authority."
Read the statement below:
THE DISMISSAL OF GOIL MD/CEO-MOST UNFORTUNATE DECISION
We read with utter shock and dismay, the dismissal of one of the most enterprising Chief Executive Officers in Ghana, Mr Patrick Akorlie, Managing Director of Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) by the government and immediate replacement of same by the Hon. Osei Prempeh a former member of Parliament for Nsuta kwamang and a Deputy Attorney General.
BACKGROUND
Ghana entered a very crucial phase of its downstream development on the 1st of July 2015, when price liberalization was introduced. This policy which not only is targeted at huge savings for the government in excess of $40 million /monthly in losses that it previously had to pay to the bulk distribution companies ( BDCS ) but also introduced with it the needed competition by the over 87 oil marketing companies.
The first six months of this new pricing regime saw very stiff competition by all the OMCs such that fuel prices continuously dropped from the regions of ghc17.055/gallon to ghc11.92/gallon until the introduction of the energy sector levies that pushed prices back up above ghc16/gallon following which fuel prices have never dropped to anything below ghc15 till date.
Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) through its hardworking team led by Patrick Akorlie had to work around the clock on a daily basis to ensure the other multinationals do not fleece the ordinary man on the street by realistic, efficient and reasonable pricing even at periods when prices have had to go up.
Akorlie prior to accepting of the CEO/MD position was the finance manager of the same company who had to take the mantle of leadership after the politicians realized it's a lot technical than political.
From the time of assuming the role as the Ceo, GOIL has seen tremendous growth figures from under 190 service stations to over 300 and still counting.
The strong leadership of Patrick Akorlie has seen GO not only become the most preferred brand but also the benchmark for other Omcs across the country with the consumer as the number one priority even through difficult periods and times.
As a quasi-state petroleum company with other shareholders, Goil under Patrick Akorlie has recorded significant returns on their operations all through the period and can easily pass for a blue chip company doing very well.
Goil is not only crucial in Ghana's deregulation programme but the over 20years experience of Mr Akorlie and his able team including the Chief Operating Officer Mr Alexander Adziw, and the head of GO Energy Mr Amankwaa seem to not to matter to the appointing authority who at this crucial period believes a political head will help matters whiles the contrary will most likely be the outcome as past records of same company will point to.
THE PLIGHT OF THE CONSUMER WITH A WEAKENED GOIL
Consumers across the country have always turned to a stronger GOIL for cheaper or realistic prices at periods when the many multinationals have adjusted prices way above reasonable, some of these other foreign OMCs will stop at nothing to make as much profit as available and that is where the experiences and steady hands of the now disbanded and demoralised Akorlie team came in handy.
A weakened GOIL not only becomes a danger to the unsuspecting public but serves to pave way for domination of the downstream by multinationals who will not only make super profits but repatriate same at the end of the accounting year.
A new head at this crucial time when he has to settle into the position and gain as much experience to drive GOIL the way it needs to and be positioned to compete as a benchmark with the consumer interests in mind is a dark grey area for the millions in the country as of this time per this new move.
The skill to manage over 300 real time outlets daily is not one of those skills that could ordinarily be acquired in a second and that is why it was our expectation that even if need be to replace it would have been from the management of same instead of a completely new head who now has to settle in.
It comes as no surprise that barely a day after the political removal of a CEO that has clearly more than performed with only two years to retirement and fuel prices at GOIL has had to go up from the previous GHC4.140 to now GHC4.260.
The danger signs are indeed on the wall now more than ever at a time when fuel prices keep going up by the day and the government seems unable to do much immediately though it has affirmed severally it will reduce the taxes.
We remain optimistic about the future as our eyes and ears patiently await the 2017 budget come March 3rd.
It remains our hope we will not have cause to miss or regret this political tinkering that has gone on with GOIL anytime soon lest we lay the blames squarely at the appointing authority.
Signed
Duncan Amoah
Executive Secretary
( COPECGH )
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The energy crisis which led to loss of lives, shut down of businesses and layoffs for at least four years under the John Mahama administration was never solved.
It was put on steroids in the last quarter of 2016 to give a semblance of a crisis that has been solved, Vice President of the IMANI Ghana has said.
According to Kofi Bentil, the "steroids are now wearing off" and the dark cloud of the power paralysis popularly called 'dumsor' is gradually returning in full swing and the new administration must get a handle on it.
He was contributing to the energy sector debate on Joy FM's news analysis programme Newsfile, Saturday.
The sector has been described as heavily indebted by the new president Nana Akufo-Addo in his first state of the nation address.
He quoted a $240 billion debt, $800 million of which is owed to the commercial banks, a scenario which the president said is crippling the energy sector.
As if the debt is not enough, the dreaded load shedding programme which kept the country in the dark for most part of the last four years is gradually returning.
At some point in 2015, the country was subjected to a 24-hour-off-12-hours-on load shedding programme which was an inconvenience to domestic and commercial users of electricity.
However, the situation abated in the last quarter of 2016, which was an election year.
The New Patriotic Party had castigated the John Mahama-led administration, accusing them of being incompetent and failing to solve the energy crisis.
Barely two months into office, the dreaded dumsor is returning with a number of residents complaining of unannounced lights out for longer hours. The situation seems to be getting worse in the Ashanti region, where lights are barely on.
The new Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko had rebuffed claims that dumsor had returned but conceded the power outages which people are experiencing may be as a result of localised problems.
Discussing the matter on Newsfile Kofi Bentil said: "Dumsor was never solved. The energy sector was put on steroids in the last quarter of last year. And the doctors will tell you is that you can get rid of the symptoms but the steroids are wearing off right now and we are going back to the same problem.
Technically we are still using emergency power. You don't solve a problem when you are using emergency power," he charged.
He said the onus now lies with the new government to completely solved a problem he believes is daunting.
Editor in Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Kweku Baako Jnr agreed in part with Kofi Bentil that dumsor was never solved but was quick to add that the NPP has no excuse and must solve the problem.
Former Minister of State in the NDC Kweku Ricketts Hagan on his part said the energy debts did not begin with the NDC.
He would not go into the argument about who caused the dumsor problem but said; "We need to find a permanent solution to the problem.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Editor-in-Chief of the Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako, has urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to fix the frequent power outages (dumsor) in the country.
According to him, although the erratic power situation was not solved totally by the John Mahama-led administration, it is no excuse for Ghanaians to be experiencing it under the new government.
Dumsor wasnt solved totally but thats no excuse. The president and his team must fix it, he said on Newsfile on Multi TV on Saturday, 25 February.
His comments come on the back of the erratic power situation in the country lately which has left many areas without electricity, sometimes for days.
Watch video of the show below:
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Accra West, Eric Asante, has said all things being equal, the frequent power outages in parts of the capital will cease by the first week of March.
Source: Classfmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan has stated that his administration will work with the traditional authorities to help transform the region.
He said the Central region is the first capital of Ghana but the region cannot boast of any development. Rather it is the fourth poorest region in the country, he observed. He therefore implored all to put their differences aside and work together as a region to achieve their goals.
He was speaking to Onua FMs Central Regional correspondent Kwame Kakarba when he paid a courtesy call on Nananom (chiefs) of Oguaa Traditional Council at Cape Coast. Kwamena Duncan added that his office will be opened to everybody in the region especially chiefs. He also appealed to government and Museum and Monuments Board to consider paying royalties to the Oguaa Traditional Council to enable it raise money to meet some developmental challenges in the town.
Source: 3news
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Ghana's former High Commissioner to India, Lawyer Sam Pee Yalley has bemoaned the negative picture painted by President Akufo Addo during his first presentation of State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament.
President Akufo-Addo on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, in line with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution, appeared before Parliament to deliver his first State of the Nation Address.
The address gave highlights of the present state of various sectors of the countrys economy, as inherited from the erstwhile John Mahama-led government.
He also announced his plans to remedy the challenges left behind by the previous administration.
Commenting on a panel discussion on Radio Golds Alhaji and Alhaji, Sam Pee Yalley who described the address as the shortest SONA in the countrys history indicated that there was no way the previous administration achieved zero success while in office.
The immediate-past administration, he said, chalked various achievements; adding that President Akufo Addo should have mentioned it instead of painting a gloomy picture of the economy.
the president gave an impression that the country will collapse. If this is the situation how did the president order that we should pay outright the outstanding money of the military? He forgot all the good things that the former President did. The world is not made up of mountains alone. If you talk about the mountains, you talk about the valleys also. Why did the President choose to go to parliament then lament and forget about the fact that we have achieved something? Why are we painting this country as a failed state whereas other countries are looking up to us as their saviours; I dont understand
Speech writers
Sam Pee Yalley has also urged the President to educate his speech writers on the use of the Ghanaian People.
According to him, it gives the impression that we are foreigners or we are not valued as Ghanaians.
Those who are handling the President and his speeches; we are not the Ghanaian people; we are Ghanaians. It gives the impression that either foreigners are writing these speeches or they just dont value us. On two occasions, they refer to us; the Ghanaian people. Please we are not the Ghanaian people; we are proud Ghanaians. These little things affect the image of the country. So Mr President, I want you to advise your speech writers that we are not the Ghanaian people. We are Ghanaians
Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The government has appointed James Coffie as the new Managing Director of Ghana Post.
The new Managing Director has pledged to collaborate with the management of the organisation to turn the fortunes of Ghana post around positively.
Last month some workers of Ghana Post demanded the immediate removal of their former Managing Director, Eric Yao and two others who they accused of financial malfeasance.
The aggrieved workers alleged that, the former MD connived with the companys Head of ICT, Godfred Aboagye, to embezzle funds.
The Public Relation Officer of Ghana Post, Ekow Painstil who confirmed the new appointment to Citi News said, the MD has called for full cooperation from the companys management and staff and has assured them of his commitment to enhancing the companys growth.
As we speak, the handing over is done and so the old MD is not in position. We are all aware there is a new government in power and the new government comes with the responsibility of making sure government agencies are management by their people so it may be coincidental or perhaps the government had its programs already. We cannot say it is due to the pressure the workers gave that gave birth to the appointment of the new managing director.
Ghana post will be profitable again
The Minister Communications, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, has said she will work to Ghana Post an efficient and profitable state agency. According to her, the company has the potential to expand and play a vital role in improving modern communication.
According to her, the company has the potential to expand and play a vital role in improving modern communication in the country especially in rural areas but is unable to do same presently.
She noted that she had started conversations with the management of the company on how to revamp its operations.
Source: Citifmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The chairman of the GOIL Board of Directors is accusing president Nana Akufo-Addo of breaching procedures in his appointment of a new Chief Executive officer of the company.
In a statement issued today, Board Chairman, William Asumaning noted that the president did not follow due procedures in his new appointment of the GOIL CEO.
He is convinced the president did not follow due procedures in his new appointment of the GOIL CEO, and stressed that GOIL is a public listed company on the Ghana Stock Exchange with its own regulations which makes it impossible for the president to appoint or remove a CEO without observing the necessary procedures.
The statement is in reaction to media reports on Friday that President Nana Akufo-Addo has appointed Mr. Osei Prempeh as new GOIL CEO.
But Mr Asumaning stated emphatically that GOIL "is not aware of the observance of such processes".
Read the full statement:
STATEMENT BY GOIL BOARD ON APPOINTMENT OF A NEW CEO
Information available to the GOIL Board per a publication on Ghanaweb on Friday, the 24th of February, 2017 captioned "Nana Addo Picks New Heads for Forestry Commission, Ghana Health Service and GOIL" indicates that the new CEO appointed for GOIL is one Mr. Osei Prempeh.
The Board would like to draw the attention of the SHAREHOLDERS and the public to the fact that GOIL is a public listed company on the Ghana Stock Exchange with its own Regulations. The Regulations state the process through which a CEO can be appointed or removed.
The Board would like to state emphatically that it is not aware of the observance of such processes as stated in the regulations leading to the appointment of any CEO and that we as a Board have not made any such appointment.
SIGNED.
Prof. William Asumaning (Board Chairman)
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Twenty-eight people have been injured, five critically, after an allegedly intoxicated driver veered through crowds at New Orleans Krewe of Endymion parade.
The age of the victims extends from as young as four, to those in their 40s. An on-duty police officer is among those injured.
A witness told The Times-Picayune the pick up truck involved took out rows of people watching the Mardi Gras event, and was only stopped when it collided with a dump truck.
The driver is currently in custody, and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said there is currently no evidence to link the incident to terrorism.
The site of the incident has been reopened to regular traffic after the pick up truck and two other impacted vehicles were removed.
Our thoughts are with those affected.
Dont drink and drive.
Source: ABC / The Times-Picayune / New Orleans Advocate.
Photo: NOLA.com / YouTube.
One person has been killed, and two more injured after a man drove a car into a group of pedestrians on a busy street in the German city of Heidelberg.
Local law enforcement say that the driver, aged in his 30s, drove the rental car into a group of three people standing outside a bakery around 3pm on Saturday.
A 73-year-old German man died in hospital following the attack, while a 32-year-old Austrian man and a 29-year-old Bosnian woman were injured.
Regional newspaper Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung said that the man was stopped at a red traffic light, and that he put his foot down when it tuned green, hitting pedestrians and smashing into a pillar.
Witnesses say that the driver of the car was armed with a knife upon exiting the vehicle, and after attempting to flee the scene, was shot and injured by police in a brief stand-off.
The man, whose identity has not been released, is in hospital, and is reportedly not yet fit to be questioned. His motive remains unclear, but police believe he acted alone.
Source: BBC News.
Photo: Getty.
Donald Fake News Trumps relationship with the press is tenuous at the best of times he has excluded major outlets like CNN and The New York Times from briefings, and actually went as far as to call the news media the enemy of the American people, which is not concerning at all for a world leader in his position.
In light of this its not particularly surprising that Trump has piked out of the White House Correspondents Association Dinner, the annual event honouring journalists who cover the White House. The President confirmed this today via his favourite medium of Twitter, and wishing everyone concerned a great evening.
I will not be attending the White House Correspondents Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017
The sitting president is generally the guest of honour at the dinner. The last time one didnt attend was back in 1981, when Ronald Reagan gave it a miss, but he had a good excuse, having just survived an assassination attempt, and he still managed to phone in to joke around with journalists. The last president to skip it outright was Richard Nixon in 1972.
At the dinner, it is traditional for the president and the press to mock one-another, and the headlining comedian will usually subject POTUS to a light roasting. Given that Trump reacts about as well as Kanye when people make fun of him, it makes sense that he would have a hard time at something like this.
Jeff Mason, the president of the Correspondents Association, issued a statement shortly after Trumps Tweet, saying:
The White House Correspondents Association looks forward to having its annual dinner on April 29. The WHCA takes note of President Donald Trumps announcement on Twitter that he does not plan to attend the dinner, which has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic. We look forward to shining a spotlight at the dinner on some of the best political journalism of the past year and recognizing the promising students who represent the next generation of our profession.
Last month, Bloomberg and Vanity Fair, who typically host a Correspondents Dinner after party, pulled the plug on the event.
Source: NPR.
Photo: Washington Post / Getty.
It doesnt take a genius to realise that the Coalition is struggling right now. After winning the election last year by a bees dick, theyve not really had much political success, experiencing a series of gaffes, missteps and failures as they bleed their conservative base to the nutjobs in One Nation.
Its reflecting in the polls. According to todays Newspoll, Turnbulls in even rougher shape than he was mere weeks ago. On a two-party preferred basis, Labor leads the Coalition 55 45. That means if an election were held today with similar preference flows as the 2016 election, theyd win in a landslide scoring them over 85 seats.
One Nation has really built up support, too. Theyre now polling at 10 percent, which puts them at about the same level of support as the Greens. That is worrying.
This is the worst result Turnbull has copped since he took over the leadership. A quick reminder: Turnbulls justification for knifing Tony Abbott was the fact the government had been slaughtered in 30 consecutive Newspolls. This is Turnbulls 8th. His satisfaction rating is 29 percent one point lower than Abbotts was when he ate the kerb.
Its not all doom-and-gloom for Malc, though. Even though hes not well-liked, neither is Bill Shorten. Turnbulls still leading Bill in the preferred prime minister stakes and Shortens net satisfaction has plummeted since a similar poll at the end of last year.
Its almost as if the Australian population is waking up to the fact that the entrenched political establishment is actually a bit of a talentless shitheap without much aspiration beyond personal career advancement. Funny about that.
Source: The Australian.
Photo: Getty Images.
Retail giant Albert Boscov on Sunday was remembered as a fierce and unrivaled businessman, a committed philanthropist, a humanitarian, and a loyal friend and family man as several thousand people gathered for a public memorial in Reading.
From family, friends, public officials, buyers, vendors, employees and loyal customers - some who had met him, others who never got the opportunity - thousands gathered at Reading's Santander Arena to share personal recollections of a man who while small in stature was a giant not only in industry but in his community.
"So many here came to recognize the power of a man who could not change the time of the sunset but could in fact change our world," said Al Weber, a member of the board of directors, who delivered the opening remarks at the public memorial.
Boscov died Feb. 10 after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 87.
He was remembered with stories, music and videos, as speakers - from relatives, to friends and public officials, including former Gov. Ed Rendell - shared nuggets of recollections that conveyed the indomitable spirit of widely esteemed man. Former Gov. Tom Corbett, and Sen. Bob Casey were also in attendance, sitting among the speakers on the stage.
Tom McMahon former mayor of Reading noted that at 5' 7", Boscov was not a man of big stature, but he was a real-life superhero.
"He had no mask. No costume, but he was everywhere," he said. "He flew at the speed of light. He went from store to store chasing his dream."
Boscov, McMahon said, was a friend, mentor, and hard-working businessman who embraced equality and diversity, and treated everyone the same.
McMahon said that Boscov didn't just chase the pursuit of happiness, he captured it.
"He found his bliss, his great joy in living every day to its fullest," he said.
Son of a Jewish Russian immigrant, Boscov propelled what was once a small family business into a retail franchise with outlets across the state and the northeast region, with more than 7,000 employees. Boscov once said he knew about 500 of them personally.
"His store was not just a store," McMahon said. "It was not just enough to have customers. He wanted them to be friends."
Speaker after speaker remembered him as someone who generously gave back to his community, transforming the face and economic vitality of Reading.
Jim Boscov, his nephew and now CEO of the company, recalled how his uncle propelled a family operation to one of the biggest region-wide franchises. He recalled his uncle as a "master merchant" who knew every component of his business.
"Albert taught of us it's all about relationships. Everybody wins," Jim Boscov said.
Jim Boscov said that his uncle believed that "nothing is impossible." He said the retail business succeeds at time when others struggle because of what Boscov considered his "secret weapon" - the thousands of co-workers.
"He recognized that they made us special," Jim Boscov said. "He was a caring and compassionate man all his life. Not because it was good business but it was the right thing to do."
"He's one of the kindest most sincere heart warming and every other adjective you could use helping everyone and anyone," recalled Judy Campion, who ran a Boscov shoe department for 20 years with her husband. "I am grateful to have known him."
"He gave everyone an amazing work ethic," Janet Buck, a buyer who worked for Boscov for the past 22 years. "He was a human being. He treated everyone equally. Everyone felt very special ... very close to him."
State Sen. Judy Schwank, D-11th, called Boscov Reading's own guardian angel: "Our cheerleader in chief."
She remembered him as someone always willing to help in a good cause. "He would help you and not in a half-hearted way," she said.
Daughter Meg Boscov shared stories that conveyed the love between her father and her mother Eunice, his wife of more than six decades.
Her father doted on her mother every single day of their married life, adding that his affection and his gestures were natural, authentic, endearing and often mixed with silliness. She said her parents often broke into song and dance, and behaved like impulsive young lovers.
"My father's final words were addressed to my mother," Meg Boscov said. " 'Eunie Boscov, he said, I love you Eunie Boscov.'"
Former Gov. Ed Rendell recalled Boscov's contribution to his city.
"He probably did as much for the city of Reading as much as anyobdy in the city's history," he said. "It was absolutely incredibly what time he gave not for his business...for the city and state of Pennsylvania."
Rendell said that Boscov had great enthusiasm and ideas for projects.
He quipped: "He got so much money from me when I saw him coming I'd just take out my wallet and say Al here it is."
Rendell said Boscov would not let anything stop him from working to help revitalize Boscov.
Sen. Bob Casey said that Boscov would have probably skipped out on Sunday's memorial.
"My gut tells me he would probably want to cancel it and focus on a project and would want to sit down and start planning a project and a new way to start developing the downtown area," Casey said.
Former Gov. Tom Corbett shared a light-hearted memory: "He's the only man that ever called me honey...He had a great heart, great compassion for the people of Pennsylvania especially this region. There isn't anyway I would miss this."
After the string of beautiful tributes, the two-hour memorial wrapped up in the most fitting way: Up on the jumbotron a video of Boscov, leaving one of his stores, singing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah."
CLAY TOWNSHIP - Crews are hard at work Sunday morning as they're cleaning up from the Saturday evening storm that uprooted trees, downed utility lines and ripped roofs from barns.
Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Department Chief David Steffen said crews are also checking in on some residents to make sure everyone is safe and to assist those who need shelter or other forms of relief.
But as of now, it looks like there have been no injuries, he said.
A command center has been set up inside the Mt. Airy Durlach Fire Department on Durlach Road where voices and high-note tones crackled over hand-held radios. Several tables had been set up where the chief, firefighters and township crews looked over maps, coordinating their efforts.
The storm hit a wide area, said township manager Bruce Leisey. While most of the damage appears to be in the form of fallen trees and utility lines, crews are still getting an assessment on the extent of the damage.
Most of the storm damage struck northern Lancaster County, as well as the Wrightsville area in York County.
Police are asking motorists to avoid the area north of Route 322 to the Lebanon County line to reduce traffic congestion.
The National Weather Service is expected to investigate to determine whether or not the storm actually spawned a tornado, which would be the second February tornado in two years in Lancaster County.
Lancaster County took the brunt of a storm that hit parts of Central Pennsylvania Saturday afternoon, to the tune of about $7 million in damages, county emergency officials said in a news release.
Straight-line winds ripped through parts of the midstate at 75-95 mph, prompting tornado warnings in Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties Saturday afternoon. In Lancaster County where much of the damage took place, West Cocalico Township saw the heaviest impact. Damage was also reported in Clay Township, Columbia, and Elizabeth Township, officials said.
Some Lancaster County rural roads remained closed as of 3 p.m. Sunday and about 700 PPL customers are still without power. Officials credited the National Weather Service with issuing tornado warnings and the call to seek shelter as a reason there were no injuries.
The storm and its high winds came nearly a year after an EF2 category tornado hit Lancaster County, which caused about $8 million in damage. Though no injuries were reported in Saturday's storm, 22 farm buildings were damaged or destroyed and hundreds of trees were damaged or leveled along the most powerful part of the storm's path -- a nine-mile stretch about a half-mile wide in Lancaster County.
The area will not be eligible for federal or state assistance, according to a LancasterOnline.com report. The Red Cross has opened a reception center at the Durlach-Mt. Airy Fire Company in Stevens to help victims of the storm.
Donations can be made to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund at redcross.org or by calling 1-800-733-2767 for more information.
Betsy DeVos
Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
(Carolyn Kaster)
By Sam Inglot
Watching Betsy DeVos' face plastered across every TV and website for weeks on end as she slogged her way to become Secretary of Education was like reliving a nightmare we've experienced in Michigan for years. And it's a something that folks in Pennsylvania should wake up to as well.
When a friend on the East Coast sent me the piece written by Matthew Brouillette, formerly of the Commonwealth Foundation, the Betsy DeVos he was describing was not the DeVos I knew.
Brouillette said DeVos "has fought to improve conventional public schools while simultaneously expanding alternative school options."
That came to news to me, as someone who was born and raised in Michigan and attended public schools in the Great Lakes State my entire life, I've only known and seen how DeVos's name is held in contempt when crossed with public education.
I then realized I knew little about Commonwealth Foundation, and after a quick search, it all became clear.
The DeVos family has had their hands deep in Michigan politics for decades, particularly when it comes to education policy. The results have us dismayed that Betsy DeVos has now been exported to the rest of the USA.
Over the years, the DeVos family used their billions to influence a broad range of education and labor policies -- to the detriment of public school students, teachers, parents and working families.
But the DeVos family has not been idle outside of Michigan. They've been active propping up corporate-backed, right-wing organizations across the US in their bid for power and control.
Commonwealth Foundation is a member of the State Policy Network and a sister organization to the Michigan-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy, an organization we've lambasted here in Michigan for their free market run amok vision for the future.
The State Policy Network (SPN) is a right-wing "think tank" outfit that pushes for Right to Work laws, profit-driven charter schools, and against clean energy. The DeVos family, including Betsy, have deep ties to SPN and have backed the organization with their dollars and political capital.
Because of DeVos and the Mackinac Center, Michigan gives $1 billion a year to charter schools with little accountability or oversight. You can be sure, this is the goal of all SPN affiliates, including Commonwealth.
In fact, the Commonwealth Foundation backed a DeVos-supported bill for school vouchers in 2011, which was similar to a push DeVos tried in Michigan in 2000.
And the author of the pro-DeVos piece I mentioned above came from former Commonwealth Foundation CEO Matthew Brouillette, who previously worked as the director of education policy at the Mackinac Center in Michigan.
There's a dirty pipeline running in the SPN network where money, ideas, and people are funneled around the country to push an anti-labor agenda.
While supposed "think tanks" like Mackinac and Commonwealth Foundation push cookie cutter-like policy on a day-to-day basis, that's not what their true purpose is.
Their ultimate goal is to defund the left in the U.S. by stripping away power and resources from the labor movement, which they achieve in part by attacking core groups like the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers to try to reduce their membership and ultimately, their resources.
Brouillette's spin is the exact kind of thing you can expect from a corporate-backed front group like Commonwealth Foundation or any other SPN affiliate.
They want to concentrate wealth in the hands of the few and tip the scales against working families in favor of corporations and the wealthy.
We've seen what happens when groups like this have any say in policy -- no matter how small -- here in Michigan thanks to DeVos resources and it's not been good.
Folks in Pennsylvania should keep their eyes open to groups like Commonwealth Foundation when they chime in on policy because their goal is not to make our communities more sustainable and equitable, it's to appease their corporate backers and supporters like the DeVos family and Koch Brothers.
Sam Inglot is deputy communications director at Progress Michigan, a progressive communications hub and government watchdog group.
Maddie Bishop, 16, a Grade 10 student at Studio9 School of the Arts holds up one of her art pieces. Bishop has been selected to the prestigious SHAD summer university enrichment program. SHAD is a Canadian summer enrichment program for high-achieving high school students that runs every year. The program runs at 13 participating university campuses across Canada, where the students live in residence.
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"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"If I hear not allowed much oftener, said Sam, Im going to get angry. -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings
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A Lowndes County (GA) sheriff's deputy died Saturday night from injuries sustained in a collision between his patrol car and a semi-truck, according to the Georgia State Patrol early Sunday morning.
Troopers identified the Lowndes County sheriff's deputy as Michael Butler, 39, Valdosta Daily Times reports.
At 8:25 p.m. Saturday, Deputy Butler was responding to a domestic call "with all of his emergency equipment activated (lights and siren)," according to the GSP report.
The semi-truck was stopped for a stop sign and was beginning a right turn. "The patrol car struck the semi on the right front with its front end, the report says.
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PARIS (Reuters) French President Francois Hollande fired back at Donald Trump on Saturday after the U.S. president remarked in a speech that a friend thought Paris is no longer Paris after attacks by Islamist militants.
Hollande said Trump should show support for U.S. allies.
There is terrorism and we must fight it together. I think that it is never good to show the smallest defiance toward an allied country. I wouldnt do it with the United States and Im urging the U.S. president not to do it with France, Hollande said.
I wont make comparisons but here, people dont have access to guns. Here, you dont have people with guns opening fire on the crowd simply for the satisfaction of causing drama and tragedy, Hollande said, responding to questions during a visit at the Paris Agric fair.
During a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, Trump repeated his criticism of Europes handling of attacks by Islamist militants saying a friend Jim no longer wanted to take his family to Paris.
More than 230 people have died in a series of assaults in France since the beginning of 2015, and the country has been under a state of emergency rules since November the same year.
Trumps comments also drew a rebuke from the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo.
(Reporting by Bate Felix and Pascale Antonie; Editing by Ros Russell)
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Gov. Chris Christie has changed his tune on special prosecutors. The Republican from New Jersey has gone from demanding one to investigate Clinton to arguing that a special prosecutor is unnecessary to investigate Trump.
Video:
Chris Christie, fmr. prosecutor: When a special prosecutor gets involved, the thing gets completely out of control https://t.co/etApTgCf7l Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 26, 2017
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was asked if he supports a special prosecutor to investigate Donald Trump. He answered, I dont because the Justice Department over the course of time has shown itself with the professionals there have the ability to investigate these kinds of things. I just think, Jake, and whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, weve seen it happen on both sides. When a special prosecutor gets involved the thing gets completely out of control, and I dont think that serves anybodys purpose.
In August 2016, Christie called for a special prosecutor to investigate The Clinton Foundation, The Clinton Foundation must be investigated now. Unfortunately, the only appropriate action for our compromised Attorney General is to appoint a truly impartial Special Prosecutor. This must be investigated before Americans vote for President. Our system of justice deserves nothing less.
Christies view is that special prosecutors are necessary for Democrats, but not needed for Republicans.
There is more evidence of Trump wrongdoing than was ever presented by Republicans against Hillary Clinton and The Clinton Foundation, but Christie wants Trumps pal Jeff Sessions to oversee the investigation.
The strategy coming from the Trump White House is going to be to allow an investigation, but to make sure that it isnt independent and can be easily distorted and buried by Trump allies in Congress and the White House.
Christies comments signal that the Trump White House has firmly moved from denial to cover-up, which is why the heat must be kept on this president and his Republican allies.
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The following post, written by The Rev. Robert A. Franek, is a part of Politicus Policy Discussion, in which writers draw connections between real lives and public policy.
There were not long lines of people, as Donald Trump claimed during his speech at CPAC, waiting to get into that venue, however, when GOP Congressman Dave Brat tried hosting his town hall 60 miles away from where most of his constituents live, they came out and lined the streets. Indeed, Republican Representatives and Senators in states from Virginia to Arkansas to Iowa were greeted by crowds of protestors when they showed up for town halls during last weeks recess for district days. Passionate citizens from all walks of life told heartbreaking stories of what would happen should they lose key healthcare benefits made possible by the Affordable Care Act. And they have every reason to hold their representatives feet to the fire. As Jason Easley reported after a leak revealed the substance of the Republican plan.
The Republican plan would kill subsidies and Medicaid expansion. It would allow states to create high-risk pools with benefit caps and would cause millions of Americans to lose their health care. The Republican plan is a death sentence for millions of Americans who benefit from the ACA.
After seeing the heat their colleagues were taking some Republicans, claiming town halls were too dangerous, looked for alternatives or tried canceling altogether rather than face the fire of their constituents. This inspired none other than former Representative Gabby Giffords to challenge these members of Congress to face their electorate. Even Hillary Clinton chimed in on Twitter If you cant stand the heat get of out theCongress.
The future of healthcare policy is a life and death matter for every American. The Affordable Care Act is not an insurance policy that only applies to people who get their health insurance through the exchanges, but a law that applies to every healthcare policy in the country. Not only would tens of millions of people lose their life saving healthcare with the repeal of the ACA, but every American would face the reality of higher costs for less coverage, while the insurance and drug companies would see a surge in profits.
Economics alone should be enough to stop all efforts at a repeal of the current healthcare law the and the chaos that would create in the markets to say nothing of disruption to the lives of tens of millions of Americans. However, the people are not coming in droves to town halls with charts and binders of economic cost-benefit analysis. They are coming with stories of loved ones whose continued life has been made possible the Affordable Care Act. They are showing up to make the moral argument that lifesaving healthcare must not be taken away from tens of millions of people.
Many of these Republican lawmakers claim a devout Christian faith, however fail to show that faith when it comes to policies that help the poor and vulnerable in our society. The love of neighbor, especially the vulnerable neighbor, is at the heart of Christian teaching and scripture is clear that the neighbor is to be loved through social policy and practice. See Deuteronomy or Isaiah or Amos or Luke.
This love of neighbor extends to the environment and the protection of air and water and all the ecosystems that sustain life. But sadly under the current administration fossil fuel industry profits are more important than sacred treaties or clean drinking water.
While Republican members of Congress were facing heat in their town halls, the protestors of the Dakota Access Pipeline set fire to their structures in an act of defiance before being forced to clear their camp last Wednesday.
However, this is not the end of the pipeline protests, as reported by Reuters, The closing of the camp is not the end of a movement or fight, it is a new beginning, Goldtooth said in a statement on Thursday. They cannot extinguish the fire that Standing Rock started.
Indeed, the fire of passion started by the Stand Rock Sioux will continue so long as Donald Trump and his administration continue acts that violate sacred treaty rights benefiting a handful of fossil fuel elites. It is also clear where Trump is getting his inspiration. As Hrafnkell Haraldsson reported, 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.
While respect for treaties and common sense protection of the environment should have been enough to allow the Obama era policies to remain in place, the Trump administration chose instead to put profits over people (again).
But all policy and profit arguments aside, the moral directive stemming from the love of neighbor ethic ought to extend from the Trump administration to the Standing Rock Sioux not only to honor the treaty rights but to protect the water that is now utterly vulnerable to contamination by some of the dirtiest sludge on the planet. Remember, Water is life.
For the party that talks so much about the value of life they sure put a whole lot of energy into policies that promise to be a slow death sentence whether through lack of health insurance or a polluted environment.
As members of Congress return to Washington from their districts and Donald Trump from another tax-payer funded weekend at Mar-a-Lago the moral cries of the people continue to light sparks of opposition to the serious dangers of Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress who fail to hold him accountable all while lying to the people about their healthcare and tax reform plans.
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The father of the Navy Seal who was killed in Yemen is demanding a probe into whether President Trump put together the mission properly.
Bill Owens, the father of Navy Seal Ryan Owens, told The Miami Herald, Dont hide behind my sons death to prevent an investigation. I want an investigation. The government owes my son an investigation.
The Trump administration has gone out of their way to use the death of Ryan Owens to hide from accountability.
On February 8, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters, The action that was taken in Yemen was a huge success. American lives will be saved because of it. Future attacks will be prevented because of it. The life of Chief Owens was done in service to this country, and we owe him and his family a great debt for the information that we received in that raid. I think any suggestion otherwise is a disservice to his courageous life and the actions that he took. Full stop.
The father of Ryan Owens disagrees.
Lost in the fog of Trumps war with the press, and the looming Russia scandal is the reporting that the President badly bungled the raid in Yemen. It has been reported that Trump moved forward on the operation without sufficient intelligence, and the resulting raid was a disaster that left Ryan Owens and 28 civilians dead.
There is already significant support in Congress for an investigation into what happened in Yemen. Bill Owens deserves answers. Republicans in Congress spent years and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars investigating a Benghazi conspiracy theory. The least that these same Republicans can do is investigate the Yemen raid to give answers to a grieving father.
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Trumps Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to keep the Presidents promise that people wont lose their health care with the Republican Obamacare replacement during an interview on ABCs This Week.
Video:
ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos
Trump Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked numerous times by ABCs This Weeks George Stephanopoulos repeatedly asked if the White House would keep Trumps promise that everybody would have health care after Obamacare is repealed.
Transcript via ABCs This Week:
STEPHANOPOULOS: You say replace it with something better. So does that mean that no one who has coverage now will lose it?
SANDERS: I know that the goal is that we make sure that people dont lose their coverage and that we have to put a high priority on people that need it most. We have to lower costs and we have to make sure that the people that need insurance the very most are covered. But at the same time, George, we cannot survive under the current system. We have to make a massive overall to the health care system in America, because it is simply just not sustainable, and everybody agrees with that. There is nobody that argues that were on a track that we can maintain. So, were looking at every possible way to do exactly that: repeal a terrible , failed system and replace with something better.
STEPHANOPOULOS; Again, so Ill have to ask one more time. You keep say replace it with something better. So will the president guarantee that he wont sign a plan that will cause people that have coverage now to lose it?
SANDERS: Look, Im not going to speak specifically for the president on that topic, but what I can say is hes made it a high priority and a number one focus that we make sure that people that have insurance continue their insurance, particularly those in the highest need.
The White Houses refusal to say if Trump will keep his promise comes on the heels of a Bloomberg report that the Republican replacement plan will cause 51% of people who purchase plans through the exchange to lose their coverage, and 24% of the federal funding for Medicaid is going to be taken away.
The numbers add up to roughly 20 million Americans losing their health care under the Republican replacement plan. The numbers dont include the hundreds of millions of Americans who will move from fully insured to underinsured and have their out of pocket health care costs increase.
The duck and dodge on the health care question by Trumps White House Deputy Press Secretary are proof that Republicans fully intend to take health care away from tens of millions of people.
Spirit Airlines isn't worries about new low fare options that its rivals are rolling out. File
The CEO of Siemens USA, which makes gas turbines in Charlotte (above), says workers on the factory floor "need to be much more skilled than they were in the past." Provided/Siemens via New York Times
With fall in the air, cyclamen start peeking through the leaf litter, giving the woodland garden a splash of color when most plants have finished blooming. As those pink, white or magenta blooms unfurl and appear, it is a memorable sight to see. Read moreFall charmers and winter wonders
The Nexx Level Sports Center, planned to be built in Irmo, would host major sports tournaments weekly, and is projected to bring $51 million in spending to the area in the first five years, if developers can line up the financial support needed to build it. Read moreProposed Columbia area sports complex seeking financial commitments from county, state
Volumes of research through the ages affirm that animals matter in the equations of the human condition. They always have. They work, they entertain. Pets especially dogs, and yes, cats and birds, etc. are mans best friends. Caring about and for animals is a calling of humanity. Read moreBrinson: Animals need our help. So do the shelters that help care for them.
Like John and Steve, I will be doing something else during the Academy Awards broadcast tonight. Unlike them, however, I would like to put in a good word for a few of the movies that are up for the Best Picture award tonight. For personal reasons you would understand, I set out to see each of the nine Academy Award Best Picture nominees this year. I dont think I have ever done that before and I doubt I will again, but I am glad I did so this year. It made me see one or two films that I would otherwise have missed and am grateful to have seen. It also made me see one or two films I wish I hadnt seen, but it was worth it and I will soon forget them anyway.
I enjoy movies but the pickings are slim. I look for movies that are made for adults and that reflect some intelligence in the writing. After that, I would like to be warned if the film makes war on cultural or political decency. I was pleasantly surprised by my Best Picture project. If you do not avoid Hollywood films on principle, I would like to emphasize a few films that I think deserve a look.
Fences: August Wilson was a gifted playwright several of whose works make a permanent contribution to the American theater. I have been lucky to see his plays performed at the Penumbra Theater in St. Paul, the company that helped launch Wilsons career in the theater under the leadership of Lou Bellamy.
Fences was adapted for the screen by Wilson himself and the film was directed by Denzel Washington, who stars as Troy Maxson. James Greenberg tells the story behind the film in The long, long road to building Fences. Wilson insisted on a black director of the film adaptation. Greenberg quotes Wilson: Until the industry is ready to hire a black to direct De Niro or Redford, blacks should at least be able to direct their own experience. Wilsons insistence on a black director foreclosed or at least deferred wider recognition of his talent, the theme that lies in the background of Fences.
A.O. Scott aptly observes in his review of the film that Troy Maxson is one of the worlds great talkers. Comparing the film with the original stage production starring James Earl Jones as Troy, John Podhoretz finds the film wanting. But if the choice is between seeing the film or never seeing Fences, see the film. Its not a close call.
Troy Maxson is an unforgettable character. Troys wife is a strong character in her own right; her marriage to Troy is at the center of the story that we see. That surprised me. And Troy leaves behind a son and a daughter who make statements in different ways, each of which caught me by surprise. This is a worthy and moving film.
Hidden Figures: The movie tells the true story of the black women whose mathematical and engineering skills proved instrumental to the early success of the space program. The film is based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, who is interviewed here and here, among other places. The true story is amped up, Hollywood style, but how can you not love this film?
The injustice of segregation lies on the surface of this film. It harks back to the era of American history in which we learned that it is wrong to treat people differently based on the color of their skin. Unfortunately, we have overcome that particular teaching. Marriage, family, faith, education and intellect anchor this film. This is in every respect an utterly conventional Hollywood film that demonstrates the strength of the conventions used to tell a story that should be known.
Hacksaw Ridge: Directed by Mel Gibson, the film tells the story of Desmond Doss: In Okinawa during the bloodiest battle of WWII, [Doss] saved 75 men without firing or carrying a gun. Doss served as an Army medic displaying courage that was recognized with the Medal of Honor. This too is an utterly conventional Hollywood film, over the top and around the bend, but what a story. Kyle Smith provides a positive assessment in the New York Post. Richard Brody dissents in the New Yorker. Its a powerful film.
La La Land: A musical that is highly conventional, but the conventions are mostly a matter of history at this point. Written and directed by the audacious Damien Chazelle, the film is worth seeing if you like movie musicals. John Podhoretz is my favorite reviewer and he celebrated it.
Hell or High Water: Hugely enjoyable.
Arrival: A science fiction film starring Amy Adams as a linguist who communicates with the aliens, the film has a surprising prolife twist (as I saw it). Too long and now mostly forgotten.
Manchester By the Sea: Was absorbed while watching but mostly forgotten within a week of seeing it.
Lion: Too long and now forgotten.
Moonlight: I wish I handt seen it. I look forward to forgetting it. Im almost there.
Yesterdays New York Times featured a map displaying Where Oscar Best Picture nominees are liked most. Popularity by region proves in its own way to be an interesting and reliable indicator.
Like Steve, I havent watched the Oscars in a long time, certainly not in this century. Actually, the last Best Picture nominee I am aware of seeing is Beauty and the Beast, so my connection with Hollywood is tenuous.
I wouldnt dream of watching what promises to be an anti-Trump smugfest, but here is one more reason to stay away: the New York Times is going to advertise its commitment to truth on the Oscar show.
The New York Times will broadcast a commercial called The Truth Is Hard during Sundays Academy Awards, just days after the company and other news organizations were blocked from joining an informal, on-the-record White House press briefing. The 30-second ad includes audio from voices in the vein of news clips, talking about certain truths, from the truth is our nation is more divided than ever to the truth is the media is dishonest. It is the first television advertising from the Times since 2010 and its first brand-focused television ad in a decade. The ad closes with: The truth is hard. The truth is hard to find. The truth is hard to know. The truth is more important now than ever.
Here is the original version of the ad, but as noted below, it will have a special twist for the Oscars. More on that later:
The Oscars ad placement makes sense for the Times. It wont waste any money advertising to conservatives.
Listening to the Timess multiple propositions about truth, I am reminded of a much older and more optimistic formulation from a far more reliable source: you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. Free of left-wing shills like the New York Times, although I dont suppose that is what Jesus had in mind.
Here are screen shots of some of the propositions in the Times ad:
By the way, I agree that we should investigate whether Barack Obama fulfilled his promise to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would sell out the U.S. in his second term. It certainly seemed that way.
I have no idea about this one:
I have to say I agree with this one. Barack Obama not only didnt try to unite the country, he did his best to divide it.
I agree with this one, too. A number of Obamas orders were unconstitutional:
A lot of Democrats actually believe this:
I am all in favor of truth, I just dont think the New York Times is, on the controversial issues of the day, truthful or accurate. This is my reworking of one of the Timess many truth-oriented ads:
But that is not the end of the story. The Times has announced that tomorrow night, it will air a special version of the truth ad. In a rare display of courage, the Times will stand up for the right of celebrities to denounce Donald Trump! The First Amendment is under attack, right?
The Oscars version, running nationally, will sub in a pair of lines tailored to Hollywood viewers: The truth is celebrities should keep their mouths shut. The truth is everyone has the right to speak their [sic] mind.
Of course. Conservatives, too. And we also have the right to read a book rather than watch another dismal Oscars show.
In November, Rep. Darrell Issa had what, for him, may have been a near death experience. He almost lost his congressional race. Perhaps this explains why he agreed yesterday with Bill Maher that a special prosecutor should investigate Russias alleged interference with the 2016 presidential election.
Issa started out on solid ground, telling the lefty talk show host that House and Senate intelligence committees would look into Russias activities within the special areas they oversee. Thats how things should work. If theres an issue relating to Russian intelligence activity and hacking capabilities, thats for the intel committees, along with our intelligence agencies, to examine.
But, as the Washington Post reports, Issas answer was not sufficient for Maher. He pressed Issa formerly the head of the House Oversight Committee on whether he would have let that slide had similar suspicions arose involving the Democrats. Its a ridiculous question because holding congressional investigations does not amount letting anything slide.
These days, though, it seems that whats insufficient for Bill Maher is insufficient for Dareel Issa. When Maher opined that there needs to be a special prosecutor and that now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself the same way former Attorney General Loretta Lynch recused herself from an investigation into Hillary Clintons emails Issa agreed. He said:
Youre right, you cannot have somebody, a friend of mine, Jeff Sessions, who was on the campaign and who was an appointee. Youre going to need to use the special prosecutors statute and office.
Hold on there. How did we get from congressional investigations to a special prosecutor? And who is the target.
The Russians, or whichever overseas party did the hacking, may have broken U.S. law, but they cant be prosecuted.
Maher undoubtedly wants Team Trump, and indeed President Trump, to be prosecuted. But on what basis? What crime are Trumps people thought to have committed? What is the basis for believing they committed it?
Maher didnt say. Neither did Issa. Until there is good reason to believe that someone working on Trumps behalf committed a crime, there is no reason to call for a special prosecutor.
Moreover, Maher got his facts just about completely wrong when he tried to invoke as precedent the Hillary Clinton email scandal. Loretta Lynch did not recuse herself from the decision whether to prosecute Clinton; she deferred to James Comey, but retained the right to overrule him. And no special prosecutor was ever used. It was Comeys show.
Yet, instead of correcting Maher, Issa backed his conclusion (from false premises) that youre going to need to use a special prosecutor. (Im not sure what Issa meant by special prosecutors statute and office; the so-called Independent Counsel statute expired years ago.)
Heres how I think this should work. The appropriate committee[s] in Congress should investigate. The FBI can investigate if it sees fit, and apparently it is investigating.
If, based on the result of investigations, a target emerges whose identity is such that Attorney General Sessions might be conflicted, he should recuse himself. The appointment of a special prosecutor probably should be a last resort, used only if a potential conflict extends down the line at the Justice Department.
Were very far from any such scenario. I dont think the Senate Intelligence Committee has even started investigating yet.
Why did Issa jump off the deep end? I dont know. Maybe it had something to do with that near death experience in November.
Democratic National Committee members meeting in Atlanta this afternoon elected former Obama administration Secretary Tom Perez their new chairman. Perez defeated Minnesota Fifth District Rep. Keith Ellison on the second ballot by a vote of 235-200. Ellison picked up no votes on the second ballot after Perez fell one short of winning outright the first time around. Jonathan Martin does a good job reporting the story for the Times here.
Perez promptly moved to name Ellison deputy chairman of the DNC. Ellison will accordingly retain his perch in Congress representing Minneapolis and its inner ring suburbs. The outcome leaves those of us who oppose Ellison up close in Minnesota with the worst of both worlds.
The federal government has given its commitment to accept electronic documentation for exports as the World Trade Organisation, WTO, trade facilitation agreement comes into force.
The WTO Director General, Roberto Azevedo, who announced the coming into force of the agreement on February 22, said one of the key benefits would be expedited movement, release and clearance of exports, including goods in transit.
Shortly after the announcement, the Executive Director/CEO, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Olusegun Awolowo, said in Abuja that Nigeria was excited with the development considering that Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, submitted the countrys ratification only in January.
The ratification of the TFA is indeed a major milestone for global multilateral trade, Mr. Awolowo said. I am optimistic that Nigeria would go ahead to domesticate and implement the agreement to the letter.
He said Nigeria expected remarkable outcomes for international trade through TFA, aimed at expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods and services.
The agreement would also reduce bureaucracy at the borders for faster, cheaper and easier trade aimed at increased trade and investment.
Other benefits of the agreement would be the promotion of trade through established harmonized rules to expedite the movement, release and clearance of goods crossing borders.
Besides, it would offer opportunities, especially for small and medium scale enterprises, SMEs, to engage in formal export of goods currently being traded informally across borders.
With TFA, a larger number of exporters will partake in global value chains, thereby enabling all businesses to tap into the huge potentials of trade Mr. Awolowo said.
He said Nigeria would benefit particularly non-oil exports, as the country was now committed to accept electronic documentation, test procedures and method of handling perishable/rejected goods.
For Nigeria, the much-advocated National Single Window (NSW) initiative would bring about faster services at the borders for both imports and exports.
It will also ensure correct revenue collection and create room for transparency in governance, better public service and modernization through e-legislation, thus creating a win-win situation for both government and business, he said.
NEPC, Mr. Awolowo pointed out, was committed to support and work closely with the relevant government agencies, private sector and international organisations to ensure full implementation of the agreement.
Apart from maximizing the benefits of TFA, especially to make export trade the catalyst for achieving national economic turn-around for sustainable development, he said it would enhance annual gross domestic product, GDP, growth, job creation, higher incomes, improved welfare, reduced trade costs, and improvements to the countrys ease of doing business index.
Besides, he said, many small businesses that hitherto found it impossible to trade internationally due to complex regulatory requirements would henceforth be part of global trade leading to sustainable growth and prosperity.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama have congratulated Thomas Perez on his election on Saturday as the new Chairman of Democratic National Committee, DNC.
Mr. Trump, in his congratulatory message on his Twitter handle, said he could not be happier for the Republican Party.
Congratulations to Thomas Perez, who has just been named Chairman of the DNC.
I could not be happier for him, or for the Republican Party! Mr. Trump tweeted.
Mr. Obama, in a statement issued by his office on Saturday, praised Mr. Perez, his former Labour Secretary, as being a force of unity for the Democratic Party.
Congratulations to my friend, Tom Perez, on his election to lead the Democratic Party, and on his choice of Keith Ellison to help him lead it, Mr. Obama said.
The 44th U.S. president said he was proud of all the candidates who ran and who make this great party what it is.
The immediate past president, pledged that Mr. Perez will unite us and went on to discuss what unites the Democratic Party.
What unites our party is a belief in opportunity the idea that however you started out, whatever you look like, or whomever you love, America is the place where you can make it if you try.
Over the past eight years, our party continued its track record of delivering on that promise:
Growing the economy, creating new jobs, keeping our people safe with a tough, smart foreign policy, and expanding the rights of our founding to every American including the right to quality, affordable health insurance.
Thats a legacy the Democratic Party will always carry forward.
I know that Tom Perez will unite us under that banner of opportunity, and lay the groundwork for a new generation of Democratic leadership for this big, bold, inclusive, dynamic America we love so much, he said.
Mr. Obama did not endorse any candidate, but other officials from his administration, notably former Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney-General Eric Holder had endorsed Mr. Perez.
The other front-runner in the race, Keith Ellison, had the support of progressives like Bernie Sanders as well as more establishment politicians like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Mr. Perez had garnered 213.5 votes to Ellisons 200, resulting in a second ballot.
The election, however, saw Mr. Perez receiving 235 votes in the second round of voting, ahead of Sanders preferred candidate, Keith Ellisons 200.
With 435 members voting, the threshold for victory in the second round was 218 votes.
The threshold for winning the first vote was 214.5 votes, and Perez was just one vote short of achieving that exact mark in the first round.
Mr. Perez, immediately after being elected, asked to suspend the rules of the party and selected Ellison to serve as his deputy chairman.
The move, which was accepted by Ellison, was unanimously supported.
(NAN)
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Following threats by some membership of the White House Correspondents Association to boycott the groups 2017 Dinner, President Donald Trump has said that he would not be attending.
Trumps decision came just as the frosty relations between him and the media worsened with some White House Correspondents shut out of a press briefing on Friday.
I will not be attending the White House Correspondents Association Dinner this year.
Please wish everyone well and have a great evening! Trump tweeted.
The White House Correspondents Association, in a statement, said it took note of the presidents announcement and said the dinner would continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic.
Every sitting president since 1924 has attended the correspondents dinner at least once, according to reports.
Former President Barack Obama attended eight times.
Sitting Presidents traditionally make a light-hearted speech at the annual event.
Trump has himself attended the dinner in 2011, and Obama had joked that Trump would turn the White House into a casino if he became president and made fun of rumours, then propagated by Trump, that Obama was not born in the U.S.
Trump had said on Friday that in spite of his criticism of certain U.S. media organizations, he was not against the media , after several weeks of controversial statements about some sections.
However, hours after, his office banned some major news outlet such as CNN, New York Times and Los Angeles Times from covering Fridays briefing at the White House.
The action led some White House Correspondents to also boycott the press briefing in solidarity with their colleagues.
The White House Correspondents Association also threatened to challenge the action, which it said was an affront on the First Amendment.
Im not against the press. I dont mind bad stories if I deserve them. And I tell you, I love good stories, but we wont. I dont get too many of them.
They are very dishonest people. 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.
They dropped off the word fake. And all of the sudden, the story became, the media is the enemy. They take the word fake out, and now Im saying, oh, no, this is no good. But thats the way they are. So Im not against the media.
Trump, however, said there were very honourable media men writing very fair stories.
There are some great reporters around. Theyre talented, theyre as honest as the day is long. Theyre great.
Trump, who said most U.S. media got his election polls and subsequent polls about him wrongly, claimed that he loves the First Amendment.
Nobody loves it better than me. Nobody. I mean, who uses it more than I do?
But the First Amendment gives all of us it gives it to me, it gives it to you, it gives all Americans, the right to speak our minds freely; It gives you the right and me the right to criticize fake news, and criticize it strongly.
(NAN)
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The telecommunication giant, MTN Nigeria, sacked 63 of its employees in 2009 and barred them from securing a job in the sector for four years, court documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES have shown.
Last year, the National Industrial Court in Lagos, in a 2013 suit filed by the dismissed employees, delivered a judgment condemning the act and ordering the company to pay the workers four years gross salaries.
Terminating the employment of the claimant and (at) the same time restricting them from seeking employment from the sector generally and preventing them to be acting as agents, advisers, or to engage in any of their concern directly or indirectly for four years is clearly unreasonable in the light of global economic challenges occasioned by recession which has resulted in mass unemployment, Justice Peter Lifu stated in his judgement delivered on October 26, 2016.
Consequently, I am satisfied that the claimant has proved their claims before the court as to the oppressive and unreasonableness of the restraint of trade covenant for four years for making and leaving the claimant hard and dry for four years.
I hereby order that they are entitled to be paid their gross last salary per annum for the period of four years covering the period of restraint of trade as reflected in the salary review letters admitted as exhibit in this case.
I also award a cost of N10,000 each in favour of the claimant as against the defendant in this action.
But the company, in a response to PREMIUM TIMES inquiries, said claims that the employees were sacked were a misrepresentation because MTN merely exercised its right to terminate contract of employment.
Out of job
The suit against MTN Nigeria Communication Limited was instituted in 2013 by Harrison Ossai, Gabriel Ameh, and Stephen Mahaja on behalf of themselves and 60 others.
The claimants had sought an order of the court compelling the defendant to pay each of them N10 million as damages for trade restriction by the company from taking up employment from 17th November, 2009, to 17th November, 2013.
They also demanded a payment of N20 million from the company as cost of the court action.
Mr. Ossai, 43, a Higher National Diploma holder in Mass Communications, said he worked as a Call Centre Executive at MTN for six years before his dismissal.
He said he had found it impossible to work anywhere else afterwards because of a restraint on trade covenant, adding that his job interviews at Airtel and Globacom were unsuccessful because of his MTN background.
While Mr. Ossai said MTN did not state the reasons for his dismissal, he insisted that a N100 million suit instituted by the company against a former employee, Yinusa Bello, for breaching the restraint on trade clauses was responsible for other telecom firms inability to employ him.
In their testimonies, Messrs Ameh, 53, and Mahaja, 43, said the restraint of trade clause was responsible for their failure at gaining employment after dismissal by MTN.
Nwamaka Okey-Aguoru, MTNs witness in the suit, said she had not been employed by the company when the claimants were sacked.
Mrs. Okey-Aguoru said she doesnt know about a matching order given to the claimants, who all worked in Customer Services department, to leave MTNs premises on November 17, 2009, but added that she saw the letter of dismissal of the claimants.
Mrs. Okey-Aguoru, a senior manager, stated that the restraint of trade clause in MTNs contract targets the companys direct competitors such as Glo, Etisalat, and Airtel and covers a period of 48 months.
She said employees, who are under the clause, are not allowed to deal with MTNs competitors when they leave the company.
Court documents showed that after Mr. Bello left MTN and secured a job in another telecom firm, the company slammed a N100 million suit on him for revealing market strategy, trade secret and design and confidential company information.
But the case was struck out at Lagos High Court, and later at the National Industrial Court.
Clause of controversy
In the 2013 suit, the claimants maintained that they were terminated and restrained, for four years, from seeking employment in any telecommunications company in the same line of business with MTN Nigeria Limited.
They had worked for the company for a period that ranged from five to nine years before the termination of their contract.
According to the Restraint of Trade Clause 17.3 in their contract with MTN: You are required to sign the MTN Nigeria confidentiality agreement and any restraint agreement in existence from time to time.
Paragraph 17.3.3 says, The restraint set out in this agreement shall apply in the territories of the Republic of Nigeria, the Republic of Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, the Kingdom of Swaziland or any other countries that MTN has investment in.
Paragraph 17.3.4 says:
You shall not during the existence of your employment with the company and for a period of 48 months after the termination of your employment for any reason whatsoever, be directly or indirectly interested, engaged or concerned in, whether as a principal agent, representative, shareholder, director, employee, consultant, advisor, financier, administrator or in any competitor situated in the Federal Republic of Nigeria with whom the employee is involved or was involved in carrying out an assignment.
Adeniyi Adegbomire, a senior advocate of Nigeria, who represented MTN Nigeria Limited argued that the claimants willingly entered into the agreement with the company.
There is no existing evidence visibly to demonstrate that any of the claimants was denied employment at any time because of the restraint of trade clause, he said.
Moreover, Mr. Adegbomire added, the clause never prevented the claimants from securing employment in other organizations in the telecommunications industry, except MTNs competitors Airtel, Etisalat, and Globacom.
But the judge disagreed with the lawyer.
Judge Lifu said four years is a long time and that Clause 17.3.4 in the claimants employment contract is an all-embracing and wide covenant on restriction of trade.
The claimants also stated that they have not been able to get any employment in the telecommunications section which they have interest in to enable them consolidate their career but was prevented from doing so due to the restraint of trade clause which has kept them jobless for the period of four years, Mr. Lifu said.
Given that telecommunication is an emerging sector and given that young men and women are now restrained for four years as in the instance case, after termination, can a reasonable man say that such restrictive contract is not onerous?
A man or woman should be free to exercise his skill, experience, expertise and knowledge to his own advantage, his family and the entire society. I think this accords with public policy.
The judge noted that the claimants alleged their inability to pay rents and had incurred huge debts, but did not provide evidence to buttress their claim.
There is therefore no evidence of untold hardship before the court, he said.
However, the law is clear as to the fact that where there is a right, there is a remedy.
The claimants rights to exercise their skill, aptitude and knowledge have been breached by this repugnant, oppressive and unreasonable clause as contained in paragraph 17.3.4 of their letters of employment.
The judge further stated that terminating the claimants employment and at the same time restricting them from seeking employment from the sector for four years is clearly unreasonable in the light of global economic challenges occasioned by recession which has resulted in mass unemployment.
Consequently, I am satisfied that the claimants have proved their claims before the court as to the oppressive and unreasonableness of the restraint of trade covenant for four years for making and leaving the claimants hard and dry for four years.
After ordering the payment of the claimants yearly gross salaries for four years, the judge said the judgment should be complied with within 30 days, from October 26, 2016, or attract an interest of ten percent per annum.
No settlement in sight
In the course of the suit, the judge advised both parties to explore an out-of-court settlement, Adetunji Adedoyin-Adeniyi, who represented the dismissed employees, told PREMIUM TIMES.
I went to the office of the (MTN) lawyer, that was in 2014 even while in London I was calling him, but the man was of the opinion that MTN has nothing to offer, that he cannot force them and what have you. So based on that position, we went through the case, thick and thin.
Mr. Adedoyin-Adeniyi said he contacted MTN Nigeria Limited after the judgment.
I wrote a letter to the MD of MTN and their Human Resource (Manager), that we have a judgment, please do this. Despite the fact that they were fully heard in court, for the three years we were in court, MTN still went ahead to say they are appealing the case, he said.
And what do you say you are appealing? You are appealing the judgment of the National Industrial Court when under Section 243 of Third Amendment, they dont even have a right to appeal the judgment except on grounds of fair hearing, that you can now say I was not heard.
Mr. Adedoyin-Adeniyi said despite MTN not responding to their letters, they are still willing to explore an out-of-court settlement with the company.
We dont want to belabour this thing, all we are interested is just give them something and lets move on. Nothing has been fruitful, maybe God in heaven will see to it.
But MTN Nigeria Limited said they had entered a formal appeal at the Court of Appeal.
It should be noted that contrary to misrepresentation around the sack of employees, the correct position remains that MTN had exercised a right to terminate contract of employment which said right was also readily available to all its employees, Funso Aina, PR and Protocol Manager, Corporate Services Division, MTN Nigeria said in an e-mailed response to PREMIUM TIMES.
MTN had also, as required by law, paid salary in lieu of notice and for the record, paid over and above the required one-month salary in lieu of notice by paying three months salary to the concerned employees. This was in addition to waiving all outstanding financial obligations owed MTN by the employees.
Mr. Adedoyin-Adeniyi said immediately after the National Industrial Court judgment, he filed an application to garnishee the companys bank account.
Because when we did our calculation, we realized that the money, its about N850 million they were supposed to pay; MTN now filed an application for stay of execution and the court granted it, he added.
The garnishee case at the National Industrial Court has been adjourned until further notice because of the notice of appeal filed by MTN Nigeria Limited.
The Court of Appeal is yet to give a hearing date.
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Despite the ban placed on importation of certain items by the Nigerian government, imported spaghetti still sell at shopping malls across Nigeria, PREMIUM TIMES can report.
The federal government had in 2016 placed a ban on the importation of certain items as part of its yearly efforts to control import and encourage local production.
On January 5, the Federal Ministry of Finance circulated a list containing 25 items banned from being imported into the country.
Festus Akanbi, spokesperson to the finance minister, equally told PREMIUM TIMES in an interview that the 2016 list was still in place as no new one had been provided for 2017.
Items contained in the list include soaps, used fridges, refined vegetable oil, fruit juice in retail packs, bagged cement and Spaghetti.
Immediately the federal government made the announcement in January, PREMIUM TIMES launched an investigation into the issue, to verify whether the banned products are being sold in Nigerian markets and shopping malls.
PREMIUM TIMES findings, however, revealed that despite the ban, imported spaghetti and noodles still sell at some Nigerian malls.
When our correspondent visited the Ikeja Shoprite mall in Lagos, checks revealed that a certain Barrilla Spaghetti, produced and packaged in Parma, Italy, is being sold at the mall. Equally displayed
for sale is Super J. noodle, a noodle brand produced by Super J. Limited, a company based in Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand.
Similarly, further checks at the Sango-Otta branch of the mall revealed that the same Barilla Spaghetti was on display for sale at the mall.
At Sahad Stores, one of the largest in Abuja, similar Italian Barilla Spaghetti brands were also on sale despite the ban.
However, in all the stores visited, other banned items like fruit juice in retail packs were absent.
John Ifeanyi, a customer at the Ikeja Shoprite mall, attributed the development to Nigerians love for imported product, noting that it is the bane of Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, in the country.
Nigerians love imported products and these malls have identified thatand thats why they are keying into it, he told PREMIUM TIMES.
It is the reason why our local industries and start-ups always struggle to survive, he added.
Azeez Akorede, a Sango-based entrepreneur, said the porous nature of Nigerian borders was the cause of the development. While imploring the government to look into the situation, he decried the harsh business environment Nigerian entrepreneurs and business owners are being made
to operate in, noting that no country develops with such system.
Nigerian entrepreneurs and manufacturers are faced with numerous challenges; yet they have to still compete with their foreign counterparts on Nigerian soil. Government needs to do something
drastic to protect Nigerian business owners and manufacturers, he said.
No nation develops by exposing its manufacturers to risks and undue competition from foreign businesses.
Officials at the malls visited declined comment.
At the Sango-Otta Shoprite mall, the attendants including a man they identified as their oga, declined to speak. Same at the IKeja mall in Lagos and Sahad Stores in Abuja where officials all declined comment.
An e-mail sent to the officially listed address on Shoprites website was also unattended while phone calls to its customer service was unanswered.
A phone call to Sahad Stores customer service listed on its website was answered by an official who identified himself as Auwal. He, however, said he was unaware of the spaghetti ban and that he would communicate to the management who would address the issue promptly.
Efforts to reach the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, proved abortive as the phone number of its Public Relations Officer, Victoria Anioke, was not reachable. For more than a week, she did not reply messages sent to her either.
But when PREMIUM TIMES contacted the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, Joseph Attah, the acting Public Relations Officer, disclosed that the agency is doing its best to control the activities of smugglers and their collaborators.
Mr. Attah, an Assistant Comptroller of Customs, noted that all hands must be on deck to ensure that anti-smuggling operations of the Nigerian Customs are successful, noting that the general public has a role to play too.
Anti-smuggling operation is like fishing; you cannot catch them all. Thats why we often tell the general public to supply us with information so we could track them (smugglers) down, the Customs spokesperson told PREMIUM TIMES.
Commenting on PREMIUM TIMES findings, Mr. Attah disclosed that importation of Spaghetti in commercial quantity still remains banned, adding that investors should desist from channelling their funds into such business.
He, however, urged the Nigerian media to intensify efforts in sensitizing the people on the economic benefits of patronizing Nigerian-made Spaghetti, noting that apart from being more nutritious,
it contributes to the nations economic growth.
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A senator has alleged that some officials wish ailing President Muhammadu Buhari dead so they can become the vice to Yemi Osinbajo.
Mr. Osinbajo has been Nigerias Acting President since Mr. Buhari travelled to the UK last month on vacation. The president has since remained in the UK for health reasons with no official date of return announced. Mr. Osinbajo would emerge President should Mr. Buhari leave office before the end of their tenure. The president is however expected to return to office soon after his bed rest, according to his spokesperson.
Shehu Sani, who represents Kaduna Central in the Senate, made his allegation against the unnamed persons on Sunday.
Those peddling rumours of Buharis death are not distance enemies who by hook or crook want to be Vice President to Osinbajo but unfortunately they woefully failed because Buhari is coming back safely and healthy, he said.
The senator who was speaking to reporters shortly after inspecting artefacts of Mallam Aminu Kano at Mumbayya House Centre of Democracy, Kano, said such aspiring persons would fail.
Unfortunately for them, neither the Vice President, Professor Yomi Osinbajo, nor Buhari trusts them.
Osinbajo is a trusted ally to his boss and he dislikes anything that would make him compromise the trust he enjoys.
Mr. Sani said he was worried that some of those who are the presidents men are not sincere in their tasks.
Buhari has a daunting task of fumigating his government, cleanse it and flush out these hyenas who eat from the nations treasury without pains, he said.
The lawmaker said it is open fact that today, politicians are only interested in getting power to use as launching pad of their personal businesses.
He said despite the economic diversification agenda of the government, the economy was still being dictated by foreign interests living the nation still an imperialist dominated economy.
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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the current Nigerian leader, Muhammadu Buhari, has not disappointed him since he assumed office in 2015.
Mr. Obasanjo stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria at his hilltop residence in Abeokuta.
While reflecting on the Buhari administration since 2015, Mr. Obasanjo said that the president had done his best to move the country forward.
Whatever anybody says, President Buhari has not disappointed me from what I know of him, he said.
He said the president had delivered on his core areas of strength and ability, particularly in the anti-corruption crusade and the war against insurgency.
In my book, I have said that Buhari is not strong on the economy and I did not write this to run him down.
I also used to think that he is not strong in the area of foreign affairs, but I have realised that he has improved very well.
He has actually done his best in the areas where we know him to be strong, he said.
The former president urged Nigerians not to relent in their support for Mr. Buhari and not to give up on Nigeria.
Whatever you might see as bad in Nigeria, other societies have gone through the same at some period in their history.
It is not for us to begin to condemn but to begin to join hands together and consider how we can make the best out of our present.
Our present situation is a passing phase and we need to be resilient to ensure that we are not consumed by it.
I will be the first to admit that we have not been where we should have been, but note that we have also been far from where we could have been because it could have been worse.
It is the height of ingratitude for people to say Nigeria has not achieved anything or much as a nation.
The generation before mine fought for Nigerias independence, that is great.
My own generation, which is the next, fought to sustain the unity of Nigeria.
Since 1999, Nigeria had enjoyed 18 years of unbroken democracy.
We witnessed in 2007 a transition of power from one individual to another in the same party.
We witnessed in 2015 a transition of power from an individual in the ruling party to another individual in the opposition party.
All these should not be taken for granted, he said.
Mr. Obasanjo also decried the call for national conferences or assemblies to negotiate the continued unity of Nigeria.
The former president who, described such conferences as distractions, said he did not bother to read the report of the last one organised by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
We Nigerians need ourselves and if anyone thinks he does not need another person, good luck to him.
What I see in all those groups trying to break away is that they want more of the national cake.
The fact that you want more of the cake means that it is good and you like it, else you will not be asking for more of it.
I do understand the agitations of the youths in that the increased facilities that now exist as against our own time have not translated to adequate opportunities for them.
But I think that rather than engage in violence, they should think of how to build on the sacrifices of the generations before them, he said.
The elder statesman, who turns 80 on March 5, said he had no regrets at such an age.
He said that his hope that Nigeria would still be a great nation was still intact.
(NAN)
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The Nigerian government has approached the Appeal Court to challenge a High Court ruling that mandated the release of the leader of the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
Mr. El-Zakzaky was arrested in December 2015, by soldiers, following a clash between the Shiite movement and the army over right of way. Over 300 IMN members were killed by the soldiers. Various human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned the killings.
A year later, on December 2, 2016, an Abuja Division of the Federal High Court ordered the release of Mr. El-Zakzaky and his wife who have been held without trial for over a year. The court also ordered that accommodation be provided for them and that the government pays them N50 million as compensation for violating their rights. These were to be done within 45 days from the day of the ruling.
However, the Nigerian Government is yet to comply with the order, almost three months after it was issued.
The confirmation of the governments appeal was made by Mr. El-Zakzakys lawyer, Femi Falana, in an open letter sent to the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
Mr. Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the appeal by the government does not amount to a stay of execution of the ruling. He said by asking the high court to suspend its ruling, the federal government was still violating the direct order of the court.
Although the deadline expired on January 16, 2017 the State Security Service has refused to release our clients from custody in utter contempt of the valid and subsisting order of the Federal High Court. The Federal Government has equally refused to comply with the other terms of the judgment, the lawyer said.
However, we are not unaware that your office has filed an appeal against the said judgment at the Court of Appeal. But since the filing of the appeal has not varied or suspended the orders of the learned trial judge you are duty bound to advise the Federal Government to comply with the clear and unambiguous terms of the judgment.
In view of the avowed commitment of the Buhari administration to operate under the rule of law we urge you to use your good offices to ensure that our clients are released from illegal incarceration without any further delay. However, if our request is not granted forthwith we shall not hesitate to pray the Court of Appeal to refuse to entertain the appeal filed by your office against the judgment of the Federal High Court until the Federal Government has purged of the contempt of the Federal High Court, Mr. Falana said.
Efforts to reach Mr. Malamis spokesperson, Salihu Isah, were unsuccessful as Mr. Isah neither picked nor returned his calls. He also did not respond to a text message confirming the appeal.
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Three foreigners suspected to be members of the Boko Haram were on Sunday arrested in Gombe State, the Nigerian Army said.
The Army spokesperson, Sani Usman, said on Sunday that the three Chadians were arrested in Gombe State.
The three Chadian terrorists suspects, Bilal Muhammed Umar, Bashir Muhammed and Muhammed Maigari Abubakar were arrested at Arawa and Mallam Inna Areas of Gombe metropolis, the brigadier general said.
They were reported to be members of Albarnawi faction of the Boko Haram that operates in Chad and mostly northern part of Borno State but came to Gombe State for another heinous assignment.
The Boko Haram are believed to be split into two factions, one led by Albarnawi, believed to be a son of the sects late founder, Muhammed Yusuf, and the other led by the elusive Abubakar Shekau.
The spokesperson said one of the arrested suspects, Mr. Umar, attempted to escape and was shot on the leg. He was however apprehended and is receiving medical treatment.
The terrorists were also arrested with Improvised Explosive Device (IED), materials that they could have coupled and attacked parts of the state.
Mr. Usman said the suspects are in custody undergoing preliminary investigation.
About 100,000 people have been killed since the start of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2009. Most of the attacks happened in three north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. Most of the territory once controlled by the Boko Haram in those states have been retaken by Nigerian forces.
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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday revealed how late South African President, Nelson Mandela, and Desmond Tutu, a retired Anglican Bishop and South African rights activist, influenced him to contest the 1999 presidential race, after he (Obasanjo) was released from prison.
Mr. Obasanjo made the revelation at a church service for his 80th birthday organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria, Ogun State Chapter, held at the Treasure House of God, Agbeloba, Abeokuta .
He said the advice of the duo, among others, prompted him to go into the presidential race in 1999 when he contested for the seat to emerge Nigerias president.
When I came out from prison for the offence I didnt commit and people started putting pressure on me to be Nigerias President, I was confused, Mr. Obasanjo, who led Nigeria both as a military and a civilian leader, said.
But in that confusion I seek advice, not from here. I went first to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Mandela said Olu (Olusegun) whatever your instinct tells you, follow it', Mr. Obasanjo said.
Tutu, after listening to me, said are you tired of serving God and your people. He now said my advice to you is that go and do what your people asked you to do.'
Mr. Obasanjo said a biblical passage helped him finally agree to run in 1999.
When I now came back, one day I was reading the book of Esther and I saw where Modekiah said you are here for your people and I started changing my mind from there, he said .
In his speech at the church service, the Olowu of Owu, Mr. Obasanjo hometown, Adegboyega Dosumu, said the former president has a purpose in life, and he has executed the purpose to the best of his ability.
He has always followed his heart and he has good intention for Nigeria, the monarch said.
The monarch appealed to Mr. Obasanjo to help stop the importation of Indian garri into Nigeria.
The food and drug regulator, NAFDAC, recently confirmed the existence of imported garri but said it never approved it and was clamping down on its sale.
The Olowu said the importation of Indian garri would have a negative implication on the countrys economy .
Also, the Alake of Egbaland, Adedotun Gbadebo, while attesting to the former presidents good performance, described Mr. Obasanjo as Gods sent for the emancipation of humans, especially in Nigeria.
The monarch said Mr. Obasanjo saved him from being killed during the military rule; adding that his advice was a saving grace.
The church programme was attended by some dignitaries including the Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Yetunde Onanuga; Speaker of the House of Assembly , Suraj Adekunbi; and House of Representative member representing Remo constituency, Ladi Adebutu.
At the end of the event, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Ogun State Chapter, decorated the former president as the Asiwaju Onigbago (leader of the believers) of Christians in Ogun State.
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With the advancement in technology and the influence of internet-based resources for effective communication, the Nigerian military has been urged to tackle insurgency through social media.
Speaking as a guest lecturer at the Air War College (AWC) in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, Yushau Shuaib, the brain behind the 2016 Global Award winner in Crisis Communication and expert in social media, pointed out that the battle ground has shifted from physical combat to cyberspace where social media is the tool of engagement.
He said The military needs to train and equip social media warriors whose responsibility is to engage the audience with truthful, factual and convincing arguments of operations towards the well-being and better informed public.
Mr. Shuaib, who is also the publisher of PRNigeria, Nigerias foremost News Releases platform, delivered a paper to senior military officers on Managing the influence of Social Media on Military Operations.
He said: The enemies are hidden in their cocoon using the social media in recruiting volunteers, mobilizing resources and attacking public consciousness, mostly through threats of violence and terrorism.
The military as an institution that can effectively counter terrorism should realise that conventional weapons have their limitations in psychological warfare. They should therefore explore the benefit of Social Media which is cost effective for engaging large audience; providing adequate Information; responding timely to enquiries; sharing educative media data and coordinating activities with different groups, he said.
Speaking on the future of Social Media, Mr. Shuaib said the future is already manifesting in the current generation, stressing that The future is already here and now. Officers responsible for information management and communication should realise that an office is no more confined to a physical wall: we are in an age of mobile office, working 24/7, streaming live video in real time to the satisfaction of our audiences.
In the next few years, wearable gadgets will become the major tools while stiffer competition between the Media Houses and in-house PR team will become prevalent as each party competes for large followership on the social media.
While observing that some security agencies and officials have refused to embrace the social media for primordial reasons, he urged them to change their mindset.
Mr. Shuaib said: It is baffling that some top officials take delight in discrediting the social media and refuse to embrace the technology. Their reluctance and absence on social media only compels fraudsters to clone their identities on the platforms for nefarious activities
I must commend the current Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar for embracing the social Media by engaging his audience regularly with latest reports on the activities of the NAF and its commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility. Similarly, former military spokesperson General Chris Olukolade, has demonstrated how Twitter could be effectively deployed for regular news updates; while the current Army spokesperson, Brigadier General Sani Usman Kukasheka directly engages his Facebook audience with images and stories from theatre of military operation.
In his remarks after the presentation, the Commandant of the Nigeria Airforce Air War College, J.K. Baba, said the establishment of the college was in tandem with the vision of the Air Chief to reposition NAF into a highly professional and disciplined force through capacity building initiatives for efficient, effective and timely employment of air power in response to Nigerias security imperatives.
The Director of Academic Affairs of the college, Idi Lubo, speaking on behalf of the students of the AWC, commended the lecturer for his well-researched paper and the interactive nature of the presentation which took two hours.
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Operatives of Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested 12 suspects over an attempted murder of a tanker escort and the diversion of a tanker conveying 45,000 litres of diesel from Delta State.
The suspects were also allegedly involved in the diversion of a truck carrying 410 bags of flour.
The incident happened on February 1, 2017 when the diesel truck with the registration number ENU 751 XH loaded at Optima Depot, Koko, Warri in Delta State, was hijacked after some suspects hit the trucks escort, Tunji Ajayi, with hammer at the back of the head and threw him into a ditch.
The diversion was reported at Rapid Response Squads headquarters in Alausa, Lagos, where police officials initially declined to take up the case over matters of jurisdiction.
But Fatai Owoseni, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, on hearing of the incident directed that the police swing into action immediately, noting that crime has no jurisdiction, the police said in a statement on Sunday.
The operatives in handling the case spent 11 straight days shuttling Ondo, Ogun, Lagos, and Edo states and picking up suspects allegedly involved in the diversion of the diesel and bags of flour.
As at Saturday, the police had arrested 23 people directly involved in the attempted murder of Mr. Ajayi, the representative of Samsuat Petroleum, the diversion, buyers and sub-buyers of the products.
The complainant, Nafisat Osinowo, in her statement at the RRSs Office in Ikeja, stated, the diesel was meant to be delivered in Sango, Ogun State. Our representative escorting the truck called me when they got to Benin that the tyre of the truck was not good in the afternoon.
He called again at 11p.m. that the truck has been parked in Ore. It is our tradition not to travel at night, Mrs. Osinowo continued.
Our discussion was that they proceed on the journey at 5 a.m. the next day. That was the last time we spoke. Efforts to get him the following day proved abortive until few days later when we were called that he was in an intensive care unit at the hospital.
The police said two of the suspects, Gbenga Akinboyewa, 33, and Obinna Ofunue, 29, were recruited by a syndicate in connivance with the driver of the diesel truck, identified as Amara (now at large) to eliminate Mr. Ajayi.
The trio had, at Ore at night, overpowered Mr. Ajayi before hitting him at the back of the head with a hammer, the police said.
They were reported to have thereafter dropped his body in a ditch along the road before diverting the truck with the 45,000 diesel.
The syndicate, led by Chibueze Nnamdi, a building material dealer in Ore, Ondo State; Edwin Ozor; Oluchukwu and one Shedrach, now at large; had reportedly raised N800, 000 to pay for the services of those engaged in the diesel diversion.
According to Mr. Nnamdi, I invited Akinboyewa into the deal. I briefed him and he in turn invited Ofunue. The instruction we gave them was to tie the hands and legs of the escort and hide him somewhere so that within an hour, we would have closed the deal before he was loose. I didnt say they should kill him.
Biggy (Mr. Ozor) and I raised N800, 000 to settle the boys, lodge them in a hotel, feed and take care of other emergencies in the course of the job. We promised Akinbiyewa N500, 000 for his own aspect of the job.
He disclosed further, When we were in control of the truck, we drove to Ijebu Ode, where we discharged 2,800 litres. We proceeded to Lagos, where we offloaded 19,200 in one station, 14,000 in another and 8,400 in the last filling station.
Those equally arrested in connection with the attempted murder and diesel diversions were: Sadiku Ganinu, Oluchukwu Oyema and Gbenga Aliyu, according to the police.
Meanwhile, the operatives have also uncovered that the same syndicate had, sometime last week, facilitated the disposal off 410 bags of flour believed to belong to Dangote Flour.
The police said one of the suspects, whose name was not mentioned, confessed that the syndicate had, a week ago, disposed a truck-load of flour.
The revelation prompted further investigations by the operatives, which led the RRS team to Sagamu, Ogun State, where the buyer of the flour, Rabiu Bello was arrested.
Mr. Bello, a kolanut dealer, had in his statement stated that one Mustapha (at large) brought the flour deal to him, adding that, he bought each bag of the flour N8500.
He further stated that he, in turn, sold the flour in Zamfara State at N9500 per bag.
Others involved in the flour deal and arrested by the operatives included Chigozie Obi, Feranmi Michael and Adedeji Kehinde.
Reacting to the incident, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmus, said the suspects would be charged to court upon completion of investigation.
All the suspects have been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department,(SCID) Panti, for further investigation.
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The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has sent an open letter to King Mswati III of Swaziland, and Chairperson, Southern African Development Community, SADC, urging him to convene an emergency summit of the SADC heads of state and government to discuss the persistent xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other foreign nationals living in South Africa.
The organisation also urged SADC to Use the Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation within SADC to immediately set up an independent and impartial body to investigate all acts of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other foreign nationals. The investigations findings and recommendations should be made public, suspected perpetrators brought to justice and victims must enjoy the right to an effective remedy and reparation.
In the letter dated February 24, 2017 and signed by SERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organisation said that, persistent and longstanding xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other foreign nationals, the complete impunity of perpetrators and the failure of the authorities to provide an effective remedy and reparation to victims directly undermine SADC mandates on regional integration and human rights.
The letter reads in part: The immigration status of Nigerians and other foreign nationals who are victims of the attacks in South Africa can never justify any xenophobic attacks on them.
SERAP is seriously concerned about the apparent complicity of the South African authorities and officials in persistent and serious human rights violations and abuses against thousands of Nigerians living in the country, and/or the failure of the authorities to exercise due diligence to prevent those violations and abuses.
We are also concerned about the failure of the South African authorities to provide an effective remedy and reparation to victims, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.
SERAP urges you to use the opportunity of your term as chair of SADC to put pressure on the South African government to resolve the persistent occurrence of xenophobia in the country and ensure there is no impunity for the perpetrators.
The SADC must remind the government of its obligations and commitments including under the SADC treaties and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights to protect everyone including Nigerians living in its territory from violent attacks, regardless of their status.
SERAP is calling on SADC to help South Africa demonstrate its leadership in addressing xenophobia and protecting the safety and rights of all, including Nigerians and other foreign nationals in the country.
Nigerians and other foreign nationals are living in fair of continuing attacks as the South African authorities have apparently failed to protect them or guarantee their security and safety. We are concerned that over 100 Nigerians have been unlawfully killed and their properties and businesses destroyed in South Africa in the last two years alone as a result of xenophobic attacks.
SERAP notes that the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights adopted a resolution at its 56th Ordinary Session in Banjul, The Gambia in April 2015 condemning xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
SERAP therefore urged SADC to:
Convene an emergency summit of SADC heads of state and government to discuss the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other foreign nationals with a view to putting pressure on the South African authorities to provide a long-term security guarantee to all Nigerians and other foreign nationals in the country; Publicly condemn xenophobia in all its forms and manifestations and urge South African authorities to put measures in place to ensure that it does not recur; Urge the government of South Africa to take immediate steps to guarantee the safety and human rights of all Nigerians and other foreign nationals living in the country; Work with the African Union and the UN to consider the possibility of regional sanctions against South Africa for its failure to address the root causes of the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other foreign nationals, identify and punish suspected perpetrators, and provide an effective remedy and reparation to victims.
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The President of the American University of Nigeria, AUN, Yola, Margee Ensign, has resigned.
Ms. Ensign described her decision to leave the AUN as painful in an email she sent to the AUN community.
I have made this decision for several reasons but in full confidence that together we have built a strong and thriving university.
A university with a unique and clear mission, with strong ethical and professional values, with the confidence to carry on a viable academic tradition, with a tradition of doing its part to make this a safer, more just, and more prosperous world. I know that you will sustain it, she said.
Although, the American professor did not provide reasons for her sudden resignation, a source at the university said it might not be unconnected with the outcome of a recent meeting of the Board of Trustees of the university.
She resigned after coming back from the University board meeting in Lagos, obviously, they may have had a fallout, the source said.
The AUN board is headed by Akin Kekere-Ekun, a former managing director of the defunct Habib Bank.
Ms. Ensign, credited with expanding the horizon of AUN beyond teaching and learning in and around Yola, the base of the university, said in her email that she was leaving AUN with a heavy heart, but with many wonderful memories, and the deepest gratitude to all of you for your commitment to AUN and its important mission.
Acting President appointed
The Board of Trustees of the university has announced the appointment of Professor Le Gene Quesenberry, the Provost, as Interim President of AUN.
A statement by AUN Vice President, Administration, Yahaya Zango, said the appointment followed Dr Margee Ensigns offer of resignation of her appointment as President of the American University of Nigeria with effect from May 1, 2017, due to personal reasons.
Consequent upon this elevation, the Board has also announced the appointment of Professor Ahmad Hosseini, the Dean of School of Business and Entrepreneurship, as Interim Provost.
Both appointments take effect from February 25, 2017, the statement said.
It also thanked Ms. Ensign for her stewardship of the university and wished her well in her future endeavours.
It also congratulated Professors Quesenberry and Hosseini for their respective elevations and assured them of our communitys full cooperation and support in the service of the American University of Nigeria.
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The Peoples Democratic Partys candidates in Saturdays rescheduled Etche elections have defeated their All Progressives Congress, APC, counterparts, ending the bloody and much-condemned Rivers legislative rerun.
The Returning Officers appointed by the Independent National Electoral Commission made the returns for Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency and Etche II State Constituency elections Sunday afternoon in Port Harcourt, after the collation exercise in Okehi, headquarters for the constituencies.
INEC moved the declaration of results to Port Harcourt amid threats of violence.
For the Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency, PDPs Jerome Eke received 15,221 votes to defeat APCs Ogbonna Nwuka with 6,220 votes.
The PDP also defeated APC in the Etche II poll with its candidate, Tony Ejiogu, scoring 4,162 votes to defeat Golden Chioma who contested on behalf of APC.
The results were sums of the outcomes of the Saturdays supplementary elections and the December 10 polls.
INEC had, on December 10, conducted rerun polls in three senatorial districts, eight federal constituencies and 10 state constituencies in Rivers State, after the court annulled the March 2015 legislative elections in the volatile oil-rich state.
When the elections were first organised earlier in 2016, the exercise was marred by bloody violence that forced INEC to end the exercise mid-way before it was rescheduled to hold December 10.
Despite deployment of 28,000 security operatives for the rescheduled on December 10, it was attended by widespread irregularities and violence that claimed lives.
Apart from Etche where INEC just concluded election on Saturday, it took the commission more than five days to announce results in some of the other 20 constituencies.
See you in 2019, said Tonia Nwobu, the spokesperson for Rivers INEC, heaving a sigh of relief as she spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on telephone.
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In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the Group Managing Director of the Lagos Water Corporation, Muminu Badmus, speaks about the challenges of providing water to over 20 million residents, the poorly-maintained water infrastructures, and the planned PPP in the water sector.
PT: What are some of the challenges you have faced since assuming office in November 2015?
Badmus: We met challenges on the ground when I came and we are actually working in to overcome those challenges. Some of the challenges are easy to overcome some are not; those easy ones we have really overcome them. The two major, actually its three problems that we have, one of them is the PHCN the power and the second one is explosion of population in Lagos State. Lagos State is like United States of America where everyone wants to come so our population increases almost every day and that is also putting more burden on the water supply. Our design capacity remains at 210mgd (million gallons per day), whereas with the population that we have now, over 20 million, we should be given about 700mgd. So the gap is about 500 million gallons per day.
PT: Whats the actual capacity as at today? How much are you producing?
Badmus: We have design capacity of 210 million gallons per day.
PT: But how much are you producing currently?
Badmus: We are producing about 140- 150mgd, thats what we are producing. Its less and thats simply because of a lot of unaccounted-for water, which starts from our facility, the Water Works, all the way to the household where we deliver water. Its less than the required water consumption for the number of citizens. So we should be producing about 700 million gallons per day, supplying about 700 million gallons but we are only doing about 200 million. And the efforts we have been making to make sure thatand the government has been doing a lot of work in that and he has been assisting us a lot here is towe have received an approval for PPP for 100 million gallons, its called Odomola PPP Water Works which will come from Odomola and it will supply all the way to Victoria Island. And another one is the one that we have now we have the Expression of Interest advertised now. That one is 70 million gallons per day, that will be Adiyan 2.
And what we have on the ground now: we have Adiyan 1 which is already existing, thats 70mgd (70million gallons per day); we have Iju, 45 million gallons per day; and then we have Upper Ikosi 4 mgd. We have Ishasi, 4 million gallons per day, then we have the mini water works, about 46 of them, all over the state and they vary between 1 and 3 mgd each. Those are the existing ones.
But we are bringing in now the 100 million gallons from Odomola as PPP, 70 milion gallons Adiyan 2, from Adiyan, and Expression of Interest was recently advertised, and we are still taking in, I think it will expire February 24, I believe. Once we get those, it will take time, it will take about two to three years to get those two and we have other ones that will be coming on broad too. And the plan is to rehabilitate the mini water works that we have. We are forwarding the proposal to the state to assist us and the state has been really helping us to do some work on them and the state is committed to at least rehabilitate those mini water works pending the completion of those big, large water works that we are expecting.
PT: What do you say to arguments against the PPP? A lot of people, including civil societies, have campaigned against it; that why is Lagos State going into a PPP when it can afford the water provision by itself? What do you say to that?
Badmus: I think people are mistaking PPP to be privatization, there is difference between the two. Yes, we do have some hiccups when we first started the discussion on the PPP, that people do not really understand, up till now people still confuse it. But PPP is not privatization, the state would still be in control, Lagos Water will still be in control. We will be working hands in hands with the investors that will be bringing money in; we are not giving away those facilities for them to run. The water that will be produced will still be in the name of Lagos Water Corporation. So we are able to convince some and we are still working with those people to explain to them why we have to go on this PPP, this is a big task for the state. And thats why
PT: (Cuts in) And youre sure the water would not be priced out of the reach of the ordinary Lagosian, in terms of the cost?
Badmus: Right now we are paying like N2 for Mai ruwa (water vendors), and as I speak the water we are supplying is only 5 kobo per litre. Theres no way and some people are making arguments that the water should be free; yes, the water is free but you have to treat the water. The diesel for instancebecause we have to use diesel a lot, I told you earlier that the challenge we have is power, we use diesel a lot N315 thats what we are buying it from our suppliers, N300 N315. When I came here, when I first resumed here it was less than N100, the same thing with chemicals. Our Forex is also contributing to this, its not really helping. So your question on the tariff, whether it will be higher or not, it would not. We are making sure that it is way less compared to what they are buying water out there now. And right now the World Bank is doing a tariff studies for us, the entire state, and when that is completed that will also be considered in whatever the tariff will be. We know very well five kobo is way out of line, but we have not since increased any of our traffic and we are hoping that will be also the PPP itself is not profit driven at all, its not profit driven. Yes, that is considered when we are reviewing those things to make sure that its not profit driven.
PT: So how will the companies recoup their investments?
Badmus: They will recoup, they will make their money, of course, theyll make some profit out of it but its not profit as people look at maybe to double or triple whatever theyre bringing in. Let me also make a correction on what I said earlier about the Adiyan, the Expression of Interest that was advertised is for the reticulation and the network, the State is already building the water works (Adiyan 2) and right now the cost to build that is about N57 billion which the state is paying for and that shows right there that the State is really investing in water in addition to paying for operating and maintenance for the existing one, they are building a big one right now that will be 70mgd and now the State is saying lets bring investors in that will help us with the networks and the reticulations for the Adiyan 2.
PT: I was at Iju and Adiyan 1 water works recently and the picture is that of very poorly-maintained infrastructure. In Iju, only about two pumps were working and Adiyan 3-4 pumps. And now you are talking of building new water works. How are you going to ensure these new ones dont face the same maintenance issues?
Badmus: Operating and maintenance have been a major problem all over the country and that is why we are looking into that with the new ones that we are bringing right now. And we have also developed O & M (Operating & Maintenance) for the existing ones. We are going in right now and building some of those things that are lacking, those ones that need improvement, or the new ones so that at least it can carry us to the time that we will have this and so we can produce more water. The reason why you mentioned earlier about what we are producing versus the design capacity is because of the ageing infrastructures and if we dont maintain those infrastructure they will be failing gradually. Yes, we have been catching up with it; it is true when you went there the last time and it is still not all the pumps that are working there now; but gradually we are getting those pumps in line so that they can produce for us. You know that is a very big the two facilities are huge facilities. Those facilities are the largest in West Africa and we are trying to maintain it gradually and the governor has put in a lot of money into, at least, doing O &M into those existing facilities so that they will not fail completely and thats what were doing now. The new ones will be different completely, we will be working in line with the investors and the O & M will be built with it.
PT: The 710mgd you spoke about, is there a timeline you are looking at when it would be delivered?
Badmus: It is gradual, thats why we have those two now. We have the one that is approved already which is 100mgd. There is also another one that will be coming which we are not working on right now, that will be Odomola2. Odomola2 will be 110mgd.
PT: Odomola 2 will supply which areas?
Badmus: That will supply the same area, that 100mgd is not enough to supply Odomola to Victoria Island. The other one will complement that. We also have Adiyan 3 which will also be 70mgd and of course we have Ishasi that we have to increase. We have to expand the Ishasi: expansion from 4mgd to 35mgd. And also there are new facilities that will be built, Yewa 1 and Yelwa 2; they are 50mgd each. There is also, I think Ibeshe, that one will also help and then we will also expand Ota-Ikosi from 4mgd now to like 35 50mgd. All those will help and when we put those together they will come to like the exact capacity that we are expecting in 2020. In 2020 we are expecting 745mgd and we are actually working towards that with all these ones that I have identified; 745mgd is what we are building, hoping to achieve.
PT: Will 745mgd be the water need at that time or the states capacity?
Badmus: The need will actually be 733mgd, by 2020, and by that time we should have745mgd production. Another thing we are doing right now is to conserve water because what we found out after we went out and studied our system is that theres been a lot of leakages, leakages not on the streets alone but even in the house because theres no meter so people can leave the faucet to run as long as they want because its not being measured. So we are introducing meters, this is World Bank project and we are putting in between 14,000 and 16,000 house meters before the need of this year.
PT: Which areas are you targeting for now?
Badmus: Yaba, Surelere, Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki part of Lekki were not supplying all parts of Lekki right now but the few we are supplying there well be putting meters, and then some other areas, we can provide you the information to that. That well start by the end of this month, we start to put the meters. We have about 2,700 that have been delivered so far, the rest are on their way which should be before the end of this year. In fact, before July this year we should have, at least, about 14,000 to 16,000 meters installed. So that will help us and the citizens to conserve water and that will be like prepaid meters whereby you can only use what you pay for there. And then well be able to bring in revenue to really help with the O&M for those facilities that I mentioned earlier, both the large and small facilities.
PT: What about the issue of private water vendors tapping into the governments water pipes? Has it been addressed?
Badmus: Its a problem, we have two ways, some households are also doing illegal connections. Those are the pipes you will see that goes through the gutters, we do not run pipes through the gutters. And those are the ones that when they go through the gutters, if there is a leakage you will hear some citizens they will say there is brown water. Brown water can penetrate if there is any rainstorm and there is a leakage, so we discourage that. We are encouraging citizens to let us know where those mushroom pipes are so that we can replace them or advise them to change it.
Now about the illegal connections, that is another problem. We have a lot of them and actually we started recently to go out, weve had a meeting with them, we invited them here, we told them what our position is that you cannot continue to tap our line illegally and that well work with them to introduce a way similar to what theyre doing in Kenya where they have those vendor port and all that. That well have that only in some areas where our pipes are not yet run through, so well encourage that with them. And well get to that but we have engaged them and weve been going about talking to them also. But yes, there is a lot of that. The reason is water is life and a lot of people are so desperate for water and theyll buy water. Can you imagine people paying N2 for this Mai ruwa when they dont even know the source of the water, and also other people that are supplying water, and also this bottle water that nobody knows where theyre getting it, of course some of them are stealing our water. So we have regulatory commission at least tracking those. Once you have meters, stealing the water will be reduced because you have to pay to be able to get water out.
PT: When you assumed office in November 2015, would you say you were overwhelmed by the scope of work to be done in the water sector in Lagos?
Badmus: It was a lot of work but I do have some dedicated staff that I was able to pull and I have been working with them since then. Its still a lot of work to be done. We will not rest until when we get to that 733mgd that were shooting for. When I came, on the ground, yes it was not the same and it was not what I expected but thank God where we are now we have really achieved a lot with the staff that we have here.
PT: I asked that question because between 1999 and 2015, billions of dollars, not even naira, had gone into the Lagos water sector yet we are not seeing the impact. How would you convince people that its no longer business as usual?
Badmus: It is true that through the World Bank and, of course I will say even (Lagos) State also put some money into water, it didnt show. I cant really speak at that time because I was not here. But of course there are some projects that I have seen that could have been done differently or managed differently, and we are determined to do a better job this time and make sure that money is well spent. Yes, it is true, it was billions. I have seen contractors being awarded close to N3 billion work but we still have to look at what they have done and then redo some of them. But were doing things differently now and we are hoping that it would get better and were very very determined and well make sure that water gets to the households and the water works are maintained properly and we are able to get water to every household.
PT: What do you say to people who live in parts of Lagos where they dont have access to water from the Corporation?
Badmus: I will tell them to be patient with us and that were coming. I just highlighted a lot of these works that were bringing and soon they will soon be seeing the effects of those projects, because theyll be seeing a lot of activities that will be on the water side, putting the infrastructure down, we will get to them. And those ones that we have water in their area that are not yet connected, please call us, well be glad to come out and then see how we can connect them to water. There are still people that are not connected but we want to connect them, we want to go able to provide water because the borehole water is not a clean water if you look at it. Borehole water is not clean at all and then were making sure we take the borehole we go out and educate them about the borehole water. Because if you look at in Lagos, where you see the borehole, you will see the soak-away and all these things are coming from the ground and going to the ground and thats not a proper way and thats why we want to make sure we provide adequate water for the citizens of the State. They need to be patient with us, well get to them. And I will encourage our people if they see any leakages bring it to our attention so that we can take care of it because the water that is being wasted right there is a shortage to other people so we need to go there and take care of that. Soon also as part of it, well have things that will be showing us on our system or telling us where the leakages are so that at least well know ahead of time even before the citizens know it. Because there are some of those leakages that are in corners somewhere that no one will ever see but once we put all those leakage detection system we will be able to see ahead of time. All those things will be put to place with the new ones and some of these old ones will have there too.
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ATLANTIC CITY Wearing a shirt that read Endangered Species: Black Males, Sharon Kelly joined an antivolence rally Thursday saying she hoped the demonstration would bring more awareness to the amount of violence that occurs within city limits.
Kelly, of Pleasantville, said the rally was necessary to get these people to come out and start talking.
The rally was organized by the local chapter of the National Action Network. It started at the park on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Kentucky Avenue across from Stanley Holmes Village where a shooting occurred the night before.
Of the about 40 people who attended the rally, about five carried pictures of loved ones they had lost to violence.
Kelly was part of that select group.
I lost my oldest son, she said.
Jermaine Kelly died Oct. 7, 2006, after being shot seven times in Philadelphia, she said.
Although Kellys story of loss did not directly connect to Atlantic City or the surrounding area, she said the importance of the message does not change.
These are somebodys children being killed, she said, adding many people hear the message, but assume nothing bad will happen to them personally.
On Monday, Trumaine Clements, 26, of Mays Landing, was fatally shot in Pleasantville.
Rally organizers said the purpose of the event was simple: to tell people they dont need to fear the streets on which they live.
Steve Young, president of the local NAN chapter, said if children are able to play in the citys parks and along streets without fear, grown adults should feel the same comfort.
The community must come together and show their support, he said.
Young said whether or not people know a victim personally, everyone is a victim when it comes to crime and violence within the region.
We want to let everyone know youre going to end up in a police car, in an ambulance or in a hearse, he said.
Contact Caitlin Dineen:
609-272-7247
Is there no escaping politics? Apparently not, even with a period love story that hit theaters the week of Valentines Day.
A United Kingdom tells the true story of a couple who wanted nothing more than their Happily Ever After. If only their union hadnt created a geopolitical incident.
The movie begins in 1947 in London. Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) is a law student visiting from Bechuanaland (now Botswana), in Southern Africa. Hes also heir to the throne, a fact he doesnt immediately divulge to Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike), a white commoner he locks eyes with at a dance.
When he reveals his true background, Ruth neither recoils nor rejoices. His royal lineage doesnt change their fledgling relationship; they still go out dancing, shoot pool and run into each others arms at every reunion. In short, theirs is a sweet, joyful love, even if Pike and Oyelowo dont exactly generate much electricity.
The trouble starts after the two get engaged. Ruths father disowns her, but thats the least of her worries. Pretty soon, shes getting a visit from Alistair Canning (Jack Davenport), a generically intimidating British diplomat, who tells Ruth that shes making a mistake.
This interracial marriage could spur hostility from Bechuanalands neighbor, South Africa, which is busy establishing apartheid. The Brits, meanwhile, have an interest in keeping the peace, since Bechuanaland is a British protectorate and South Africa is helping England with its postwar debt.
But Ruth is not swayed. Not a single person around the couple wholeheartedly supports their union, but she and Seretse marry anyway. Then they move back to his village, where his subjects eye their future queen warily. From there, the movie, written by Eye in the Sky scribe James Hibbert, follows the many obstacles the two face, as England and Seretses uncle, who also disapproves of the marriage work to dethrone him.
Through it all, the couple never so much as raise their voices at each other. Their bond is unwavering. Each new attack only brings them closer.
Although the relationship lacks a certain fire, the acting is superb. Oyelowo, who played Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, could probably give a rousing speech about, say, potatoes. His oratory is tearful yet commanding. Pike, too, channels both sweet vulnerability and willful resolve.
Director Amma Asante also directed Belle, another interracial love story, and both movies are undermined by a similar issue: heavy-handed villains, whose predictable maneuvering sucks any surprise out of the story. Incidentally, Harry Potter scoundrel Tom Felton plays a racist creep in both.
Distracting editing doesnt do the drama any favors, either. Quick cuts sometimes in the middle of a conversation or before the action has played out are individually jarring, but also problematic in a broader sense. The movie seems to be racing to show Seretses next new dilemma, instead of letting the magnitude of those developments sink in.
A United Kingdom is still a remarkable story, especially considering that Khama went on to become the first democratic leader of his country. The movie doesnt even get to that part of his life. Maybe some true tales simply have too much story for one movie to contain.
Dear Abby: I am a new mom to a sweet baby boy. I am (or was) very career-oriented and never in a million years thought I would want to be a stay-at-home mom. I will have to return to work shortly, and Im really struggling.
I have a hard time putting my little one in day care, but I dont have a choice. I have no idea where to begin, how to select the right day care or what questions to ask. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. New Mom in California
Dear New Mom: Start by talking to your friends and family, asking if they know of a day care thats good, then make sure that any facility youre considering is licensed. Spend a little time there to see how the caregivers interact with the children.
Go to babycenter.com and search on daycare. You will find a section on day care centers that will give you the information you need. You should also check with your states department of social services to be sure no complaints have been filed. I wish you luck in your search.
Dear Abby: Over the years the people closest to me (immediate family, friends and a few ex-boyfriends) have given me every reason not to trust anyone much.
About a year ago I found the courage to date again and met a man who gives me every reason to trust him to the fullest. The problem is, because of my past, Im having problems doing it. How do I move past my issues and give the relationship Im in a fair chance before I destroy it? Gun-Shy in Maine
Dear Gun-Shy: Considering your history, it makes sense that you are afraid of being hurt or taken advantage of. However, not all people are alike. Allow the relationship more time to develop. Dont be afraid to talk things out with him rather than react by jumping to conclusions and/or making accusations.
Listen to what he says and watch what he does. If the two dont match, regard it as a red flag. However, if they do match, then count your blessings because you may have finally found a winner.
Dear Abby: For years Ive gone to a neighborhood bar every Friday night for a few hours during cocktail hour. I have recently started using oxygen due to COPD from smoking.
My doctor says I can do anything I feel Im up to. Well, Im up to going out to the bar like I used to do. Trouble is, Im self-conscious about the carrier. It doesnt bother me to go out to stores, etc., but this does. Should I stay home, bored out of my mind, or get on with the life I used to have? Wants to Get On With Life
Dear Wants: Your doctor has said you can do what you want. I see nothing to be gained by sitting home alone and becoming depressed. My only concern is that the bar you frequent may be smoky and be problematic for your already-damaged lungs. If the bar is smoke-free, go. But if it isnt, then Im suggesting you find one that is.
Write to Dear Abby at P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069 or at dearabby.com.
ATLANTIC CITY The second floor of the Irish Pub, decorated like an elaborate Victorian parlor, was packed with members of the nonprofit Liberty and Prosperity group Sunday for its annual fundraiser.
This is a little nicer than were used to, joked the groups Executive Director Seth Grossman. Were a bunch of deplorable people, referring to the words used by Hillary Clinton to describe Donald Trump supporters.
Free bumper stickers were stacked around food tables, saying No Toll Hikes! and Repudiate NJs Unconstitutional Debt!
The group is named for the states official motto, Liberty and Prosperity, Grossman said to the gathering of about 70 people.
It is an educational nonprofit, several attendees explained, dedicated to founding principles in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
The Constitution is the basic foundation. Cut that anchor and we are adrift and lose our identity, said Len Grossman, of Atlantic City, a physician who has no relation to Seth. The further away you get the less liberty people in the country will have.
He said the group educates about the nations founding principles and advocates for Legislatures to make laws, not judges.
Carlene Abbott, of Egg Harbor Township, said she has been a member for several years and its important to her for the government to control its borders and improve the economic situation so people can get jobs.
Were in economic dire straits here now, she said of the Atlantic City region. Im more than thrilled that Trump has been elected, and Im giving him all the space to prove what he is going to do. At this point its wait and see.
Len Grossman and his wife Dora said they find Atlantic City government spending unsustainable, but they dont think the state takeover is the answer because there is a lack of accountability. The state is not being transparent about what it is doing and how much money it is spending, they said.
Republican candidate for governor Jack Ciattarelli, the assemblyman representing parts of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset counties, was the guest speaker.
When asked about the state takeover of Atlantic City, he said he would have preferred the city go through a bankruptcy proceeding.
Im an MBA and a CPA, he said. A municipal bankruptcy would be in everybodys best interest because it removes all politics.
The room erupted in applause.
Conservatism means government should only do what the people cannot do for themselves, Ciattarelli said.
Government is trying to do too many things, he said. Were on the verge of collapse in the country and this state (because of it).
His five-point plan for improving the state includes reforming three things: school funding to solve the property tax crisis, public employee benefits to restore fiscal responsibility, and state tax laws to spark economic growth. It also includes making government smaller and improving bipartisan communication, he said.
People think after eight years of Gov. Chris Christie Republicans cant win, but this year is different, he said.
The Chicago Cubs are the world champs and Donald Trump is president, said Ciattarelli. Throw out conventional wisdom.
It was the Washington-Lincoln fund raiser, which Liberty and Prosperity hopes will fund its $18,000 annual budget.
The group spends about $1,500 per month to fund its activities, it said. In addition to this one February event, it raises money through membership dues of $30 per year.
LibertyAndProsperity.org said it maintains two websites, a Facebook page, and sends email updates that reach roughly 15,000 people in New Jersey each week.
It also has breakfast discussions every Saturday at a local diner and sends speakers to high schools, colleges and civic groups throughout the state.
Every September it co-sponsors a ceremony to remember Somers Point hero Richard Somers, who died in Tripoli in the First Barbary War.
MILLVILLE There are only a few buildings left, mostly the remains of barracks, from when 20-year-old Charles Osborne arrived at the Millville Army Air Field on Sept. 15, 1944.
But even after more than seven decades, the memory of that arrival at the nations first defense air field remains clear.
It was very busy, said Osborne, now 92. It was a beautiful field.
That included the sight of rows of P-47 Thunderbolts. They were the primary planes in which Osborne and about 1,500 other fledgling U.S. Army Air Corps pilots learned gunnery to prepare for combat with the German Luftwaffe during World War II.
The P-51 Mustang may have been the glamour fighter, Osborne said, but the Thunderbolt took a back seat to no other plane.
The P-47 could take a whole lot of punishment, and it did, Osborne said. It was a great plane to fly.
And its the Thunderbolt thats helping to keep the legend of the air field alive.
A mural on the side of City Hall facing Main Street contains a likeness of a Thunderbolt and a pilot. Its an image that officials with the Millville Army Air Field Museum intend to preserve for years to come.
The museum is using a $5,000 grant obtained through the Cumberland County Cultural and Heritage Commission to help finance the murals refurbishment, said Lisa Jester, the museums executive director. The mural is considered a memorial not only to the pilots, but to the 10,000 army personnel who wound up stationed at the air field during the war, she said.
Its also important to help commemorate the 14 pilots who died while training at the air field, she said.
Generations of local youth are also learning about the air fields history and the Thunderbolt, in part from school visits by veterans, some of whom were stationed at the air field. Millville High School students participate in an ongoing museum project to make oral and film records of the experiences of veterans, especially those who were stationed there during World War II. Those students have done more than 100 interviews, many of which are now on file with the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
But none of it would have happened if the then-U.S. Department of War hadnt decided that the city strategically located near Philadelphia, New York City, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. was the perfect spot for an aid defense field.
And it all came to fruition on Aug. 2, 1941.
Thats when an estimated 10,000 people gathered for the air fields dedication, a ceremony officiated by then-Mayor Raymond F. Goodwin.
Among those in attendance were congressmen and U.S. senators from several states. There was an air show that included 35 planes flying en masse over Cumberland County. There were parachute demonstrations and flying contests.
The ceremony took place at what began in 1939 as the Millville Airport. The facility was built by the Millville Flying Club, which later worked with the war department to convert grass landing strips into paved runways.
The field was in full operation by the time Osborne, a lifelong resident of Laurel Springs, Camden County, arrived.
Osborne said he would fly his Thunderbolt over Delaware Bay for gunnery practice. Pilots would fire their Thunderbolts 50-caliber machine guns at targets towed by other planes.
Living quarters were a series of barracks measuring 20 feet by 150 feet, he said. Servicemen slept on cots, he said.
Osborne said he didnt spend too much time in the city during his two-month stay at the field. He said he would leave the field at night and drive to Laurel Springs to see his sweetheart, who he would eventually marry. He said hed return to the field early enough to get a few hours sleep before reveille.
Osborne said his visits were made easier by some people he knew in Millville.
Gas was rationed, and could only be obtained by gas ration stamps, he said. He said friends would sneak him enough stamps to buy the gas he needed to drive to and from Laurel Springs.
Try getting away with that today, he said.
Osborne eventually shipped out to Europe, where he flew 26 combat missions.
However, those missions never included what he was trained at the Millville Army Air Field to do engage enemy fighter planes.
We flew close support for front-line troops, Osborne said. We did not see they Germans. They had no fuel.
The federal government closed the air field after the war, declaring it excess property and handing it over to the city.
But most of the facilitys buildings were converted to apartments for the many veterans who returned from the war. The last of the apartments vanished in the early 1970s.
Environmental groups are redoubling legal efforts to fight the South Jersey Gas transmission pipeline, after the Pinelands Commission voted Friday the project could proceed.
Sierra Club and other groups say they will argue in court that the way the commission handled the vote was illegal.
New Jersey Sierra Club already successfully sued after Executive Director Nancy Wittenberg unilaterally decided the pipeline met the commissions rules in 2015.
That suit argued she exceeded her authority, and a state Appellate Court panel agreed, throwing the decision back to the 15 volunteer commissioners.
There is no statutory or administrative authority for what she did, said New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel, referring to Wittenbergs involvement in deciding that the commission could vote without holding public hearings.
Instead Wittenberg, in consultation with the board and legal counsel, decided it would be enough to take public comment at a regular commission meeting, and take written comments for a period of time.
Unlike in a public hearing, no one was under oath and there was no opportunity for cross-examination, Tittel said.
She made that determination and they went along with it in the absence of rules, said Tittel. She basically made up a rule and said, Heres how were doing it. There is no rule.
But Wittenberg has said the court only directed the commissioners to vote. It did not lay out how that vote should happen.
The 22-mile proposed pipeline would run from Maurice River Township along roadways and disturbed roadsides to Beesleys Point in Upper Township, where it would allow the B.L. England Generating Station to repower from coal and oil to natural gas.
Ten of those miles would travel through protected Forest Areas, where utility infrastructure is only allowed if it serves the Pinelands.
By voting for it, commissioners in effect said that by benefitting B.L. England a business located in the federal Pinelands Reserve the pipeline would benefit the Pinelands.
The plant says it needs the pipeline to meet air pollution standards, and would otherwise have to close for good.
Pinelands Preservation Alliance Executive Director Carlton Montgomery said his organization has already filed a legal challenge to the process the commission adopted for the vote in state Appellate Court. He expects a decision on that relatively soon, he said.
They didnt do an evidentiary hearing, where issues of the actual capacity of the pipeline could have been verified, said Montgomery. The facts are really clear this pipeline is far, far more than what they are claiming it is. Its just not right for the commission to approve it on the basis that its just going to serve the plant.
He said PPA also believes Commissioners Robert Barr, gubernatorial appointee of Ocean City; and Gloucester County representative Guiseppe Joe Chila should not have voted because of conflicts of interest and bias.
Montgomery said Barr has ties to State Sen. Jeff Van Drew, a longtime pipeline proponent, and Barr told a reporter he would be voting for the pipeline days before the vote.
Chila is an electrician and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union, which has taken a position in favor of the pipeline, Montgomery said.
Thats how he gets his work. It seems to us you cant expect him to have a truly objective perspective when own organization has taken a position on the case, Montgomery said.
Tittel said there are three substantive issues in addition to the procedural one that his group and others are likely to tackle in lawsuits.
First is the issue of whether the B.L. England is in fact in the Pinelands covered by the commissions Comprehensive Management Plan, since it is outside of the state designated boundary but inside the federal boundary.
Wittenberg has said the definition of Pinelands under the CMP covers both, while Tittel says the CMP only has jurisdiction over the state Pinelands.
Primarily for use within the Pinelands means the state jurisdiction, Tittel argued.
Second is the issue of SJ Gas acknowledging the pipeline will not just provide gas to the plant, but will also provide a back up source of power for resiliency for customers in parts of Atlantic and Cape May counties, most of whom live outside the Pinelands.
So South Jersey Gass own filings and a BPU determination says the gas is for outside the Pines, tittel said. Its for resiliency along the coast. You cant play it both ways.
Third, he said the groups will likely challenge the fact that the pipeline is designed to be able to carry twice the amount of gas to be used by the plant.
And the plants owner will only pay 40 percent of the estimated $90 million cost, said Tittel. Ratepayers will cover the other 60 percent, according to an order from the BPU.
Their own papers prove our case, said Tittel.
He said the groups have 45 days from the time the minutes of Fridays meeting are adopted to file additional lawsuits.
They rushed this thing through so fast, I think they made a lot of mistakes, said Tittel. It makes it a better case for us.
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.
Company expects double-digit expansion through franchise agreements
HOUSTON, Feb. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Russo's Restaurants, parent company of Russo's New York Pizzeria and Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen with locations in the U.S., UAE and Saudi Arabia, will expand throughout the Middle East over the next 10 years with an aggressive multi-unit franchise growth strategy.
Russo's Restaurants, founded by Chef Anthony Russo, focuses on authentic, hand-tossed New York-style pizzas and Italian pastas, soups and salads made with family recipes and ingredients like house-made mozzarella, imported artisanal Sicilian olive oil, cheeses from Italy and hand-crushed pear tomatoes from California.
"Russo's concepts appeal to franchisees nationally and internationally because of the food quality our recipes, our sourcing, our authenticity that speaks to the way people the world over want to eat today," said Russo. "We are growing because the appetite for our style of food is growing, and we've been doing it for 25 years with proven success."
The company, with more than 50 new restaurants in development globally, recently opened its first Russo's New York Pizzeria in Riyadh with franchisee Abdulrahman Al Arifi, who has an agreement to open three more locations and says he'll build up to 60 in the next 10 years.
"We want to make Russo's the first choice of pizza throughout the region," said Arifi. "We want every pizza lover and non-lover to come in to our restaurants and taste the magic of our pizza and fresh ingredients that are unlike anything we have in Saudi Arabia."
In addition to planned openings in Saudi Arabia, Russo's is targeting new international markets such as Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Egypt for franchise development.
Russo's UAE franchise partner, Prime Hospitality, will also open the region's first Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen concept at The Pointe in Dubai in Q3, which boasts a new prototype designed exclusively for Middle East development. This will be the seventh Russo's location in the UAE, with plans for many more.
For more information on Russo's Restaurants, Russo's New York Pizzeria and Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen, go to www.nypizzeria.com.
About Russo's Restaurants
Founded by Chef Anthony Russo, the Houston-based restaurant company was built on Russo family recipes and a passion for fresh, authentic handmade pizzas and Italian dishes created from the finest imported and house-made ingredients. The first Russo's New York Pizzeria opened in Houston to rave reviews in 1992 and was franchised two years later. In 2008, Russo added sibling concept Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen, offering a more in-depth Italian menu prepared in authentic coal-fired ovens. Russo's Restaurants has nearly 50 company-owned and franchised restaurants in the U.S. and the Middle East. For more menu, location and franchising information go to www.nypizzeria.com or connect on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
Media Contact:
Kerrie Sparks or Carson Cline
+18173293257
kerrie@spmcommunications.com
carson@spmcommunications.com
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Chennai, Feb 21 : Around one million bankers will go on strike on February 28 following the failure of conciliation talks between the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) and the management, a union leader said on Tuesday.
The UFBU is an umbrella body of nine unions in the banking sector.
All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C.H. Venkatachalam said the Chief Labour Commissioner of the Ministry of Labour had called for a conciliation meeting in Delhi on Tuesday morning.
Representatives of the Indian Banks Association (IBA) and UFBU were present.
"All attempts to find solutions to the demands raised by the unions yielded no result. So the United Forum of Bank Unions decided to proceed with the proposed strike on February 28," Venkatachalam said.
He said one million employees and officers of public sector banks, private banks, foreign banks, co-operative banks and regional rural banks will strike work on that day.
New Delhi, Feb 21 : A 23-year-old jilted lover, described as an "over-smart engineer", has been arrested from here for allegedly harassing and sending obscene messages to a Delhi University student.
The accused, Aman Singh, a resident of west Delhi's Paschim Vihar area, made the best of his technological skills to create multiple fake accounts to send messages and make calls to the victim from fake international numbers using various mobile applications, Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Kumar said.
"The over-smart engineer displayed his all technical skills to mislead police, but Cyber Crime Cell succeeded" in tracking him down from his residence on Monday night, Kumar said.
Singh, who was working with a reputed IT-company and drew a "good package" in salary, had befriended the victim during a college fest in 2015 where they became friends but broke up after a couple of months, according to Kumar.
The police officer said Singh was unable to come up with the terms and started harassing the girl in social media networking sites, including Facebook and WhatsApp. The victim did not respond to his messages.
In frustration, the accused started sending "unwarranted messages" to her family members.
"He also threatened them. He created a fake account of the victim on 'Facebook' and sent friend requests to her friends and family members with obscene comments," Kumar said.
During investigation, police found that the accused used a Jio SIM of his college friend to send messages as an unknown person.
Kumar said the accused confessed the crime. Police have seized his mobile phones, laptops and other gadgets that he used to send messages.
Christchurch, Feb 22 : New Zealand defeated South Africa by six in the second One-Day International (ODI) at the Hagley Oval here on Wednesday.
New Zealand's veteran batsman Ross Taylor got to a record 17th ODI century off the last ball of the New Zealand innings before the bowlers did the needful to stop the Proteas six runs short, according to the ICC's official website.
Taylor scored an unbeaten 102 to help New Zealand post 289/4 after they opted to bat. South Africa came within sniffing distance, thanks to a late 26-ball half-century from Dwaine Pretorius, but eventually finished on 283/9.
Taylor had shared the New Zealand record of 16 ODI centuries with Nathan Astle, and had been in a rich vein of form since returning from eye surgery in early January.
On his way to his century, Taylor also became only the fourth New Zealander to score 6,000 ODI runs.
He received excellent support from the skipper Kane Williamson and Jimmy Neesham. Neesham scored an unbeaten 71, while Williamson notched up 69.
Chasing a competitive total, many South African batsmen -- including Quinton de Kock (57) and AB de Villiers (45) -- made good starts but were unable to go on and anchor the innings. As a result, South Africa looked out of the competition at 214/8, but Pretorius gave New Zealand some nervous moments, helped by mis-fields and poor bowling at the death.
The third ODI will be played in Wellington on Saturday.
Patna, Feb 24 : The Bihar Police on Friday arrested the state's Staff Selection Commission Chairman from neighbouring Jharkhand in connection with a leakage of question papers, an official here said.
Sudhir Kumar, a senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who heads the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC), was arrested along with four of his close relatives from Hazaribagh, the official added.
A Special Investigation Team 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 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.
The Bihar government had suspended BSSC 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.
Chennai, Feb 24 : 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.
Paris, Feb 25 : French President Francois Hollande on Saturday asked his US counterpart Donald Trump not to disparage Paris, following the latter's remarks about the French capital's loss of appeal due to terrorist attacks.
Hollande was referencing comments Trump made during a speech delivered on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbour, Maryland, Efe news reported.
"It is never good to show the slightest mistrust towards a friendly country," Hollande said.
"That is not what I do toward a friendly country and I ask the American President not to do it to France," he added.
Trump had claimed that a friend told him that "Paris is no longer Paris", seemingly because of the recent terror attacks that took place in the city.
When asked about Trump's criticism, Hollande countered that he could also question the US' safety when it comes to gun control and mass shootings.
"I don't want to make a comparison, but there are no weapons circulating here, there are no people who take weapons to shoot into the crowd," Hollande said.
He added that Trump had told him in a telephone conversation that he "loved" France.
"So I imagine that that is what he thinks. If it is what he thinks, I expect he will express that," Hollande added.
Hyderabad, Feb 25 : The body of Hyderabad engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead in the US in what appears to be a hate crime, will arrive here on Monday.
Telangana Minister for NRI Affairs K.T. Rama Rao said the body will arrive by Air India flight at 9.45 p.m.
After consoling the parents of Srinivas, he told reporters that the slain engineer's wife Sunayana Dumala and other relatives will accompany the body.
The Minister visited the house of Srinivas in Bachupally here and consoled his parents and other family members.
He spoke to Sinivas' father K. Madhusudhana Sastry and mother Parvata Vardhini, who was inconsolable.
The Minister later told reporters that Srinivas' parents said while no government can bring back their son, all efforts should be made to prevent such incidents in future so that parents of others are saved of this agony.
Rama Rao said that such incidents do raise concern among parents and relatives of those who have gone to the US for jobs or higher education.
Rama Rao, who is son of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, said he will discuss with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, the security concern among students and professionals working in US who want an assurance that this kind of incidents will not recur.
The Minister said immediately after learning about the incident, he contacted the officer on special duty on Sushma Swaraj's office and called for immediate steps to bring home of the body of the slain engineer at the earliest.
Rama Rao earlier expressed shock and anguish over the spate of attacks the US, the latest being the killing of.Srinivas.
"Shocked & anguished by the spate of attacks in US. Vamshi last month, Srinivas & Alok now," he tweeted on Saturday.
Rama Rao said the state government will work with the Ministry of External Affairs to offer support to the distressed.
Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white man who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, 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.
Kuchibhotla of Hyderabad and his colleague Madasani from Warangal district in Telangana were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an MNC.
Kuchibhotla is the second man from Telangana to die in a shootout in the US this month.
Software engineer Vamshi Reddy Mamidala was shot dead in Milpitas, California, on February 10, by an offender in the garage of his apartment building.
The 27-year-old, who hailed from Warangal district, died when the assailant opened fire while fleeing after robbing a woman.
Washington, Feb 26 : Members of the Democratic National Committee elected former Labor Secretary Tom Perez as their new chairman, media reports said.
Perez, known as a civil rights advocate, won 235 of the 445 votes cast by the Democratic delegates meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, since Thursday to elect the new chairman of the DNC, Xinhua news agency reported.
After shaking hands with his rival for the position Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, Perez proposed a motion to name his "good friend" Ellison as Deputy Chairman of the DNC, and received unanimous consent.
Ellison accepted the position and asked his followers to support Perez starting today because Democrats cannot risk going forward divided.
"I'm asking you to give everything you've got to support Chairman Perez," Ellison told his fellow Democrats.
Being backed by former Vice President Joe Biden, Perez was encouraged by Obama's team to run for the position.
Democrats are submerged in a serious crisis due to the loss of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her run for the White House, as well as by their inability to win back the Senate from conservatives in the legislative elections last November.
At the same time, they could scarcely cut into Republicans' majority in the House of Representatives, while suffering big losses at state and local levels.
New Delhi : His name is synonymous with the exploits of the most famous, though fictional, secret agent ever, but apart from this irresistible mixture of fantasies expertly served -- and a last-ditch demonstration of British power -- Ian Fleming had other literary skills up his sleeve. Unfortunately, he had very limited time and opportunity to exhibit them.
Largely overshadowed by the 12 James Bond novels and two short story collections, are three works spanning a remarkable range of genres -- from a magical tale for children to an entertainingly opinionated travelogue that revealed another side of Fleming.
A journalist, stockbroker and naval intelligence officer before returning to journalism after World War II, Fleming (1908-64) became widely known after "Casino Royale", the first of the Bond adventures, was published in 1953. However, he didn't let 007 take over his entire creativity.
While the Bond books are more plausible (and much darker) than the glamorous, high-tech screen adaptations, they were well researched by Fleming. And it was this aspect which led to his first non-fiction work.
Foreign Manager in the Kemsley newspaper group, which then time owned The Sunday Times, and overseeing the paper's network of foreign correspondents, he became interested in the smuggling of diamonds from Africa after reading a news story on the issue. Though most of his research was for the fourth Bond novel "Diamonds are Forever" (1956), he also used it for "The Diamond Smugglers" (1957).
"One day in April 1957 I had just answered a letter from an expert in unarmed combat writing from a cover address in Mexico City, and I was thanking a fan in Chile, when my telephone rang..." it begins and goes on to tell about the work of the International Diamond Security Organisation (IDSO), then headed by an ex-chief of Britain's MI5.
Based on two weeks of interviews (in Tangier) of ex-security service agent and IDSO operative John Collard (referred to as 'John Blaize' and described as a "reluctant hero, like all Britain's best secret agents"), the book however suffered from Fleming not visiting the African areas in question, Collard cutting out his literary flourishes, some matter being already known, and a large chunk being left out at De Beers' insistence.
Fleming himself was not too fond of it. As Fergus Fleming notes in his foreword to the Vintage edition, in the inscription of his personal library copy, his uncle termed it "...adequate journalism but a poor book and necessarily rather contrived though the facts are true". However, Fergus Fleming argues that despite perching uncomfortably between two genres, it has its touches, especially the "strange" interview of Collard on a jellyfish-strewn beach on the very tip of Africa.
Receiving a mixed response, it however was then commercially most valuable, selling in the hundreds of thousands, and nearly becoming the first of his works to be filmed.
Fleming was better pleased with "Thrilling Cities", bringing, in his own words, a "thriller writer's view" of some major cities. It was based on a series of articles he wrote for The Sunday Times on two extended trips -- the first around the world in 1959, and then driving around Europe in 1960.
Suggested by a colleague that he take a five-week, all-expenses-paid trip around the world for a series of features, Fleming had initially declined terming himself a terrible tourist who "often advocated the provision of roller-skates at the door of museums and art galleries" but was ultimately persuaded by the contention that he could also get some material for the Bond books in the process.
The first trip included Hong Kong (with brief vignettes of stopovers in Beirut, New Delhi and Bangkok), Macau (where he investigated the gold trade), Tokyo, Honolulu, Los Angeles and Las Vegas (in one chapter), Chicago, and New York (which received a rather jaundiced view due to his tiredness) -- all in the terse, subjective (though still cleverly incisive) and cynically jaded tones we are familiar from the Bond books.
It also grew exciting when his plane nearly crashed between Japan and Hawaii after engine failure.
Sunday Times chairman Roy Thomson enjoyed Fleming's articles and suggested a number of other cities but the follow up was Fleming's drive through Hamburg (where he visited the red-light district), Berlin, Vienna, Geneva (with accounts of current scandals), Naples (where Lucky Luciano came to tea) and Monte Carlo (and its casinos).
Fleming's final non-Bond book was based on the bedtime stories he told his son, Caspar. Recuperating after a series of heart attacks following the "Thunderball" case, he was persuaded to turn them into a book. This was "Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang", published a few months after his death.
Also adapted into a film, which changed the rather basic plot to near-fantasy though introducing Bond-like heroines (Truly Scrumptious), it was testament to Fleming's skill at storytelling for all ages -- and that the child in all of us never grows up fully.
(Vikas Datta is an Associate Editor at IANS. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in )
New Delhi, Feb 26 : Who will be India's next President? Initial discussions in the BJP have catapulted veteran party leader Murli Manohar Joshi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as top favourites.
Informed sources, however, say the names of two other women politicians are also doing the rounds -- Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu.
Interestingly, L.K. Advani, once a staunch backer of the man who is today Prime Minister, is not being considered for the post of head of state that will fall vacant in July.
Although these names have emerged in the discussions between the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the final picture will become clear once the results of assembly elections in five states become known.
Joshi, 83, associated with the RSS since 1944 when he was just 10 years old, became the BJP President in 1991 amid the growing campaign for a Ram temple at Ayodhya.
He was a member of all three union governments headed by the now ailing Atal Bihar Vajpayee -- in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
During his long political career, Joshi led the 'Ekta Yatra' from Kanyakumari to Srinagar in 1992 and unfurled the national flag at Lal Chowk on Republic Day.
Joshi played an active role in the Ayodhya movement and was arrested after the Babri mosque was razed in December 1992.
He was also jailed for 19 months when Indira Gandhi clamped Emergency rule in June 1975.
Sushma Swaraj, 65, is also being considered for the top post for more than one reason.
Not only has she emerged as "a good minister" in the Modi government, her elevation will also help the RSS shrug away charges that it is anti-women.
Sushma Swaraj is also known to enjoy good relations with leaders of many political parties, something that will help the BJP to cobble the numbers needed to elect a new President.
But her health remains a matter of concern. But some sources say this could well be the reason why she may be suitable for the job because she will, as one source said, "get some well-deserved rest".
Another probable is Sumitra Mahajan, 74 and an eight-time MP from Indore, whom Modi picked as the Speaker. She also has good equations with the RSS.
Jharkhand Governor Murmu, 59, may emerge as a surprise pick too.
A tribal woman from Odisha, she has had an impressive political and social career spanning almost two decades. No tribal has been elected the President.
Murmu's political career started in 1997 when she was elected as a councillor and then to the Odisha assembly, which once hailed her as the best MLA of the year.
Murmu has actively pursued social causes and played a pivotal role in community uplift in Odisha.
The electoral college which elects the President is made up of 4,896 legislators -- 776 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members and 4,120 MLAs.
All MPs have an equal vote value of 708 while that of MLAs depends on the population of the state.
Of the 1.098 million votes in the electoral college now, the majority would be 549,001.
The BJP has 282 Lok Sabha and 56 Rajya Sabha members as well as 1,126 MLAs across the country. Although it rules 10 states on its own, it is out of power in populous states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance would require around 75,000 more votes than it now has to ensure that its nominee wins the presidential poste.
In 2012, Congress-backed UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee defeated BJP nominee P.A. Sangma by around 40 per cent votes.
In 2002, when Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, the BJP supported A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as a consensus candidate as it did not have enough numbers in the electoral college to prop up someone of its choice.
After Abdul Kalam, Pratibha Patil of the Congress occupied Rashtrapati Bhavan as India's first woman President. Then came Mukherjee.
(Brajendra Nath Singh can be contacted at brajendra.n@ians.in)
New Delhi, Feb 26 : Born in the year 2000, it had a dark blue body, emitted a deep green light from its tiny screen, and housed a charming game called "Snake". And an entire generation grew up loving the iconic Nokia 3310.
Then came the Nokia 1100 in 2003 -- a sturdy affair with an inbuilt torch -- which quickly became the best-selling consumer electronics device of its time.
It was the Golden Age of Nokia -- with hardly a competitor in sight.
Inevitably, though, the age passed, and Nokia devices, with their "indestructible" bodies and long-lasting batteries, disappeared after ruling the Indian market for several years.
But they left behind two key legacies: a brand with great recall value, and a wide and surviving sales network.
With market buzz suggesting that the 3310 is set to make a comeback -- perhaps as early as May -- the brand recall and sales network can only help.
The relaunch will be accompanied by some Android-based phones like the Nokia 6 -- to be launched in China on February 26 -- and the Nokia 8, to be showcased at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which begins on February 27.
Are the ever-evolving, 4G-conscious Indian smartphone consumers likely to embrace an upgraded 3310, which is expected to cost a little over Rs 4,000?
"We have to understand that, in India, we still have people who don't have a mobile phone. And if Nokia, with its adequate distribution network, is able to tap that near-edge market, the 3310 has the potential to do wonders and become a leading handset," Faisal Kawoosa, Principal Analyst, Telecoms, CyberMedia Research (CMR), told IANS.
"There is still enough of India that can consume it. After all, in India, three of the top 20 handsets that are deployed are still from Nokia," Kawoosa added.
Mobile handset shipments touched 265 million in 2016 with feature phones making up about 59 per cent of the overall market. It is a strong reaffirmation of the fact that it would take quite a bit longer for India to become a smartphone-only market.
"Two-thirds of the Indian market is still feature phones, and among feature phones, 3310 was the king. It is going to be a niche product but we have no reason to believe it cannot be successful," Jaideep Mehta, Managing Director, IDC South Asia, told IANS.
According to Tarun Pathak, Senior Analyst, Mobile Devices and Ecosystems at New Delhi-based Counterpoint Research, one of the biggest challenges for the new Nokia would be to live up to its legacy.
"Users will not look at Nokia as a start-up, but rather as a billion dollar company of the past. To convert this challenge into an opportunity, Nokia needs an impressive start. I think the new Nokia should differentiate its products from the experience perspective rather than mere specifications and target the mid-end smartphone segment," Pathak told IANS.
After acquiring Nokia for $7.2 billion in 2013, Microsoft soon realised it had made a huge mistake and sold off the company's phone-making business to Apple's supply-chain partner Foxconn.
Nokia announced last year that it had licensed Finnish company HMD Global to produce Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablets.
HMD has reached agreements with both Microsoft and Nokia for the use of the Nokia brand and some design rights. HMD is planning to spend some 400 million euros to market the Nokia brand for the next three years.
When it comes to smartphones, people would expect the same reliability from Nokia as they did with their feature phones.
"People who started their mobile phone journey with a Nokia are over 30 years of age. So, the biggest challenge for Nokia to succeed in smartphones would be to connect with teenagers and youth who drive smartphone sales, either by being the primary users or by influencing their elders to take a decision," Kawoosa explained.
For Nokia to make some inroads in the smartphone segment, it needs to leverage the wide base of users who have actually experienced using a Nokia -- and somehow ensure today's buyers are influenced by them.
"Say, something like 'offers for parents to gift a Nokia smartphone to their children' to pass on the trust to the next generation," Kawoosa suggested.
Nokia has to keep it simple. It's known for its hardware and that is where it should be playing, the experts said.
"Launching products like the 3310 is more likely a strategy to bring alive the emotions and connect that users had with Nokia as a brand in the past. It is a good strategy to start with. And India will be a critical market as close to 145 million feature phones will be sold in the country in 2017," Pathak said.
"People still remember the reliability and sturdiness of the devices. There is no doubt that it will help Nokia gain some foothold in the market as a new entrant," Mehta said.
(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)
New Delhi, Feb 26 : The violent clashes between the right-wing ABVP and the Left-leaning student groups at Delhi University's Ramjas College are just a reminder of campuses turning into political battlegrounds, or are they also reflective of the premier educational institutions losing their academic freedom?
While the ABVP has drawn brickbats for the February 22 fierce clashes that left injured over a dozen persons, including teachers and journalists, not just the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's student wing but confrontational politics has created unrest in the campuses across the country.
From the national capital's Jawaharlal Nehru University to the Jadavpur University in Kolkata to Hyderabad University, student issues have often boiled over, leading to violent clashes between rival groups.
The ABVP's bid to dominate campus life in the country has seriously infringed academic freedom, Delhi University Professor Apoorvanand Jha told IANS.
The incident at Ramjas College is not an isolated one, rather there has been a concerted campaign by the ABVP's student and youth activists to dominate campus life in India in the name of nationalism.
The ABVP has been harassing teachers, students, thinkers. Its activists are attacking institutions which are not to their liking, ideological or otherwise. This is happening not just in JNU or DU but on campuses across the country. There are numerous instances where ABVP threats, agitations, frivolous police complaints have led to cancellation of events, Jha says.
Enraged over the invitation to JNU student Umar Khalid -- arrested last year on the charge of "sedition" -- for a seminar, ABVP activists not just foiled the Ramjas College event but went on a rampage, assaulting students and others.
Jha says the BJP-RSS's politics of causing fear has robbed the campuses of their atmosphere of free debate, along with academic freedom.
"Today my academic freedom has been curbed. As a teacher, I am apprehensive of giving my views on a subject. Would I be attacked or called an anti-national or an FIR be filed against me," Jha wonders.
"As a teacher of nationalism, it is my duty to expose my students to different interpretations of nationalism. But in order to ensure my safety, I will censor myself. I don't know which of my thoughts or words would be taken as anti-national and a case be filed against me," said Jha.
DU Professor Rakesh Sinha, though, squarely blames the Leftists for "vitiating" the campus atmosphere and says free speech at the cost of nationalism can never be allowed.
"Like violence, there is also no place on the campus for those who live in India but talk about breaking it. These people are more dangerous than external forces. When the government is taking steps to strengthen national integration, these people who talk about Kashmir's 'azadi' are actually strengthening Pakistan's bid to internationalise the Kashmir issue," Sinha told IANS.
"This is not just condemnable and should be vehemently protested, but also warrants legal action," Sinha said, justifying sedition charge against Khalid.
Rubbishing allegations that the ABVP resorted to violence on the campus, Sinha accused the Left-leaning student activists of being intolerant.
"RSS academicians have not been given space for the last 50 years, so who is curbing free speech? Are non-Leftist academicians invited to give their views in JNU?" he asked.
"It's the leftists who are intolerant. Opposed to their monolithic views, there is this alternative narrative emerging. When their feudalistic ideas are challenged, they are protesting, accusing, alleging and resorting to any other means in their bid to stave it off," added Sinha.
Refusing to get into the nationalism versus free speech debate, former JNU Vice Chancellor Sudhir Kumar Sopory expressed his anguish over the Ramjas College incident.
"Campuses are for debates and discussions. Attempts to curb them are unacceptable," Sopory told IANS.
"The Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and also lays down restrictions. So, in the name of free speech or nationalism, violence cannot be tolerated. Surely it's the academics that suffers," he added.
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International India too has expressed concern over the "threat to free speech in Indian universities".
A Jamia Millia Islamia professor, who wished not to be named, deplored the nationalism narrative to promote hatred.
"In the name of nationalism, people should not be made to kill other people or hate other people or promote prejudices. That is not nationalism, that is something dangerous," the professor told IANS.
"Nationalism is great when it is for promoting brotherhood and love for the country, but when it is used for communalising or spreading hatred, then that is not nationalism. Except for law, no one can call another unpatriotic or anti-national. It is for the judiciary to decide," he added.
(Anurag Dey can be reached at anurag.d@ians.in)
Mexico City, Feb 26 : To support government efforts against cyber crime while also helping companies and citizens to be more secure, Microsoft has announced the launch of a cyber security centre in Mexico.
The Cyber Security Engagement Centre will serve Mexico and other Latin American countries, Microsoft said.
"By opening this Cyber Security Center, we are offering our clients protection from attacks and security risks, as well as ways to detect them and find solutions," Jorge Silva, General Manager of Microsoft Mexico, said in a statement released this weekend.
"At Microsoft, we are committed to invest in the region so we can bring our cyber security capabilities to customers by identifying current threats that affect the economy's prosperity," Silva said.
The center will help fight cyber crime, particularly in the dismantling of criminal organisations that operate through Botnet schemes.
It will also help cyber security experts from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America to work with Microsoft specialists to fight cyber crime together.
"By opening this center, we are bringing Microsoft's offer of security increasingly closer to customers in order to be a strategic part of their transformation, and together we will create a country and a region that are more prosperous and productive, and above all, that are safer," Silva said.
Bengaluru, Feb 26 : Buried in the flood of congratulatory messages that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) received after its recent space feat is one discordant note raising some concern.
It is from none other than G. Madhavan Nair, the former chairman of the country's premier space body. Nair, during whose term the agency launched the Chandrayaan mission to the Moon, feels ISRO's latest Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission potentially has some hidden dangers to its own space assets.
On February 15, a PSLV released a flock of over 100 nano- and micro-satellites of overseas customers for a fee. Of them, 88 satellites called "Doves" belonged to Planet, a San Francisco-based startup. All these tiny satellites, each smaller than a briefcase, were lobbed into a polar orbit 506 km above the Earth by the PSLV in a flawless mission.
"I am somewhat concerned because the region where so many of these objects have been placed is the same where our own Earth observation satellites are, or will be," Nair told this correspondent over the phone.
The nano-satellites, Nair pointed out, have a short useful life after which they become junk that will keep floating in space for years in the same orbit with chances of colliding with ISRO's operational satellites sharing the same space.
"The debris that these nano-satellites will leave after their brief existence in space are potential source of damage to us. Safety of our satellites is more important," Nair maintained.
He cautioned that ISRO should carefully weigh a few million dollars of commercial gain from launching foreign nano-satellites into 500-km orbits against the potential harm to the present and future Earth observation satellites close to their lanes.
He also noted that in case of a future collision between the debris from any of these nano-satellites and a working satellite belonging to another country, India will have to pay for the damages. "Therefore, I do not know if we should do it," he said.
Nair was referring to the Space Liability Convention that entered into force in 1972, under which launching countries "should bear international responsibility" for all space objects launched from their territory "regardless of to whom the space object belongs".
Nair said that in his view, short-lived nano-satellites, if launched, should be put in much lower orbits -- below the operational region of remote sensing satellites. Any junk formed in such low-earth orbits will descend to Earth due to atmospheric drag and pose no problem to the working satellites.
"Also, this issue should be raised in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in order to arrive at a designated corridor for small and nano-satellites."
ISRO is a member of Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) which coordinates global efforts to reduce man-made and natural space debris by sharing research and identifying debris mitigation options.
While ISRO spokesman Deviprasad Karnik said his agency has "no comments" to offer to the concerns raised by the agency's former chairman, Planet spokesperson Rachel Holm dismissed any danger to ISRO's operating satellites as feared by Nair.
"At Planet, we designed our concept of operations with debris mitigation in mind," the company said in an email. "Our Doves fly at a self-cleaning orbit. After 3-5 years, gravity pulls our satellites down into Earth's atmosphere where they burn up completely."
Nair's concerns have, however, been echoed by space debris experts in different forums.
At a recent International Astronautical Congress in Toronto, Hugh Lewis, a leading space debris expert from the University of Southampton, said that since 2005, CubeSats have been involved in more than 360,000 close encounters, "many of these in Sun-synchronous orbits that are popular with remote sensing and Earth science satellites".
Lewis had warned that if CubeSats continue to be launched into long-lived orbits without any means of disposing them of, "they will contribute to the growing space debris hazard".
In 2014, the International Space Station had to move three times to avoid lethal chunks of space debris and, only a month ago, European Space Agency had reported that its Swarm-B satellite had a miraculous escape from space debris that came as close as 361 metres.
Experts predict that satellites -- just like drones -- are increasingly coming within reach of ordinary people. As the cost of getting them in orbit plummets, the risks of collisions in space "will grow," says a recent report from the US National Academy of Sciences.
(K.S. Jayaraman can be contacted at killugudi@hotmail.com)
Bhubaneswar, Feb 26 : Endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles, which were tagged for the purpose of studying their migration pattern, have returned for mass nesting to the Odisha coast.
The tagged Olive Ridley turtles have reappeared in Gahiramatha, considered the world's largest rookery of the creatures, in Kendrapara district for laying eggs this year.
The sighting of 'tagged' turtles established the belief that these marine creatures prefer Odisha for laying eggs, said Gahirmatha Forest Range officer Subrat Patra.
The forest department in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, fitted tags on the flippers of turtles between 1998 and 2010. The tagging had been conducted during the arrival of turtles for mass nesting, said informed sources.
"We have spotted some turtles with metallic flipper tags. The recovered tags are marked 'Gahiramatha', 'WII' and a number. The reappearance of tagged turtles shows that the female turtles return to the same beach to lay eggs, where they were born decades ago," said Patra.
Over 3.5 lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles have come to the Nasi-2 beach within the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary for laying eggs.
The wildlife department of the state government has made adequate protection for the endangered species for their safe laying of eggs.
The Olive Ridley turtles have laid over 3,55,000 eggs within a week of mass nesting in Rushikulya river mouth of Ganjam coast, which is an all-time record, Berhampur's Divisional Forest Officer Ashish Kumar Behera told IANS last week. The turtles had laid 3,09,000 eggs last year.
Kasaragod (Kerala), Feb 26 : Hafeesudin, one of the 21 Keralites reported to have joined the Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan, has been killed in a drone attack, his relative said on Sunday.
Rehman told the media here that he had received a message via a social media app from another relative Ashfaq, who is also in Afghanistan, that Hafeesuddin, 26, died in the drone attack on Saturday.
He said Ashfaq also said that Hafeesuddin's last rites had been held, adding that he had also informed local police of the message, and they, in turn, informed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had told the assembly last July that 21 persons, including children, had left the state for Afghanistan to join the IS. Out of these, 17 were from Kasaragod district while four belonged from Palakkad district.
New Delhi, Feb 26 : Low budget airlines SpiceJet on Sunday announced that it would launch a direct service on the Kolkata-Dhaka-Kolkata sector from March 23.
With addition of the Bangladesh capital, the airline will operate to 7 international destinations, a SpiceJet release said.
"To celebrate the launch of the new route, the airline has also announced an introductory promotional fare of Rs 3,549 (all inclusive) for Kolkata-Dhaka and BDT 4,325 (all inclusive) for Dhaka-Kolkata," it said.
Dhaka is the second international destination after Bangkok that Spicejet will be serving with a direct daily flight from Kolkata.
"The new daily flight on the Kolkata-Dhaka route will help increase the connectivity with Bangladesh from India. Travellers coming for medical and business purposes will benefit from this new flight," said company Chairman Ajay Singh.
"With our much awaited mega Boeing deal finally concluded, the time is now ripe for SpiceJet to eye new markets and boost connectivity," he added.
The new flight will provide convenient onward connections to cities such as Bangkok, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Guwahati, Bagdogra, Aizawl and Silchar via Kolkata to Dhaka, SpiceJet said
Shillong, Feb 26 : At least 17 people were killed and 62 others critically injured on Sunday when a truck they were travelling in rammed into the concrete barricade along a road in Meghalaya's West Khasi Hills district, police said.
The overcrowded truck with over 70 people travelling in it was proceedings towards Nonglang village to attend the synod of Presbyterian Church.
"The final count of bodies from the accident site at Jadohkroh village and those who succumbed to injuries in hospital is 17 and those critically injured is 62," Sylvester Nongtnger, district police chief of West Khasi Hills, told IANS.
The toll could increase as most of the injured were in critical condition, he said.
Nongtnger said preliminary investigations indicated that the accident occurred due to over-speeding, which led to the truck ramming against the concrete barricade -- and hurling the occupants of the carrier into the gorge along the road.
"We have registered a case against the driver under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicles Act," the police official said.
Expressing grief over the loss of lives in the accident, state Home Minister H.D.R. Lyngdoh promised action against those involved as per provisions of the law.
Damascus, Feb 26 : The Syrian Army captured a key town in the northern countryside of Aleppo province on Sunday, following battles with the Islamic State.
Capturing the town of Tadef enables the Syrian army to secure transportation routes in eastern Aleppo, and constitute a base for launching attacks and undermining the presence of the IS militants in that part of the province, the Syrian army said in a statement, according to state news agency SANA.
The town is also located southeast of city al-Bab, which was recently captured by Turkish forces and allied rebel fighters.
The Syrian Army unleashed a wide-scale offensive in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, after succeeding to wrest control over the city of Aleppo last December.
The offensive enabled the military forces to assume control of territory 600 km east of Aleppo.
Also, the army has laid a siege along the southern rim of al-Bab city, to secure the eastern part of Aleppo city from IS attacks, or the possible advance of the Turkish-backed rebels.
Observers believe that there was a Russian-Turkish understanding for splitting the battles in al-Bab.
For the Turks, capturing al-Bab cuts the way in the face of the growing Kurdish influence in northern Syria, a red line drawn by Turkey.
For the Syrian army, laying a siege to al-Bab from its southern edge prevents the IS fighters to withdraw toward other stronghold in eastern province of Deir al-Zour, or northern city of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terror-designated group.
The Syrian government has always looked to the Turkish moves in northern Syria as an encroachment upon the sovereignty of the country, claiming that Ankara was capturing areas in northern Syria to build a wall, which could be a prelude to setting Ankara's long-demanded safe zones in northern Syria, near the Turkish borders.
Hyderabad, Feb 26 : Reiterating his allegation that former Home Minister P. Chidambaram's statement on Kashmir is "anti-national", Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu Sunday questioned the silence of the Congress on the issue.
The BJP leader told reporters here that even 24 hours after his reaction to Chidambaram's statement, Congress has not responded.
"Congress party must come clean and make its stand clear whether they are in agreement with Chidambaram's statement," he said.
Naidu also wanted the opposition party to clarify whether it is in agreement with remarks of other party leaders finding fault with the Army Chief's statement on Kashmir.
The central minister termed as "anti-national" and "highly irresponsible" Chidambaram's statement that Kashmir was almost lost due to wrong policies of the central government which used brute force to quell dissent there.
Naidu said Pakistan which was aiding, abetting and funding terrorism will be happy with such statements.
He also lashed out at leaders of Congress and Communist parties for finding fault with the statement of Army Chief Bipin Rawat, who had given a stern warning to separatists aiding the terrorists.
Blaming Congress for the Kashmir problem, the BJP leader said Jawaharlal Nehru committed historical mistake. He said had then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru allowed his deputy Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to handle Kashmir like Hyderabad, there would have been no Kashmir problem.
Claiming that BJP is expanding as a real national party, he said the government was trying to solve problems created by 50 years of Congress misrule.
"People want Modi to be there for another 10 years. That feeling is getting strengthened day by day. I don't say everything is over but country is moving in that direction and it is a positive direction," he said.
"Our opponents are not able to digest emergence of Modi as darling of masses and universally acceptable leader.. that is why they are trying to belittle his importance," Naidu added.
Adam Sharp, Early Investing Co-Founder and equity crowdfunding expert With as little as $100, anyone can invest in private early-stage companies, startups valued anywhere from $1 million to $50 million.
When Enron imploded in 2001, it was another kick in the gut for U.S. investors. People were steaming mad about corruption.
Politicians felt they had to respond. The primary reform passed into law was the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).
Among other things, it required public companies to recruit independent board members and audit committees.
In effect, SOX made it far more costly to be a public company. Especially for small caps and microcaps.
Adam Sharp, Early Investing Co-Founder and equity crowdfunding expert, wrote an article about the effects of Sarbanes-Oxley. In his view, the governments reaction to this crisis didnt help much. In fact, he said its actions caused significant harm to public markets.
Politicians told us it would prevent such crimes from happening again. But, from a small business perspective, the new rules made it more costly to be a public company. Reporting and audit requirements were more extreme under SOX. In essence, it became a heck of a lot more expensive to be a public company. Especially one with limited cash flow, Sharp wrote.
After SOX was implemented, a new trend began. Private companies avoided going public for as long as possible.
This meant that when companies offered stock to the public, it was much later in their growth curves. Since SOX, public market investors have missed out on most of the great U.S. growth stories.
Most of the gains were captured by private market investors. This trend only strengthened over time.
For most of the past 82 years, to be a private market investor meant you had to be wealthy. The whole situation worked out rather well for the 0.1%. But savvy investors knew they were missing out on the investments with the greatest potential.
So they pushed the government to open up private opportunities to all through the JOBS Act of 2012.
At the time, I didnt realize just how dramatic the effects of SOX would be on the markets. It was the beginning of a shift away from small publicly traded growth companies... and toward a market where almost all small company growth took place in private markets, Sharp wrote.
In May 2016, the last and most important reform of the JOBS Act of 2012 went into effect, enabling all investors to access private markets via equity crowdfunding.
According to Sharp, With as little as $100, anyone can invest in private early-stage companies valued anywhere from $1 million to $50 million. Its good not only for investors, but also for small businesses and startups. And thats where real meaningful economic growth occurs.
Shortly after these new laws went into effect in May 2016, Sharp and his business partner, Andy Gordon, started First Stage Investor, a research service that identifies the best private startups to invest in.
Sharp sums up First Stage Investor by saying, Weve also put together a ton of educational material for those who are interested in learning to navigate this market on their own. Our goal is not just to find the best investment opportunities, but also to help people avoid common mistakes.
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Adam Sharp is the Founder of Early Investing, a service focused on equity crowdfunding. He is an active investor in more than 20 startups, including Navdy, UpCounsel, Cabify, Faraday Bikes, Addy and Respondly. A former financial advisor, he also has extensive experience with internet marketing and financial writing. Adam has worked as a marketing consultant for sites including chess.com and catalogs.com. He has built three profitable web businesses.
Andrew Gordon is the Co-Founder of Early Investing and Chief Equity Analyst of the Startup Investor portfolio. Among the portfolio's two dozen holdings are Appvance, Geekatoo, Knightscope, Dealflicks and Trustify.
Educated at the London School of Economics, Andrew has three decades of experience in the private and public sectors as an entrepreneur and advisor. The CIA, former Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer, and Fortune 500 companies such as Lockheed Martin and Dow Chemical have all trusted in and profited from his advice.
Andrew founded and ran an international trade and finance company based in Asia. Upon returning to the U.S., he joined a Florida investment advisory service that quickly gained a reputation for recommending companies with outstanding value and fundamentals. Andrew has taught marketing and finance courses at local Maryland universities and has written a half-dozen books on global business, published by McGraw-Hill, Frost & Sullivan, and others.
TTI-FSS installed 1,492 solar panels and 51 small solid-state inverters at one of its three Tampa steel fabrication facilities to reduce energy costs from 13 cents per KW-h to 3 cents per KW-h. Solar energy is an appealing alternative power source because it substantially reduces operating costs while securing a large portion of the company's power needs for 25 years at a lower fixed price.
Tampa Tank Inc.-Florida Structural Steel (TTI-FSS), a globally recognized steel fabrication company, has completed installation of a 507-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system at one of its three Tampa-based manufacturing facilities.
At a half a megawatt, this is the largest solar installation for an industrial plant in Hillsborough County, Florida, and one of the largest in the state. Solar Advantage installed the 1,492 Canadian Solar 340 panels and 51 inverters for property developer Shepard Capital Partners, from whom TTI-FSS leases the facility. TTI-FSS expects to save some $75,000 80,000 in energy costs the first year by drawing power first from the solar installation and secondly from local supplier TECO Energy.
David Reed, principal at Shepard Capital Partners, member of TTI-FSS' advisory board and founder of the nonprofit Sustany Foundation, explained, Solar energy is an appealing alternative power source because it substantially reduces operating costs while securing a large portion of the companys power needs for 25 years at a lower fixed price, from 13 cents per kilowatt currently to 3 cents per KW. In addition, TTI-FSS will benefit from a federal investment tax credit worth 30 percent of the systems cost and the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MARCS) bonus depreciation of 50 percent the first full year of operation.
He added, We were looking for an opportunity to demonstrate how we can move away from carbon-based fuel use in a heavy industrial operation. Having worked with Solar Advantage President Martin Clewis at the Sustany Foundation, we quickly recognized the economic benefits of using solar power for TTI-FSS. Keeping our investment with a local company was also an appealing aspect of this project.
According to TTI-FSS founder Cal Reed, Were all concerned about the environment, so we were willing to consider solar energy as an alternative resource after evaluating three important factors: One, the return on investment; two, the viability of the manufacturing plant structure itself to support the number of solar cells necessary without having to reinforce it; and, three, the proposal from Solar Advantage to provide the quality and savings we expected at a reasonable cost. Fortunately, all three factors aligned to make this project possible.
The solar power cells capture sunlight and turn it into direct current (DC) electricity, which flows to the inverters to convert it into alternating current (AC) electricity. The AC electricity moves to the breaker box, where it is used to power the facilitys lights, tools and other manufacturing equipment. The installation is complete and will be put in operation within the month once the bi-directional solar meter is installed by Tampa Electric.
Solar Advantage President Martin Clewis emphasized the customized solutions his company employs for clients. We used a diversified approach for the inverters in this particular project. Instead of one huge truck-sized inverter, we installed 51 small solid-state inverters, made in California, scattered throughout the array of panels. This minimizes the size of the system footprint and cuts down on potential service and repair-related down time.
About TTI-FSS
Tampa Tank Inc. and Florida Structural Steel (formerly Florida Miscellaneous Steel Company) have been in the industrial steel business for more than 60 years. The company provides complete design, shop fabrication, shipment, field erection, inspection and testing of welded steel products for the petroleum, chemical, pulp and paper, mining, electric power, water and waste water industries. TTI-FSS is a major participant in the fabrication of major and minor bridges, including fracture-critical, movables and railroad, as well as standard plate girder and box girder bridges. With a sophisticated paint endorsement, the company can provide modular steel fabrications and structural steel components for the commercial, industrial and transportation sectors. The company operates across North America, Central and South America and in the Caribbean, including Bermuda, the Bahamas, Suriname and Guyana. TTI-FSS can ship every possible option, including massive products, from its deep-water port. TTI-FSS is American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) certified. For more information, visit the companys web site at http://www.tti-fss.com .
About Solar Advantage
Solar Advantage was established in 2011 by Martin Clewis, who created a solar power generation system for his companys soybean extrusion facility. Solar Advantage has years of experience in solar projects, including industrial, commercial and residential installations. The company has installed solar energy systems in Florida, the Caribbean and Asia. Solar Advantage is a state certified solar and master electrical contractor, which gives it the ability to manage nearly every aspect of any solar project. The team includes several financial experts to help businesses and homeowners take advantage of solar tax credits financing and utility incentives. Mr. Clewis is a member of the National Association of Certified Energy Practitioners in the PV Installation category. The firm has received stop service awards from Angies List and excellent reviews from Solar-Reviews, EnergySage and Google. Learn more at http://www.solaradv.com .
About Shepard Capital Partners
Shepard Capital Partners, LLC invests proprietary and investor funds in lower middle market companies, primarily in Florida and the Southeast. The firm seeks to partner with established, cash flowing businesses where the primary constraint to growth is access to capital. Investments are optimally structured to provide the portfolio company with the growth capital it requires in an efficient, flexible manner. Go to http://www.shepardcap.com for more details.
About the Sustany Foundation
The Sustany Foundation mission is to enhance the quality of life in the Tampa Bay community by promoting sustainability. Founded in 2007, Sustany supports sustainability through education and programs which advance economic prosperity, environmental stewardship and social responsibility via efficient and effective aggregation and investment of resources. Learn more at http://www.sustany.org .
Set of 4 Premium Baby Bandana Bibs With FREE Burp Cloth It feels like if my little one could talk he would say, these bibs are a great fashion accessory, but more importantly their comfortable and keep me dry.
LatitudeC Baby Products, an innovative manufacturer of luxury baby products for wholesale distribution in North America, today announced it would be offering some its exclusive product line to the public through well established online sites. The company, which prides itself on crafting quality and unique baby clothing/feeding products, will team up with AMAZON to distribute a limited number of its premium products to the public, at discounted prices.
We are thrilled to partner with AMAZON and showcase our products directly to the end consumer, says LatitudeC Co-Founder, Anthony Filipovich. It's time for us to go directly to the end consumer so they can witness first hand our passion and dedication to making quality baby products. Its an honor to be of service to parents all over America.
LatitudeC started the association with AMAZON in January of 2017 by selling a well-received set of 4 Premium Bandana Bibs (with FREE Burp Cloth) that earned top ratings in the first four weeks ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N06OVXC ).
LatitudeC will be selling its second product, a 5-in-1 Baby Car Seat and Breastfeeding Cover, on AMAZON in late February of 2017 ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N3TQQQ4 ).
Anthony Filipovich, Co-Founder of LatitudeC had this to say, We are delighted with our AMAZON partnership and look forward to listing additional luxury baby products. There is a synergy with AMAZON that we feel will result in great value for parents across America.
To learn more about the LatitudeC, contact Fatima Melo at Fatima(at)LatitudeC(dot)com or visit the website at http://www.LatitudeC.com.
About LatitudeC
LatitudeC is an innovative designer and manufacturer of baby products. We love crafting unique baby products because we feel that the human spirit has suffered due to the shift from craftsmanship to mass production. We do this by valuing everyone we come into contact with, from our employees, to our partners and customers. We are attempting to make the world a better place by practicing new ways to do business, ways that honor the human spirit.
This analysis represents a significant contribution by linking the clinical benefits of a novel intervention to the changes in functional imaging.
Functional imaging data supports improved cognition in Parkinsons disease (PD) patients after receiving cognitive rehabilitation, according to a study released today at the 1st Pan American Parkinsons and Movement Disorders Congress.
It is already known that cognitive rehabilitation programs are proven to be effective in improving cognitive function in PD patients. This study, led by Ibarretxe-Bilbao et al., investigated structural and functional cerebral changes associated with cognitive rehabilitation in PD.
The study randomly divided 42 PD patients into a control and an experimental group, which received REHACOP, a cognitive rehabilitation program commonly used in psychosis and schizophrenia. The control group received only occupational activities. After treatment, the experimental group showed significant improvements in cognition and functional disability compared to the control group. While no significant structural changes were found between pre- and post-treatment, significant functional cerebral changes in PD patients was seen through resting-state and memory task-related fMRI.
Peter Schmidt, Senior Vice President and Chief Mission Officer at the National Parkinson Foundation, states, Cognitive change is often the greatest concern for people with Parkinsons, and we have seen in several studies that cognitive interventions can make a difference in patient outcomes. This study by Dr. Ibarretxe-Bilbao and colleagues takes this to the next step by providing insight into the mechanisms. While improving functional outcomes is our end goal, the best insight into how to optimize them usually comes from understanding the underlying biology. This analysis represents a significant contribution by linking the clinical benefits of a novel intervention to the changes in functional imaging.
About the 1st Pan American Parkinsons and Movement Disorders Congress: Meeting attendees gather to learn about the latest research findings and relevant issues in the field of Movement Disorders specific to North, Central and South America. Over 400 physicians and medical professionals will be able to view over 150 scientific abstracts submitted by clinicians from the Pan American region and throughout the world.
About the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society: The International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS), an international society of over 5,000 clinicians, scientists, and other healthcare professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. For more information about MDS, visit http://www.movementdisorders.org.
We are proud to be known as the 'goto' accounting firm in San Francisco and in California for international tax issues."
Safe Harbor LLP, long considered one of the leading accounting firms in the San Francisco Bay Area and in California for international tax issues, is proud to announce a two-pronged strategy for both businesses and individuals who may be facing the requirements of having tax returns prepared in both the USA and foreign countries.
We are proud to be known as the 'goto' accounting firm in San Francisco and in California for international tax issues, explained Chun Wong, Managing Partner at Safe Harbor LLP. However, as this practice has grown over the past few years, we have realized that there are two distinct yet often interrelated needs - the needs of individuals (often called 'expat' or 'expatriates') and the needs of corporations for international tax compliance.
The two prongs of the initiative are beefed up international tax preparation services for businesses at http://www.safeharborcpa.com/international-tax/, and expatriate tax return preparation service for individuals at http://www.safeharborcpa.com/expatriate-tax-service/. Among expat tax preparation services, one of the most common is Canadian nationals who are living in California. Other common countries are Germany, the UK, and China but anyone who is a foreign national who must comply with both the tax laws of California and the USA, in the one hand, and of his or her home country, on the other, is a candidate for these services. Indeed, it is not uncommon for one individual to be in control of both a business (that requires international tax services) and individual assets (that require expat tax return preparation). The two-pronged strategy will give such a person a 'one stop shop' for their tax services.
A Growing Need for International Tax Services for Both Corporations and Individuals
California, in general, and the San Francisco Bay Area - both San Francisco and Silicon Valley - in particular, are hotbeds of international activity. It is not uncommon for even a small business to have exposure to international trade, with either employees or offices here and abroad. Obviously, many publicly traded corporations face complex international tax compliance issues, but so do many individuals who merely work for various Bay Area companies. Residents of Canada, for example, will need to file their tax returns in both the United States and in Canada to be in full compliance. News trends such as FBAR (Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) regulator compliance are causing more and more people to come forward and get into accord with the complex tax situations that occur when one has income and/or assets that straddle international boundaries. Added to this is the problem of an individual who may have individual exposure and yet also have business exposure to international tax requirements. It can get quite complicated, quite quickly. Accordingly, this new two-pronged approach to international tax can help individuals and corporations with their overseas tax compliance issues. No two situations are alike, so interested parties are urged to reach out to Safe Harbor LLP via the website.
About Safe Harbor LLP a Professional CPA Firm in San Francisco
Safe Harbor LLP is a CPA firm that specializes in accounting and tax services for individuals and businesses throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and greater California. Safe Harbor CPAs helps both individuals and businesses with tax preparation, IRS audit defense, and audited financial statements. The firm prides itself on friendly yet professional service and utilizes state-of-the-art Internet technology to provide quality customer service.
Safe Harbor CPA
http://www.safeharborcpa.com
Tel. 415.742.4249
Travel Security App - FoneTrac Travel safety apps for corporate and business travelers is an exciting growth opportunity in the international security space.
FoneTrac, a leading travel safety app at http://www.fonetrac-go.com/, is proud to announce two key posts to its blog on iOS travel safety app issues. A subsidiary of IMG GlobalSecur, FoneTrac addresses the growing corporate and organizational demand for travel security apps for both the iOS and Android platforms.
"Travel safety apps for corporate and business travelers is an exciting growth opportunity in the international security space," explained Chris Hagon, CEO of IMG GlobalSecur. "We are proud that FoneTrac supports iOS, Android, Blackberry 10 and even Windows smartphone, laptop, and notepad operating systems, thereby being device agnostic and providing a total employee monitoring solution for corporations and their employees who engage in international travel and need on demand security support. The new blog posts explain some of the key issues involving Apple's iOS or iPhone issues."
To read the two key posts on iOS travel safety app issues, visit http://www.fonetrac-go.com/blog/tag/ios/. Persons interested in even more details on iOS travel safety app issues are urged to visit the landing page at http://www.fonetrac-go.com/iphone-travel-security-app, and those who would like to know more about the GlobalSecur backend for employee and executive monitoring should visit http://www.globalsecur.com/.
Smart Phones and Corporate Travel Security
Business travelers, today, demand apps that work easily on their smartphones. Corporations and organizations such as universities or colleges supporting study abroad programs often have many overseas travelers, and need to support those travelers with a robust security experience. Organizational responsibilities have reached the point where the organization is required to provide some standard of care for employees or students when they engage in international travel. The FoneTrac travel security and travel safety app solves this problem by providing a device-agnostic travel safety app, supporting iOS, Android, Blackberry 10 and Windows smartphones with an integration to the GlobalSecur back end. In this way, push notifications can be sent to company employees, students, or other organization members, and those employees, students or other organization members can also reach out for assistance via FoneTrac should the need arise. By being integrated into the smartphone, FoneTrac is nearly always available as these days both executives and students tend to always have their phone available.
Journalists and others interested in learning more about this new, emerging world of smartphone travel safety apps are encouraged to reach out for interview and commentary opportunities.
Platform Agnostic, With Many Capabilities for Real Time Information
With support for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry as well as Windows Phones and both Android and Apple tablets, FoneTrac is not only platform-agnostic, which is useful for organizations with many employees using different types of phones. It is also, in contrast to competitive apps, more than a mere travel safety app; it is a gateway app that works with the GlobalSecur network to access real people, in real time, with on-the-ground experience at countries around the world.
About the Incident Management Group (IMG)
Incident Management Group is a leading international security consulting firm. Corporate or business organizations concerned about their need for robust travel security solutions can reach out to the IMG Group for assistance. The companys experts provide services such as executive, employee, VIP, and expatriate travel security, workplace safety, duty of care management, risk and threat assessments, workplace violence prevention, crisis management planning, and more.
Tel. (877) 887-9914
International Event Security Consulting Fortunately, Super Bowl 51 went off without a hitch in terms of event security.
IMG GlobalSecur, a leading international security consulting firm with services for corporate event security, is proud to announce a short but important analysis of security precautions taken at the recent Super Bowl. With growing concern among corporations holding international meeting and events, IMG GlobalSecur uses its lively blog to inform the public about the importance of international event security issues.
Fortunately, Super Bowl 51 went off without a hitch in terms of event security, commented international event security expert, Chris Hagon, CEO of IMG GlobalSecur. Our short blog post explains some of the security precautions, and can be read by interested CEOs, senior executives, and others involved in international and overseas corporate event meeting security with an eye to the lessons learned. The primary lesson, of course, is to be prepared.
To read the new blog post on international event security, visit http://www.imgsecurity.net/super-bowl-2017/. Persons with a keen interest in event security issues, can also jump over the the blog index at http://www.imgsecurity.net/category/event-security/.
Events Big or Small Require Event Security Experts and Consultants
Event security, like many things in life, is not appreciated until it is gone. To have an event that goes off without problems is not to say that the event had proper preparations. The reality is that most corporate events do not encounter security problems. The issue, however, is that the small percentage that do encounter problems, ranging from terrorist or crime events, cybersecurity threats, protests and demonstrations, and natural disasters, can evoke catastrophic consequences for the participants. On a non-life threatening level, cyber and computer hacking can expose corporations and other organizations to espionage. The threats are many, but the single solution is good and thorough preparation. The team at IMG GlobalSecur is considered by many to be a key expert resource for organizations, both large and small, that are planning overseas events. The blog post on Super Bowl 51 is just a short "think piece" for interested parties to begin to realize that all events, not just mega events like the Super Bowl, need to take international event security seriously and reach out to real security experts for a thorough pre-event audit. Journalists and others interested in learning more are encouraged to reach out to the company via the website for interview opportunities. It should be noted that the organization has an industry-leading travel safety app called FoneTrac at http://www.fonetrac-go.com/.
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The case tugs at the heartstrings: A popular Kansas State University professor battles breast cancer, then leukemia. The school won't extend her six-month sick leave, she loses her job and she cannot get rehired. She sues for discrimination based on disability.
Grace Hwang's lawsuit was one of many employee cases heard by federal appeals court Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump's pick for the Supreme Court. The majority opinion he wrote siding with Kansas State is illustrative. His worker's rights opinions are often sympathetic but coldly pragmatic, and they're usually in the employer's favor.
"Hwang's is a terrible problem, one in no way of her own making," Gorsuch's 2014 opinion said about the former professor and attorney, who died last year. Federal law "seeks to prevent employers from callously denying reasonable accommodations that permit otherwise qualified disabled persons to work not to turn employers into safety net providers for those who cannot work."
A review of dozens of employment cases he heard in his decade on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reveals a focus on texts and a fondness for scrutinizing definitions of words in legislation and the Constitution. Conservatives herald his strict approach. Many liberals say it too often results in workers losing out.
The 49-year-old Gorsuch was a corporate law firm attorney and Justice Department associate attorney general before Republican President George W. Bush appointed him to the bench in 2006. If confirmed to the Supreme Court, he is likely to hear major workers' rights cases. They could include whether companies can require that employees sign away rights to pursue class-action suits and whether the 1964 Civil Rights Act bars workplace discrimination against LGBTQ employees.
One 2016 case illustrates how Gorsuch's fidelity to literal texts can lead to findings that appear to defy common sense and fairness.
TransAm Trucking driver Alphonse Maddin stopped on a wintry night after the trailer's brakes froze. His torso went numb after waiting three hours in an unheated cabin for roadside assistance. A boss ordered him to not abandon the cargo. But Maddin, but fearing for his health, unhitched the trailer and drove off. TransAm promptly fired him for disobeying an order.
In a dissent, Gorsuch said the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, which bars companies from firing a driver who "refuses to operate" an unsafe truck, didn't apply to Maddin. Why? Because, he wrote, Maddin was operating the truck by driving off, not refusing to operate it. "There's simply no law anyone has pointed us to giving employees the right to operate their vehicles in ways their employers forbid," he said. If one's needed, he added, Congress should create it.
Writing for the majority, Judge Michael Murphy conceded some imprecise language. But he said the law could easily be seen as applying to drivers, such as Maddin, who are at risk by staying put. Murphy also directly challenged Gorsuch's narrow, literal meaning of "operate."
"The dissent believes Congress' intent can be easily determined by simply choosing a favorite dictionary definition of the word," Murphy wrote. But he added there was no doubt the law's purpose was to keep drivers safe, so it was reasonable to find "a refusal to operate" encompassed a refusal to sit in a freezing truck.
Gorsuch's judicial history, to some, suggests he isn't employee friendly.
He has sided with employers 21 out of 23 times in disputes over the U.S. pensions and benefits law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA.
One case involved employees of Solvay Chemicals, Inc., who accused Solvay of slashing early-retirement benefits without the proper notice required by ERISA. But writing for the majority in 2013, Gorsuch said the workers could only prevail if they showed the company's lack of notice was "egregious."
"What qualifies as 'egregious'?" he asked. "Happily, the statute defines the term for us." Solvay, Gorsuch added, had plausibly blamed accidental oversight.
But that record doesn't necessarily prove he's anti-labor or outside the mainstream.
In all 21 ERISA cases in which he sided with employers, Gorsuch was with the majority, including often Democrat-appointed judges. Workers who sue lose "far more often than not" in most courts, sometimes because they underestimate the evidence needed to win, said Stuart Gerson, an acting U.S. attorney general in 1993 and now a health industry attorney.
Discerning judges' personal views on issues by examining their rulings can be perilous because judges are usually bound by precedent to rule as they do.
That was true in a case Gorsuch heard in 2006.
Everett Young, who is black, alleged racial discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act after Dillon's King Soopers in Colorado fired him as a grocery store investigator. Young accused one boss of calling him "a monkey."
Gorsuch, writing the unanimous ruling, said the boss's alleged statements "evince a deep and repugnant racial animus." But the court was obliged, he said, by Title VII and precedent to determine if Young proved racism had led directly to his dismissal. Gorsuch concluded Young had not made the case and that the store had ample reason to dismiss him for misrepresenting his working hours.
Gorsuch has occasionally been less strict about adhering to texts.
He was on a three-judge panel that heard a complex 2009 case in which Payless ShoeSource sued its insurer, Travelers, to recover costs of a $2.4 million settlement over working hours. All three judges found for Travelers, rejecting arguments that misplaced modifiers and inexact punctuation in a liability policy put it on the hook for the settlement costs.
Writing for the panel, Gorsuch quoted comedian Groucho Marx in the movie "Animal Crackers": "'One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know.'" No one, Gorsuch wrote, thought Marx was saying he actually had an elephant in his pajamas because of imprecise grammar.
"We must," he wrote about the Payless dispute, "acknowledge the parties' plain meaning without being strait-jacketed by a grammatical rule into reaching a patently unintended result."
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Tarm reported from Chicago and Lavoie from Boston. Associated Press Researcher Rhonda Shafner also contributed to this report.
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Find AP's reporting on Neil Gorsuch here: http://apne.ws/2mfXk4V
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The AP National Investigative Team can be reached at investigate@ap.org
CHICAGO (AP) The Chicago Police Department says it conducted a number of overnight raids that resulted in the arrest of 81 people and the seizing of drugs and several guns.
Anthony Riccio, chief of the department's organized crime unit, says one of the guns taken off the street was capable of firing up to 50 bullets in seconds.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi on Friday said 62 of the people arrested were convicted felons, and 14 were on parole for selling drugs. He adds 19 others had previous gun arrests.
The arrests came near the end of a week that was one of the Chicago's deadliest this year.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says the raid won't eradicate all the violence, but is a "step in the right direction."
Authorities say investigators are trying to determine if any suspects arrested can be tied to recent crimes.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Springfield police are crediting drug overdose antidote kits issued days ago with helping revive a 33-year-old woman.
Springfield officers were issued kits Monday containing naloxone, often known by its brand name Narcan. The move was prompted by a state law requiring enforcement agencies receive training and carry the overdose antidote.
Many states are battling an overdose epidemic involving the use of prescription opioids and illegal drugs like heroin.
Springfield police say the woman had injected herself with heroin and was unresponsive. The officer administered two doses of Narcan. She was revived and hospitalized.
Sangamon County Sheriff Wes Barr tells The (Springfield) State Journal-Register (http://bit.ly/2lkGEVV ) that county deputies will get their kits next week.
The Sangamon County coroner's says there were 23 overdose deaths in 2016 and 41 in 2015.
DAVENPORT -- The special on the menu Saturday at the Downtown Deli was a Poor Boy sandwich, and at a table near a window sat U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa City.
The deli, at 330 N. Main St., was home for Rep. Loebsack's "Coffee with your Congressman."
There were no signs telling him to go home. People weren't standing in the back of the room yelling at him to do his job.
A young lady at the counter walked past him to wipe off a nearby table.
"I have 24 counties," Rep. Loebsack said shortly after speaking to one of the six or seven people who stopped by to talk to him.
"I've had these kind of events for a few years now. I had three last weekend in Muscatine County. If people come out, great. If they don't, they can have a good lunch."
Amid the combative atmosphere in Washington, and how it has spilled over into states like Iowa with recent town hall meetings featuring Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, Saturday's "Coffee with Your Congressman" was the opposite.
"I've not had that," Rep. Loebsack said of the meeting interruptions and arguments with visitors. "I get the sense that people are primarily upset about the Affordable Care Act being repealed.
"And, other things are happening with the Trump administration. I think most people who come to see me, they understand, I'm probably with them on a vast majority of those issues."
Not everybody.
Shane Vander Hart, of Des Moines, was in town. He finished his sandwich, and was discussing topics ranging from Iowa's education system to Medicaid for seniors. Mr. Vander Hart said he is a Republican.
What he sees happening around Iowa, and across the country, parallels what happened during President Barack Obama's administration, he said.
"Now, if Republicans were in the minority and the Democrats had the White House, it might be a different story," Mr. Vander Hart said. "Look back to 2008, 2009, 2010 with the tea party. You know, it's just the ebb and flow of politics.
"It's to be expected."
Rep. Loebsack, in his sixth term as a Congressman, said it's unfortunate what is happening in Washington, saying the discontent, animosity and lack of civility has become part of the "body politic in general.
"It's really unfortunate. I've tried to work against that the whole time I've been in office. I have friends on both sides of the aisle."
But, the former House Armed Services Committee member said he has real issues with President Donald Trump, ranging from possible Medicaid cuts, which he said would affect Iowa senior citizens, to national defense.
"The single biggest mistake I believe Donald Trump has made with respect to foreign policy so far is putting his political strategist (Steve Bannon) on the National Security Council," Rep. Loebsack said.
"There is certainly no place on the National Security Council for a political strategist who seems to have more power or more sway than anybody else on the council, including the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, including the Secretary of Defense, including the director of National Intelligence."
At a nearby table sat Bob and Jane McGarry, of Davenport, and Marilyn Marmorine, of Bettendorf. All retired educators, they disagreed with President Trump's pick of Betsy DeVos as U.S. Secretary of Education.
"We were very upset," Ms. McGarry said.
"I'll be blunt," Mr. McGarry said. "I'm concerned the president is carrying the nuclear codes with him and his lack of protocol. He seems very impulsive to me, even with his own people.
"That concerns me."
HOUSTON (AP) Police in Texas could soon find it easier to report officer-involved shootings to the state but they also may pay a price for failing to do so.
Texas is one of seven states that require law enforcement agencies to provide information about officer-involved shootings to the state, and it could become the first to mete out punishment to those that don't.
State Rep. Eric Johnson says he's is pushing to "put some teeth" into Texas' statute after learning that up to a dozen fatal shootings hadn't been reported since the law went into effect in 2015. He's also trying to create a web portal that would make it easier for law enforcement to report crime data, including officer-involved shootings.
Texas' law, which was sponsored by Johnson, requires agencies to provide information about the shootings in a one-page report emailed to the state attorney general's office within 30 days, but there are no enforcement or tracking mechanisms.
"For the most part, departments are doing a pretty good job. ... Voluntary compliance is just not quite getting us to 100 percent," said Johnson, a Democrat from Dallas who has proposed withholding some state money for agencies that don't comply.
Supporters of such reporting laws say they can help authorities and the public understand how often and why officers use deadly force. But legal experts and researchers say a lack of consequences for failing to report or a mechanism for tracking missing reports can lead to incomplete information and a lack of accountability.
"We've been pushing this (reporting of police shootings) for several decades. ... But no one's really stepped up except a few states and the states that have I think are mostly like Texas ... without any kind of teeth in the requirement," said Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina and an expert on police use of force.
Under Texas' law, once law enforcement agencies report an officer-involved shooting, the attorney general's office then has five days to post the report related to each shooting online.
One bill introduced by Johnson this legislative session would make it so that any Texas law enforcement agency that fails to submit a report on a shooting is ineligible to receive criminal justice grant money from the governor's office for a year. In 2015 and 2016, the governor's office provided more than $52 million in grants for such things as body-worn cameras, anti-gang centers and training.
The Texas Municipal Police Association supports the bill.
"We recognize the collection of data is probably in most cases helpful to law enforcement not hurtful," said Kevin Lawrence, the group's executive director.
Attention was drawn to unreported fatal shootings after freelance journalist Eva Ruth Moravec reported about them as part of "Point of Impact," a yearlong series on police shootings. Since then, 10 of the missing reports have been filed, according to an Associated Press review, and the attorney general's office says it's looking into the other two shootings.
Both Johnson and Lawrence said they don't believe any law enforcement agency intentionally failed to report a shooting, but some agencies might have been unaware of the requirement.
A second bill by Johnson would create a website where agencies could submit required information. Agencies currently email their reports to the attorney general's office and that office posts them on its website as PDFs. Johnson says they're not user-friendly and are not part of a searchable database. His proposed website could generate reports that could be accessed by the public.
Other states with laws requiring law enforcement agencies to report officer-involved shootings or use of deadly force incidents are California, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina and Oregon. In Connecticut and Maine, state authorities investigate any cases in which an officer uses deadly force, with the final reports available online.
But the states don't have a way to track whether shootings are being reported.
"We don't have any sort of audit function built into our system. We trust that the agencies are reporting to us what accurately happened in their jurisdiction," said Ashley Cox, uniform crime reporting manager with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Johnson praised efforts by the media and the public to track down missing cases but the responsibility can't fall solely on them and "it's something we're going to have to address in the legislation."
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Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter at www.twitter.com/juanlozano70
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) The Trump administration has delayed consideration of a proposal to require companies to prove they have the financial wherewithal to clean up polluted mining sites after a pushback from industry groups and Western-state Republicans.
Companies in the past have avoided cleanups of many mining sites by declaring bankruptcy. That prompted the Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama to pursue changes that would prevent taxpayers from getting stuck with cleanup bills.
But newly sworn-in EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt directed his staff on Friday to delay consideration of the Obama-era proposal for four months, in order to gather more public comment. Pruitt was a frequent critic of the agency during his previous position as Oklahoma attorney general, suing the EPA numerous times.
Contaminated water from abandoned mine sites can flow into rivers and other waterways, harming aquatic life and threatening drinking water supplies.
Environmentalists who endorsed the Obama administration's proposal as a way to make sure mining companies were held accountable said the delay signals Pruitt is aligning with mining companies when it comes to pollution.
"It appears the new EPA administrator is already favoring industry over public interest with this delay," said Bonnie Gestring with the advocacy group Earthworks.
The delayed rule was unveiled late last year under a court order that requires it to be finalized in December 2017. The order came after environmental groups sued the government to enforce a long-ignored provision in the 1980 federal Superfund law.
Mining industry representatives contended the proposed changes were unnecessary and redundant because of other programs meant to prevent mines from becoming government cleanup liabilities.
"By extending this comment period, we are demonstrating that we are listening to miners, owners and operators all across America and to all parties interested in this important rule," Pruitt said in a statement.
EPA officials said Friday they still intend to meet the court-ordered deadline.
The proposal would apply to hard-rock mining, which includes mines for precious metals, copper, iron, lead and other ores. It would cover thousands of mines and processing facilities in 38 states, requiring their owners to set aside sufficient money to pay for future clean ups.
From 2010 to 2014, the EPA spent $1.1 billion on cleanup work at abandoned hard-rock mining and processing sites across the U.S.
Companies would face a combined $7.1 billion financial obligation under the proposed rule, costing them up to $171 million annually, according to the EPA. The agency said the amount could be covered through third parties such as surety bonds or self-insured corporate guarantees.
Republican U.S. Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and Dean Heller of Nevada welcomed Friday's delay. Barrasso has said the benefits of the proposal were dwarfed by its potential costs to industry. Heller criticized the previous administration for having been "too quick to hand down harsh regulations and rules without considering the impact."
Last year, an EPA cleanup team triggered a 3-million gallon spill of contaminated water from Colorado's inactive Gold King mine. The accident tainted rivers in three states with heavy metals including arsenic and lead and highlighted the problem posed by tens of thousands of mine sites across the nation.
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Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter at https://twitter.com/matthewbrownap
WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. immigration authorities are barring entry to a 21-year-old Syrian cinematographer who worked on a harrowing film about his nation's civil war, "The White Helmets," that has been nominated for an Academy Award.
According to internal Trump administration correspondence seen by The Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security has decided at the last minute to block Khaled Khateeb from traveling to Los Angeles for the Oscars.
Khateeb was scheduled to arrive Saturday in Los Angeles on a Turkish Airlines flight departing from Istanbul. But his plans have been upended after U.S. officials reported finding "derogatory information" regarding Khateeb.
Derogatory information is a broad category that can include anything from terror connections to passport irregularities. Asked for comment, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, Gillian Christensen, said, "A valid travel document is required for travel to the United States."
"The White Helmets," a 40-minute Netflix documentary, has been nominated for Best Documentary Short. If the film wins the Oscar, the award would go to director Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara. Khateeb is one of three people credited for cinematography; Franklin Dow is the film's director of photography.
The film focuses on the rescue workers who risk their lives to save Syrians affected by civil war. Many of the group's members have been killed by Syrian President Bashar Assad's air forces. The group also was nominated for last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
"The White Helmets" includes emblematic scenes of the deadly 6-year-old conflict: people digging through destroyed homes looking for survivors, at constant risk of "double tap" attacks that target first responders after they've arrived at the scene of a strike.
Khateeb had been issued a visa to attend the ceremony with Hollywood's biggest stars. But Turkish authorities detained him this week, according to the internal U.S. government correspondence, and he suddenly needed a passport waiver from the United States to enter the country.
The correspondence indicated he would not receive such a waiver. There was no explanation in the correspondence for why Turkey detained Khateeb.
Carnival goes to the dogs as pet owners take to the streets for their own party, with their four-legged friends in ornate costumes.
BEIRUT (AP) In synchronized attacks, insurgents stormed into heavily guarded security offices in Syria's central Homs city, clashed with troops and then blew themselves up, killing a senior officer and at least 31 others, state media and officials reported.
The swift, high-profile attacks against the Military Intelligence and State Security offices, among Syria's most powerful, were claimed by an al-Qaida-linked insurgent coalition known as the Levant Liberation Committee. A Syrian lawmaker on a state-affiliated TV station called it a "heavy blow" to Syria's security apparatuses.
The attacks came as Syrian government and opposition delegates meet in Geneva in U.N.-mediated talks aimed at building momentum toward peace despite low expectations of a breakthrough. The U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura called the attacks "tragic."
"Every time we had talks or a negotiation, there was always someone who was trying to spoil it. We were expecting that," he said.
Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar al-Ja'afari, who leads Damascus' delegation to Geneva, said the attacks were a message from the "sponsors of terrorism" to the peace talks.
Al-Ja'afari said the attacks will not go unanswered.
No footage or pictures emerged from the typically tightly-secured scene of the attacks in the city center. Activists said the city was on high alert after the attacks, with government troops blocking roads and forcing shops to close.
The government responded with an intense airstrike campaign against the only neighborhood on the city's outskirts still under opposition control and other parts of rural Homs.
The government regained control of the city of Homs one of the first to rise against President Bashar Assad in 2015. But al-Waer neighborhood remained in rebel hands. Settlement negotiations to evacuate it have repeatedly faltered.
The attack early Saturday was the most high-profile in a city that has been the scene of repeated suicide attacks since the government regained control. The head of Military Intelligence services Maj. Gen Hassan Daeboul, who was killed in Saturday's attack, had been transferred from the capital to Homs last year to address security failures in the city, according to local media reports at the time.
Daeboul was killed by one of the suicide bombers, according to Syrian State News Agency SANA.
Saturday attacks are among the most spectacular perpetrated against security agencies in the six-year-old conflict. One of the most dramatic attacks came in July 2012, when insurgents detonated explosives inside a high-level crisis meeting in Damascus, killing four top government officials, including the brother-in-law of President Bashar Assad and the then-defense minister.
Details emerging of the Saturday attacks reveal coordinated attacks that used a combination of armed assault and suicide attacks to breach the security offices.
The governor of Homs Province, Talal Barzani, told The Associated Press three blasts in total killed more than 32 people. He said the attackers were wearing suicide belts, which they detonated in the security offices. The two agencies are two kilometers (1.2 miles) apart, and according to activists from the city they are heavily guarded, and monitored with security cameras.
According to state-affiliated al-Ikhbariya TV, at least six assailants attacked the two security compounds in Homs' adjacent al-Ghouta and al-Mahata neighborhoods, clashing with security officers before at least two of them detonated explosive vests. It was not clear if there are any civilians among the casualties.
The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdurrahman said the synchronized attacks killed at least 42 security officers and personnel.
The differing casualty estimates could not be immediately reconciled and are not uncommon in the immediate aftermath of violence in Syria.
Abdurrahman said the attacks started with clashes at the checkpoints. Then, three suicide bombers blew themselves up consecutively inside the courtyard of the Military Intelligence Services building as troops gathered. The attack briefly undermined the troops' control of the building, said Abdurrahman. That attack killed at least 30, the Observatory said.
In the meantime, a similar scenario was playing out at the State Security branch, where at least 12 were killed. Brigadier Ibrahim Darwish, head of the agency, was also critically wounded, according to al-Ikhbariya.
An al-Qaida-linked insurgent coalition, the Levant Liberation Committee, said five attackers stormed the two different security offices. The group said bombs were also detonated at checkpoints outside the buildings just as rescuers were arriving, leading to more casualties, according to a statement on their Telegram channel.
A Homs-based opposition activist Bebars al-Talawy said the attackers used gun-silencers in their initial attack, enabling them to enter the premise and surprise their target.
"This is the biggest breach of security agencies in Homs," al-Talawy said, speaking in a Skype interview. "They were almost inside the offices."
Al-Talawy said Daeboul was in charge of negotiating surrender deals with the rebel holdouts in al-Waer and other rebel-held areas in rural Homs.
The Syrian security forces run a vast intelligence network that enjoys great power and operates with little judicial oversight. Rights groups and Syria monitors hold the various branches responsible for mass arrests, torture, extrajudicial killings and firing on protesters.
In a February report, Amnesty International reported that between 5,000 and 13,000 people were killed in mass hangings in the military's Saydnaya prison in Damascus between 2011 and 2015. It said the detainees were sent to the prison from around the country by the state's four main security branches, including Military Intelligence.
After the attacks, Syrian opposition activists took to social media to recount stories of torture and abuse for which Daeboul was allegedly responsible. Before Homs, he managed a military intelligence unit believed responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses.
Meanwhile, government supporters hailed him as one of the country's best security officers, who "broke the back of the terrorists," a pro-government Facebook page posted. The government refers to all opposition as "terrorists."
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Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, Philip Issa in Beirut, and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
(Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series on the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics on livestock.)
On the family farm on which I grew up, we raised beef cattle -- Black Angus, my fathers favorite breed of cattle. When the spring calves were a month or so old, we would give each of them a shot of penicillin. Not because there was anything wrong with them but because they would grow faster if they were given a preventive shot.Though we did not realize it at the time, we were part of a problem that has become exceedingly serious -- that of antibiotic-resistant bacteria which pose serious threats to human health and well-being.
We, of course, were not the only ones giving non-therapeutic doses of antibiotics to healthy animals. In fact, what we did was small potatoes compared to what happens today in hog confinement operations and other animal factory farms where much of the pork and chicken we eat today is produced. In these operations, the feed that meat-producing animals consume is often laced with antibiotics, growth hormones and other chemicals that spur growth. That is a far cry from what my father and I did. But nevertheless we were part of the problem.
The crux of the problem is that prolonged exposure to antibiotics contributes to genetic mutations, the result being new strains of bacteria unaffected by antibiotics that were lethal to many of their predecessors. That is good news for bacteria but bad news for everyone else.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports, Unfortunately, the threat of untreatable infections is very real . ... In todays healthcare and community settings, were already seeing germs that are stronger than any antibiotics we have to treat them. This is an extremely scary situation for patients and healthcare workers alike.
In a first-ever in-depth look at the problem published in 2013, CDC reports, Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a result of these infections. Many more people die from other conditions that were complicated by an antibiotic-resistant infection.
This alarming situation is not solely the result of the extensive use of antibiotics in livestock production. There are other causes as well, among them misuse of antibiotics to treat diseases in humans such as viral infections for which antibiotics are not medically indicated, and failure of patients to take all of the antibiotic pills prescribed. (It is not unusual for patients to discontinue taking their medication when they start to feel better, thereby allowing bacteria that have undergone mutations to live to attack another day.)
Yet, though the data are incomplete, there is reason to believe that extensive agricultural use of antibiotics is a contributing factor. Take, for example, Russ Kremer, a Missouri hog farmer who developed a blood infection after being gored by one of his pigs. His infection was resistant to six of the seven antibiotics used to treat it. Kremers doctor told him that he had the same antibiotic resistance as did his pigs.
In a 2010 study, Consumer Reports discovered that two-thirds of the chicken samples it tested were contaminated with salmonella or campylobacter (bacteria which cause food poisoning) and that more than 60 percent of these organisms were antibiotic resistant. A 2012 Consumer Reports study of pork found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in a number of the samples. The report states, The frequent use of low-dose antibiotics in pork farming may be accelerating the growth of drug-resistant 'superbugs that threaten human health.
Donald Kennedy, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner and president emeritus of Stanford University, observes, Theres no question that routinely administering non-therapeutic doses of antibiotics to food animals contributes to antibiotic resistance.
Its a scary problem which places thousands of people at risk Next weeks column will discuss some possible solutions.
Triveni Digital has announced a series of ATSC 3.0 starter kits designed to bring broadcasters up to speed with the new broadcast television standard in a real-world environment.
The starter kits will be rolled out at NAB 2017, and will encompass everything from file-based monitoring to live encoding and over-the-air transmission options, leveraging Triveni Digital's GuideBuilder XM signalling and announcement generator, ROUTE/MMTP encoder and StreamScope XM MT service quality assurance system, along with third-party technology from trusted ecosystem partners."The ATSC 3.0 standard is on the verge of completion, which will provide broadcasters with a wide range of benefits based on the ability to comprehensively distribute a hybrid mix of broadcast and broadband IP content to fixed and mobile receivers for the very first time," said Ralph Bachofen, vice president of sales and marketing at Triveni Digital It will also require a steep learning curve for broadcasters. Joining forces with other technology leaders, we're excited to offer broadcasters complete ATSC 3.0 solutions for various needs, from file-based monitoring to over-the-air reception. Becoming familiar with the new standard now, in their own facilities, broadcasters can ensure the transition is fast and smooth."The starter kits will be available in several options to meet broadcasters' unique infrastructure requirements and knowledge of the ATSC 3.0 standard. The entry-level package includes Triveni Digital's StreamScope XM MT, without any physical inputs, for file-based analysis. Using this solution, broadcasters can gain greater insight into the physical structure of ATSC 3.0.Option two expands upon the entry-level package by including Triveni Digital's GuideBuilder XM, ROUTE/MMTP encoder and a live source simulator. More advanced starter kits will feature additional elements of the ATSC 3.0 workflow such as encoding, packaging, modulation, gateways and exciters from third-party technology partners.The implementation of the next-generation ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard is expected to bring significant advantages to medium- and large-market television stations in the US, including more ad revenue, television viewership and management of digital competition.A recent BIA/Kelsey report examining the conversion to the ATSC 3.0 standard from a business perspective concluded that larger stations that were considering implementing the ATSC 3.0 standard would be recouped within three years.ATSC 3.0 will change the business of broadcasting into a next generation wireless communications business, said Mark Fratrik, chief economist and SVP, BIA/Kelsey.This new technology will give broadcasters the ability to pursue multiple new business models, which will significantly diversify their current revenue mix.
The Killid Group, February 26, 2017
Officials at Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) urged National Unity Government (NUG) to provide citizens with clean drinking water. Abdul Ahmad Farzan, head of the provincial office of the commission in Kabul, said that the government is obliged to supply the nation with clean drinking water. Farzan added that a finding of AIHRC shows that 52 percent of citizens face challenges accessing clean drinking water. He asserted that human and animals use shared water sources in parts of the country. This comes as Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development announced yesterday that 58 percent of citizens have access to clean drinking water. Nasir Ahmad Durrani, minister of rural rehabilitation and development, said that they are trying to provide citizens with clean drinking water through Citizen's Charter Program (CCP).
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Although 2017 has already begun, the Chinese New Year and the Chinese Student Association look forward to the new year festivities later in the month.
India's envoy to the United States Navtej Sarna has met Donald Trump, even as his counterparts from other countries also met the United States President at the Oval Office in White House.
This was the first meeting of the top Indian diplomat with Trump after he was sworn in as the US President on January 20.
A 1980-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Sarna arrived in the US a few days before the November 8 presidential elections last year.
Post-elections, Sarna along with more than a few foreign diplomats could not meet the then US President Barack Obama during the transition.
Before leaving his office, Obama had issued an executive order formally credentialing all the new ambassadors including Sarna so as to facilitate them to attend the swearing in ceremony of the new president.
On Saturday, Trump met all the new foreign ambassadors and had individual photos with each one of them.
Spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs from 2002 to 2008, Sarna has previously been Indias ambassador to Israel and the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Since arriving in the US, Sarna has met scores of top American lawmakers, has engaged the community across the country and interacted with the think-tanks.
On Saturday, he hosted a reception for National Governors Association that was attended by Governors from 25 States.
The Pakistan International Airlines allowed seven passengers to travel standing in the aisles all the way to Saudi Arabia last month, prompting a probe into the serious breach of security regulations by Pakistan's loss-making national carrier, according to media reports.
As many as seven passengers aboard the Boeing 777 Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-743 (Karachi-Madina) on January 20 were forced to stand throughout the over three-hour flight after the airline boarded excess passengers, Dawn newspaper reported.
The PIA management appears to have taken this lightly as no action has been taken against those responsible for the bizarre incident, the paper said.
PIA spokesperson Danyal Gilani said the matter was being investigated.
Gilani told the BBC that an internal investigation had begun "and appropriate action will be taken once responsibility is fixed".
If someone was found responsible for any wrongdoing, the PIA would take stern action against them under the company rules, he said.
The Boeing 777 aircraft has a seating capacity of 409, including jump seats for staff, while flight PK-743 carried 416 passengers from Karachi to Madina.
The report said allowing seven passengers to travel by standing all the way to the destination constituted a serious air safety breach as in the case of an emergency, passengers without seats would not have access to oxygen and could also cause congestion in case of an emergency evacuation.
The boarding passes issued to the extra passengers were hand-written and not computer-generated, sources said. The computer-generated list, provided to the aircraft crew by the ground traffic staff, did not mention the excess passengers, the report said.
Sources said that the senior purser (air hostess), Hina Turab, maintains that she informed the captain that there was chaos in the cabin because the passengers were over and above the configuration, but the captain told her to "adjust" those passengers as the aircraft was on the taxi way.
Captain Anwer Adil, who operated that flight, maintains that the computer-generated sheet did not show excess passengers. He said: "After take-off when I came out of cockpit, Ms Turab informed me that there were some extra people who [had been] boarded by the traffic staff. I also noticed some people were those who were categorically refused jump seats by me at the check in counter before the flight.
"I had already taken off and the senior purse did not inform me about extra passengers before closing the aircraft door. Therefore after take-off immediate landing back at Karachi was not possible as it required lot of fuel dumping which was not in the interest of the airline," he said.
Protocol necessitates that in such cases, the aircraft should be brought back to the terminal and excess passengers offloaded, sources said. Only then can an aircraft resume its flight.
Interestingly, the crew of the flight conveniently did not mention the incident in their reports at the end of the journey or after returning to Karachi, the newspaper said.
The national carrier, was once a symbol of the countrys engineering and aviation prowess but now suffers from huge debts, an ageing fleet and a string of corruption scandals.
The airline has accumulated liabilities of over Rs 300 billion and an additional loss of over Rs 5.6 billion is being added to this amount every month, the PIA management told a Senate committee at a briefing last month. The panel was also informed that the airline earned around Rs 7.5 billion a month while its expenses were over Rs 13.14 billion.
The Theatre-level Readiness and Operational Exercise, conducted to test combat readiness of the combined fleets of the Navy, the Air Force, the Army and the Coast Guard, has concluded.
The aim of the month-long exercise, which was carried out across the vast expanse of the Arabian Sea and the North Central Indian Ocean, was to test the combat readiness of the forces to deal with any possible threat.
"TROPEX 2017 assumes great significance in the backdrop of current security scenario. The exercise provided an apt-opportunity to test the combat capability of the Indian Navy, Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Coast Guard, and strengthened inter-operability and joint operations in complex conflict situation," the defence ministry said.
Over 45 ships from both the Western and Eastern Naval Commands, five submarines including the nuclear powered Chakra, 50 Naval aircraft, 11 ships from the Coast Guard, troops from the Army and 20 aircraft from the Air Force including Su-30s and Jaguars participated in the exercise from January 24 to February 23.
"The exercise, in complete coordination with the Army and Air Force, was conducted in phases to test the various facets of war-fighting and joint combat capabilities of the armed forces to respond to given threat situations," the ministry said.
Here are few glimpses of the exercise:
A BrahMos is fired from Indian Navy's P15A destroyer INS Chennai
A Panther on the prowl somewhere in the Indian Ocean
An alert seaman on watch
MiG29K makes a perfect landing on board INS Vikramaditya
As a part of the exercise, niche capabilities of the Marine Commandos (MARCOs) and Army Special Forces, including Airborne Assault and Combat Free Fall were undertaken from IAF C-130 aircraft.
INS Kamorta, latest ASW frigate engaging a surface target with her main gun
The IL-38SD successfully fires KH-35 anti shipping missile; a maiden firing that blew the target to pieces
The coaxial-rotor Ka-31 acts as a radar picket for the navy's surface fleet, detecting and identifying airborne and maritime threats from long range using its deployable, rotating radar array, which is installed beneath the aircrafts fuselage.
Navy Chief Admiral Lanba, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Girish Luthra having a close look at the gun-firing
Admiral Lanba reviews the Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise.
Vice Admiral Girish Luthra witnesses surveillance & attack in Tac scenario onboard the Boeing P8-I during TROPEX.
Fearing a Delhi University like violence on its campus, the Ambedkar University in the national capital has postponed an event marking the 26th anniversary of the alleged Kunan-Poshpora mass rape in Kashmir.
On February 23, Ambedkar University and an NGO Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression were to organise an event to observe the Kashmiri Women's Day of Resistance on the 26th anniversary of the alleged mass sexual violence unleashed by the army against the villagers of Kunan and Poshpora in Kashmir.
Less than 24 hours before the event, the speakers were sent an email informing them that the seminar has been postponed citing the alleged threats to "freedom of speech".
"The AUD administration want some changes in the shape of the event from the faculty and we will do that and reschedule a date and place sometime in March as you can see the times are bad for the university as a place for free speech and free discussions and critical engagements in our society," the university said in an email to the speakers of the seminar.
Gowhar Fazili, a scholar who was supposed to present a paper entitled "Familial Grief, Resistance and the Political Imaginary in Kashmir", confirmed receiving the email.
"The institutions, academicians and activists buckle before the right-wing threats with such ease," he said.
Other speakers of the seminar were Bhavneet Kaur from Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, who was slated to speak on "The politics of emotion: women's narratives of memory, resistance and the Everyday in Kashmir", Vanessa Chishti, OP Jindal University-"the woman's question in Kashmir", Iffat Fatima, director of documentary 'Khoon Div Baarav' and Essar Batool, co-author of Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora.
Delhi University's Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP workers. 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.
The AUD seminar, however, is not the only event to have suffered in the aftermath of the Ramjas violence.
The SGTB Khalsa College on North Campus had to postpone its street-play competition following threats from Delhi University Students Union to not allow any "objectionable and anti-national content".
Markitiers, a company providing marketing and management solutions to startups which was to organise an event on February 23 in DU to interact with students about possible startup ideas, also decided to postpone the exercise.
"Due to the barbarous and vicious duel between the ABVP community and students from JNU and DU outside the Ramjas campus last week and in order to avoid unpleasantness and pacify the matter we are postponing our much awaited event campus explore February 28 to March 3," the company said on its Facebook page.
Soldiers of Army's 4-Rajputana Rifles had allegedly raped over 40 women in Kunan and Poshpora villages during the intervening night of February 23-24 in 1991.
Representative Image: PTI Photo
As the Uttar Pradesh assembly election campaign hits new lows, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani walks you through all you need to know about the fifth phase of polling on February 27.
IMAGE: A voter in Ayodhya during the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters
As polling in the politically significant Uttar Pradesh assembly elections crossed the halfway mark, the campaigning plumbed new lows in mudslinging and name calling.
Polling has been completed in four phases for 262 seats.
While the fourth phase and third phase recorded a 61 per cent turnout, the second phase recorded a 65 per cent turnout and the first phase recorded a 64 per cent turnout.
The fifth phase of polling -- where 52 seats spread over 11 districts of Balrampur, Gonda, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Sultanpur and the Gandhi family bastion of Amethi are up for grabs -- will take place on February 27.
This phase of polling is home to districts with historical significance that have seen terrible decline.
Probably the most emblematic of this issue is the Shravasti district.
'It has the state's lowest per capita income, lowest literacy rate, no registered factories or other establishments, The Times of India noted. 'There is an irony here: Shravasti was the capital of the great ancient kingdom of Kosala and Gautam Buddha spent 24 years here.'
'Just 1 per cent of the state's 4,280 degree colleges are in this region, and on average 40 to 60 per cent children are underweight, and almost all anemic as per the Census's 2014 Health Survey... Infant mortality rates are chillingly high, reaching 130 deaths per 1,000 live births in Shravasti and 115 in (the also iconic) Ayodhya Faizabad,' the report added.
However, like in Phase 4 of the elections, the dominant campaign rhetoric has been mudslinging rather than development.
On February 22, the the Bharatiya Janata Party's Amit Shah dubbed his rivals -- the Samajwadi Party, Congress, and Bahujan Samaj Party -- as KASAB. He used the acronym 'KASAB', saying 'Ka' (in Hindi) stands for Congress, 'Sa' for the Samajwadi Party and 'Ba' for the BSP.
Development would elude UP, Shah said, till 'KASAB is laid to rest.'
Shah was lambasted by BSP chief Mayawati and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Mayawati said there 'cannot be a bigger Kasab' than Shah, while Akhilesh said, 'BJP people have lost the battle on the ground and so their language has changed.'
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had coined the acronym 'SCAM' for the SP, Congress, Akhilesh and Mayawati, and dubbed the BSP as 'Behenji Sampatti Party'.
Mayawati had retaliated by calling the BJP the Bhartiya Jumla (rhetoric) Party. And Akhilesh had given his own spin to the acronym -- 'Save Country from Amit Shah and Modi.'
In the fifth phase, all eyes will be on the Amethi and Gauriganj assembly seats because despite a poll alliance between Congress and the ruling Samajwadi Party in UP, candidates of both parties will contest against each other here.
In Amethi, the Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh's wife Ameeta Singh will contest against controversial state minister Gayatri Prajapati, an accused in the gang-rape of a women who managed to get a ticket from the SP despite having differences with Akhilesh Yadav.
In the Gauriganj assembly segment, Congress nominee Mohammed Naeem is contesting against sitting SP MLA Rakesh Pratap Singh. Gauriganj is also among the touch-and-go seats of this phase.
As per the data from the Association for Democratic Reforms, the BSP and the BJP have fielded the most number of candidates with criminal cases against them.
These cases include those related to murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women, etc.
A total of 168 or 27 per cent candidates in the fray in this phase are 'crorepatis'.
The wealthiest candidate, according to his self-declared affidavit, is Ajay Pratap Singh, who is running for the Colonelganj seat in Gonda district on a BJP ticket. He has declared assets worth 49 crores (Rs 490 million).
When it comes to education, the candidates in this phase are no better -- 266 candidates or 43 per cent of them have declared their educational qualification to be between the 5th and 12th standards.
Only 285 or 47 per cent of the candidates have an educational qualification of graduate or above.
The gender inequality score in the fifth phase is dismal: Only 43 or 7 percent of the candidates are female.
As the election heads to the final two phases -- which includes high-profile seats like Azamgarh and Varanasi -- the campaign rhetoric is only expected to get worse.
Polling for the sixth phase, for 49 seats spread across seven districts, will be held on March 4.
The road so far...
Scroll down for more election features from Uttar Pradesh.
Donald Trump has announced that he would skip the glitzy White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner, to become the first US President to miss the gala in decades amidst his raging tiff with the media.
"I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!," Trump tweeted.
The black-tie dinner, which raises money for journalism scholarships, takes place every spring and is usually attended by the president, journalists, celebrities and Washington insiders.
The last president to miss the dinner was Ronald Reagan, who sat out because he was he recovering from an assassination attempt in 1981, although he still delivered remarks by phone, CNN reported.
According to NPR, Richard Nixon was the last president to simply skip the event, doing so in 1972.
Trump's announcement came a day after the White House excluded several major broadcasters and newspapers like The New York Times, CNN and BBC from an off-camera press briefing.
He has frequently described negative news coverage as "fake" and accused the media of being the "opposition party" and on Friday delivered his most slashing broadside yet, telling the Conservative Political Action Conference that major news outlets were "the enemy of the people".
The WHCA dinner was held for the first time in Washington DC in 1920. This year's dinner has been scheduled for April 29.
"The level of tension seemed incongruous with a black-tie event that is typically a jocular, if occasionally sharp-edged evening. The dinner, which has attracted A-list celebrities in recent years, features a presidential roast of reporters and a comic routine by a notable entertainer. Presidents are expected to be self-deprecating, which Mr Trump is decidedly not," The New York Times said.
"The event may also evoke dark memories for Mr Trump, who was brutally mocked at the 2011 dinner by President Barack Obama and the late-night host Seth Meyers, both of whom skewered the real estate developer for his seemingly far-fetched political aspirations and reality-show gaudiness. Cameras captured Mr Trump in the audience, stone-faced, and the evening has since been cited as a prime motivator behind his presidential run," the influential American newspaper commented.
Reacting to Trump's decision, The Correspondents' Association, in a measured statement, said that it "takes note" of it. Jeff Mason, its president, wrote that the dinner "has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic."
"The WHCA takes note of President Donald Trump's announcement on Twitter that he does not plan to attend the dinner, which has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic," Mason, said.
"We look forward to shining a spotlight at the dinner on some of the best political journalism of the past year and recognising the promising students who represent the next generation of our profession," said Mason, who is White House Correspondent for Reuters.
Photograph: Reuters
Guwahati, Feb 26 (IBNS): Indiaas leading automobile and industrial lubricants manufacturing company Crizol Lubricants has decided to provide cost benefit to the farmers of North Eastern Indian states by introducing over 2 lakh farmers card in this year.
While launching its all variants of lubricants in Guwahati for the entire market of NE India, Crizol Lubricants Chairman D Boobala Krishnan said that, the company will provide all rounds of benefit to the farmers in the region including by reducing servicing charges.
Initially we will introduce over 2 lakh farmers card for the NE region and asked to the state governments to help us in our mission, Krishnan said.
Crizol is a multi-product firm providing with a world leading Quality products and service incorporating in Lubricants and Grease Category. We Crizol have comprehensive range of products in automotive and industrial over 300 ranges. We are multi-product specialist in the above category. North East Region is an important market for Crizol. We are very happy to be associated with K K Enterprise who is our authorized sales partner for NE Region, Krishnan said.
Crizol Lubricants is the manufacturer of fully synthetic, semi synthetic and mineral base lubricants.
Crizol Lubricants have both Automotive and Industrial lubricants.
The Crizol Automotive Products comprises of Automotive Engine Oils, Automotive Gear Oils and Automotive Grease and the Crizol Industrial Products comprises Industrial Gear Oils, Industrial Grease and Industrial Oils.
On the other hand, SR Chandrashekhar, Technical Head of Crizol said that, the company has specialized lab and expert lab engineers who innovate the products to current challenges.
Our experts design customized products according to need of market and client to fill the requirements. Our Marketing team is specialized to analyze and grasp the exact client requirements to which meet the requirement. We do innovated day to day to reach the overseas to fill their requirement, Chandrashekhar said.
Rakesh Singh, Business Director of KK enterprise, Dilip Das, Executive Director of KK enterprise and other officials of the company were also present at the occasion.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
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
London, Feb 26 (IBNS): Women are more likely to hire gay and lesbian job applicants over equally-qualified straight candidates, according to a study led by the University of Sussex.
But the opposite is true if the recruiter is a man all else being equal, male bosses judge heterosexual applicants as more hireable.
The study in the Journal of Business and Psychology is the first to identify a positive bias for gay and lesbian candidates in the hiring process albeit only when women are making the hiring decisions.
The lead author, Dr Ben Everly of Sussexs School of Business, Management and Economics, suggests that employers should pay close attention to the make-up of selection panels.
He says: These results show that bias against gay men and lesbians is much more nuanced than previous work suggests.
Hiring decisions made by teams of both men and women could lead to less biased decisions.
Additionally, these results could influence when and how gay men and lesbians disclose their gay identities at work.
Across two experiments, around 400 people were randomly shown one of four CVs/resumes: that of a lesbian, a gay male, a straight female or a straight male. The fictional job applicants were named either Greg Johnson (male) or Jennifer Lewis (female) and listed as belonging to either Los Angeles Gay Business Professionals (gay applicants) or Los Angeles Business Professionals (straight applicants). All other details, such as professional experience, were the same. In post-experiment screening, any participants who incorrectly identified a candidates sexual orientation were removed from the study.
After viewing the CVs/resumes, participants indicated whether the candidate should be hired, using a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).
Female recruiters scored gay candidates an average of 5.21 and straight candidates 4.8, whereas men scored gay candidates 4.6 and straight candidates 4.93.
Surprisingly, this bias was even stronger among those who had significant experience of evaluating CVs/resumes.
The study also found evidence that women perceive gay men and lesbians to be more competent and warm, and that these factors influenced their hiring decisions.
Men, however, viewed heterosexual candidates as more competent, which affected their hiring decisions, but showed no difference in perceived warmth between the four applicants.
Dr Everly says: Because women experience discrimination and the glass ceiling in organisations, women may believe that gay and lesbian applicants must be more competent than equally qualified heterosexual applicants, in order to advance their careers.
The study was carried out in collaboration with Anderson School of Management at the University of California.
Russian political activist Ildar Dadin has been released from prison, days after the Supreme Court overturned his conviction. Dadin was freed from a penal colony in the city of Rubtsovk, Russia's Siberian Altai Region, on February 26. He was serving a 2 1/2 year prison sentence under a controversial law that criminalizes participation in more than one unsanctioned protest in a 180-day period. The Presidium of Russia's Supreme Court set aside the charges on February 22 and ordered Dadin's release from custody, some 15 months after he was convicted. The 34-year-old activist remains the only person in Russia who has been convicted under the law on unsanctioned protests. (RFE/RL's Russian Service)
Thousands of people marched in Moscow to commemorate slain Kremlin critic and former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov who was killed two years ago. Nemtsov, a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead on a bridge overlooking the Kremlin on February 27, 2015. Five men from Russian's volatile North Caucasus region of Chechnya went on trial for the killing in October. They have denied the charges. Nemtsov's supporters fear that whoever ordered his murder will never be brought to justice. The protest in Moscow was the largest opposition gathering since a similar memorial march for Nemtsov last year. (Reuters)
More than 1,000 people rallied on February 26 in the Belarusian city of Vitsebsk to protest what the government is calling a "Law Against Social Parasites." The law imposes a special tax -- equivalent to more than 200 U.S. dollars -- upon Belarusians who work less than half of a calendar year and do not sign up at the country's labor bureaus. The protesters in Vitsebsk marched through the city and staged a rally on the central Freedom Square. Other cities where demonstrations were held on February 26 included Babruysk, Berastse, and Baranavichy. The protests were a rare sign of political dissent in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic. (RFE/RL's Belarusian Service)
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.
Besides a march held on February 26 in Moscow commemorating former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, who was killed two years ago, events in his memory also took place in others cities on the same day. While marches were staged in St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk, people in Krasnoyarsk laid flowers beside photos of Nemtsov that were temporarily installed at a local monument to "victims of political repression." A rally was also held in Saratov. Nemtsov, a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead on a bridge overlooking the Kremlin on February 27, 2015. (RFE/RL's Russian Service and Current Time TV)
More than 3,000 people have demonstrated in regional centers across Belarus against an unpopular new law that targets the unemployed.
In the eastern city of Vitsebsk, an estimated 1,000 demonstrators took to the streets on February 26 to protest what the government is calling a Law Against Social Parasites.
Other cities where demonstrations were held on February 26 included Babruysk, Berastse, and Baranavichy.
The protests on February 26 were a rare sign of political dissent in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.
Although police in Belarus often crack down on demonstrations that are not formally approved by authorities, there were no immediate reports of any arrests on February 26.
The law imposes a special tax -- equivalent to more than $200 dollars -- upon Belarusians who work less than half of a calendar year and do not sign up at the country's labor bureaus.
The law effects about 430,000 people.
Exempt from the special tax are registered job-seekers, homemakers, subsistence farmers, and people who work in Russia.
In Minsk, a protest earlier in February gathered more than 2,000 people and reportedly was the largest opposition gathering in Belarus in the last five years.
With reporting by AP
Japan is ready to propose a specific plan to Russia for the joint economic development of an island chain that both countries claim, The Nikkei Asia Review reports.
According to the report published February 25, the Japanese government will propose that it promote the small, windswept islands northeast of Hokkaido as a tourist destination, with a view to attracting Japanese visitors.
Private Japanese and Russian companies would jointly offer tourist cruises under Japan's plan for the islands, which Moscow currently administers and calls the Southern Kuriles, but Tokyo claims and calls its Northern Territories.
Medical institutions and universities in Hokkaido would remotely provide medical services to the islands, perhaps through internet-based links.
Japan will also propose joint operation of processing facilities for salmon, abalone, and other fish catches, the report said.
Although Russia administers the islands, which have a population of about 20,000, their sovereignty remains a matter of dispute.
However, that issue will be put aside for the time being while economic issues are decided, the Nikkei report said.
The dispute over the four-island chain goes back decades.
They were seized by Soviet forces at the end of World War II, hobbling relations ever since and preventing the two countries from signing a peace treaty to formally end the war.
In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed possible joint-economic projects on the island chain, but no breakthrough was reported.
Negotiators for the two sides plan to meet again on March 18 in Tokyo to discuss proposals, Nikkei said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and Japanese counterpart Takeo Akiba are expected to lead the talks.
They are hoping to reach agreement on details before Abe and Putin meet later in the year, Nikkei said.
With reporting by Nikkei and TASS
About 500 political opposition supporters in Kyrgyzstan have protested in front of the State Committee for National Security headquarters (GKNB) in Bishkek, where opposition leader Omurbek Tekebaev was being held as part of what authorities describe as a criminal corruption investigation.
The demonstrators including former President Roza Otunbaeva and several opposition lawmakers -- demanded Tekebaev's immediate release from custody.
They say authorities are "politically persecuting" opposition figures from Tekebaev's opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party and other members of Kyrgyzstan's 2010 interim government, which was briefly in power after the Kyrgyz Revolution of April 2010.
The demonstrators dispersed late on February 26 after a vigil that went into the night, vowing they would return on February 27 to continue their protest.
Tekebaev, a parliamentary deputy who leads the Ata-Meken party and its parliamentary faction, was detained by plainclothes police at about 3 a.m. local time on February 26 when he arrived at Bishkek International Airport.
He had been traveling abroad to attend the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Vienna.
The prosecutor's office in Bishkek said Tekebaev would be held for up to 48 hours for questioning as part of a criminal investigation launched against the Ata-Meken party.
Tekebaev is the third member of Ata-Meken to be detained by authorities for questioning in recent weeks as part of the alleged corruption probe.
Parliamentary Immunity
Earlier in February, authorities also detained parliamentary deputies Almabet Shykmamatov and Aida Salyanova for questioning.
The detentions come despite the fact that Tekebaev, Shykmamatov, and Salyanova all have parliamentary immunity from prosecution.
So far, no formal charges have been filed against them.
The 58-year-old Tekebaev was once an ally of President Almazbek Atambaev.
But Tekebaev became a leading political opponent of Atambaev during the summer of 2016 after Kyrgyzstan's president proposed a series of constitutional amendments that could cement a long-term hold on power for Atambaev and his allies in the Central Asian state.
Since then, the amendments have been pushed through parliament and adopted by Atambaev's political allies.
Although Atambaev's presidential term ends in 2017 and he cannot run for reelection, critics say the recent constitutional amendments would allow the president's allies to maintain power after his term ends.
The amendments significantly boosted the powers of the prime minister, prompting speculation that Atambaev could either position himself to become the next prime minister or install a loyal political ally in the role.
Tekebaev and his party had strongly opposed the constitutional amendments.
Tekebaev also has called for Atambaev to be impeached and has demanded that authorities investigate the president and his family members for evidence of corruption.
Kyrgyzstan's next presidential election is scheduled for November 19.
If Tekebaev is stripped of his parliamentary immunity by parliament and criminal charges are filed against him, it could prevent him from running as a presidential candidate.
'Retribution' For Revelations
Former Kyrgyz lawmaker Asiya Sasykbaeva, a member of the Ata-Meken party, said during the February 26 protest rally at the GKNB headquarters in Bishkek that she believes authorities are trying to prevent Tekebaev from running for the presidency.
"It is fully possible that they will now fabricate some criminal case, because I have just been told that he had been detained under Article 303" of Kyrgyzstan's Criminal Code, Sasykbaeva said. The article in question deals with the crime of corruption.
"We think that the far-reaching plans of the current authorities are most likely related to the upcoming presidential election," Sasykbaeva said.
She also alleged that Tekebaev was facing retribution from authorities in Bishkek "for disclosing major fraud schemes, including ones involving President Atambaev's inner circle."
Prosecutors on February 26 said the allegations against Tekebaev stem from the time he was deputy prime minister in the interim government that followed the Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010.
They allege, among other things, that Tekebaev demanded $1 million from Russian businessman Leonid Mayevsky in exchange for allowing him to serve on the board of Alfa Telecom a telecom firm that had been partially nationalized by the new government.
Tekebaev has denied the allegations.
In a February 26 statement, the prosecutors alleged that Tekebaev "did not carry out his obligations and refused to return the money."
They said he "instead threatened physical harm in the event of any further demands or information being released to the public about the situation."
Upon news of Tekebaev's detention in Bishkek, about 50 people gathered in the southern city of Osh on February 26 to protest.
His supporters also gathered early on February 26 for a protest near Bishkeks airport, where several people were detained and released the same day.
Those detained included Ata-Meken lawmaker Kanybek Imanaliev and RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service correspondent Ulan Egizbaev.
With reporting by RFE/RL Krygyz Service correspondent Ulan Egizbaev in Bishkek and Reuters
Guwahati, Feb 26 (IBNS): At least 16 people including women were killed and over 50 others injured as a speeding truck carrying them, was overturned in West Khasi Hills district in north eastern Indian state of Meghalaya on Sunday morning.
According to the reports, the incident took place at Nongspung village in the hill district at around 8-30 am, while an overcrowded truck carrying nearly 70 people rammed into the concrete barricade of national highway.
Meghalaya police said that, the road mishap happened while the people of Nginiong, Nongbudum and Mawbyrkong village under Nongstoin police station were going to attend a religious function.
"The driver of the overcrowded truck lost his control over the speeding vehicle and it overturned after hitting at the concrete barricade," a police official said.
In the incident, 12 people were killed on spot and four others succumbed their injuries at hospital.
Local people immediately admitted the injured persons to nearest hospital.
Some severely injured persons have been referred to Shillong.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
The Macedonian opposition Social Democratic Union (SDSM) has formally nominated Zoran Zaev to be its candidate for prime minister after securing enough support for a parliamentary majority.
The SDSM made the move after gaining the support of the major ethnic-Albanian party following weeks of negotiations.
Zaev will now be mandated by President Gjorge Ivanov to form a new government.
The move could help end two years of political instability in the landlocked Balkan country of 2.1 million people.
Zaev was unanimously nominated during a meeting of party leaders on February 25, the SDSM said.
"It is both my and SDSM's honor to be given the opportunity to form the new democratic government of Macedonia after 11 years of a regime," Zaev said.
His comments were a slap at former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who resigned in early 2016 after 10 years in power following a wiretapping scandal that led to massive pro- and antigovernment street protests.
In a vote last December, Gruevski attempted a comeback, and his conservative VMRO-DPMNE party won 51 seats in the 120-seat parliament to the SDSM's 49.
The remaining 20 seats were spread among parties representing Macedonias ethnic-Albanian minority, which is more than 500,000 strong.
After the election, President Ivanov asked Gruevski to form a new government, but he failed to reach a deal with ethnic-Albanian parties.
Ivanov then turned to Zaev, saying he could form a government if he got the backing of 61 MPs -- which he did with the support of the ethnic-Albanians.
Still, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), the main ethnic-Albanian party, said it has not decided if it will join the cabinet of the ruling coalition, highlighting the fragility of any new government.
"All options remain open ... It is not in our interest to take part in the government at any price," spokesman Bujar Osmani told AFP.
Macedonia has a stated goal of joining the European Union and NATO.
With reporting by AFP, Reuters and BalkanInsight
Vladimir Putin makes a trip to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan on February 27-28. Two of the countries -- Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan -- are members of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), and Tajikistan is currently negotiating entry into the organization. The EEU is bound to be on the agenda when Putin meets with all three Central Asian leaders.
The EEU, which besides Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan also includes Armenia and Belarus, has seen mixed results since it was formally launched at the start of 2015. There have been complaints but there have also been some benefits.
To take a look at how the EEU has influenced the situation in the Central Asian states that are members, RFE/RL assembled a Majlis, or panel, to discuss some of the successes and failures of the EEU so far, and the prospects for the organization going forward as Tajikistan prepares to become a member.
Moderating the discussion was RFE/RL Media Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir. From Bishkek, Edil Baisalov, a political analyst and chief of staff in former Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbaeva's administration joined the talk. Taking part from London was John MacLeod, a senior CIS analyst at Oxford Analytica. From RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, known locally as Azattyq, Assem Tokaeva participated. I had a few things to say also.
The idea of some sort of Eurasian union has been around for more than 20 years. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev first spoke of such an organization in 1994 and there have been several attempts at forming some sort of single economic space within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) since then.
Bad Timing
Putin resurrected the idea and has been pushing it since 2011. On January 1, 2015, Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, which had been members of a predecessor economic bloc called the CIS Customs Union, launched the EEU. Armenia officially joined the next day and Kyrgyzstan became a member in August that year.
The EEU has thus far not provided the sort of economic boost to its members that member states expected. But MacLeod explained the launch came at a bad time.
"It started at a time when Russia's economy went into decline and Russia's relationship with the West deteriorated sharply," MacLeod noted.
As Tokaeva pointed out, in Kazakhstan's case "the balance of trade is unfavorable to Kazakhstan, according to [the] statistics, exports to the union countries in the last nine months of 2016 were about $3 billion, against $6.5 billion of imports, and actually the export numbers are 31.6% lower than in 2015."
Baisalov said: "The shock to our [Kyrgyzstan's] economy was stronger than we expected and so far our losses have outweighed benefits." He mentioned, "In 2012, in the peak year of our garment industry, we produced [goods worth] $204 million, then last year we produced only around $9.6 million."
Baisalov said part of the problem was that "thanks to the devaluation of the Russian ruble, we believe that lots of our industry not only shut down but actually relocated to Russia."
Upside For Kyrgyz Migrants
Of course, there has been one very important benefit of EEU membership for Kyrgyzstan as Baisalov noted. "A positive result, if you want, comes with our labor migrants in Russia who are now different from migrants from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan," he said.
Remittances from Russia to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have been falling drastically since 2013. There has been a decrease to Kyrgyzstan also, but according to Russia's Central Bank, during the first nine months of 2016, Kyrgyz migrant laborers in Russia sent back $1.286 billion, a 21% increase compared to 2015, and the number of migrant laborers going to Russia from Kyrgyzstan increased while for both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan the figures continued to show reductions.
That will likely make EEU membership more attractive to Tajikistan. About one in every eight citizens of Tajikistan works in Russia and Tajikistan has the dubious distinction of being the most remittance-dependent country in the world, according to the World Bank.
But in terms of trade within the bloc, the EEU is still far from fulfilling its promise, according to Tokaeva. "We observe a lot of evidence of [unresolved] issues among the members of this union and we still do not see this single market as it was declared," she said.
Russia is the dominant partner in the EEU and Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbaev have expressed dissatisfaction in the past at Russia's habit of arbitrarily implementing new regulations without consulting EEU partners.
"We have a small number of economies here, we have one absolutely dominant economy, the Russian one," MacLeod said. But he went on to say that part of problem for the EEU is that the foreign policies of individual countries are at times significantly different and this complicates their economic cooperation.
"A structural defect of the Eurasian Union that differentiates it from the European Union is that it can't really operate as a kind of external player because the members don't genuinely have a common position on say, Ukraine," MacLeod said.
Other Complications
The brief Russian spat with Turkey in the wake of Ankara's downing of a Russian warplane along the Turkish-Syrian border in November 2015 was another example of the problems the EEU faces.
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have close trade ties to Turkey and Russia's temporary decision to close its borders to trade coming from or going to Turkey complicated the situation for Central Asia in general, but certainly made things difficult for the Central Asian EEU members.
Another complication for the Central Asian EEU members is their relationship with China. Beijing is a leading, if not the leading, investment and trade partner with all the Central Asian states. And now China is pushing its One Belt One Road (OBOR), a massive trade project that foresees linking dozens of countries by road, rail, and maritime routes.
EEU regulations present obstacles to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan's trade with its giant and rich neighbor but at the same time, as MacLeod said, the Chinese have shown "they can actually deliver when they decide to build something." The oil pipeline from Kazakhstan to China, the gas pipelines from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to China, the new railway from eastern Uzbekistan to a location near the capital, Tashkent, and newly paved roads in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are proof of this.
The Majlis discussed these issues in further detail and also looked at the some of the other aspects of EEU regulations and how they are forcing the Central Asian members to change their policies.
An audio recording of the Majlis podcast can be heard here:
Listen to or download the Majlis podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes.
Thousands of Romanians revived their antigovernment protests in Bucharest during the weekend, renewing their demands for the government to step down amid accusations it attempted to weaken laws against official corruption.
Some 3,000 people gathered at Victory Square in front of parliament in Bucharest on February 26, forming a huge European Union flag created out of sheets of paper and cloth.
Demonstrators said their protest signaled their support for the EU and its values.
Protesters also chanted slogans like "Resignation!" and "You thieves."
Police closed roads leading to the square where the government has its offices.
Romanians began nightly protests in early February after Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu signed an emergency decree that would have eased penalties for some official misconduct.
That emergency decree has since been rescinded.
On February 25, thousands of people gathered in southern Romania for a rally in support of Grindeanu's center-right government.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa
Russian political activist Ildar Dadin has been released from prison, days after the Supreme Court overturned his conviction.
The Presidium of Russias Supreme Court on February 22 set aside Dadin's conviction on charges of participating in multiple unsanctioned protests and ordered his release from custody.
Dadin, 34, was freed from a Siberian penal colony on February 26, some 15 months after being convicted under a controversial law that criminalizes participation in more than one unsanctioned protest in a 180-day period. He was serving a 2 year prison sentence.
"I will continue to fight against Putin's fascist regime," Dadin said after his release in footage broadcast online by the independent Dozhd channel. "I will fight so that human rights are respected in Russia."
Dadin's wife Anastasia Zotova confirmed he had been released.
"Ildar is released, and now we shall decide how [he will] get home," Russia's state-run agency TASS quoted Zotova as saying.
Dadin's lawyer Ksenia Kostromina said his release had been delayed because it took several days for the prison in the Altai Krai region in southern Siberia to receive his documents from the court.
Listed As Political Prisoner
Dadin, who was convicted in December 2015, has been listed by Russian and international organizations as a political prisoner.
Dadin, the only person in Russia who has been convicted under the law on unsanctioned protests, last year wrote an open letter alleging that he and other prisoners had been beaten and tortured at a prison in the Karelia region. He was later transferred to the Altai region.
The legislation under which Dadin was convicted was one of several antiprotest laws signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin after he returned to the Kremlin for a third term in May 2012, amid a wave of opposition protests that were the largest since he was first elected in 2000.
Rights groups have criticized the laws and other measures, which they say have severely restricted the freedoms of speech and assembly under President Putin, who is eligible to seek another six-year term in 2018.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, TASS, Interfax, and Novaya Gazeta
MOSCOW -- Thousands have marched in Moscow to commemorate slain Kremlin critic and former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov who was killed two years ago.
Nemtsov, who had been a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead on a bridge overlooking the Kremlin on February 27, 2015.
Five men from Russia's volatile North Caucasus region of Chechnya went on trial for the killing in October. They have denied the charges. Nemtsov's supporters fear that whoever ordered his murder will never be brought to justice.
Thousands of people gathered at Pushkin Square in central Moscow on February 26 before marching to Prospekt Sakharov. The march, authorized by municipal authorities, ended at around 4 p.m. local time without any major incidents. Two previous marches to honor Nemtsov were also held without any incidents.
Similar marches to commemorate Nemtsov were organized in cities across Russia, including in St. Petersburg and Nemtsov's hometown of Nizhny Novgorod.
WATCH: Commemorations Of Slain Kremlin Critic Nemtsov Held In Russian Cities (RFE/RL's Russian Service and Current Time TV)
Protesters in Moscow filed through metal detectors manned by dozens of police, who were stationed along the march route.
Demonstrators held the Russian national flag and other flags bearing the logo of opposition party PARNAS and the Solidarity movement.
Scores of demonstrators held portraits of Nemtsov bearing slogans like "The war with Ukraine is Putin's crime" and "Strength lies in truth and the truth is with us" and "Our advantage over the authorities is our honesty."
"The situation in Russia has got to a point where we have to change something, including changing the authorities," said Yuri Kalina, a teacher who attended the march. "One person has ruled for the last 15 years. This is not normal and it is not democratic."
"Everything starts [on] the street," added the 25-year-old. "When we don't have the opportunity to speak on television and when there is no one with alternative views on radio, we have to start [on] the street."
Yuri Konstantinov, 63, a pensioner from Moscow, said he attended the march out of a sense of civic duty, but was skeptical about whether it would have a positive impact for the opposition.
"I don't see any particular reason for hope," he said. "But a person has a duty to stand up for his beliefs. I believe a person has a duty. I don't know what will come of it though. The whole world seems to be going in the wrong direction."
Ibragim Osmanov, 59, said he traveled to Moscow from Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula to attend the march.
He stood in a small group of 10 holding Crimean Tatar flags. The group held a meters-long banner reading: "Stop the repressions in Crimea. Freedom to Ukrainian political prisoners."
"He [Nemtsov] always supported the Crimean Tatar people," said Osmanov. "We've come here to pay our tribute to his memory."
Demonstrators chanted "freedom to political prisoners!" "Russia without Putin" and "Putin is war!"
Activists at the rally collected signatures to petition Moscow city hall to establish a memorial plaque in tribute to Nemtsov.
Supporters also hope to petition city authorities to launch a probe into what they cast as the "illegal" clearing away of the makeshift unofficial memorial at the site of Nemtsov's murder.
"This is a serious date. The date of a murder," said Galina, a 66-year old pensioner from Moscow who declined to give her surname. "This was the political murder of a leader. We all remember. It is a pity there are few people like him."
Janie Peterson was talking via email with her brokers assistant, or so she thought, about a wire transfer into her brokerage account.
She had received an email that looked official with the Morgan Stanley Wealth Management logo along with routing and account numbers for the transfer.
It was the Monday before Thanksgiving, a busy time of year, when the assistant told Peterson it was time to do the transfer.
Peterson, who lives in Chesterfield County, drove to the Virginia Credit Union, where her $120,000 inheritance was parked, to do the transfer. The money was sent per the instructions.
Meantime, Peterson was being bombarded via text messages with obscene photos. She would block the number, only to have more graphic photos and texts sent from another number. I thought it was from a sexual pervert. I never dreamed it was connected to the wire transfer, she said.
Peterson said she knows now that the pornography was meant to rattle her and prevent her from realizing shed been duped.
When she went to transfer more money the following Monday, she noticed one account number on the receiving end was off. She called her financial adviser to verify that the money sent the previous week was in the account.
No, she was told. No one at Morgan Stanley had sent instructions for wiring money, nor had anyone received any money from her.
Crooks had hacked into her email, pretended to be her adviser, and conned her out of $120,000.
Peterson reported the cybercrime to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Chesterfield police, the U.S. Attorneys Office and the Secret Service.
She contacted a detective, the Office of the Comptroller and the fraud department at Chase Bank, where the money was transferred.
Her money still is missing.
This was an inheritance, which was targeted for retirement, and now it is all gone, Peterson said.
***
The proliferation of cyber events and cyber-enabled crime represents a significant threat to consumers and the U.S. financial system, according to the U.S. Department of Treasurys Financial Crime Enforcement Network, also known as FinCEN.
Criminals actively use email schemes to defraud financial institutions and their customers of billions of dollars, FinCEN said in a Sept. 6, 2016, advisory to financial institutions.
Since 2013, about 22,000 U.S. and international victims have reported email fraud involving losses of $3.1 billion, the advisory said. In some cases, financial institutions have absorbed losses through reimbursing victimized customers, according to FinCEN.
Financial institutions can play an important role in identifying, preventing and reporting fraud schemes by promoting greater communication and collaboration among their internal anti-money laundering, business, fraud prevention and cyber security units, the advisory states.
The primary types of this fraud include an email account compromise, targeting a victims personal accounts, and a business email compromise, targeting financial institutions, according to FinCEN.
Mrs. Petersons case is sadly one of an increasing number of wire fraud incidents that is occurring today, said Virginia Credit Union spokeswoman Jamie Lumpkin.
Its very unfortunate when our members are impacted by criminals perpetrating this type of fraud, and we do what we can to help, but that is very limited once the funds have been wired.
Lumpkin said the credit union works diligently with members affected by fraud by offering resources and, in this case, assisted Peterson by initiating contact with law enforcement authorities.
Virginia Credit Union will partner with any law enforcement agency that pursues this case, Lumpkin said.
The credit union has encouraged Peterson to hire a lawyer to assist in this criminal fraud matter and it has no update regarding the status of the case, Lumpkin said.
I feel like my life has been hijacked, said Peterson, who works in sales and considers herself to be internet-savvy.
She has changed her phone numbers, email addresses, passwords and all of her bank account numbers. Its really scary.
***
In trying to unwind the circumstances that led to the fraud, Peterson recalls getting an email with a secure link weeks before the wire transfer that she thought was from her brokers assistant. She clicked on the link. Nothing happened.
Or so she thought.
Cybersecurity experts warn consumers not to open file attachments from strangers, because they can contain programs that enable crooks to get into computers remotely. The crooks peruse emails, waiting for an opening to steal money.
Peterson said an FBI investigation showed the scammers had hacked into her email account, monitored her communications, and saw she had inherited money and was communicating with her financial adviser in Winchester about transferring the money.
The scammers knew her name, her advisers name and the assistants name. They knew her sisters had visited for Thanksgiving.
I hope you had a good Thanksgiving with your sisters, the crooks wrote in an email to her purportedly from her brokers assistant, as she was getting ready to do the second wire transfer.
Morgan Stanley declined to respond to questions for this article, despite repeated requests.
***
These scams arent the obvious ones of a few years ago with misspellings and tales of woe to lure the softhearted into sending money to foreign accounts with promises of being rewarded multiple times over.
They threaten nearly everyone and seem to be intensifying daily as crooks become more cunning. Con artists duplicate logos, impersonate authorities, come up with fake phone numbers and change email addresses ever so slightly to avoid detection.
The difference in a spoofed email account is subtle and can easily be mistaken for a legitimate business email address, the FBI said in an October advisory on cybersecurity.
A legitimate email address could be john-doe@abc.com, for example, which is altered fraudulently to john_doe@abc.com or john-doe@bcd.com, according to the Crime Enforcement Network.
The success of personal or business email schemes depends on criminals prompting financial institutions to execute seemingly legitimate but unauthorized transactions, FinCEN said in its advisory. Such transactions are often irrevocable, which renders financial institutions and their customers unable to cancel payment or recall the funds.
Identifying potential fraudulent instructions before payments are issued is essential to preventing and reducing unauthorized transactions, the network said in its guidelines to financial institutions.
The network has partnered with the FBI and the Secret Service to help recover stolen funds, assisting in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars in the past year. It has achieved the greatest success when victims or financial institutions report unauthorized wire transfers to law enforcement within 24 hours.
The crime committed against Peterson wasnt caught until a week later. Peterson said she hopes investigators can eventually untangle the web of deceit and find out who was involved or where the crime was perpetrated, so she can recover her money.
I hope this will help other people who have been victims of fraud as well as avert possible future instances of fraud from happening, she said. My hope is that the credit union will proceed as mandated by federal guidelines to investigate this and make available records and details of this particular transaction.
Peterson said all financial institutions should be alert to this type of fraud and flag suspicious transactions per banking guidelines.
Her wire form shows the money went to Chase Bank in Columbus, Ohio, with final credit purportedly going to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in New York.
The fine type on the form says the sender is responsible for supplying correct information for the transfer and the credit union is not liable for any errors on the senders part.
According to a Federal Reserve regulation, a bank has no duty to detect any inconsistencies in identifications for a wire fund transfer.
Petersons wire form also contained a SWIFT code an international code used to send money to overseas banks.
Peterson said she supplied routing and account numbers, the Morgan Stanley Wealth Management name and the SWIFT code but nothing referring to Chase Bank. She said she was told by a credit union official that the code wasnt needed, since the money wasnt going out of the country. But it was on the form nonetheless.
There are no safeguards for consumers, and financial institutions are protecting themselves, Peterson said. This is the way our country will go down if these loopholes arent closed.
Chase Bank, in a Feb. 13 letter to Peterson, said it had exhausted all efforts to recover her funds. The bank noted that Virginia Credit Union requested to have the wire transfer fund returned due to fraud.
However, the recall request was declined because of insufficient funds. The banks investigative team sent a letter via FedEx to the recipient of the funds demanding the return of the funds. The package was returned as undeliverable.
***
The credit union conducts wire transfers on behalf of members every day, Lumpkin said.
When a member supplies us with account information regarding where the funds are to be sent, we verify their identity and the account ownership of the outgoing funds here at the credit union, Lumpkin said.
Because of account privacy regulations, we do not have access to information at the receiving financial institution, she said. Our members frequently make transfers to their brokerage firms, and we had no reason to doubt the accuracy of the information Ms. Peterson provided to us.
Lumpkin said the credit union has spoken with Peterson regarding the fraudulent transaction, met with her in person and made contact with the receiving bank on her behalf. Chase would not share any information about the account with us, she said.
Consumers should verify information regarding money transfer instructions over the phone using a number they have in their records to ensure the validity of the information they have been provided, Lumpkin said. This is especially important when information is received via electronic communications.
Peterson said the credit union made one electronic wire recall request, granted her two meetings but only at her insistence and then refused to help.
According to FinCEN, financial institutions are encouraged to communicate with other institutions about suspicious transactions. They also are required to file a Suspicious Activity Report, or SAR, with regulators if a suspicious transaction was conducted or attempted involving transactions of $5,000 or more.
But they are prohibited by federal regulation from disclosing an SAR or any information that would reveal the existence of such a report.
***
Michael R. Schuler, a special agent with the FBIs Richmond division, said some wire transfers can be reversed, but once the money is sent to a phony account, typically it is immediately swept out and moved overseas where it cant be touched.
If you do find out about a compromise, notify banks and law enforcement as quickly as possible, Schuler said. If we are notified within 72 hours, we do have luck in reversing transactions, but there is never a guarantee.
Business email compromise is a cyberthreat that has spiked during the past several years and continues to threaten corporate bank accounts across the U.S. and abroad, according to the FBI.
It is defined by the FBI as a sophisticated scam targeting businesses working with foreign suppliers and/or businesses that regularly perform wire transfer payments. The scam is carried out by compromising legitimate email accounts through social engineering or computer intrusion techniques to conduct unauthorized transfers of funds.
It has been reported by victims in all 50 states and in 100 countries, the FBI said in a June 2016 report. Fraudulent money transfers have been made to 79 countries, with the majority going to Asian banks in China and Hong Kong.
The business email compromise scam continues to grow, evolve, and target businesses of all sizes. Since January 2015, there has been a 1,300 percent increase in identified exposed losses, the report says.
A total of 14,032 U.S. victims reported a total loss of $960.7 million from this scam from October 2013 to May 2016, the latest figures available, according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center.
Schuler confirmed that this fraud occurs in the Richmond area but said he could not comment on specific numbers, nor could he comment on any investigation, whether it is closed or ongoing.
Attorneys, real estate agents, title companies, chief executive officers and chief financial officers are targets because they often wire large sums of money or approve money for transfers, Schuler said.
You need to be super vigilant and know exactly where you are transferring money, he said. If a change is made to a receiving account number soon before a wire transfer is made, its likely a scam, he said.
Monitor email addresses for irregularities. Be aware that crooks assume false identities and make phone calls that look as if they are coming from telephone numbers the victim knows. Its advisable to hang up and call back using a known telephone number, Schuler said.
The FBIs Richmond division itself is dealing with a scam that looks like calls are being made from the agencys main number. The call is spoofing or using the local FBI phone number, a recording says. However, the call is not coming from this telephone number or office.
***
When Peterson received new wire instructions for the second transfer, she saw the telephone number in the email had a 540 area code, the same as Winchester where her brokerage is located.
When she noticed an odd digit in the receiving account number, she pulled up the email with the wiring instructions and dialed the number in the email.
She did not recognize the voice of the soft-spoken woman who answered. I hung up, thinking I had intercepted one of the (porno) stalkers calls. I called the number back, the same woman answered, and I noticed a Nigerian accent. I heard a man in the background. ... I hung up and looked up my contact number for Morgan Stanley and called the real number.
The ugly truth was exposed.
Peterson said the U.S. Attorneys Office told her after a few days that the money was not in the account and it was now a civil matter.
She said the Secret Service advised her to drop it. She said Chesterfield police told her it was out of their jurisdiction. She said the head of the fraud department at Virginia Credit Union said he could not help her.
Shes not giving up.
Hyderabad, Feb 26 (IBNS): Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday visited the family of the Indian engineer who was killed in Kansas recently.
He said strong action should be taken against hate crimes.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla was shot dead in a US bar recently.
Naidu tweeted: "Visited family of Srinivas Kuchibotla, victim of #Kansaskilling & offered my condolences. Strong action should be taken against hate crimes."
While the Kansas bar shooting incident in which an Indian engineer was shot dead and two others were injured is considered to be a hate crime, a long time neighbour of the accused said he was a "drunken mess" after his father died, media reports said.
The neighbour said that the accused in the US shooting case used to drink before also but he turned a "drunken mess" after his father passed away about 18 months ago.
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."
Images: M Venkaiah Naidu Twitter page
The largest holder of Performance Food Group Co.s stock is offering another 13.5 million shares in a secondary offering, according to a regulatory filing.
The nations third-largest food-service supplier, which conducted an initial public offering of its stock in October 2015, said Friday that private equity firm The Blackstone Group L.P. was selling the stock at $23.50 per share.
The offering is expected to close March 1. The selling stockholders will receive all of the proceeds from the offering. Performance Food Group will not receive any proceeds.
After the offering is completed, Blackstone will own about 13.5 percent of the Goochland County-based companys stock, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. When that happens, private equity firm Wellspring Capital Management will become Performances largest shareholder with a 15.7 percent stake.
Blackstone has been reducing its holdings since Performance went public in 2015. At that time, Blackstone had a 60 percent stake in the company. In early January, it had a 26.2 percent stake.
After four years on the Richmond School Board, attorney Jeff Bourne is headed to the Virginia General Assembly after easily winning Tuesdays special election to fill a Richmond-area House of Delegates seat.
As the Democratic nominee, Bourne, 40, was the clear favorite to win the 71st District seat vacated earlier this year by now-state Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan, D-Richmond. With 4,125 ballots counted, Bourne had nearly 90 percent of the vote.
No other local officeholders ran for the seat, leaving Bourne to face two little-known candidates, independent Regie Ford and Libertarian John Barclay.
Barclay, a teacher at Franklin Military Academy, received roughly 6.6 percent of the vote. Ford, a mortgage consultant and former president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters, received about 3.3 percent.
Barring complications, Bourne will be sworn in to the House today.
In a phone interview Tuesday night, Bourne said he was extremely humbled by the support and said hell continue to focus on public education while branching out to address other issues like addiction, domestic violence and gun violence. He said he plans to continue the solutions-driven approach McClellan brought to the House for many years.
Im ready to jump in with both feet and stand shoulder to shoulder with those folks who want to find solutions to Virginias problems, Bourne said.
The School Board is expected to choose a temporary appointee to replace Bourne until a special election is held.
To become a state lawmaker, Bourne plans to give up his job as a deputy attorney general handling transportation, real estate and construction litigation for the office of Attorney General Mark R. Herring. Bourne said that even if he were able to keep the job, he would give it up due to appearances and the potential for conflicts of interest.
With the crossover deadline passed, Bourne wont be able to file bills, but he will join the Democratic minority as the House takes up the budget and considers legislation coming over from the Senate.
Bourne, who received bachelors and law degrees from the College of William & Mary, ran on a pledge to continue prioritizing strong schools as a solution to poverty and other societal ills, while expanding his range beyond education policy.
An ex-adviser to then-Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones, Bourne was first elected to the School Board in 2012 to represent the North Sides 3rd District. When the new School Board was sworn in at the start of 2013, Bourne was named chairman, giving him a high-visibility role in Richmonds efforts to improve its troubled public schools system.
Bourne had been mentioned as a likely candidate for higher office, but he sat out last years mayoral race and didnt make a move toward the City Council, leading many observers to conclude he had his eyes on the House seat.
It was a safe bet after the court-ordered creation of a new, Richmond-centered congressional district that lured Rep. A. Donald McEachin, D-4th, away from the state Senate. McEachins former 9th Senate District presented an opportunity for McClellan, who coasted to an easy win in a special Senate election last month.
The storm that moved through the Richmond region Saturday afternoon briefly knocked out power to thousands of customers.
At one point, more than 2,400 customers were without power in the Richmond and Tri-Cities region, according to Dominion Virginia Power spokesman Mike Duffey.
By evening, Virginia Power figures showed that roughly 140 customers were without electricity in the Richmond area. The utility expected to restore power to remaining customers during the night.
Several areas saw hail during the height of the storm. Places in Midlothian, Bon Air and parts of the city of Richmond saw nickel- to quarter-sized hail that blanketed yards and streets.
A tornado warning also was issued for Charles City, Henrico and New Kent counties in the late afternoon.
Police dispatchers throughout the region said there had been relatively few reports of damage from the storm.
There were a couple of reports of trees lying across roads in Chesterfield County, according to police there, but the trees were cleared by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The U.S. Coast Guard airlifted two passengers from a disabled boat Saturday about 30 miles off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
One of the passengers was going in and out of consciousness when the 25-foot vessel contacted the Coast Guard station at Oregon Inlet about 1:30 p.m. to request assistance, according to a news release.
While the Coast Guard towed the disabled boat back to Oregon Inlet, the ailing passenger lost consciousness and required immediate help.
In response, an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew was launched from Air Station Elizabeth City to assist. The helicopter crew hoisted the passenger who had lost consciousness along with another passenger, who was feeling nauseated, and transferred the two to Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, N.C.
The Trump administration claims its policies will usher in economic growth of 3 percent per annum and even possibly twice that, Trump boasted at one point during the campaign.
Thats quite a stretch. The average growth during the past decade is 2 percent, and the Federal Reserve predicts 1.8 percent going forward. But higher growth is possible, and very much desired; its the least painful way to straighten out the nations messy long-term fiscal picture. (The other options: brutal spending cuts or brutal tax hikes.)
Unfortunately, the president faces some big obstacles on the path to 3 percent. One of them is demographics: 10,000 baby boomers are retiring from the workforce every day. In economic terms, thats like taking a couple of engines off an airplane and storing them in the cargo hold.
But the biggest problem could be the president himself.
The administration has proposed some steps that would help reduce economic drag. It wants to cut taxes and roll back regulations perhaps by as much as 75 percent in the latter case. That will happen when pigs fly, but any reduction would increase efficiency, and any cut in taxes would help capital flow to its highest and best use.
Yet the Trump administration seems intent on overwhelming any potential benefits from such moves by imposing other policies that would be immensely harmful.
One of them involves restraints on trade including high tariffs and the renegotiation or abandonment of trade agreements. (Trump already bailed out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.) Even without the almost certain retaliation from foreign trading partners, such measures would kick the economy in the solar plexus, because economic growth consists mostly of an increase in the volume of trade, both domestic and foreign. A country without trade is a country without an economy, and less trading means economic contraction.
Cutting imports sounds nice in the abstract, but it ignores this key fact: Half of all imports consist of raw materials, capital goods or intermediate manufacturing components i.e., things U.S. factories need to keep running. Cutting off the flow of imports is a recipe for layoffs.
The other big threat to economic growth comes from Trumps immigration policies. As The Wall Street Journals Greg Ip points out in a recent column, a nations economic output depends on the number of people it employs and how productively they work. Whats more, falling fertility rates in the U.S. have reduced population growth to the lowest point in the countrys history. If that trend continues, before long immigration will account for all the growth in the labor force.
Immigrants tend to be over-represented in the working-age cohort (ages 25 to 64). Almost two-thirds of immigrants fall into that age bracket, compared with only slightly more than half of native-born Americans. Take away just 1 million immigrants, and the working-age population in the U.S. will actually shrink.
While any reduction in immigration would hurt, some sectors of the economy would suffer disproportionately even if the administration trains its focus on undocumented workers and leaves legal immigrants alone. About three out of every four farm workers is foreign-born, and roughly half of them are undocumented. More than one in 10 construction workers is undocumented, along with slightly less than one in 10 restaurant and hotel workers.
Immigration hawks say the answer is obvious: Raise wages, and idle Americans will rush to fill the jobs left open by deported illegal aliens. That might work if the U.S.-born workforce were growing fast enough, but it isnt. And even if it were, many Americans simply wont do some kinds of work. Just ask John Harold, a Colorado farmer who made a point a few years ago to hire Americans to work his onion fields. Many of them quit within six hours. The result of an immigration crackdown will be labor shortages, higher prices, and lost economic output.
One hundred and forty members convene in the legislative session each year, bringing their respective experiences to bear on public policy. Among this cohort are talented and caring men and women from across the state representing a variety of professional fields, including medicine, law, real estate, energy, pharmacy, small business enterprise, and telecom among others.
My profession in law concentrates on families and small businesses. Often serving as a guardian ad litem in juvenile courts across the region, I am blessed to work with individuals whose lives have been turned upside down by addiction, but who find a path to recovery, enabling help them to rebuild their life and family after the devastating effects of substance use, specifically opiate addiction. With Gods grace, many families have found reconciliation in recovery often aided by the court system, peer-supported models like the McShin Foundation, or with medically assisted treatment. There are also stories with less than a happy ending.
***
I have witnessed our nations opiate crisis rising up in our region. The nature of this addiction knows no political, geographic, socio-economic, or gender bounds. It is real and frightening. Young mothers have told me that they have used while pregnant; other young adults describe their entree to heroin without a gateway drug. For so many, there is no longer a stigma or fear of death. One parent shared that as long as she used while her children were at school, that in some way showed responsibility.
A local toddler was taken into foster care because the four adults were shooting up in that childs presence while parked at a local abandoned car wash. Too many grandparents are raising their grandchildren. Even one member of this legislature courageously shared the journey of his son who is recovering from this savage addiction.
The narrator of The Great Gatsby Nick Carraway suggested that the loneliest moment in someones life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly. Often I imagine how these friends and neighbors of all of us feel in the midst of their struggle to redeem their lives.
As these citizens emerge from their paralyzing conditions, I joined with my House colleagues, especially Dels. Todd Pillion and Tim Hugo, to take action helping individuals, families, and children who suffer from substance use addiction and passed solid public health initiatives to combat the opioid epidemic with a focus on prevention and treatment. We can no longer stand by while this addiction claims more lives.
Each year, more than 40,000 Americans die from drug overdoses, which approximates the annual figures from HIV/AIDS in the late 80s and early 90s. Any one of us could become one of these statistics. More than half of those overdose deaths involved opioids, which includes heroin, Vicodin, OxyContin, and fentanyl. The fact that drug overdoses have been reported to claim more lives than car accidents or gun violence is sobering.
By 2010, the U.S. was consuming about 80 percenty of the worlds opioid supply and 99 percent of the hydrocodone supply, according to the Annual Review of Public Health. These data points have only gotten worse. In Virginia, a public health emergency was declared in 2016. Last year alone, statewide fatal opioid overdoses will surpass 1,000 and in 2015 more people died from opiate-related overdoses than in car accidents.
***
This session, I patroned several measures to fight the opioid crisis. Because the spiral of addiction can start with something as innocent as a pulled tooth, House Bill (HB) 2161, now on the governors desk, requires the secretary of health and human services to work to develop educational standards and curricula for training health-care providers in the safe and appropriate use of opioids to treat pain while minimizing the risk of addiction and substance abuse.
Another successful measure directs the Boards of Dentistry and Medicine to adopt regulations for the prescribing of opioids and products containing buprenorphine. Speaking to the importance of these measures, New Kent Sheriff Joe McLaughlin wrote that The issue of opioid addiction is at crisis level across our nation and this legislation is a step in the right direction. Law enforcement cannot do it alone and the assistance of the community and the prescriber is a necessary ingredient in confronting this problem.
HB 2165, approved by the governor, requires that any prescription for an opiate to be issued as an electronic prescription and prohibits a pharmacist from dispensing an opiate unless the prescription is issued as an electronic prescription. This measure will cut down or eliminate the prescription mills that have popped up across the region.
HB 1453 allows a trained person to administer life-saving naloxone for use in opioid overdose reversal. I successfully carried a budget amendment expanding access to reversal medication and accessing approximately $5 million in local grants to serve this population. With another bill, we expanded the mission of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth to include the reduction and prevention of substance use by youth in our state.
Notwithstanding our good work, solving this problem will continue to take a community-based approach. These demons are a part of the human condition, as Richmonder Edgar Allan Poe wrote concerning his addictions: the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom. We cannot address this epidemic or solve the problem with a one-person, one-mindset approach. We certainly cannot arrest our way out. There is no silver bullet strategy; it must be all-of-the-above.
As a member of Congress for the past six years, I was reminded every day what a blessing it is to be an American whether visiting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed hospital or visiting graves at Arlington Cemetery. Most often, I was reminded of this blessing every time I walked down the hall to our Capitol rotunda the literal and figurative center of the grandest experiment in self-government that the world has ever known.
Standing on the stone floor of the cavernous hall that once served as a hospital for wounded and dying young Civil War soldiers, I considered the paintings and sculptures of those who embody our most enduring American ideals: General George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, General Dwight Eisenhower, and Martin Luther King.
Amid these giants, however, I found that the greatest reminder of this blessing was not in the canvas and marble, but in the faces of the thousands of children who daily visit the Capitol from every county and crossroads of every state in the union and from every country across the world.
To me the remarkable thing was not where they came from but why they had come. For all of the beauty of our Capitol, these visitors did not come for the building and its architecture but for what the building represents. They did not come for the canvas and marble but for an ideal the ideal of American freedom. The same freedom that is our shining city on a hill shining not just for our people but also for people around the world.
***
Throughout my time in Congress, I often wondered whether we are living up to our responsibility to ensure that the next generation understands the value of this freedom and is prepared to preserve it.
Thomas Jefferson believed that only a well-educated citizenry would be equipped to preserve our hard-won American freedoms. Sadly, today we see on many college campuses across the country an unmooring from the principles of our founding. Concepts of limited government and free enterprise are swept aside in favor of a progressive philosophy that puts more and more government bureaucrats at the center of our lives and our economy. At the same time, we see a growing intolerance of conservative philosophy, with the banning of conservative speakers and tantrums ranging from violent riots to postponed exams to cry-ins and university sponsored healing spaces for stricken students who are exposed to ideas they find objectionable.
According to a recent survey by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, one-third of millennials believe more people were killed under George W. Bush than under Joseph Stalin. Is it possible that so many do not understand the difference between a democratically elected American president and a murderous communist leader responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of his own people?
It is sad to think that so many could be so absurdly mistaken, but it is terrifying to think that so many do not grasp the implications of this question and the bearing it has on the freedom of people all over the world. When it comes to preserving our freedoms for future generations, do these young people meet Jeffersons ideal of a well-educated citizenry?
***
Since its founding, Liberty University has unflinchingly promoted the fundamental principles of American freedom that have made this country the most free and prosperous nation on earth. In recent years, Liberty has taken its passion for these principles and built a platform for engaging in the most pressing debates of our time. In the last presidential election, Liberty hosted candidates Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, and Gary Johnson to address students at its weekly Convocation.
With its rising profile, Liberty recently announced its new center for law and government. In collaboration with its School of Law and Helms School of Government, the center will be a place for the free exchange of ideas and the robust debate of issues of national and state importance.
In addition, the center will harness broad expertise in promoting public policy that is consistent with those fundamental principles of American freedom: self-government, free enterprise, and the rule of law. Finally, the center will ensure that every Liberty student graduates with a full appreciation for our Constitution and for the value of our freedom and will be prepared to engage in a new generation of American statesmanship.
Liberty University is located on a hilltop in the heart of Virginias Blue Ridge Mountains. From its hilltop, Liberty enjoys virtually the same magnificent view of the mountains that certainly inspired founders Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in drafting our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution more than 200 years ago.
Today this view serves as a daily reminder of what our founders knew that our freedoms do not come from government but from our Creator; that they are precious; and that they must be preserved. Here on this Virginia hilltop, we intend to do our part.
Guwahati, Feb 26 (IBNS): Security forces apprehended a hardcore militant of NSCN (K) in Arunachal Pradeshas Changlang district on Sunday, officials said.
Based on intelligence input, the Changlang Battalion under the aegis of DAO division conducted a successful operation in Mulong village in the hill district on Sunday morning and nabbed the militant.
Kohima based Defence PRO Colonel Chiranjeet Konwer said that, troops launched operation at the remote village about presence of the Naga militant, who trying to terrorize and carryout extortion in the area.
The nabbed militant was identified as Machow Ngaimong and post spot interrogation he admitted allegiance to NSCN (K), he further divulged that he has been an active part of the banned outfit for last seven years.
Security personnel had recovered a pistol and several rounds of live ammunition in possession from him.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
On Feb. 3, Norman Bays last day as a commissioner for the federal agency that evaluates interstate natural gas pipelines, it suddenly seemed to pipeline watchdogs that he had at least a portion of one foot in their camp.
Carolyn Elefant, who once worked as a lawyer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and now often helps fight its rulings, reacted to Bays parting statement.
Honestly, it was an utter surprise, she said.
In a written statement, Bay suggested the commission he had chaired for nearly two years ought to revisit how it weighs the pros and cons of pipeline projects. He made recommendations that pipeline project watchdogs have pitched for years.
Elefants law firm in Washington, D.C., frequently represents pipeline opponents. Clients include Montgomery County, where the board of supervisors like boards in Giles, Craig and Roanoke counties opposes the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Most foes of the Mountain Valley project and separate Atlantic Coast Pipeline embraced Bays statement. Yet there was recognition that his recommendations might not yield meaningful change, especially given that President Donald Trump, who has voiced support for two deeply controversial fossil fuel pipelines, has an opportunity to appoint three new commissioners to the five-member FERC panel which currently lacks a quorum.
FERC is an independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas and oil. It also reviews proposals to build liquefied natural gas terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines and licenses hydro-power projects.
Its useful for an expert like Norman Bay to publicly advocate for reforming the way FERC looks at pipeline need and climate impacts, said Peter Anderson, Virginia program manager for Appalachian Voices, a nonprofit organization based in Boone, North Carolina.
However, its frustrating that the former commissioner waited until his retirement to speak out, Anderson added. Hopefully, FERC will take his criticisms seriously and, hopefully, Chairman Bay will continue to campaign for these changes.
Bay announced Jan. 26 that he was resigning from FERC after Trump made Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur acting chair. Bay, once a U.S. attorney in his home state of New Mexico, became director of FERCs office of enforcement in 2009. A Democrat, Bay was appointed as a commissioner by President Barack Obama and had served in that role since August 2014, and as commission chairman since April 2015.
Reached by phone Thursday in Washington, Bay declined to discuss his parting statement, noting he is now a private citizen.
I really dont have any further comments at this point, he said.
Deeply controversial
Among other recommendations in his statement, Bay said FERC ought to consider refining and expanding its evaluation of the need for new natural gas pipelines to guard against overbuilding.
Pipeline opponents have long questioned the need for new infrastructure to transport natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in the Appalachian Basin and have commissioned studies they contend provide evidence that current pipelines and storage facilities are adequate to serve demand.
Bay observed that the development of natural gas pipeline infrastructure has become increasingly controversial. And he cited one especially hot-button reality: Pipeline companies whose projects receive FERC approval have access to federal eminent domain to acquire easements across private property.
Private property advocates have alleged, Bay said, that land is being taken by for-profit companies for projects that do not serve a public use.
In addition, Bay referenced FERCs approach to conducting environmental reviews of natural gas pipeline projects. He suggested broadening the focus echoing fervent calls, voiced for years by environmental and conservation groups, for a wide-ranging environmental impact statement designed to collectively assess the effects of numerous projects.
Bay wrote, Despite the growing importance of Marcellus and Utica gas production it was 22.5 billion cubic feet per day in 2016 and is projected to surpass 44 billion cubic feet per day by 2050 the commission has never conducted a comprehensive study of the environmental consequences of increased production from that region.
FERC has repeatedly rejected demands by watchdogs for a programmatic environmental impact statement that could shepherd an over-arching evaluation of pipeline projects under commission review.
Such projects include the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines. Both undertakings would bury a 42-inch diameter pipeline that would transport natural gas at high pressure from the Appalachian Basin. The 303-mile, $3.5 billion Mountain Valley project would route through the Roanoke region; the 600-mile, $5.1 billion Atlantic Coast project would travel through portions of Central Virginia and on into North Carolina.
FERC has said that regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality do not require the commission to conduct a broad, programmatic environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, because FERC has no plan, policy or program for the development of natural gas infrastructure.
Tamara Young-Allen, a FERC spokeswoman, has said the commissions policy has been to allow market forces to determine where projects would be situated.
In November 2015, Bay himself rejected conducting a programmatic environmental impact statement for the Mountain Valley Pipeline and other proposed interstate natural gas pipelines affecting Virginia and West Virginia, including the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
Bays statement of Feb. 3 suggested his thinking has changed.
Even if not required by NEPA, in light of the heightened public interest and in the interests of good government, I believe the commission should analyze the environmental effects of increased regional gas production from the Marcellus and Utica, Bay wrote.
Richard Caywood, assistant administrator for Roanoke County, reacted.
Roanoke County has repeatedly requested a programmatic environmental analysis that would look at the MVP project with other ongoing and proposed projects in our region, he said.
Caywood observed that consequences of pipeline construction on the environment, property values, viewsheds and more would be the same regardless of whether the venture succeeds financially.
Having the project actually constructed and then ultimately not being fully utilized due to insufficient market demand would seem to be a lose-lose outcome for all parties involved, he said. I do find it somewhat concerning that the former FERC commissioner is uneasy about the potential overbuilding of pipeline projects designed to serve specific gas deposits.
Natalie Cox, a spokeswoman for Mountain Valley Pipeline, said in an email Tuesday that there is clear demand for the natural gas that the project would transport to the Transco pipeline in Pittsylvania County. Transco, part of Williams Partners natural gas pipeline network, extends from South Texas to New York City.
Recent analyses by global energy consultant Wood Mackenzie have shown that demand for natural gas is expected to grow significantly in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions, Cox said. The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is already full subscribed, is designed specifically to meet that demand.
Establishing need
The primary shipper of gas on the Mountain Valley Pipeline is EQT Energy LLC, an affiliate of EQT Corp., a main player in the Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC joint venture. EQT Energy is the shipper for about 64.5 percent of the projects natural gas. Roanoke Gas, an affiliate of pipeline partner RGC Midstream, is lined up to use about 0.5 percent of the pipelines gas.
Pipeline watchdogs contend FERCs evaluation of demand for a projects natural gas should pay more heed to end users customers that might include local distribution companies like Roanoke Gas than to affiliates of the companies building the pipelines.
The idea that agreements between corporate affiliates somehow establish need for a new pipeline is a sham, Anderson said.
Bays statement referenced the debate about which criteria FERC should examine to establish need, including considering whether precedent agreements to reserve capacity on the pipeline are largely signed by affiliates.
Cox said that even though the targeted in-service date for the Mountain Valley Pipeline is late 2018, EQT Energy has already sold gas that a customer would take from the hub at the Transco pipeline. Cox noted, though, that the sale of gas is a very competitive process, and said she could not share information about who those customers are and what their end use of the gas might be.
Meanwhile, Paul Nester, chief financial officer for both Roanoke Gas and its parent company, RGC Resources, which includes affiliate RGC Midstream, said Roanoke Gas has a need for the natural gas it would take from the Mountain Valley Pipeline if the project proceeds.
Nester cited anticipated demand tied to an expansion at Steel Dynamics Roanoke Bar Division, the start of production brewing in Botetourt County by Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits and expected usage by other customers.
We need the MVP gas, Nester said, noting that current transmission pipelines now supplying Roanoke Gas are at full capacity.
FERC released in September the draft environmental impact statement for the Mountain Valley Pipeline and is now crafting a final environmental statement. On Dec. 30, FERC issued the draft environmental impact statement for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and recently held meetings to solicit public input.
Bays comments noted that increased use of natural gas as a fuel to generate electricity has helped cut emissions of carbon, a greenhouse gas associated with coal and climate change, but he also suggested FERC ought to consider more comprehensively the effects of other greenhouse gas emissions.
Watchdogs of the natural gas industry have long observed that there are significant emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is the primary constituent of natural gas, occurring along the fuels entire supply chain from extraction by hydraulic fracturing through processing, delivery and consumption.
Bay suggested FERC should be open to performing a life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions study.
A reckoning
The Feb. 3 statement by Bay was attached to a commission ruling approving the Northern Access 2016 pipeline project, which will construct about 99 miles of natural gas pipeline and related facilities in Pennsylvania and New York.
Had Bay previously voiced recommendations during commission deliberations about how FERC evaluates the need for and environmental effects of new pipeline infrastructure?
No, said Young-Allen of FERC.
She said that neither LaFleur nor Commissioner Colette Honorable has commented on their former colleagues statement.
They may potentially respond if this issue is raised in rehearing of the Northern Access case in which Commissioner Bay made the comments, Young-Allen said. Rehearing in that case is pending. We cannot comment on pending cases.
Bays term would have expired June 30, 2018. His appointment by Obama in 2014 stirred opposition among some Senate Republicans who expressed concerns that Bay ran FERCs enforcement division with a heavy hand and was too closely aligned with what some described as Obamas anti-coal agenda.
After three votes early in Bays tenure that dissented from commission colleagues, former FERC commissioner Suedeen Kelly was quoted in a Law360 article as saying the dissents suggested Bay thinks for himself and was going to try to do what he thinks is right, at least as a commissioner.
None of those dissents focused on pipelines.
Roberta Bondurant, a resident of Bent Mountain in Roanoke County, has helped organize opposition to both the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines. She is a member of the countys pipeline advisory committee and is active in Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights, an anti-pipeline coalition.
Bondurant said she hopes Bays comments influence FERC.
Bays opinion seems intended as a reckoning for FERC, she said. Hes gone on record acknowledging the issues of fracked gas methane emissions, private taking for private gain and the risk to the public of affiliate, supplier-induced, precedent agreements as so called evidence of need.
Rick Shingles, a member of Preserve Giles County, shared similar thoughts.
The observations made by recently retired FERC Chair Norman Bay are the litmus test of pipeline opponents concerns regarding inadequate FERC assessment of both the need for proposed pipelines and their adverse environmental impacts, Shingles said. What more authoritative confirmation could there be?
Carolyn Reillys family farm in Franklin County is on a route for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Bold Alliance, a nonprofit spinoff of Bold Nebraska, hired her recently to help organize opposition in Virginia and West Virginia to the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast projects.
My hope is that the FERC fracture revealed by Norman Bay strengthens our resolve, the resistance grows and our united fight against these risky pipelines is won, Reilly said.
Critics of FERC contend the commission is too cozy with the industries it regulates, from which it recovers the full costs of operations through annual charges and filing fees. Last year, a coalition of environmental and conservation groups called for related Congressional hearings.
Bondurant said that if Bays recommendations have no effect on FERC then it might be time for an investigation of the agency by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Elefant noted that the Trump administrations appointment of new FERC commissioners probably reduces the likelihood that suggestions shared by Bay and other advocates for change at FERC will yield tangible results any time soon.
But she said Bays recommendations do enhance the credibility of arguments that advocates are now raising, so they certainly are very helpful in that regard.
News researcher Belinda Harris contributed to this report.
Every year, lawmakers carry thousands of bills to Virginias General Assembly. Only a fraction survive the session, and some look totally different when they come out on the other side. A handful of bills by local lawmakers cleared the General Assembly and will head to the governors desk. Heres a look at the highlights:
Broadband
Governor Terry McAuliffe will get his say on Del. Kathy Byrons broadband bill that looks nothing like the original bill he vowed to veto last month.
Byron, R-Campbell, completely rewrote her Broadband Deployment Act bill that no longer carries the same name.
Byron revised her controversial bill multiple times, and whittled it down to the point that it will no longer limit municipal broadband efforts.
The bill adds transparency requirements for municipal broadband entities.
The Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority, which vehemently fought Byrons original bill, no longer opposes HB 2108.
School board members
Legislators altered a bill that would eliminate rules preventing school board members from hiring their relatives so it applies to school districts within the New River Valley.
Originally, the bill by Del. Nick Rush, R-Christiansburg, would have applied statewide, but lawmakers amended the legislation so it only applies to school districts in Giles, Floyd, Pulaski and Montgomery counties.
Rush introduced his bill so as not to deter qualified people for running for school board, especially in smaller school districts where their candidacy might curb a family members employment.
State law makes it illegal for superintendents to recommend hiring close family members of school board members or the superintendent. Rushs bill exempts Planning District four from the state law.
Under his bill, school board members would be able to recuse themselves from board votes on the hire or promotion of an immediate family member.
Rushs bill cleared the General Assembly Thursday.
Alcohol at cinemas
As of July, moviegoers at nonprofit cinemas will be able to order wine and beer with their popcorn.
McAuliffe signed a bill that will allow moviegoers to drink wine and beer at theaters like Blacksburgs Lyric and Roanokes Grandin Theatre.
Rush proposed the legislation at the request of the two local theaters that want to better compete against large, chain movie theaters, many of which already serve wine and beer.
I-73
A bill earmarking funding for Interstate 73, which would run from Roanoke to the North Carolina line, will head to the governor.
The bill by Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, gained more traction this year than in previous years and does not commit money for the project for more than two decades.
The legislation would put the interstate next in line for a pot of money currently earmarked for U.S. 58. When the money becomes available, I-73 would receive about $40 million a year a fraction of the projects $6 billion price tag.
Lawmakers added a stipulation to Stanleys bill that it does not become effective unless re-enacted by the General Assembly in 2018.
Mental health
The General Assembly passed a bill that would require college resident advisers to receive eight hours of mental health training.
The bill by Joseph Yost, R-Pearisburg, would require resident advisers at public colleges and universities receive mental health first aid training or eight hours of an equivalent program to help them recognize the signs of mental illness and substance abuse.
The resident advisers would not be taught to diagnose mental health problem, but simply to notice warning signs, and refer peers to on-campus counselors or other community resources.
James Rivers scenic designation expanded
McAuliffe signed into law a bill expanding the scenic river portion of the James River.
The legislation by Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt, and Chris Head, R-Botetourt, would expand the scenic river designation from 14 miles to 59 miles, including all portions in Botetourt and Rockbridge counties.
The designation means no one can build a dam or any other structure that impedes the rivers flow on that section of the river.
Guwahati, Feb 26 (IBNS) : An Elusive commander of United A'chik Liberation Army (UALA) was killed in an encounter with police in Meghalaya on Saturday night, officials said on Sunday.
According to the reports, Meghalaya police had launched operation at Thapa Darenchi area in North Garo Hills district following intelligence input about presence of a militant group of UALA in the area.
An official of North Garo Hills district police said that, when police personnel reached the area, the militant group started fire and bullets were exchanged for half an hour.
In the gun fight, an Elusive commander of the militant outfit killed on spot and he was identified as Norrok X Momin and two others suspected to have been critically injured.
Other militants have been managed to flee from the area with the help of darkness, the police official said.
Security personnel had recovered one AK series rifle, a pistol along with ammunition from the encounter spot.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Obenshain Virginia Rideout May 12, 1937 September 10, 2016 Virginia (Toots) Rideout Obenshain died quietly Saturday, September 10, 2016 at home in Albuquerque, N.M., after a courageous two-year battle with pancreatic cancer with her loving family by her side. Toots was born in Boston, Mass., May 12, 1937 to Virginia Stull Rideout and Richard Lunt Rideout. Her earliest years were spent in Boston. At age four, she, her mother and sister left Boston and split time between Washington, D.C., where her mother worked for the federal government and the fledgling airline industry in the travel industry, and Buchanan, Va., where her mother had grown up. Toots spent most summers in Buchanan until the sixth grade, when she moved permanently to Buchanan to live with her aunt, Mary Aiken ("Chugga") Carson and her family. Toots attended Radford College, now University, where she met her lifelong partner and future husband, Samuel Scott Obenshain, on a Baptist Student Union scavenger hunt. Scott was a student at Virginia Tech in his hometown of Blacksburg, Va. They were married in Buchanan in 1959 and began their life together in Winston-Salem, N.C., where Scott was a second-year medical student at Bowman Gray School of Medicine. There Toots began her teaching career teaching developmentally delayed students. While in Winston-Salem, they welcomed their first child, Sarah Adair ("Dair") Obenshain Obenshain. During summer vacations, Toots worked at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which hired teachers to cover regular employees' vacations. Two months sorting cigarettes paid as much as nine months of teaching. The budding Obenshain family followed Scott's medical career across the country, from Cleveland, Ohio to Palo Alto, Calif., starting in Cleveland at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital and then completing his pediatrics residency at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif. where their second child, Rebecca ("Becky") Obenshain O'Gawa, was born. After Stanford, Scott then served two years in the Army at Fort Riley, Kan. While there not only did they bring Samuel Stull Obenshain into the world, but also created some memorable stories that simply captured Toots' spirit of fairness and advocacy for those facing challenges in their lives. One such was the now "infamous" letter she wrote to President Lyndon Johnson in 1966 regarding the casually dismissive treatment by the Fort Riley Officers' Wives Club of their Jewish members, which drew a quick and effective response from the White House and the Pentagon. Daughter Dair refers to this act as "How the Obenshains joined the Fort Riley Jewish Community". After their short, but impactful time at Fort Riley, Scott, Toots, and family then moved back to Cleveland, where Scott completed a fellowship in pediatric metabolic disease, again at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital. While there, Rachel Scott Obenshain Landavazo was born. Toots continued her career teaching children with special needs, part of her amazing legacy of fighting for those less fortunate. She had a reputation for unyielding compassion mixed with a sense of humor second to none! In 1970, when Scott was offered a position in the Pediatrics Department at The University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Toots reportedly accepted the position and the family uprooted themselves once again and moved to the Southwest. Albuquerque remains the Obenshain's family home to this day. While Scott settled into his work at the medical school, Toots revived her teaching career by working with students with special needs. This focus on kids dealing with challenges remained with Toots throughout her teaching career and beyond. As an educator, she spent years working with Albuquerque Public School students who required special attention, focus and patience. She thrived on every tear-jerking and/or side-splitting story because of her uncanny people-smarts, love and (sometimes scandalous) humor. It has been surmised that Toots, they say, got called to the Principal's office more often than her students. Her work inspired her own children's careers in innumerable ways, within and outside of the Albuquerque school system. Toots loved her students as her own, but consistently mentioned during the last few months of her life that she was most proud of raising four wonderful children. A friend has written, "It's hyperbole to say that the Obenshain family saved my life, but to be honest, not by much... That was 22 years ago. I'd never seen such a close-knit and yet welcoming and ever-expanding family; it was foreign to me and frankly pretty magical. To this day, the 'Obenshain Compound,' expanded with homes for the grown kids and their families, has some sort of "everything's going to be OK" fairy-dust dome over it for so many." As an advocate for underdogs, outcasts, and overlooked people of all stripes, Toots was unstoppable. She became president of ABQ Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) within a short time of her own daughter's coming out. Toots marched with PFLAG and the Raging Grannies in ABQ's Pride parade many a time and one year was the parade's grand marshall, riding on the back of a convertible with her grandkids in her lap and her family strewn throughout the parade route cheering her on! Although the parades were a blast, Toot's real advocacy came at the New Mexico State Legislature where she was a constant presence in committee rooms, legislative hearings, and fund-raising opportunities to champion the rights of all. Later in her life, after retiring from APS with almost 20 years of service, Toots joined the Albuquerque Assistance League and managed the Operation School Bell program, which bought clothing school uniforms for almost 4,000 low-income children, making her again well known among Albuquerque schools. This position had her delivering school uniforms to schools throughout the Albuquerque area and making ever-greater connections with those less fortunate. Toots never met a stranger. She had a seat reserved at the Thanksgiving feast and the annual Obenshain Christmas dinner for anyone who didn't have a place to go or a family with whom to celebrate. There are too many stories to tell about this amazing person who graced us with her laughter, smile, larger-than-life heart, and love for her family. Toots is survived by her loving husband of 57 years, Scott; her daughter, Sarah ("Dair") Obenshain, and her wife Mary Ramos, their children Benjamin and Emily Ramos of Albuquerque; her daughter, Rebecca ("Becky") O'Gawa, and her husband Mark O'Gawa, and their two children, Richard and Daniel O'Gawa of Albuquerque; her son, Samuel Obenshain, and his wife Kory Obenshain, and their two children, Carleigh and Teegan Obenshain of Albuquerque; her daughter, Rachel Landavazo and, her husband, Daryl Landavazo, and their children, Julia, Sami Jo, Jaime and Louisa Landavazo of Albuquerque, and her sister, Nancy Parker, of Annapolis, Md. She is also survived by an extended family of relatives and friends across the United States and the world who understand what it means to have Toots lodged deeply in their hearts forever. A memorial service in Toots' honor will take place on Saturday, March 18 at 1:00 p.m. at Buchanan Presbyterian Church, 19559 Main St., Buchanan, Va. A reception will follow the service.
Letters 11-4-22 A Vote For Tom Sullivan Dear Editor: On Election Day, I will be proudly voting for Colonel Thomas P. Sullivan for State Assembly. A proven leader, and financial professional. A vote for Tom Sullivan is...
Letters 10-28-22 Thanks, Stacey Dear Editor: I would like to recognize Stacey Amato for the tireless work she has done in our community. She responded to every call I have ever made to her office with results....
Which items sell better branded goods or generic items? For many years after the 2008 financial crash, the answer appeared to be overwhelmingly generic. The vast decline in wealth among huge numbers of people across the United States meant there was little money left for luxuries. The same was true across Europe.
Indeed, so deep did the recession bite that consumers searched for generic for most items from breakfast cereals and washing powder all the way up to jewelry and other so-called luxury items. And although the U.S. economy is in much better shape today, the tendency to look for generic items remains strong. Although unemployment has declined significantly, many workers still do not have the bargaining power to secure salary rises meaning disposable income is pretty much static.
Against that sort of background, companies are asking themselves if there is a point to launching new brands and that applies to the diamond jewelry business as much as any other. Although the diamond and jewelry industries often ask themselves about the level of success of branding exercises, there is some evidence to suggest that branding is paying off and that consumers are willing to pay a premium for jewelry with a name. Although buyers have overwhelmingly been happy to buy generic jewelry from trusted local jewelry stores, increasing numbers are now heading for more upscale luxury department shops and boutiques and paying a premium for branded fine jewelry from fashion houses.
In the 1980s branded diamonds arrived on the diamond scene when Lazare Kaplan branded and laser-inscribed the Lazare Diamond, the first branded round diamond. The Lazare Diamond was advertised as "The World's Most Beautiful Diamond" and was the first recognized brand name for a diamond. After Lazare Kaplan, many companies followed and created brand names for round diamonds with the goal of convincing consumers that their diamonds were the best of the best.
And the trend does not end there. Celebrity jewelers such as Russell Simmons in the United States, and British designer Stephen Webster are also enjoying the benefits. Wealthier consumers are increasingly plumping for expensive embellishment that clearly tells people which brand it is or by including well-known logos, such as Versaces Medusa head, or David Yurman's distinctive chunky carved cable silverwork.
Some designers believe that, in essence, jewelry was the last luxury product sold, for the most part, anonymously. And when the major jewelry brands realized this, some years ago, they moved quickly to rectify the situation. American jewelry industry analyst, Ken Gassman estimates that sales of branded jewelry items will, in the coming decade, rise by 100 percent to almost one-third of the almost $60 billion a year American fine jewelry market.
The downside of this trend of branding, however, is that the independent jewelry stores, often referred to as Mom-and-Pop shops, have seen their numbers fall over the past 10 years and even more so following the financial crisis of 2008, and the economic slowdown of 2009 and the failure of most Western economies to really take off. Competing with industry giants such as Tiffany & Co., and Signet Jewelers which operates around 3,000 stores in all 50 states in the US, primarily under the name brands of Kay Jewelers and Jared The Galleria of Jewelry, is clearly a huge battle for smaller, financially constrained, independent stores and small chains.
The story is very clearly presented in the numbers although there were still an estimated 21,000 specialty jewelers in the United States as of the end of 2016 that figure is down more than one-third in just one generation from a record figure reported in 1987.
The increasing consolidation of the jewelry industry is creating extraordinarily difficult levels of competition, ironically both for the smaller chains and the large alike. Indeed, the race for business is so intense that the jewelry industry is the one most susceptible to the foibles of the holiday-season gift-buying public. The November-December period generates almost one-third of jewelers annual sales, making them more dependent on the run-up to Christmas than any other retail sector, says the National Retail Federation
Most of the sales take place in December, and 25 percent of them in the week before Christmas, says Michael McNamara, a vice president for Purchase, New York- based MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse.
Branding is good for the jewelry industry because converting jewelry from an evergreen investment that you pass on to your heirs into a fashion accessory that goes out of style and needs to be replaced boosts sales by driving purchases, Gassman said. Consumers have a romance with brands, he said, They are a shortcut to higher social status."
The branding trend accelerated after the recession as luxury goods companies sought new areas of growth to complement their existing lines and keep attracting customers in the increasingly mature U.S. and European markets, said Hana Ben- Shabat, a New York-based partner in the retail practice at A.T. Kearney, a management consulting firm.
The popularity of colored stones also has driven the trend toward designer jewelry, Ben-Shabat said. It gives more room to play with jewelry rather than just deal with diamonds and gold, she said. As a result, the number of jewelry brands sold by luxury department-store chains has exploded in recent years, Ben-Shabat said.
But a specific challenge for designers is figuring out how to signal the brand through the jewelry, Gassman said. There are not nearly the opportunities to broadcast the brand as there are in clothes and handbags, he said.
Tiffany, too, has emblazoned its name most obviously on its Return to Tiffany silver jewelry collection. The risks of producing branded gems are greater for jewelry designers than for the luxury-brand giants because they are starting from scratch, and must stand out in the highly crowded market to succeed, Ben-Shabat said.
Webster, 53, founder and creative director of his namesake London-based brand, made a mark by bringing what he describes as edge to fine jewelry, and he has shown a modern savvy in building up his brand. He has appeared as a guest judge on Project Runway and produced brand videos that are posted on YouTube. His jewelry inspirations range from thorny tattoos to shark jaws.
We have a certain type of jewelry and it is attractive to people who want to sort of show off, the rugged Webster says in one of his videos. The minute you see it, you kind of get it.
Meanwhile, American firm, Hearts On Fire, announced that it has unveiled a collection of diamond anniversary and wedding bands that feature a new, hidden signature on the inside of the band. This signature, a ring of hearts encircling the band behind each diamond, highlights the unique company name of Hearts On Fire. The diamond company said the design also provides extra meaning for both the wearer and giver of the band.
The firm is also the official jewelry sponsor of the Miss Universe Australia pageant. Hearts On Fires most important assignment is to provide the Miss Universe Australia pageant with a magnificent diamond crown.
And a report by Bain & Co in 2015 showed the importance of branding for the diamond jewelry market, especially in the United States and other Western markets. The survey also found demand slightly falling off among younger consumers, with women aged 15 to 24 showing the least interest in jewelry. It is unclear whether this is a temporary phenomenon or a long-term trend, but younger women show a growing preference for other luxury goods, especially consumer electronics, the survey said.
One of the best-known diamond brands is De Beers' Forevermark, and more than a decade on, the firm is celebrating the continuing growth of its diamond branding program, which began on a pilot basis in Hong Kong in 2004 before being scaled up in Asia and beyond. De Beers has since introduced the Forevermark through selected jewelers in Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China, as well as in Japan, Taiwan, India, South Africa and the United States.
The most recent country identified by De Beers for its Forevermark brand was Botswana where it was introduced towards the end of 2014 following South Africa.
Each Forevermark stone has a unique symbol and identification number laser inscribed on the table facet. The inscriptions are only 1/20 of a micron deep500 times thinner than a human hair. The inscriptions are not visible to the naked eye, but can be seen with a special Forevermark viewer. Consumers who buy Forevermark diamonds also receive a Certificate of Authenticity from the De Beers group.
De Beers says its Forevermark branded diamonds are guaranteed to have been selected and processed in accordance with its Best Practice Principles at every step along the pipeline, meaning that they must be natural and untreated. To be eligible, diamonds need not come from De Beers mines, but must be 0.18 carats or larger, SI2 clarity or better, K color or higher and good quality or better cut.
The Best Practice Principles for Forevermark stones are monitored by an independent third party, which according to the company is meant to ensure that all Forevermark diamond facilities are inspected on an annual basis to guarantee that they meet the standards.
The expansion of the Forevermark brand includes the launch of its own independent grading operations, which will only analyze Forevermark diamonds. New facilities using proprietary technology have been opened in Belgium and the U.K.
There is a demand for branded diamonds and discerning customers are looking for the very best with the name of De Beers behind it to certify that they are the shiniest, the best and what is very, very important is that they are responsibly sourced, said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver. Forevermark offers unrivalled accuracy of grading and integrity, with each diamond inspected at least five times. Our proprietary technology and systems are cutting edge, as are our people. And our grading will as never before combine consumer needs and technical requirements into the perfect expression of Forevermarks quality, trust and integrity.
De Beers believes the Forevermark brand will continue to boost consumer confidence. Consumers are becoming more knowledgeable, more demanding and more concerned about the well-being of the world at large. Forevermark will meet those concerns; it will give assurance and comfort," said Cleaver. "The Forevermark team has a clear vision. Working in partnership with the worlds leading diamond jewelry retailers, Forevermark will be established as one of the worlds leading diamond brands, inspiring, exciting and re-assuring diamond consumers of all ages.
By our Israel correspondent Abraham Dayan
By Albert Robinson
After a tough 2015, last year provided the diamond industry with more stability and 2017 could be even better, says Yoram Dvash, President of the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) and Vice-President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB). In this interview, conducted following the International Diamond Week in Israel in mid-February, Dvash speaks on a range of issues affecting the Israeli and global diamond sectors.
How would you summarize this year's International Diamond Week in Israel?
It was the largest and most successful edition of the fair held so far. The number of buyers and visitors was up significantly. It created huge interest in the goods offered by Israeli companies who exhibited for free. We brought in many visitors and delegations, such as ALROSA President Andrei Zharkov, as well as a delegation from Hong Kong. We always look for ways to create greater interest and participation and this year's event was a great success by all standards.
What is the current state of the markets in your opinion?
After a terrible 2015, we saw that 2016 was a bit better. Currently, we see that China is going up and the US is stable and reasonable. We hope that this continues. It's possible that Trump victory will help business and the diamond trade as well this year.
What was the most significant event in the Israeli diamond sector last year?
Without doubt the signing of an agreement between the Israeli diamond trade and the national Tax Authority was the biggest thing to happen last year and, indeed, for many years. It allows businesses to concentrate on doing what they should be doing running their companies and not worrying about how much tax they will or won't pay.
Israeli diamantaires will, for the first time, pay tax on their profit and not turnover. If you don't make a profit, you won't pay any tax. It's that simple. The Bank of Israel's Banking Supervisor is happy with the agreement, which is in line with the Basel III and IV regulations, and we believe it will help our members secure bank credit.
Another important event was the opening of a factory for the production of large diamonds in the diamond complex in Ramat Gan. That follows the factory for the production of smaller diamonds that was opened a couple of years ago. Furthermore, we aim to open another manufacturing plant for the production of bigger diamonds this year. Producing larger stones is the major business for Israeli diamantaires.
We have also opened an Internet center for our IDE members in the Maccabi building. This is a major way of selling diamonds now. The old days of the Mom and Pop store are melting away and we need to enable our companies to trade using more modern means. We are able to connect firms with James Allen for the sale of their polished goods, as well as our Get Diamonds initiative.
And what are the plans for this year? What new developments can we expect to see at the IDE?
This year has already started in an excellent fashion. In January, we inaugurated the new Laser Cutting Room was inaugurated in the Shimshon Building entrance. It is a private initiative of some Israeli diamantaires, but the bourse supported it and pushed it forward. This Synova laser machine can cut stones at a very high level with virtually no damage. This is the kind of exchange we want to see: more technological and energetic. Soon we expect to receive the permit for the adjacent Synova laser factory covering 400 sq m area.
The big advantage is that it is within the IDE compound. That means that diamantaires enjoy greater convenience and security. They don't need to leave the complex with the goods on them or pay shipping and insurance.
We also opened our new International Tenders Center during the International Diamond Week in Israel in February. We held four tenders of goods during the week. Our aim is to create a lot of activity by attracting as much rough as possible. ALROSA President Andrei Zharkov told us that his company is committed to bringing large amounts of rough to Israel that are suited to the needs of our members. We are delighted that this is going to happen; it shows the strength and importance of the Israeli market.
There have been reports of re-organization and other changes at the diamond exchange. Can you give us details about what changes have been carried out and how they help the IDE?
We have been looking to check every possible way of making the exchange's operations more efficient and where we can save money for our members. We have carried out changes which allow us to reduce the number of hours our security people work. This saves a lot of money for IDE tenants. We have cut worker numbers and reduced the salary bill. This has allowed us to pass on savings to IDE members by reducing their rent payments. Our aim is to help members and we will be continuing with this during 2017.
It seems that there have been many new initiatives since you became IDE President in October 2015. We used to hear that the industry's organizations found it difficult to work together, what has allowed these ventures to come about?
We have management that is excellent and open to new ideas. The Managing Director of the IDE is also the Israel Diamond Institute MD. In addition, the Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association President Kobi Korn works together with the IDE and IDI. This allows the three bodies to work together in solidarity, and could not happen without the cooperation of IDI Chairman Shmuel Schnitzer and Kobi Korn with the IDE.
What is the situation regarding credit for the Israeli diamond industry?
It's no secret that we have had problems in recent years. This was not helped by the Bank of Israel's Banking Supervisor saying that the diamond sector was dangerous. This naturally made the banks concerned.
But the new tax agreement provides us with a firm base going forward. We know that the Banking Supervisor and the Bank of Israel Governor are happy with it, and that will make it easier for us regarding the banks since the situation is now much more transparent.
By Press Trust of India: Shillong, Feb 26 (PTI) At least 17 people were killed and 62 injured when a truck ferrying them to a church service overturned after hitting a concrete railing in Meghalayas West Khasi Hills district today.
The incident took place around 8.30 AM at Nongspung village, about 11 km away from the district headquarters Nongstoin.
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"The truck overturned after hitting the railing at the side of the road due to overspeeding," Superintendent of Police of West Khasi Hills Sylvester Nongtnger said.
12 people died on the spot, while five succumbed to their injuries at the Nongstoin Civil Hospital, the SP said.
Those seriously injured were taken to different hospitals including Shillong Civil Hospital and NEIGRHIMS.
People from three villages -- Nginiong, Mawbyrkong and Nongbudum -- were travelling in the truck and were on their way to Nonglang village for attending a Synod (church service).
Meanwhile, Meghalaya Health minister Roshan Warjri visited the city hospital and met the injured persons.
Meghalaya Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh expressed condolences to all the bereaved families. PTI JOP RG KIS
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Australia will on Monday release Q4 figures for inventories and operating profits, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.
Inventories are expected to have added 0.5 percent after rising 0.8 percent in Q3, while operating profits are tipped to jump 8.0 percent after adding 1.0 percent in the three months prior.
Hong Kong will provide January numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. In December, imports were worth 385.82 billion HKD and exports were at 340.34 HKD for a trade deficit of 45.48 billion HKD.
Finally, the in Taiwan are off on Monday and Tuesday for Peace Memorial Day; they will re-open on Wednesday.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
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Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar is in Chennai to wrap up the remaining portions of superstar Rajinikanth's sci-fi thriller 2.0.
By India Today Web Desk: With every passing day, the excitement for Shankar's magnum opus 2.0 is pretty evident among fans, especially on social media.
As per recent developments, Akshay Kumar, who basking in the success of his court drama Jolly LLB 2, has resumed the shoot in Chennai. Reports also suggest that this schedule will be the last leg of shoot, which is slated to release on Diwali this year.
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The Khiladi star is touted to be the prime antagonist in the film, who will play an ornithologist named Dr. Richard, while superstar Rajinikanth will reprise his characters as Chitti-The Robot and Dr. Vaseegaran.
The new addition to the cast are Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey, who will be seen as Dr Bora's son, and Adil Hussain in pivotal roles.
Made on a lavish budget of Rs 400 crore, 2.0 is the costliest Asian film to be made and will release in 6 languages-Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, English, Japanese and Chinese.
Bankrolled by Lyca Productions, the film has music by Academy Award winner AR Rahman, while Nirav Shah will crank the camera.
ALSO READ: Baahubali 2 Trailer ALSO READ: Kamal Haasan should SHUT UP
ALSO READ: Baahubali 2 Poster
ALSO WATCH: Jolly LLB 2 Review
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A seven-year old girl of class two, daughter of a visually-impaired couple, complained of being repeatedly drugged, abused and sexually assaulted by two senior girls of classes 7 and 9.
By Chayyanika Nigam: A seven-year old girl of class two, daughter of a visually-impaired couple, complained of being repeatedly drugged, abused and sexually assaulted by two senior girls of classes 7 and 9 for four months on the terrace of a government school in west Delhi's Moti Nagar.
Police are not ruling out the possibility of other girls in the school being victimised too. Senior police officials say addiction to porn videos by the accused led to the incident.
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A case under relevant sections of IPC and POCSO Act has been registered. One of the accused, a 19-year-old but studying in class 9, was arrested. The other, a 15-year-old, has been identified but is yet to be apprehended. The duo has flunked classes many times.
VICTIM'S UNCLE SPEAKS TO MAIL TODAY
Speaking to MAIL TODAY, the victim's uncle said: "For the past few weeks, she was behaving abnormally. Upon returning from school, she used to go to bed without eating. When she woke up in the evenings, she often used to puke and complain about stomach ache."
"After it became a matter of serious concern, we took her to a doctor who prescribed some medicines. The medicines did not work out for her in the long run," he added.
On Thursday, after returning from school, she started crying and finally revealed to her aunt that two senior girls of her school used to take her to the terrace forcibly.
"They asked her to undress and injected something in her. They used to beat her and ask her to dance when she was naked. They abused her and threatened her with dire consequences if she revealed it to anybody," the victim's uncle said quoting her statement.
'SCHOOL AUTHORITIES DIDN'T PAY HEED TO MY COMPLAINT'
He further accused the school of not paying heed to the complaint and in fact helping one of the accused to flee. "Initially, I did not want to lodge a police complaint. The accused were also girls and daughters of somebody. I didn't want police to get involved or any harsh punishment for them. I just wanted to inform school authorities about the abuse. But they did not pay any heed to my complaint.We were then bound to approach the police," the uncle said.
"The principal helped one of the accused girls flee before the police team reached, while the other was apprehended by police," he added. Deependra Pathak, special commissioner of police, said that the child is undergoing counselling. He said police will soon start counselling sessions in schools to make children aware about sexual abuse.
"Girls keep quiet about it. The need of the hour is to speak out," he said.
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Police are now trying to find out whether other children in the school were also subjected to abuse and are trying to find out whether the accused have filmed the act.
Meanwhile, the families of the accused duo are in a state of shock after learning about the incident.
The victim's father had lost one eye as a child while playing. They used to live in Pratapgarh, but due to his impairment, wasn't able to earn enough to sustain the family.
The victim's uncle then called them over to his place. While the father was offered a job in an iron factory, the uncle drives a cab in the city. The victim has a four-year-old younger brother.
ALSO READ: Bengaluru play school horror: Spate of FIRs reveal many other kids sexually assaulted by same man
ALSO WATCH: 5 ways friends and family can help a sexual assault survivor heal
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Days after fake notes of Rs 2,000 were dispensed from a State Bank of India TM in the national capital, an ATM in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur gave out a scanned copy of the high-denomination note, police said on Saturday.
The incident came to light when Puneet Gupta sought to withdraw Rs 10,000 from the ATM. Of the five Rs 2,000 notes that were dispensed, one was a scanned copy of the new currency, he told police.
As soon as the counterfeit currency was discovered, angry people in the queue outside the bank brought it to the notice of the bank officials.
Gupta has since filed a police complaint and an official said a probe was underway on how a scanned copy of the high denomination note found way into the ATM.
Who will be India's next President? Initial discussions in the BJP have catapulted veteran party leader Murli Manohar Joshi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as top favourites.
Informed sources, however, say the names of two other women politicians are also doing the rounds -- Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu.
Interestingly, L.K. Advani, once a staunch backer of the man who is today Prime Minister, is not being considered for the post of head of state that will fall vacant in July.
Although these names have emerged in the discussions between the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the final picture will become clear once the results of assembly elections in five states become known.
Joshi, 83, associated with the RSS since 1944 when he was just 10 years old, became the BJP President in 1991 amid the growing campaign for a Ram temple at Ayodhya.
He was a member of all three union governments headed by the now ailing Atal Bihar Vajpayee -- in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
During his long political career, Joshi led the 'Ekta Yatra' from Kanyakumari to Srinagar in 1992 and unfurled the national flag at Lal Chowk on Republic Day.
Joshi played an active role in the Ayodhya movement and was arrested after the Babri mosque was razed in December 1992.
He was also jailed for 19 months when Indira Gandhi clamped Emergency rule in June 1975.
Sushma Swaraj, 65, is also being considered for the top post for more than one reason.
Not only has she emerged as "a good minister" in the Modi government, her elevation will also help the RSS shrug away charges that it is anti-women.
Sushma Swaraj is also known to enjoy good relations with leaders of many political parties, something that will help the BJP to cobble the numbers needed to elect a new President.
But her health remains a matter of concern. But some sources say this could well be the reason why she may be suitable for the job because she will, as one source said, "get some well-deserved rest".
Another probable is Sumitra Mahajan, 74 and an eight-time MP from Indore, whom Modi picked as the Speaker. She also has good equations with the RSS.
Jharkhand Governor Murmu, 59, may emerge as a surprise pick too.
A tribal woman from Odisha, she has had an impressive political and social career spanning almost two decades. No tribal has been elected the President.
Murmu's political career started in 1997 when she was elected as a councillor and then to the Odisha assembly, which once hailed her as the best MLA of the year.
Murmu has actively pursued social causes and played a pivotal role in community uplift in Odisha.
The electoral college which elects the President is made up of 4,896 legislators -- 776 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members and 4,120 MLAs.
All MPs have an equal vote value of 708 while that of MLAs depends on the population of the state.
Of the 1.098 million votes in the electoral college now, the majority would be 549,001.
The BJP has 282 Lok Sabha and 56 Rajya Sabha members as well as 1,126 MLAs across the country. Although it rules 10 states on its own, it is out of power in populous states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance would require around 75,000 more votes than it now has to ensure that its nominee wins the presidential poste.
In 2012, Congress-backed UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee defeated BJP nominee P.A. Sangma by around 40 per cent votes.
In 2002, when Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, the BJP supported A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as a consensus candidate as it did not have enough numbers in the electoral college to prop up someone of its choice.
After Abdul Kalam, Pratibha Patil of the Congress occupied Rashtrapati Bhavan as India's first woman President. Then came Mukherjee.
Chandrababu Naidu,son Lokesh set to become minister,Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu,state legislative council member, Kala Venkatrao
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) politburo, at its meeting at Naidu's residence here, unanimously recommended Lokesh's candidature for the legislative council polls. The final decision was left to Naidu, who is national president of TDP.
TDP politburo member S. Chandramohan Reddy confirmed that Lokesh, who is currently TDP General Secretary, will become a member of the upper house of legislature.
Party's Andhra Pradesh unit president Kala Venkatrao proposed the name of Lokesh and all members supported it.
The highest decision-making body of the party also authorised Naidu to name candidates for council elections from local bodies and MLAs' quota scheduled next month.
For last several months, there was buzz in TDP circles about Lokesh's imminent induction in the state cabinet. The businessman-politician had said that he is ready to discharge any responsibility given by the party.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday asked US President and people to come out openly and condemn the killing of Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla, saying such racist attacks are not good for the US and the world.
Terming the Kansas shooting in which Srinivas was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani was injured, as shameful, he said this was blot on US which claims to be the oldest democracy.
"American President and people should come out openly and condemn such actions and then take strongest action and send a message that this is not acceptable," Naidu said.
Stating that seven incidents of this nature occured, the central minister said that they are sending wrong message which was not good for US, its people and the world.
Naidu said that when small incidents occur in India, it was blown out of proportion and the country which claims to be the oldest democracy tell the world that this is what happening in India.
The Minister said the US should answer the questions raised by Srinivas' wife so eloquently even in this hour of grief.
Naidu said the incident had caused anguished to Indians and brought sorrow to Telugus.
He said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj acted swiftly and directed the Indian embassy to make arrangements for bringing home the slain techie's body.
Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white man who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, 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.
Kuchibhotla of Hyderabad and his colleague Madasani from Warangal district in Telangana were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an MNC.
The Anti-Terrorists Squad of Gujarat Police on Sunday said it had arrested two brothers who, it claimed, were home-grown terrorists believed to be working for Pakistan's ISI.
Police said as per the initial information, accused Waseem Ramodiya and Naeem Ramodiya were preparing for a terror strike at a temple atop a hill in Chotila in Surendranagar district, 55 km from Rajkot.
The ATS said 98 gm gunpowder, two face masks, battery used for making bombs and about a dozen wicks made of jute thread were seized from the accused, apart from eight issues of Islamic State magazine "Dabik", believed to be the organisation's mouthpiece.
Stored on two seized laptops and mobile phones were techniques to make explosive devices and guerrilla warfare -- as well as lone-wolf attack -- tactics, the ATS said adding that other "objectionable literature" was found stored on the computers.
ATS Deputy Superintendent of Police K.K. Patel said: "Acting on specific information, the Gujarat ATS team picked up the two suspected terrorists with IS links."
He said the two brothers were under ATS surveillance for the last one-and-half years after it was found that they were allegedly in touch with the IS through Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Patel said police decided on Saturday night to arrest the two after they came to know that they planned to strike "in a day or two" at the Chotila temple where thousands of devotees visit daily.
The famous Somnath and Dwarkadhish temples in the Saurashtra region were also on their radar and the accused had already done a recce of the two famous Hindu pilgrimage spots.
Two teams of ATS arrested Waseem from near Rajkot while Naeem was arrested in Bhavnagar past midnight. The police said Waseem's wife too was involved in the IS network.
A police official said Waseem had left studies for Masters in Computer Applications course to "do something big for Islam".
He said the two brothers came in contact with the IS in 2015, and held several meetings through Skype with an IS handler who was heard advising Waseem in one of the audio recordings to collect at least 400 gm gunpowder for a "major strike". Waseem allegedly promised to carry out the instruction "as early as possible".
The ATS said its operation began after a live bomb was detected in Khodiyarpara locality in Rajkot on February 14. A probe into the crime led police to nearby Morbi town. Information given by the owner of a shop from where a battery was obtained for the explosive device further led to the Ramodiya brothers.
Nine persons, including several children, were drowned and several others injured when a boat capsized in the sea off Manapadu in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin district on Sunday, said officials.
"Nine persons lost their lives and 19 were rescued when a boat capsized off Manapadu coast. Three families from Tiruchendur seems to have booked the boat," District Collector M. Ravi Kumar told media over phone.
He said the injured have been admitted in the government hospital.
An official in the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service in Tuticorin, around 600km from here, told media among the dead were some children.
As the fishermen in the area and those connected with the boat absconded after the accident, it is not known how many people had boarded the boat, the fireman said.
The Sunday accident is the first major boat accident in Tamil Nadu after the one that occurred at Pulicat lake near here on December 25, 2011 killing 22 persons.
A Class 10 student committed suicide by jumping off a multi-storey building here on Sunday, police said.
Police said Pulkit, aged 17-18, a resident of Sagarpur area in west Delhi, went to the Janakpuri District Centre at around 4.30 p.m. from where he jumped to his death.
"Police received a call by some locals at around 5.20 p.m. about a young boy's suicide. He was later identified as Pulkit who jumped off from the 8th floor of Vishwa Sadan Building at the district centre," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Vijay Kumar told media.
No suicide note was recovered from his possession or the area, he added.
Pulkit studied in a nearby school in Janakpuri.
An interstate criminal absconding for two years and wanted in nine cases of attempt to murder, robbery, and extortion has been arrested, Delhi Police said on Sunday.
Nafe Singh was arrested on Saturday night from Keshopur Depot at Paschim Vihar, Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said. Police had earlier announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for Nafe Singh's arrest.
Nafe Singh, an accomplice of gangster Manjit Mahal, told police he was involved in gang-war killings in Najafgarh area in the past.
At least 16 people were killed on Sunday when a truck they were in rammed into the concrete barricade of a road in Meghalayas West Khasi Hills district, police said.
More than 50 people were critically injured in the accident in Jdohkroh village, 11 km from Nongstoin, the district headquarters of West Khasi Hills.
"Twelve people died on the spot and four succumbed to their injuries in hospital," Sylvester Nongtnger, the police chief of West Khasi Hills, told IANS. The dead included nine were women and a 13-year-old girl.
Nongtnger said all the victims were proceedings towards Nonglang village to attend the synod of Presbyterian Church.
The injured, including the driver and helper of the truck, have been rushed to nearby hospitals and to the Shillong Civil Hospital, the police said.
Quoting witnesses, the police officer said the accident occurred due to speeding. "Nonetheless, we are investigating the cause of the accident."
Scientists have recovered a lost football-field-sized balloon with a telescope hanging beneath it from Antarctica after a year of its flight.
According to the US space agency NASA, the balloon floated 39 kms above the Antarctic continent for 12 days in January 2016 until scientists sent the pre-planned command to cut the balloon.
The telescope parachuted to the ground in the Queen Maud region of Antarctica where it remained on the ice for an entire year.
"The scientists did quickly recover the data vaults from the NASA-funded mission, called GRIPS (Gamma-Ray Imager/Polarimeter for Solar flares), but due to incoming winter weather they had to leave the remaining instruments on the ice and schedule a recovery effort for the following year," NASA said in a statement on Saturday.
The instruments were finally recovered in January this year when it was warm and safe enough for scientists to go there.
"Despite sitting on the ice for a year, no snow had made it into the electronics. The cryostat instrument, which houses the GRIPS detectors, seemed in great condition, and we're hoping to use some of the instruments again," said Hazel Bain, a solar physicist on the GRIPS team.
GRIPS is a helium balloon-borne telescope designed to study high-energy particles generated by solar flares and help scientists better understand what causes these giant eruptions on the sun, which can send energy toward our planet and shape the very nature of near-Earth space.
GRIPS is a NASA-funded project largely designed, built and tested by the University of California-Berkeley's Space Science Laboratory.
The ABVP has been accused of orchestrating the attacks on the students in Ramjas on February 22. This mob beat up Professor Prasanta Chakravarty, pushed him to the ground, kicked him repeatedly and one guy even tried to strangle him with his muffler.
By Ananya Bhattacharya: For Professor Prasanta Chakravarty, February 22 was like any normal Wednesday. He was in the Arts Faculty, Delhi University, and then at Ramjas College to support the students protesting the cancellation of talks by JNU scholars Shehla Rashid and Umar Khalid. A clash between the AISA (All India Students Association, the student wing of the CPI-ML) and ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the BJP) students broke out that afternoon.
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Soon, the clash took a violent turn, with students being beaten up everywhere. The ABVP has been accused of orchestrating the attacks on the students in Ramjas on February 22. This mob beat up Prof Chakravarty, pushed him to the ground, kicked him repeatedly. A guy also tried to strangle Chakravarty with his muffler. The Delhi Police, meanwhile, allegedly, watched this entire incident play out in front of them. Some policemen and women, onlookers alleged, even joined the ABVP in attacking the other faction of students present on campus that day.
While the incident sent shock-waves across university campuses all over the country, and the country, the price of supporting free speech and his students turned out to be a lot dearer for Prof Chakravarty. He has been in and out of the hospital since Wednesday. This morning, he passed out with 'shooting abdominal pain' and is back in the hospital again.
"Diagnosed with contusion and concealed spasms on the right kidney and on spinal extensor muscles. Effected by heavy boot kicks perhaps. A couple of ribs also impaired -- will require protracted treatment. Pain needs to abate first now. Intravenous meds and drips on. If that does not work, other possibilities will be explored. MLC report of Feb 22 followed up by the hospital authorities," Prasanta wrote in a post on Facebook.
When we spoke to him on February 23 morning, he was in hospital, being treated for the injuries. That evening, he was back home but said that he'd have to keep going to the hospital till he was fine.
A Facebook post from him on February 24 read: "In the past two days, circumstances have overtaken my life. But just like any event, the social value of newsworthiness will subside. And that is a good thing. What ought not to subside is awareness of the constant climate of intimidation in many parts of our country now. Indeed, in many places of the world now, since it is a perfect fascist moment we are passing through. I feel a bit perplexed, and inadequate about narrating personal stuff. I am simply not good at that. I shall be most happy to go back to classes and to reading groups and to my poetry. I only wanted to make two points, and then let us move on.
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"One, that I have got enormous and genuine support and faith from my students. And as I tried to say yesterday on television, I believe that it is they and their compatriots all around the nation who can bring about a change in real terms across campuses and then connect campus issues with the larger political and social contexts. It is for them to diagnose and act upon the time that they are passing through. Indeed, seize time and fortune and not be detached from their times. It goes far beyond empathizing with me or with other newsworthy events that shall continue to happen.
"The second point is about difference and solidarities: there has and must remain ideological and positional differences among the best of friends. And we must keep on highlighting them, for thinking people who are passionate about life must build up poetics and politics on subtlety and positional nuance. But there is also a question of existential solidarity at this hour. If we are able to come together now, not by sublimating our differences, but by bringing forth those and yet building up broad fronts of togetherness and planning and hard strategy that these times demand, only then can we take on these regressive, narrow and debilitating brand of populism that haunts our nation and the world right now.
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"There must be a broad coalition now, silently building up. And years of work lie ahead. A painstaking job. The Right is in ascendancy today because they have done and are doing this painstaking job of hate-mongering effectively, at the grassroots level, for decades. We have to take on that kind of a might. I have no clue how. But we must rise above our silos and egos and come together -- students, teachers and everybody else who wish to see a different climate from the one we find ourselves in today."
While the ABVP and AISA have taken turns to blame each other for the violence, the Delhi Police is still 'investigating' the matter. Numerous accounts from journalists and students present at Ramjas College on February 22, however, have mostly been unanimous in holding the ABVP responsible for the attacks.
(The writer tweets as @ananya116.)
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ALSO READ: ABVP vs AISA at Ramjas College - 3 policemen suspended, Crime Branch to probe violence
ALSO WATCH: ABVP enjoys government and institutional patronage, says Umar Khalid
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Salina Central holds off Great Bend 40-35
Kenyon McMillan and Gunnar Gross each rushed for more than 200 yards in Salina Central's 40-35 playoff victory over Great Bend.
By Press Trust of India: Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi, Feb 26 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today rejected Oppositions accusations that he has "denied" the "conspiracy" angle in the recent abduction and assault on a noted actress.
"I have not said that there was no conspiracy behind the incident," Vijayan told reporters a day after his reported remark on the issue triggered a row with Congress and BJP coming out against the Chief Minister.
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"I only mentioned about a media report on the matter. Let the police probe all aspects," Vijayan said.
Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Chennithala alleged that Chief Minister was trying to sabotage the investigation into the case.
"When the Chief Minister, who is also holding the Home portfolio, is saying there was no conspiracy behind the incident...is there any need for further evidence to prove that he was trying to sabotage the investigation into the case," Chennithala said.
Chennithala was speaking at a function organised in Kochi to conclude a 24-hour fast by P T Thomas, Congress MLA from Thrikkakara, to protest against the "rise in crimes against women in Kerala".
KPCC President V M Sudheeran demanded a CBI probe into the incident, that evoked protest and condemnation from all sections in the society.
BJP State President Kummanom Rajasekharan alleged the CMs statement was to influence the investigation.
"The Chief Minister should reveal the source of his information as police are yet to complete collecting evidence," he said, adding "police should be given a free hand in the probe".
Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team probing the case took the key accused Pulsar Suni and his accomplice V P Vigeesh to Coimbatore today, where they had allegedly fled to after committing the crime, as part of its probe.
Police are looking for more evidence including the mobile phone used for allegedly clicking the pictures of the actress and the SIM cards used by the accused.
The Aluva Judicial First Class Magistrate Court had yesterday remanded the accused to police custody till March 5.
Seeking the custody of the key accused, police had said, it wanted to conduct further probe into the "conspiracy angle" in the abduction and harassment of the actress.
An identification parade of the four other accused Manikandan, Martin, Salim and Pradeep, was held at the Aluva sub-jail yesterday.
The actress, who has starred in Tamil and Telugu films, was allegedly abducted and molested inside her car for two hours by the accused.
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The accused had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17 and later escaped in a busy area in Kochi. PTI TGB JRK RC TIR
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On behalf of the government and people of Samoa, I welcome you to Samoa. It is my privilege to offer these opening remarks. I have chosen to focus my remarks on two points: a point about inclusivity and about idiosyncrasy. The two, in this context, are inter-related.
Thank you for bearing with me as I first gave my opening remarks in Samoan. I did that to underline the point that building an inclusive and equitable Pacific for persons with disabilities includes ensuring that our messages catch our local idiosyncracies and idioms. This is best conveyed in our local languages.
I focus specifically on the theme of inclusiveness. In Samoan, inclusiveness may be worded: Aua nei faasinoesea - which literally means, to not exclude.
There are many ways by which one can exclude or avoid exclusion. You can exclude by word, by look, by voice or by body language: by the way you blow your nose or stamp your feet.
In the Samoan language, we have a saying: Pele i upu, pele i ai, pele i foliga, pele i aga. This means that if something is precious (pele) to us, it or they would not be excluded. Evidence of this is found in our words (pele i upu), our behaviour (pele i aga), in the food we share (pele i ai), and/or by our facial expressions (pele i foliga).
This pele environment is an environment of joy,love and compassion. By contrast, an exclusive environment is one where pele is absent or lacking.
In the Samoan culture to be excluded by others in society is bad enough, but to exclude yourself by personal choice is worse.
I want to illustrate with an anecdote. Its about a great uncle of mine whose name I wont mention. He was old and lame and single.
One day, he told the leader of the aumaga i.e. the young mens guild, to invite the aumaga to one of the houses in the village compound and to await his return from proposing a suit of marriage to the Pastors daughter.
The next morning, my great uncle went to the Pastors house and asked for the daughters hand in marriage. The Pastor responded, We are highly honored but with respect, we cannot decide for her. Well ask her to come and you can ask her yourself.
The girl came and my great uncle proposed. The girl responded, You are a great chief and entitled to marry one of the great ladies of the land. In all humility, I am not worthy to be your partner.
There was a long toing and froing, from about 8 oclock in the morning until 3 oclock in the afternoon. The young lady would not budge and my great uncle decided it was time for closure. His mind wondered how he was going to handle his predicament. On the one hand, there was the Pastor and his family, and on the other, there was the aumaga waiting for him to report back.
He looked across the Pastors house and saw a paepae (a stone formation where a house once stood). He went and stood on the paepae, turned his back on the girl, the Pastor, his wife, and their family, and raised his lavalava and called out, Can you tell me what the time is!?
He then headed for the house where the aumaga were gathered. When he got there and sat down, the head of the aumaga asked, How did you fare? He responded, Pity me! The girl rejected my offer of marriage.
In those days, to reject an offer of marriage by an important chief is a serious matter. It reflects not only on the person of the chief, but also on the family immediate and extended; on the mana of their genealogy and history.
The challenge for the leader of the aumaga, and the aumaga, was how to do damage control? How do you appease and pacify the humiliation of rejection?
They opted for singing, dancing and making light comedy of what had happened.
One of the roles of the aumaga is to protect the image of their matai and most importantly, to secure peace within the village.
In the village context the girl had faasinoese or marginalised my great uncle by turning down his marriage proposal. He and his village had to protect him/himself from feeling so aggrieved that he would opt to faasinoese or exclude himself and his family from the village and the church.
One of the principal imperatives of village fiafia or festivities was to ensure inclusiveness of all, including the disabled. This was often done through song and dance. The lame, the one-eyed, the blind, the disfigured, were welcomed not excluded.
They were the star performers through fun and comedy they showed everyone how their affiliction need not marginalise them in society. Their performance was a prayer for inclusiveness: Dear God, do not exclude me, for I find my refuge and redemption in accepting my affliction.
When the taualuga (the final dance and climax of the evening) is performed, the taupou and the manaia perform, and everyone joins in, the old, the young, the abled and disabled. If the sun is hot and the small stones sharp, everyone would move to inside a house, or to beneath the shade of a tree. The main point of the exercise is to celebrate and demand inclusiveness.
I conclude with a quote from Christ which to me celebrates inclusiveness: Amen. I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.
I wish you an enjoyable and productive conference. Soifua.
Samoa Stationery and Books has opened another branch in Savaii.
The C.E.O and President of S.S.A.B. Group, Fiti Leung Wai travelled to Savaii to officially open the new branch on Friday.
The new branch is located on the second floor of Salelologa Market and will be called SSAB Salelologa Market.
The branch has a copy centre, internet cafe as well as stationery and light snacks such as drinks and cup noodles.
Whilst S.S.A.B. Salelologa Market is relatively small, I really value it because it is S.S.A.Bs 7th branch as 7 is Gods number, she said.
This new branch will cater for those in Savaii who find it hard to go to S.S.A.Bs main branch next to the ANZ Bank, especially students who want to print their assignments and matais who want to type their submissions for their cases before the Land & Titles Court.
With the imminent closure of Yazaki, it is important that Samoa looks to its own business people to create employment.
S.S.A.B Savaiis General Manager, Tagaloa Fritz Vito led the prayers to bless the new branch.
The new branch will be managed by Melissa Stanley who has just moved from New Zealand to reside in Samoa.
She is excited about managing the new branch as she sees a lot of potential to grow the new branch.
I am sure our clients will enjoy the air condition when they come in our new branch.
The backpackers will also appreciate using the only internet cafe at Salelologa Market, Ms. Stanley said.
The opening of S.S.A.B. Salelologa Market now brings the total number of S.S.A.B . branches to seven. S.S.A.B. now has two branches in Savaii, three branches in Upolu, one in American Samoa and one in Auckland, New Zealand.
Dear Editor
Re: Aura of reality on the wall
I would say, as an extended-tourist who spent six months in Samoa, there are plenty of amazing, life-altering things to do in Samoa, yet little-to-no adequate marketing / advertising [at a Global standard] of viable options to tourists, from those who fly in to those who dock for a day.
To give an example: one day in Apia, I spent a few hours with someone who had just docked via a cruise line from USA.
This person and I were bombarded by taxi drivers who offered outrageous prices to transport viable distances: I get it, this was the taxis drivers chance to cash in on some rare palagi money; that said, the greed presented at the opportunity made nothing come to fruition, except gave a sour impression to the tourist of both the island and its people.
So, instead of the tourist swimming with turtles or jumping from waterfalls or seeing the true life of Samoa beyond Apia, they were accosted repeatedly at local markets to buy wares they had no intention of hauling, all the way back to Stateside.
If given a chance, I believe the Samoan Tourism MAY flourish, on a global scale.
The peoples of Samoa and the faasamoa is unlike- in many ways- any other part of the world: the love of family, culture and the Lord, and respect towards each other has great potential to flourish and be observed by those visiting, impacting the entire peoples of the world with the Samoan ways of good-hearted love and respect.
If a tourist were offered trips outside Apia, invited to village-stays, and able to observe some of the AMAZING geographical features ENTIRELY unique to Samoa, then your Tourism would abound beyond current presuppositions.
Yet, the Tourism Ministry needs help, outside help, and until walls of pride and self-determination are let down, all of Samoa will suffer in the singularity of a No, we can do this ourselves, we need no one else, mindset and that too shall sadden both the Samoans and the world for the opportunities lost on both sides.
Because, at the end of the day, Samoa is another island nation, and other island nations can put forth information necessary to entice the lowest common denominator of traveler.
The palagi of the world work hard for their money, and yet, do not want to work hard to find the most exquisite leisure spot to spend their money; they are already exhausted and want to show up and be entertained; if Samoa does not make it easy for the palagi, then the palagi will go where it is made easy.
Advice?
Perfect your travel app, grant all visitors via travel app a free Digi or BlueSky sim with limited credit, and advertise your travel app on FB on a global marketing campaign: once the palagi download the FREE app from anywhere in the world, and they are able to experience (before arriving) a slight taste of ALL they MAY yet experience, youve got them hooked, and they are there before you can count your tala.
Love you, Samoa.
Best to you.
Miranda Gothard
Plans to open the new tobacco factory at Falelauniu are still on hold.
The owner, Tuituioaiga Teeking Weng didnt want to comment further on the matter when he was asked for an update.
On the telephone all Tuituioaiga would say was, its not yet and he would not go further into details.
An attempt to get a comment from Minister Lautafi Purcell was also unsuccessful.
The new cigarette factory is owned by Tuituioaiga who is also the owner of the Coin Save chain of stores.
Last year, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi defended the governments decision to grant the license.
He said there are no are no laws to prohibit the establishment of a new cigarette factory.
If there was legislation to stop the production of cigarettes and the importation of cigarettes, then that topic would be important, he said.
We cannot stop people who have already made the decision to smoke cigarettes.
Tuilaepa said there are more important issues to talk about.
He added that the new tobacco factory would not mean cheaper cigarettes and easier access to cigarettes for members of the public.
The prices (of cigarettes) will continue to increase, he said.
The government is trying to stop it (smoking) by increasing the prices and from that the government gets more money for its development.
A report from the public says that despite the passing of the Compulsory Education Act, the number of child street vendors continues to increase.
It doesnt change anything at all, a member of the public said.
You see many issues have been raised about kids who instead of going to school, roam around the streets, to do this and that which annoys people
This was witnessed by an ANZ security guard at Vaitele who told the Samoa Observer that they cant stop these kids from selling goods or washing cars.
You see, we gave kids the chance to sell goods because it helps them earn money for food, he said.
Sometimes they are still on the job till 10pm in the evening.
According to Popi, a 6 year old who is one of the street vendors, washing cars earns him money.
And he is doing it with the approval of his mother.
My mom told me to come wash cars, he said.
Shes right there, he said pointing to the opposite side of the road.
I go school at Saina Primary School and washing cars earns money for my school lunch.
Attorney Loukinikini Vili, says a significant emotional and mental burden is placed upon children when they have to take on financial responsibilities for their families livelihood.
Members of the taskforce involved with the Compulsory Education Laws, which include the police, the Education Ministry and village representatives, have agreed that law enforcement is the main weakness.
However, others believe the Act is too weak, citing cases of those who have been caught and penalised and have returned to the practice soon after.
A report by Samoas Ombudsman, Maiava Iulai Toma says lax law enforcement is one of the reasons why there are many small children selling goods on the street during school hours.
A young lady from America, Chrissy Mueller has opened up about how excited she is to have located her Samoan friend, Venise.
Two weeks ago, Chrissy walked into the Samoa Observer with her story of her hopes of finding her Samoan friend, Venise after 26 years.
Last week, she reported back that shes finally going to get to see her.
She said that many of Venises family contacted her when they read the online article in the Samoa Observer.
There were her daughters, sons, granddaughters, nephews and nieces, including some her grandchildren who used to play with me when Venise came to look after my brothers, my sister, and me. she said.
They have already offered me so much love and warmth, welcoming me with open arms (even if only over the phone) back to Samoa.
I am very happy .... I will get the chance to meet many of her nieces, nephews, and grandchildren in New Zealand.
I am feeling very grateful and quite blessed.
I am very excited Ill get to see Venise in New Zealand sometime during the week of the 6th of March.
She is currently in the process of changing her plane ticket so that she can arrive a couple of days early to spend time with Venise and her family.
To be honest, I am so excited to get to see her and her family again, she said.
My family back in the States is also very excited that I will get to see her and they are sending their loving regards with me.
It's amazing that this was all part of my plans.
I was only six months old when my family moved to Samoa, she said
During our time here, my family hired a beautiful Samoan woman, to help my mother take care of my two brothers, my sister and me, and her name was Venise.
So I came back 26 years later, hoping to find this wonderful woman and thank her for the support and love that she offered my family.
She went on to say that I have spent the past four months studying and travelling around the world ( India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and now Samoa) to connect to some of the pieces of my past, said Chrissy.
This journey has been inspired by both my search for my purpose in this life time and to help find healing for myself and my family on a very deep level.
Returning to Samoa, where I spent some of the most foundational years of my life, and being able to connect again with Venise, is truly a gift.
Venises family and Chrissy are trying to keep this as a surprise for her.
I have not yet spoken with Venise because her family has informed me that they would like to make my visit to New Zealand a surprise for her.
I have spoken with Lupe, her daughter and Johnnie, her son as well as one of her grandsons who is here in Samoa.
I am just amazed at how many people actually remember my family and are so excited to see me.
I have a feeling that my sense of family will be much, much bigger after leaving Samoa and New Zealand.
Police Media Officer, Sua le Mamea Tiumalu has confirmed a 56-year-old father survived after being shot at by a 16-year-old male last week.
The young male is in police custody facing charges of attempted murder, being armed with a dangerous weapon and the possession of an unlawful weapon.
The victim is still in the national hospital.
Both men are from the same village and police are still investigating the matter.
Sua said that the the victim suffered two injuries to his body, one on the left side of his back and one on his right side just below his chest.
The victim is a shop owner in the village,he said.
What we suspect is, the accused wasnt happy when he was refused credit to buy from the victims shop.
This happened on Monday just past twelve in the afternoon.
The accused will appear in Court on the 6th March.
ISMAILIA, Egypt (AP) Egyptian Christians fearing attacks by Islamic State group militants fled the volatile northern part of the Sinai Peninsula for a fourth day on Sunday, after a string of sectarian killings there sent hundreds packing and raised accusations the government is failing to protect the minority.
Over 100 families from the town of el-Arish and nearby have come to the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Cairo, since Friday, Nabil Shukrallah of the city's Evangelical Church said.
Families arrive scared and in need of supplies, which are being stockpiled at the church via donations from several parishes, he said. They are then transported to be housed in and around the city, in private homes and now also accommodation provided by the government.
"They're exhausted, with urgent needs for food and children's clothing," he said, as one father carried off a sick infant to be evacuated by ambulance. "They're terrified of the violence and brutality of the terrorists."
Northern Sinai has for years been the epicenter of an insurgency by Islamic militants, and the area's few Christians have slowly been trickling out. But departures rose in earnest after suspected militants gunned down a Christian plumber at home in front of his family on Thursday in el-Arish. It was the seventh such killing in recent weeks and stoked panic among Christians.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack. But Egypt's Islamic State group affiliate, which is based in north Sinai 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 Egypt's embattled Coptic Christian minority. It described them as "infidels" empowering the West against Muslims.
The Cairo church bombing and the recent killings point to a shift in IS' tactics in Egypt, with the group now also attacking Christian targets that are less protected than military installations, in an attempt to isolate them and embarrass the government.
At the Ismailia's main youth hostel where authorities were putting up 45 families, luggage, boxes of food and new displaced arrived throughout the day.
"I don't want to stay there and die as a casualty in the war that has hit el-Arish," said Reda, a civil servant who arrived two days earlier with six family members including grandchildren. "If they allow us we will stay here until the terrorism is over and the government makes peace."
Before Egypt's 2011 Arab Spring uprising, some 5,000 Christians lived in northern Sinai, but the number has since dwindled to fewer than 1,000, priests and residents say. Egypt does not keep official statistics on the number of Christians in cities or across the country.
Many rights activists say the displacement is a clear sign the government has failed to provide a minimum of security for the embattled minority in the volatile region, where they have faced public threats before.
The government only agreed to put up the fleeing Christians in government housing in Ismailia after pressure on social media, which they underline as another disturbing sign.
At the Evangelical church, shop owner Fayez, who also gave his first name only for security concerns, arrived with a truckload of furniture ahead of his family to seek a place to relocate.
"Hopefully we'll find a home and be able to stay here, but I don't know how I would move my business," he said. "Daily life looks normal in el-Arish, until you hear about terrorists shooting people in their own homes."
Strengthening the community, its health, and its members consciousness is the aim of Kuumba Fest, a three-day celebration of African-American culture at the Lyceum Theatre this weekend.
Black to Power: Body Mind Spirit is the theme for this years event, which caps Black History Month. The festival includes a talent show, a fashion show, hip-hop dance and theatrical performances, a soul food competition, a gospel show, and an African marketplace featuring arts and crafts by local vendors.
Saturday morning kicked off with a resource fair promoting better mental and physical health.
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What were talking about today is serious to us as a people, said Judi Patterson of Mental Health America of San Diego County, a speaker Saturday morning. People go low, we go high. We go high with our consciousness, our health, our community.
Kuumba Fest began in 1993 as part of the San Diego Urban Warriors gang diversion program, to provide self-empowerment to at-risk children through art and self-expression. At the end of the program, the children performed a sold-out show at the San Diego Repertory Theatre, inspiring the director, Dajahn Blevins, to found Kuumba Fest.
This years festival continues the celebration of art and culture, with education about health and community-building mixed in. Blevins has a word for the combo: edu-tainment.
The festival opened Friday evening with a Friday night of positive images. The line-up included a keynote speech by poet, activist and scholar Sonia Sanchez, an awards ceremony honoring local dignitaries and volunteers, and a parade of history, involving a procession of warrior kings and queens in traditional African dress.
Felicia People sets up her marketplace booth at Kuumba Fest. In the background is her son, Trevon Peoples, 22, who helps her with her businesses. (Nancee E. Lewis/Nancee E. Lewis Photography)
The market focused on local vendors who specialize in African products a smorgasbord of crafts, soaps, clothing and jewelry.
DeShonda Roberts, a board member for the African American Advisory Council of San Diego, said she has been organizing the festivals marketplace for a decade. She said it increases visibility for the 37 local vendors represented, thereby promoting Ujamaa, a Swahili word often used to describe the political idea of cooperative economics.
We all have a responsibility to our community to support each other so we all prosper, Roberts said. Let the patrons know where you are. At the festival, I can not only shop with you, but come find you later.
The festival continues Sunday from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. Events include a panel discussion titled State of Black Cultural Arts in San Diego; a fashion, arts and talent showcase; a soul food dinner; a gospel finale celebration; and childrens performances.
Tickets cost $5 to $15, but some events are free. For more information, visit kuumbafest.com or call (619) 544-1000.
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morgan.cook@sduniontribune.com
Crazy Horse, who led the Lakota to victory over Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custers U.S. Army troops at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, is among the most storied of Native Americans.
But the stories have most often been told by outsiders.
Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warriors Life & Legacy seeks to change that. Its based on oral history passed down through the family of Edward Clown, Crazy Horses nephew, and told to William Matson, a documentary filmmaker and writer from Oregon.
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Matson and two Crazy Horse relatives, Floyd Clown Jr. and Douglas War Eagle, will be at the Coronado Library Saturday at 11 a.m. for a reading and signing coordinated through Bay Books.
Q: How did you come to work on this book?
A: That was actually decided before I was born. My dad was in the 7th Cavalry during World War II and during basic training they used to ask, Who won the Battle of the Little Bighorn? And he said, The Indians did. That was the wrong answer. He was punished for it. And apparently he held a grudge that he passed along to his son.
Q: How did he pass it on?
A: Near the end of his life he was working on a book about the Battle of the Little Bighorn from the Native perspective. He got lymphoma and on his death bed he asked me to take it on. It wasnt really my deal, but I couldnt say no.
There was a guy named Eugene Little Coyote who had an email address. This was in 1999. There werent a lot of people on the reservation then who had email addresses. I contacted him and asked him if he had any stories about Little Bighorn. He said, Sure.
So I went out there, to Chief Dull Knife College (in Montana). He was eating his lunch. I told him who I was and I said, Do you have any stories about Little Bighorn? And he said, No.
So I said, Do you know anybody who does? And he said, Follow me. He led me to the library and said, Read these. I wound up reading something like 300 books about Crazy Horse and the battle.
At one point, I was in South Dakota, talking to a ranger who happened to be Lakota. I was talking about Crazy Horse and I said I wanted to know about the women who raised him because they werent in any of the books. He went to his office and gave me Doug War Eagles phone number.
I went to see Doug. I had been working on a feature film about Crazy Horse and I showed it to them. They told me it was garbage and if I wanted the real story, I had to get rid of it. I agreed.
Q: I understand at some point you went into a sweat lodge with them.
A: I did. They told me I had to do it so they could see if my heart was good. I was excited. We were in there about two hours, and when we got out, nobody said anything. There was no judgment or anything. I wanted to find out where I stood. I said, I wish I knew your language. I would have sung with you. And they said, We dont let you because you sing like Merle Haggard. Thats when I knew I didnt have to be walking on eggshells around them any more.
This was about 2001, and from that point on we started going around to different places. I drove them. Their oral history was in landmarks and they needed to see the landmarks to understand what they had been told by their grandparents. The book took quite a while to finish, and not everybody was happy about it. There were some people who called the publisher and tried to stop it. The publisher paused it for three months to make sure everything was on the up and up.
Q: Who complained about it?
A: There is a rivalry among the various bands of the Lakota about where Crazy Horses family is from. Many people think its the Pine Ridge Reservation, which used to be known as the Red Cloud Agency. But thats where he was killed, with the help of members of his own tribe. The question to ask is, if the head of your family was killed by your neighbors, would you stay in the neighborhood? His relatives wound up on the Cheyenne River Reservation, and they went into hiding for a long time. They felt the government was out to kill the family.
Q: What made them think it was finally OK to come out and tell their story?
A: They had what we would call a vision quest. This was in 1998, and the vision was, Stand up and tell the truth. So thats what they did.
Q: Isnt all this the subject of ongoing litigation? Something about Crazy Horse malt liquor?
A: Yes, there was a suit, brought by his descendants. It was decided in favor of the estate, not the liquor company. But then they had to decide who the estate was, which family. This is being heard on the Redbud Reservation, one of the four main Lakota reservations. Its gone on for quite a while. The people I wrote the book about, the Clown family, are the only ones with a paper trail to Crazy Horse. The probate records are in the back of the book.
For me, after working with them for quite a number of years, I have no doubt who they are. You just know.
Q: What are some of the things that historians get wrong about Crazy Horse?
A: Mostly small details. Who his relatives were and how he was raised. Mari Sandoz, who wrote the first big Crazy Horse biography, which was really a historical novel, said he had to have a rock hanging from his ear when he fought. That never made sense to me. Who wants to go into battle with a rock banging against your head? The relatives told me, No, that was his horse. His horse had been shot out from underneath him so he added protection, a small rock hanging from its ear.
Their history actually made more sense than ours. Ours was all third party and a lot of it was told through the lens of our culture. I tried to take myself completely out of it as much as I could and let the relatives have the last say. If there was any little thing they thought was wrong, it got pulled.
Q: Whats your favorite story from the book, the one that speaks most clearly to you about who Crazy Horse was?
A: Probably the most defining story would be the Little Bighorn battle, where he charges through the infantry line and doesnt get hurt, and then decides to turn around and do it again. It speaks to not only him, but to how the Lakota fought.They didnt have generals. A chief is our concept, not theirs. For them, the only way you get people to follow you is by example.
When he charged through the line twice, the battle had been stalled. Everybody stood up and thought, If he can do it, we can do it. It was the culmination of the battle and the victory that they had. I would say that is what solidified Crazy Horses reputation among the Lakota, and its why we talk about him still today.
Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warriors Life & Legacy, by the Edward Clown Family as told to William B. Matson; Gibbs Smith; 256 pages
john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-2236
The Home Minister in a rally in Bahraich said that Mulayam Singh fought against Congress all his life, but now his son has dashed all his dreams.
By Press Trust of India: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday accused Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav of shattering the dreams of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav by forging a poll alliance with the Congress.
"Akhilesh has shattered the dreams of his father by entering into a pre-poll alliance with the Congress, against whom his father fought throughout his life," he said addressing an election rally.
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Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, Rajnath said the Congress vice president used to deliver speeches through Khaat Sabhas "but the moment he got an opportunity, he jumped and sat on the bicycle".
"Now, Mulayam has punctured the bicycle, while (Akhilesh's uncle) Shivpal Singh Yadav has broken the chain of the bicycle," the Union Minister said.
BSP'S ELEPHANT IS NOT WELL
On the BSP, he claimed, "The health of the elephant (BSP's poll symbol) has deteriorated. The main fodder of the elephant is sugarcane but it's health has gone down, as it has been fed with currency notes."
He claimed that the SP, the BSP and the Congress have created muddy ponds throughout the state.
"And it is on these muddy ponds that the lotus would eventually bloom. Goddess Lakshmi visits the household of her devotees while sitting on a lotus itself," he said.
The Home Minister also mentioned the surgical strikes by carried out by India and said people from Pakistan want a good relationship with the country but Pakistani terrorists are the enemy of humanity.
Also read: Narendra Modi turns around the gadha joke on Akhilesh, says donkeys are loyal, responsible
Also read: Exclusive: Beef politics returns, Akhilesh dares Modi to ban meat exports
Also read: Why does Shatrughan Sinha keep recalling Akhilesh Yadav?
--- ENDS ---
After six months of campaigning and cajoling and trying to get City of Stars out of our heads, the Oscars are finally here. So its time for some final predictions for Sundays ceremony.
Ready?
Somebody will mention Donald Trump. Somebody will cry. Somebody will cry while mentioning Donald Trump.
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We good? No? OK. There will be exactly eight cuts to Meryl Streep reacting to someone either lavishing praise on her or criticizing Trump. There will be at least six worthy people left off this years in memoriam montage because, after this past year, how could there not? And that particular montage will end with a beautiful shot of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, filling us with an aching sadness that will make the rest of the evening nay, the entirety of awards shows feel pointless and absurd.
Oscars 2017: Live updates | Ballots | Nominee portraits | Red carpet
Wait what ? You just wanted predictions for your Oscars pool? Geez. Why didnt you say so?
La La Land! Repeat it nine times. Add the dynamic duo from Fences and sprinkle in a little Moonlight. And then cut to Meryl, clapping and crying.
So here we go, category by category. Lets get started before the orchestra plays us off ...
Picture
Winner: Weve pretty much covered this, right? A movie doesnt earn a record-tying 14 nominations and not win best picture. If you want to get hammered on Oscars night, choose the words La La Land for your drinking game.
Director
Winner: Damien Chazelle, La La Land. Voters will want to reward the creative force behind the best picture winner.
Lead actor
Winner: Denzel Washington, Fences
Alternate: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
This feels like one of those times when the critics favorite who steamrolled through the early part of the awards season gets usurped by a more obvious, broadly appealing choice. (Think Mystic Rivers Sean Penn besting Lost in Translations Bill Murray or Birdman prevailing over Boyhood.) Washingtons imposing work in Fences, acting with a capital A, is the kind of performance that usually prevails over inward turns like Afflecks in Manchester. (Though not always remember Mark Rylance won an Oscar last year for his lovely, understated performance in Bridge of Spies.) To put it another way, adding some historical context: Denzel is probably going to drink Caseys milkshake.
Lead actress
Winner: Emma Stone, La La Land. Yup. She passed the audition.
Supporting actor
Winner: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight. A few Oscar pundits are picking Dev Patel to pull off an upset here. While a lot of voters loved Lion, even the movies most die-hard fans have to admit that its first hour the one without Patel is its strongest. Ali, meanwhile, brought a profound tenderness to his Moonlight character, making us empathize with a complicated drug dealer and see such people from a different angle.
Supporting actress
Winner: Viola Davis, Fences. She pretty much won this from the moment she signed on to reprise her Broadway turn.
Adapted screenplay
Winner: Moonlight wins for the poetic way writer-director Barry Jenkins told a deeply personal story through the prism of harsh societal realities.
Original screenplay
Winner: If La La Land wins here, watch out. We could be looking at Oscar history. But more likely, Manchester by the Sea will win its one Oscar for Kenneth Lonergans nimble, nuanced writing.
Animated feature
Winner: Zootopia prevails for its funny and thought-provoking take on tolerance.
Documentary feature
Winner: The ambitious, essential O.J.: Made in America will likely take this, even though most academy members probably didnt make it through its entire 467-minute running time. Ava DuVernays shattering 13th remains a possibility here too.
Foreign language film
Winner: The Salesman. A vote for the latest film from Iranian director Asghar Farhadi has a dual purpose rewarding excellence and showing solidarity with immigrants. I cant see academy members passing up that opportunity.
Cinematography
Winner: La La Land for the way Linus Sandgren made Los Angeles look like a place where magic hour lasts the entire day.
Costume design
Winner: Madeline Fontaine, Jackie
Alternate: Mary Zophres, La La Land
My initial instinct was to go with La La Land, a movie that made canary-yellow dresses a thing. But this category rarely goes to movies that take place in the present day. And Jackie more than rose to the challenge of re-creating the wardrobe of a fashion icon. So go with the lady possessing the pillbox hat.
Film editing
Winner: Time was, this Oscar almost always lined up with the best picture winner. But that has happened just once so far this decade. Make it 2 for 7 with La La Land.
Makeup and hairstyling
Winner: Star Trek won in 2010 and, with the category absent of any work from best picture nominees, the franchise should return to the winners circle.
Production design
Winner: La La Lands blend of vintage and modern-day Hollywood should prove irresistible.
Original score
Winner: La La Land. Cmon. Dont make me have to explain jazz.
Original song
Winner: City of Stars. Fess up. Youre humming it right now, arent you?
Sound editing
Winner: Hacksaw Ridge. Heres the last four winners in this category: Mad Max: Fury Road, American Sniper, Gravity and, in a tie, Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall. You see the pattern? Do you hear the pattern? Hacksaw will win for the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air ...
Sound mixing
Winner: Meanwhile, if a music-heavy movie is nominated here, it wins. You have to go back to 2001s Moulin Rouge! to find the last one that didnt, probably because of the academys long-standing bias against unnecessary punctuation marks. So La La Land prevails.
Visual effects
Winner: Robert Legato has won previously for Hugo and Titanic. Look for him to pull off the hat trick for the innovative Jungle Book.
Animated short
Winner: Its either Pixars sweet, rite-of-passage story Piper or Pearl, a beautifully told tale of a father and daughter bonding over music. Pixar hasnt won in 15 year, so Im leaning toward Piper. But then Pixar hasnt won in 15 years, so the Oscar could go to Pearl or perhaps the daring, haunting Borrowed Time.
Documentary short
Winner: Three of the five nominees address the Syrian civil war and refugee crisis, including Netflixs (relatively) high-profile White Helmets. Then theres Joes Violin, a heartwarming look at a Holocaust survivor who donated his violin to a Bronx public school. With Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in its corner, Joes famous friends give it an edge.
Live-action short
Winner: This is the biggest guess of the lot. Im going with Ennemis Interieurs (Internal Enemies), the intense tale of a French-Algerian man being questioned about his past as he tries to become a French citizen. Its timeliness should help its cause.
See the most-read stories this hour
glenn.whipp@latimes.com
Twitter: @glennwhipp
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Twelve-year-old Amar Reed pulled the cord out of the kitchen blinds and wrapped it around his neck. He then sat down hard on a chair, which pulled the cord tight. His eyes bulged and his face darkened.
His mother, Amanda Donahue, was in another room trying to straighten out a sibling skirmish the boy had caused. She happened just happened to return to the kitchen to look with horrified eyes on her adolescent sons attempted suicide.
She rushed over to untangle the cord, fumbling frantically with jittery fingers, racing against death or brain damage. Its too tight. A knife. Wheres a damned knife?
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She cut the cord just in time.
Amar is now 13 and an eighth-grader. He was saved by his mother, but what crisis might next threaten this mentally disturbed childs life?
*
Amar sits next to me, preoccupied with a Japanese toy called a kendama. I think thats part ruse, because he knows Im talking to his mother about him. However, he says he doesnt mind. Hes a teddy bear kind of a kid friendly, open-faced and sort of roly-poly. The kind teachers like when his conduct allows it.
Amanda is going public because she wants teachers, neighbors and the parents of other kids to realize that the struggles of Amar are real and deserving of their support. Moreover, when they see children with obvious issues that go far beyond everyday acting up, she wants them to stop and think before bullying or judging.
Amanda is a 40-year-old licensed vocational nurse who (make that serves) patients with severe paralysis. She smiles widely when she says she loves her job.
I will listen to anything this woman tells me about compassion.
She is the articulate, thoughtful mother of Amar and 9-year-old twins. They and their steelworker father-husband, Mario Reed, form a middle-class family in Spring Valley.
She is also the one who lifts up and supports Amar. Its an ongoing effort.
*
Another time, in fourth grade, Amar was taking a test in a quiet classroom. Amanda tells what happened:
The teacher said Amar got up and slammed his books down on the desk and just started screaming, Stop talking to me. Leave me alone. Amar picked up a chair and threw it across the room.
The teacher obviously was alarmed. She took him out of the room and asked what was wrong. He told her, This lady wont stop calling my name.
In the aftermath, Amanda took Amar to a psychiatrist and received a diagnosis of non-specific-form psychosis. He was put on a drug called risperidone, commonly used to treat schizophrenia and bipolarity.
It is also used for autism in children. However, Amanda says Amar has been tested for autism and shows no signs of it.
The psychiatrist sort of tiptoed around his judgment because, Amanda says, doctors are loathe to diagnose a young child with mental illness until they reach adulthood because of the stigma.
*
I look over at Amar. Ive repeatedly asked if he is good with being talked about to me, a stranger. Both Amar and Amanda give me reassurance.
He is clearly relaxed and willing to talk. He has been taught at home to not be ashamed of this battle for his mind.
That openness is a tribute to his parents. They avoid hushed whispering about the boy behind closed doors, which his adolescent rabbit ears would surely pick up.
Amar, do you remember that incident in fourth grade?
He looks up from his toy preoccupation to answer. Well, in that school year I wasnt doing too great. We were taking a test, and I got really mad because I felt someone was talking to me, so I went ballistic.
Are you aware that no one actually was talking to you?
I didnt know why the woman was talking to me.
Was she friendly?
She just kept saying my name.
Was it the voice of anyone you knew?
Sometimes it sounded like my mom, or like one of my classmates. I threw a chair across the room.
Why did you do that?
Because I heard voices.
That circular answer is Amar drawing a blank. How is a child supposed to know?
*
Can you imagine being a kid in junior high with other children aware of your aberrant behavior? At that age, insecure bullies survey the playground for weakness like big cats padding along the veldt.
Fourth grade was about the time the bullying and teasing started. (Actually, thats redundant: teasing is bullying.) Kids whom Amar hoped to make friends with would turn on him, taunting: weirdo, crazy, psycho. Children of that age can be artful in nastiness.
Amanda says teachers and counselors came to his assistance. They were fantastic, she says, but they couldnt be everywhere.
The bullying continued into the seventh grade until Amar couldnt take it any more. He would scratch his face, tearing his skin until blood ran. He even gouged his eye with a pencil.
Last October, in his home, he took a fold-up metal chair and put it over his head to where his neck rested on a steel bar. Amar lifted the chair and slammed it down, bashing his neck into the metal. It left marks and bruises on his windpipe, necessitating a trip to the emergency room.
*
Amars parents called PERT (the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team) four times during 2016. A psychiatric professional and a police officer would respond and, if necessary, take Amar to the ESU (emergency screening unit) in Chula Vista for evaluation.
The family members had to stand by and watch their adolescent son-brother taken away in handcuffs for safety.
In the ESU, it is decided if he is suicidal, homicidal or neither. If he is considered not, then they send him home. All he has to do is reassure them that he is none of those things.
Amanda says this with just a whiff of bitterness, though she acknowledges that is what the law stipulates. If he would be considered a threat to himself or others, he would be placed in a psychiatric hold of 72 hours on a fifty-one-fifty, the legal designation.
The reality is that 72 hours is only three days, which is nothing in the treatment of mental illness.
Thats right, Amanda says. There were two instances where he was held on two 5150s in one week. We were calling the PERT team every other day to come down because he was hurting himself.
Sounds like the medication wasnt working.
Yes. The doctor just kept increasing the risperidone instead of trying something else. There was really not a formulary for a child. We changed doctors.
In December, Amar had gotten very upset at the house. I dont remember why, but he went into the backroom and broke off a piece of metal and stabbed himself.
I called the PERT team to come and get him again. They took him away. I went down to the emergency screening unit and I said, No matter what weve done to try to protect our son in our house, if he wants to do this, hes going to find a way.
I said in desperation, If you guys dont do something with him, if you dont help him, if you let him go home tonight, Im going to sue you.
What happened?
They admitted him for two weeks for psychotic behavior. That went well. He was able to do the entire two weeks in the psychiatric unit and then was released. While he was there, they put him on another medication, which has done wonders for him. Its called Abilify. Its an anti-psychotic drug, and its helped to control his outbursts.
Now his behavior has stabilized, hes doing very well in school and hes got some solid friends. The medication seems to be working. He sees a therapist once a week. He sees a doctor every two weeks.
I turn to Amar: Did you hear that, my man? Good job! Now, can I also ask you: What are your thoughts about trying to hurt yourself?
I dont feel too good about it, he says, looking away, as children do.
But why did you do it?
I dont know. I did it out of anger.
He feels sad about all the tantrums and the attempts at self-mutilation. He doesnt say that it in so many words, but this is not a defiant boy. You can read the body language.
He turns back to me and says, with sort of a pleading smile: I feel that Im not going to hurt myself anymore. And I also feel that everything is going to be all right.
*
Psychiatric Times explains childhood psychosis thusly: A firm diagnosis may be more difficult to establish in adolescents who present with bizarre and persecutory delusions. The diagnostic uncertainty in such cases may have to be accepted and shared with parents and/or caregivers while awaiting a clarification as the clinical picture evolves.
Thats like your doctor saying, I agree you have a bad cough, but lets wait and see what happens.
For this family, its a waiting game, and time crawls.
More broadly, the National Institute of Mental Health writes, In 2015, an estimated 3 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the United States had at least one major depressive episode in the past year. This number represented 12.5 percent of the U.S. population aged 12 to 17.
*
Things are going well at the moment for Amandas family, but they live with apprehension. They are, in a sense, prisoners in their own house. Amanda says they go to very few events or even shopping as a family. They never know when an outburst from Amar might send them fleeing a restaurant in embarrassment.
Are the younger, smaller twins afraid of him?
They are, yes. Hes a lot bigger than they are. My daughter and my son have each come to me and said, Mom, you know if Amar ever went crazy and came and tried to beat me up, what would happen? Would he hurt me?
I say, Amars not going to beat you up. Its OK. I try to alleviate their fears a little bit.
Alleviate their fears and also your own?
Shes not eager to answer that. In all honesty, hes about 15 pounds lighter than I am. And when he gets angry, he uses that weight to his advantage.
And someday soon hes going to be a grown man.
A slow nod. Yes.
*
Amanda will not hide her son. Her support is his self-worth, and the way he looks at her affirms what a kid usually cant find words for gratitude.
Amars mother and father push back against the dark hoping that their son, a nice and polite kid, will emerge into a full life.
Society surrounds motherly love with a rosy glow, and its well earned. However, its put to the test when shadows descend.
Someone once said, The worst sight in the world is seeing your mom cry. Amanda sheds her tears against her pillow because Amar doesnt need to see them. Hes done nothing wrong. Guilt will not heal him.
What he sees is a mother with strong will and a big heart. That has been a balm for many hurts.
Fred Dickeys home page is freddickey.net. He believes every life is an adventure and welcomes ideas at freddickey1@gmail.com.
A little more than a year ago, a San Diego judge granted a womans request to have evidence from her high-profile murder case tested for DNA, a move the defense hoped would point to someone else as the killer.
The woman was Jane Dorotik, who was convicted in 2001 of first-degree murder in the slaying of her husband, Robert. He was strangled at the couples Valley Center home.
Jane Dorotik, now 70, is serving a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
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According to the District Attorneys Office, the items in question a rope used to strangle the husband and fingernail clippings or scrapings from his body were tested by the San Diego County Sheriffs Department Crime Lab late last year.
The results of those tests revealed that DNA found on those items belonged to the victim. Its unclear whether any other contributors were identified.
Whats also unclear is whether this means Dorotiks quest for exoneration has come to an end. She is now represented by attorneys from Loyola Law Schools Project for the Innocent, which is based in Los Angeles.
Reached by phone last week, the attorneys declined to confirm the results of the DNA tests or to discuss the status of Dorotiks case.
No further court hearings have been scheduled in San Diego Superior Court.
Nothing has been filed since the (DNA) results have come back, said Deputy District Attorney Jill Lindberg, the prosecutor most recently assigned to the case. She said she did not know whether any hearings would be scheduled in the near future.
At the time of the killing, Dorotik was a high-level executive for a mental health services company. She also raised and trained horses. She and her husband had three adult children.
Dorotik reported her husband missing the evening of Feb. 13, 2000. The last time she saw him, she told authorities, was earlier that day when he was getting ready to go jogging.
Robert Dorotiks body was found early the next day, Valentines Day, in a wooded area about two miles from the ranch where the family lived. The body, dressed in running clothes, had been strangled and beaten, authorities said. He was 55.
Jane Dorotik was arrested a few days later. Detectives found a bloodstained mattress and specks of his blood on the floor, walls and ceiling of the master bedroom, which they said indicated her husband was killed in the house.
After examining the clothing on the body, investigators determined he was likely dressed in the running clothes after he was killed, according to court documents. There were blood transfer stains but no spatter stains on his T-shirt. No blood was found on his sweatpants or on his shoes.
Prosecutors relied heavily on circumstantial evidence to prove their case. Dorotik and her husband were home alone when he was most likely killed. There had also been some discord between the husband and wife, which pointed to a possible motive.
Deputy District Attorney Bonnie Howard-Regan argued to the jury in North County that Dorotik killed her husband because she was afraid of losing part of her $118,000 annual salary in a divorce. Robert Dorotik had quit his job as an aerospace engineer to start a business making horse jumps, but it wasnt going well.
Dorotik maintained throughout the trial and afterward that she was innocent, but she didnt know who the real killer was.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan Weber, who presided over the trial, has said repeatedly that the most incriminating piece of evidence was Jane Dorotiks bloody thumbprint on a syringe filled with animal tranquilizer that was found in a bathroom next to the master bedroom.
It was also Weber who in November 2015 granted a request filed on Dorotiks behalf to allow post-conviction DNA testing of the rope and fingernail scrapings. Neither of those items had been tested previously.
The judge directed lawyers on both sides of the case to try to agree on which lab would perform the tests. But that might have been a task easier said than done.
Last April, Weber ordered the Sheriffs Crime Lab to do the testing, but a month later Dorotik, who by then was representing herself, asked the judge to order the lab to test only half the evidence so the rest could be saved for future testing.
That request was denied.
Later, after Loyolas Project for the Innocent took over the case, the attorneys clarified her request, saying Dorotik did not want the Sheriffs Crime Lab the same one that conducted the tests on all of the evidence used to convict her to be the only lab to test the rope and fingernail evidence.
They said Dorotik was concerned about confirmation bias.
What the Defendant would actually like to request is not that half the sample be shelved for later testing but that an independent lab (unrelated to the criminal investigation of her case and one that is not directly affiliated with law enforcement) conduct independent testing on these important pieces of evidence right away, the attorneys wrote in court documents.
Weber denied the defense motion and confirmed in August that the Sheriffs Crime Lab would do the DNA analysis.
dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com
Twitter: @danalittlefield
The San Diego City Council is scheduled to discuss possible revisions on Monday to Police Department traffic stop policies after an independent analysis released in November showed evidence of racial bias.
The council is also scheduled on Monday to appoint a dozen community leaders to a revived community policing board that the city recently agreed to reactivate after 16 years with no members and no meetings.
The traffic stop report, compiled by San Diego State University researchers, generated significant criticism of local police, including calls from community leaders for policy changes aimed at regaining the trust of local minorities.
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In November in response to the report, the councils Public Safety Committee requested several specific actions from the Police Department that are scheduled to be discussed on Monday.
They include implementing a state law requiring law enforcement to track traffic stops, updating officer training to reflect the reports conclusions, eliminating the practice of stopping multiple cars simultaneously and normalizing how stops are handled to avoid officers taking individualized approaches.
Police Lt. Scott Wahl, the departments spokesman, said Chief Shelley Zimmerman plans to make a very detailed presentation to the council.
The local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is calling on the chief to lay out a firm plan for moving forward.
Were looking for action on Monday, said Christie Hill, senior policy strategist for the ACLU. Were going to be looking for the chief to come with concrete answers to the motion from the committee last year, as well as to respond to the issues raised in the study.
The 140-page study showed that race and ethnicity isnt a significant factor in determining who police pull over, but that blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be searched and questioned in the field after being stopped.
The analysis compared traffic stops during night hours, when police cant tell the race of drivers due to darkness, to traffic stops during daylight hours, when police can tell the race of drivers.
Only stops for equipment and moving violations were included, not stops prompted by searches for a suspect in a crime or stops in conjunction with code enforcement efforts.
The data show that while blacks were pulled over more than whites in 2014, the disparity disappeared in 2015 and wasnt statistically significant when the two years were analyzed together.
Data from both years showed that black and Hispanic drivers in San Diego were more likely to be searched after a traffic stop than whites, but were less likely to be found with contraband.
Norma Chavez-Peterson, executive director of the local ACLU, said its crucial for the city to quickly implement AB 953, the new state law requiring agencies to track traffic stops.
She also said city officials should take concrete steps to address the racial disparities that exist in San Diego as soon as possible.
San Diego has an opportunity to be a model for the state in responding to racial profiling problems, she said. The time is now to make change.
The revived community policing board The Citizens Advisory Board on Police/Community Relations will focus on the idea that policing San Diego is a shared responsibility that suffers without robust collaboration between residents and police, city officials said.
The board will focus on making residents aware of their rights and responsibilities when interacting with police. It may also recommend policies designed to make law enforcement more sensitive, effective and responsive.
The boards role will be separate and distinct from the Citizens Review Board on Police Practices, which evaluates complaints from residents and reviews officer-involved shootings.
The members being proposed by Mayor Kevin Faulconer are Rachael Allen, Jay Bowser, Cynthia Chasan, James Halliday, Bob Ilko, Armand King, Joe LaCava, Brian Marvel, Deborah McKissack, Alex Pelayo, Brian Pollard and Norma Sandoval.
Previously:
Study: Black and Hispanic drivers more likely to be searched when stopped by San Diego police
Activists seek clarity on police profiling reports findings, methods
How San Diegos police traffic stop study stacks up with research in other cities
San Diego must acknowledge racial bias in police stops, leaders say
david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick
Frustrated by high rents and rising homelessness, San Diego officials are giving housing developers significant new incentives to build more affordable units across the city.
The incentives also encourage more dense developments, especially near mass transit, which could help the city meet the greenhouse gas reduction goals in its ambitious climate action plan.
Private sector financing of subsidized, low-income housing has become especially important since 2011, when the states elimination of redevelopment agencies made public funding scarce.
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To encourage the private sector, the City Council last week unanimously approved five new incentives that aim to make it significantly more profitable to pursue projects that include units reserved for low-income residents.
They include increasing the density bonus developers get for mixing some low-income units into large projects, allowing developers to deviate from more regulations when theyre building low-income units, and letting low-income units be built separately from market-rate units in limited cases.
The city is also reducing parking requirements for low-income housing built near transit, and accelerating approvals of low-income projects in nine neighborhoods with special development rules called planned district ordinances.
The package of incentives was put together by an unusual coalition of Democrats, Republicans, real estate groups, development interests, environmentalists and transit advocates.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer praised the package on Friday as a significant step forward.
We are enacting some of the most aggressive incentives for affordable housing production in the state, he said, predicting they will boost the number of available units. Were making strides in addressing San Diegos housing shortage.
Sean Karafin, director of policy and economic research for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the incentives are one piece of a larger puzzle.
This reform alone wont solve our housing crisis, but it does clear the way for more units to be built, he said. It chips away at the problem.
Karafin said more affordable housing, and the downward pressure more supply would have on rents, is crucial to the local economy
We need our workforce to find affordable homes here in San Diego, so theyre not looking to Seattle or to Portland or to Austin to find a more affordable climate, he said.
Since 2002, the median rent in San Diego has increased 32 percent while the median income of local renters has decreased by 2 percent, according to the San Diego Housing Federation.
Many blame that on the scarcity of housing in San Diego, where vacancy rates are typically well below 5 percent.
Meanwhile, the homeless population in San Diego County is now the fourth largest in the country at nearly 9,000, according to federal data released last fall.
San Diego, which was ranked No. 12 in 2007, has been steadily climbing the list since then.
Councilman Todd Gloria praised the new incentives but expressed mild concern that developers would pocket their savings instead of spreading the citys generosity out by keeping market-rate rents reasonable.
Colin Parent, policy counsel for Circulate San Diego, said he thought the incentives were a good and balanced compromise.
It benefits the development community, but it also benefits the community thats looking for more affordable homes, he said.
Parent also praised the unusual alliance of groups that came up with the package, contending that shows there is growing consensus that problem has become a crisis.
Its pretty rare in San Diego for such a wide, diverse coalition to come together being a policy proposal, he said.
Nicole Capretz, executive director of the Climate Action Campaign and primary author of the citys climate action plan, said the coalition has continued to meet and she predicted some new joint efforts to reduce greenhouse gases will soon emerge.
The incentives include increasing the maximum density bonus for including low-income housing in a project to 50 percent from 35 percent.
So a developer could build a 150-unit project even though the zoning would only allow 100 units if enough low-income units are included.
The criteria is 17 percent if the units are very low income, which means annual income of $38,250 for a family of three, and 39 percent for low income, which means annual income of $61,200 for a family of three.
Since the city established its density bonus program in 2007, 28 projects have been approved that will include 473 low-income units. Sixteen of the projects and 292 low-income units have been built.
The incentives also allow developers to deviate from a maximum of five city regulations if they meet similar criteria for including low-income units, and to provide fewer parking spots if the project is within half a mile of rail, a ferry or a major bus route.
In addition, approvals will be accelerated for low-income housing in areas with planned district ordinances, which include La Jolla, Mission Beach, Carmel Valley, Old Town, City Heights and a few others.
The final incentive is allowing developers to build the low-income units required for a density bonus in a different location, which must be within 1 mile of the market-rate development unless a special permit is granted.
City officials say this will make construction more efficient and group low-income residents together in a single complex instead of scattering them, making it easier to deliver targeted services such as job training.
Research, however, has shown that mixed-income neighborhoods are better for low-income residents than being segregated in a complex together. For example, their chances of meeting someone who can help them find a good job go up.
In addition, the potential exceptions that would allow the low-income units to be built farther away than a mile could revive longtime objections by many community leaders that low-income seems to always be built in the same neighborhoods instead of spread across the city.
The new incentives take effect in 30 days in much of the city, but must get approval from the California Coastal Commission this fall before taking effect in coastal communities.
The murders committed last July were so gruesome and tragic they bled outside the lines of San Diego and onto the national stage.
A serial killer, armed with a railroad spike and a hammer, killed three homeless men, maimed two others, and took an elderly womans life. Then, before the city had caught its breath, two San Diego police officers were shot, one fatally wounded before he could unbuckle his seat belt.
But in 2016, when San Diego saw the highest homicide total in nearly a decade, and the county Sheriffs Department handled more homicide cases than it has in two decades, July wasnt the deadliest month.
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That was October, with 14 murders.
One of those victims was 92-year-old Maria Consuelo Rivera, a well-loved, stylish and dedicated volunteer in National City. She was killed during an apparent robbery on Oct. 22.
Her daughter Cecilia Rivera Aguilar hasnt been able to bring herself to redo the bedroom where she found her mothers body. The two had shared the apartment for years.
Its something your mind cannot fathom, Rivera Aguilar said. How this could have happened at the snap of a finger? Its dying yourself. You die, too.
Interpreting the numbers
Exactly 100 people were killed in San Diego County in 2016 , up 20 percent from the 83 homicide victims in 2015. The total is the highest the county has seen since 2012, when 110 people were slain.
Police leaders acknowledged the uptick but struggled to pinpoint a reason for it. San Diego police Capt. Brian Ahearn said they analyzed each murder case in search of trends. Outside of the four serial killings, they didnt find any.
Its just difficult to say, Ahearn said. Im reluctant to attribute the increase to anything.
San Diego logged 49 murders last year, a 32 percent increase from the 37 in 2015. It was the third year in a row the city saw an increase in homicides and the highest total since 2008.
Despite that, the city still had the lowest homicide rate among the countrys 10 biggest cities, at 3.5 per 100,000 residents, according to data compiled by The San Diego Union-Tribune. San Diegos increase was also relatively small when compared to other large cities. San Antonio, for example, a city of 1.5 million, saw homicides increase from 94 to 151 last year.
Of the biggest cities, none tops Chicago with more than 700 homicides for the first time in two decades. The city logged 766 murders, up from 469 in 2015.
San Diego also recorded the lowest crime rate in 47 years. Nearly every major crime category, including assaults and burglaries, noticeably fell in 2016, with homicides being the exception.
This could easily be just a blip on the radar screen of crime. Jack Levin, criminologist
The San Diego County Sheriffs Department saw an even sharper increase in homicides, going from 19 in 2015 to 32 in 2016 a 68 percent increase. The department investigates murders in unincorporated areas throughout the county and in nine cities that contract with the agency.
Its the highest homicide total the department has seen since 1996.
Most victims were between the ages of 18 and 29, followed closely by victims 30 to 39 years old. Blacks and Native Americans suffered disproportionately from homicide. Black victims accounted for nearly 27 percent of murders, though they make up only 5 percent of the countys population. Native American victims accounted for 5 percent of deaths, though they make up less than 1 percent of the population.
Shootings claimed the most lives.
No particular factor seemed to be to blame for this years increase. Gang-related killings decreased, the number of homicides related to domestic violence and family violence stayed the same, and drug-related murders increased by only one.
None of the homicides clustered in any particular community either.
Trying to decode murder fluctuations is tricky. Its often difficult to distinguish a statistical anomaly from a more insidious long-term trend, especially over the course of only a few years.
A two- or three-year span doesnt necessarily indicate the initial phase of a trend, said Professor Jack Levin, a criminologist who teaches at Northeastern University. This could easily be just a blip on the radar screen of crime.
Still, the numbers were concerning, San Diego officials said.
When we see 49 homicides, thats not something we just accept. Were driven to try not to replicate that this year, Ahearn said. He added the agency will continue to attempt to peel that onion back and look for reasons why its occurring.
The hunt for a serial killer
The four slayings attributed to Jon David Guerrero, the suspect in Julys homeless murders, accounted for 8 percent of the citys total.
The murder spree began July 3, when Angelo DeNardos charred body was found under a freeway bridge in Bay Park. A spike had been hammered into his chest and head before his body was set on fire.
San Diego homicide investigators gather evidence from the sidewalk and grassy where Derek Vahidy was attacked. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune)
The grisly attacks went on for 12 more days around San Diego. Manuel Mason was critically injured with a railroad spike driven into his sinus cavity in the Midway District, and a similar spike was left near Shawn Longleys lifeless body in Ocean Beach on July 4.
San Diego police investigators soon believed a serial killer was targeting homeless men.
Dionicio (Derek) Vahidy was found gravely injured near a downtown San Diego condominium complex on July 6.
The next morning, police arrested Anthony Padgett in Chula Vista as a suspect, but he was released several days later due to lack of evidence.
Another apparent victim turned up on July 13, when 83-year-old Molly Simons was hit from behind while walking to a North Park bus stop. She later died.
Officers zeroed in on a new suspect when a fifth homeless man was found screaming and bloodied in the Golden Hill neighborhood on July 15. Jon Guerrero, found blocks from the attack, was arrested an hour later.
Months later, a San Diego Superior Court judge declared Guerrero mentally incompetent to stand trial, and he was sent to a state mental hospital in San Bernardino County. His criminal case has been suspended until his competency can be restored.
San Diego hasnt seen a serial killer since 1990, when Cleophus Prince Jr. raped and murdered six women between January and September. In each case, Prince would enter his victims home through an unlocked door or window, ambush her while or soon after she bathed and fatally stab her with knives from her own kitchen.
Most murders are much more mundane, said Levin, the criminologist. Theyre committed to make money, or out of jealousy or for revenge. But serial and spree killers kill to feel a sense of power and control and dominance.
Thats why they rarely use firearms, he said. Instead they use a hands-on method, like the railroad spikes hammered into five men.
When a serial killer strikes, investigators can sometimes follow a bloody trail to a suspect before someone else is killed.
But what about other forms of homicide? Can they be prevented as well?
Preventing and solving murders
Police officials say they certainly try.
We look at data on a daily basis to determine not only where our homicides are occurring, but where all of our assaults are happening, San Diego police Assistant Chief David Nisleit said. And then we try to get into those areas to prevent future crimes. Everything we do is very focused and very data driven.
The ones investigators cant prevent, they work relentlessly to solve.
Were never going to stop, Ahearn said. We will never stop until we find out who murdered that family member.
An arrest doesnt erase the loss for brokenhearted survivors, but it provides a bit of solace. A 26-year-old man was arrested in the slaying of Maria Consuelo Rivera 19 days after her death.
She was more than just a friend and a mom. How do you replace that? Cecilia Rivera Aguilar
Her daughter said she cant fathom the monstrous mind that stole her mothers life.
I talk to her all the time, Rivera Aguilar said tearfully. Because theres no one to talk to. We shared life together for years everyday. She was more than just a friend and a mom. How do you replace that?
Ive chosen to be lonely for now.
Across San Diego County, 74 percent of cases were solved, either through an arrest or the death of the suspect. The national average in 2015 was 62 percent.
The Sheriffs Department had an even higher individual clearance rate, resolving 81 percent of their cases. Sheriffs Lt. Kenn Nelson credited dedicated police work, technology and strong ties with the community.
Despite the unpredictable nature of homicide, there are factors that are more likely to put people at risk.
Nobody can say with certainty when someone is going to kill someone else, and when or where its going to happen, but many of the patterns are fairly stable, said Jay Corzine, criminologist and professor at University of Central Florida. He has studied violence for decades.
Research has shown, for example, that abused women are most at risk of homicide soon after leaving their partner. And strangulation, stalking and threats to kill are all warning signs to be taken seriously.
Juan Carlos Fernandez stalked his ex-wife for months before showing up Nov. 13 at her City Heights apartment, taking her hostage and killing her parents. He was shot and killed in the street by police.
Family violence is also a crime trend that strongly correlates with economic performance. When an economy plunges during recession, for example, child murders increase.
Risky behavior, like drug and gang activity, also increases the likelihood of becoming a homicide victim.
Richard Chartier, 34, was fatally shot during a fight in the driveway of his home in unincorporated El Cajon. Investigators have said little about the crime, but Chartiers criminal past was likely a contributing factor.
Jessica Barnes, the mother of Chartiers young son, had just gotten out of jail when she found out he was killed. She said while Chartier could be misguided and prideful, he was also a dedicated friend and adoring father.
He was caught up in a world of sin out there, but he was a good person and he didnt deserve what he got, Barnes said. Im going to make sure (our son) remembers all the good in his dad.
Many victims in San Diego County were involved in some kind of behavior that put them at risk, and officials across the county said victims and their attackers often knew each other.
These are not whodunits, a lot of times, Sheriff Bill Gore said. These arent strangers. If youre not involved in high-risk behaviors, the chances of you getting murdered are infinitesimal.
But in many cases, even after making an arrest, the reason behind the murder remains a mystery.
In nearly 40 percent of the killings last year, investigators werent able to determine the motive.
Its not uncommon for investigators to solve a case and still not have a definitive answer on the suspects motivation to commit the crime, said San Diego police Lt. Mike Holden.
Detectives dont know why Joshua Palmer allegedly raped, beat and strangled 21-year-old Shauna Haynes before stuffing her body into a suitcase and leaving it near a trash bin in downtown San Diego. They dont know what possessed Eduardo Torres to reportedly smash his way into a Del Cerro home, take two women hostage, sexually assault one and stab the other to death.
Even the murder of San Diego police Officer Jonathan J.D. De Guzman lacks a motive.
An end of watch
The 43-year-old De Guzman and his partner, Officer Wade Irwin, were shot while making a pedestrian stop in the community of Southcrest. The suspect, Jesse Gomez, 53, is accused of immediately firing at the officers after Irwin asked if he lived in the area.
Jonathan J.D. De Guzman (John Gibbons / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Irwin took a bullet to the throat, and watched as the shooter walked to the open passenger door of the marked police car and fired at De Guzman, who was still in the drivers seat with his seat belt on.
Assistant Chief Nisleit, who had worked with De Guzman since he was a rookie, remembered speaking with the officer during line-up that afternoon. Nine hours later, he was dead.
Its a tough pill to swallow. J.D. was beloved by everyone, Nisleit said. He was a great guy, a great officer a former SWAT officer and a longtime gang officer. He was doing his job that night, keeping the community safe, when he was senselessly killed.
Homicide investigations are intimate affairs, from the interviews to the autopsy. It is particularly difficult when the victim is not only a colleague, but a friend, Nisleit said.
I cant tell you how tough that was for those detectives, that sergeant, that lieutenant and myself, he said. It was probably one of the toughest things Ive ever done.
Nisleit said he doesnt know if they will ever truly find out why De Guzman died.
On face value, it appears completely random, he said. Im hoping one day well understand.
Amira De Guzman, 10, daughter of the slain officer, clutched the flag that minutes earlier had been draped over her fathers coffin. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Twitter: @LAWinkley
(619) 293-1546
lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com
On a stormy Sunday afternoon this past January, a team of 17 firefighters from Murrieta Fire and Rescue saved a family of four including two children, ages 2 and 6 from drowning in Yoder Wash.
For locals, the wash is an often-used shortcut between Los Alamos and Murrieta Hot Springs roads. On this day, the wash was rapidly transformed into a river by heavy rains. Choppy water swept around, up and through the familys 4x4 pickup truck, dragging it downstream before the rescuers were able to pull family members, one by one, from the water-logged vehicle.
Murrieta Fire and Rescue had very little time to craft a rescue plan, and there was zero room for error. In a case like this, Captain Matt Corelli said in a recent interview, we have to make decisions in minutes. Everyone has valuable input; everyone gets heard.
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According to Corelli, the complexity of the swift water rescue qualified it as a career event, that is, an event that happens rarely, but poses an extremely high risk for both victims and rescue workers.
Fortunately, said Corelli, its a wash that we know, and we know its potential. Weve already trained there.
Fact is, Murrieta Fire and Rescue never stops training.
Several governing bodies including OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and the NFPA (the National Fire Protection Association) have established mandates, including minimum standards for competency that must be perpetually met by fire departments nationwide.
Training also ensures Murrieta Fire and Rescue firefighters have the physical skills, agility and cognitive abilities to cope successfully with a range of emergency situations.
Teamwork is critical, but so is leadership, and Fire Chief Scott Ferguson and Deputy Fire Chief David Lantzer lead by example.
In late December, Murrieta Fire & Rescue announced that Lantzer had achieved the Executive Fire Officer certification from the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Equivalent to an upper division baccalaureate or graduate level course of study, the Executive Fire Officer Program (EFOP) includes a diverse executive-level curriculum.
Fire Chief Scott Ferguson, previously chief of the Santa Monica and the Manhattan Beach fire departments, has successfully completed the Chief Fire Officer Designation program not once, but twice.
The Chief Fire Officer Designation Program is designed to recognize individuals who demonstrate excellence in seven measured components: experience, education, professional development, professional contributions, association membership, community involvement and technical competencies. Ferguson received his original designation in 2007, and is one of only 1,204 CFOs worldwide.
When asked about the time and effort Murrieta Fire and Rescue puts into training and teambuilding, Corelli said, We do it because it yields a better product. There is a direct correlation between training and performance.
On the point of excellence in service, he concedes, We want to go above and beyond. We have a very unique trust with the public. We want to make the experience the best it can be.
To find out about becoming a firefighter or to learn of employment opportunities with Murrieta Fire and Rescue, visit the webpage at MurrietaCA.gov/fire.
To donate a vacant or abandoned structure for live fire training, contact the Murrieta Fire and Rescue administrative office at (951) 304-3473.
Email: temecula@sduniontribune.com
I never would have thought of the Fourth Estate as the enemy of the American people. And I assume most Union-Tribune readers dont either. They might be upset at a story they perceive as having a particular bias or of a news story they feel missed an angle. But the enemy of Americans?
President Donald Trump, however, feels differently. The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People! he tweeted Feb. 17.
Ive been in this business my entire adult life. Ive been at the U-T since 1998, and you can be assured that no one at the U-T is an enemy of the American people.
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Without the press, former local Rep. Randy Duke Cunningham might still be selling his Congressional office to the highest bidder in exchange for cash and antiques. Instead, he spent eight years in federal prison for accepting $2.4 million in bribes and evading his taxes. The U.S. attorney in San Diego began investigating Cunningham after a news story appeared in the U-T in June 2005.
A defense contractor with ties to Rep. Randy Duke Cunningham took a $700,000 loss on the purchase of the congressmans Del Mar house while the congressman, a member of the influential defense appropriations subcommittee, was supporting the contractors efforts to get tens of millions of dollars in contracts from the Pentagon, read the first paragraph. It was written by Marcus Stern of the then Copley News Service.
More reporting by Stern and others from the U-T earned the paper the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.Cunningham denied he had done anything wrong, but five months later, he pleaded guilty.
This was a crime of unprecedented magnitude and extraordinary audacity, U.S. Attorney Carol Lam said at the time.
While looking at the pulitzer.org website last week, I noted these Pulitzer Prize-winning works for 2016. I would not call them examples of work by enemies of the American people.
--Public Service, The Associated Press: For an investigation of severe labor abuses tied to the supply of seafood to American supermarkets and restaurants, reporting that freed 2,000 slaves, brought perpetrators to justice and inspired reforms.
--Local Reporting, Michael LaForgia, Cara Fitzpatrick and Lisa Gartner of Tampa Bay Times: For exposing a local school boards culpability in turning some county schools into failure factories, with tragic consequences for the community.
Watergate? Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Ben Bradlee, Katherine Graham not the enemy. Tonight is Oscar night. The winner of last years Best Picture was Spotlight, the story of The Boston Globes Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. As I watched the film, the Globes Spotlight investigative team came across as heroes, not the enemy.
The U-T has its Watchdog team to scrutinize the work of public officials. Reporter Jeff McDonald regularly writes on the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station closure and the relationship between majority owner Southern California Edison and regulators with the Public Utilities Commission. A deal passed onto consumers $3.3 billion in costs for the closure. After years of questions being raised and lawsuits, the PUC in May decided to reopen the settlement.
Watchdog reporter Morgan Cook has been chronicling the spending of Rep. Duncan Hunter. At times the coverage has been seen as adversarial. But that can be necessary and healthy when reporting on government and other institutions that serve the public.
If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and, many times, adversarial press, Sen, John McCain said last Sunday on NBCs Meet the Press in response to Trumps tweet. And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time.
James Mattis, the secretary of defense in the Trump administration, shared his thoughts on the press with U-T Editor and Publisher Jeff Light seven years ago:When I first came to San Diego in 2010, General Mattis was commander of the U.S. Joint Forces Command, Light recalled. He was the speaker at a breakfast. I was introduced to him as the editor of the local paper.
Just remember this, he said. If the enemy wins, he will hate you even more than he will hate me.I took him to mean that he saw the press as a greater threat to the enemies of freedom than even our military, Light said. It was a striking statement, one that I hope he has shared with his colleagues as well.
"Nobody has the absolute right to define nationalism but anybody who wants to break India, supports Afzal Guru and terrorists is anti-national," he said in a tweet.
By Press Trust of India: Union minister Kiren Rijiju today said nobody has the "absolute right" to define nationalism but anyone who wants to break India and support terrorists can be called an "anti-national". This comes amidst the ongoing row over the clashes between the Left-affiliated AISA and the RSS-backed ABVP in Delhi University.
"Nobody has the absolute right to define nationalism but anybody who wants to break India, supports Afzal Guru and terrorists is anti-national," he said in a tweet.
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He went ahead to say that under the guise of freedom of expression even some students "fantasise" about "breaking" India.
Rijiju, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, said he was born in a border village which was occupied by China for a few days (in 1962).
"I grew up with the pledge to defend India as every Arunachalee is doing. If India does not remain united as a strong nation, what is the meaning of freedom," he said.
On Thursday, Rijiju had said freedom of expression in the country does not give right to make college campuses a hub of anti-national activity and no anti-India slogans will be allowed in the name of freedom of speech.
ABVP vs AISA
Tension prevailed in Delhi University's North Campus in the wake of Wednesday's incident even as members of students groups protested at several places, including at the Delhi Police headquarters, seeking action against the ABVP members.
Rijiju is an alumni of Delhi University.
(With inputs from PTI)
Also Read
Kiren Rijiju on Ramjas: Be loyal Indians, don't turn campuses into anti-India hub
Professor beaten up by ABVP mob has ribs broken, severe internal injuries
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As a board member of San Diego Hospice and the Institute for Palliative Medicine since 2003, Kaye Mattison Woltman was known for her business acumen and getting things done. After a recent meeting when a financial concern arose, another board member flagged her down in the parking lot to get her input.
She immediately stopped her car, reparked, went back inside and resolved the issue within five minutes, said fellow board member and friend Frank Alessio. She was financially brilliant as far as I was concerned, and she was a doer. When she said it, it was done.
Mrs. Woltman died Aug. 27 of lung cancer at San Diego Hospice. She was 73.
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Born on Dec. 10, 1936 in Chicago, Mrs. Woltman attended the University of Illinois and moved to San Diego in 1957. An investment industry expert in tax exempt municipal bonds, she worked for several local brokerage firms before she and husband Richard Woltman purchased the La Jolla bond house Spelman & Co., Inc. in 1986.
That same year, she also founded Girard Securities, growing it into the largest woman-owned brokerage and financial services firm in Southern California with revenues exceeding $40 million, 200 financial advisers and 100 branches. In 1990, the couple bought controlling interest in the brokerage Sentra Securities Corp. with Mrs. Woltman serving as director, executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Mrs. Woltman was active in numerous nonprofits, none dearer than San Diego Hospice. She was the 2009-2010 chair of its board of directors and a member of its Board Affairs, Finance/Investment, and External Relations committees.
Her leadership helped support the movement to create formal recognition of Hospice and Palliative Medicine as a medical subspecialty, and she helped form Partners for Children, a program providing palliative case management services to Medi-Cal and California Child Service-approved children with life-threatening illnesses. This year, she launched Hospices first fundraising walk, Melisas Memorial 5K Walk and Fun Run, in honor of her daughter who died of lymphoma in 2002.
Mrs. Woltman also served on the board of trustees of the University of San Diego and was a member of its Executive, Finance and Student Affairs Committee and Corporate Treasurer. She served on the Investment and External Relations committees for Scripps Health and was a board member for six years. She and her husband co-chaired a $50 million dollar capital campaign for Scripps Mercy Hospital for a new Emergency Department and Trauma Center, Cancer Center, operating rooms and Intensive Care Unit.
She was always a substantial individual who liked to talk of substantial things, said friend Maureen King. Her legacy is one of service service to our local, national and international communities.
She never did anything half way. It was always complete and well done.
In addition to her husband, Ms. Woltman is survived by son David of Carlsbad; daughter Susan Tietjen of La Jolla; brother Melvin Mattison of Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.; and two grandchildren.
A funeral mass will be at 11 a.m. Sept. 8 at The Church of the Nativity in Rancho Santa Fe. In lieu of flowers, donations in Ms. Woltmans memory may be made to the Kaye and Richard Woltman Professorship of Finance at the University of San Diego or San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine.
"It looks like demonetisation has not affected those who deal in black money and other illegal inducements," an I-T department officer commented.
By India Today Web Desk: The seizure of suspected voting inducements, such as cash, liquor and drugs, during the five-state Assembly elections in saw a big jump compared to the last polls, progressive data recoreded until Saturday shows.
The figures are for seizures made by Election Commission-appointed surveillance teams in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Punjab. Figures for Manipur, which is yet to vote, could not be obtained.
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HOW THE SEIZURES COMPARED TO 2012 Uttar Pradesh, where two phases of voting remain, saw record seizures of Rs 115.70 crore cash, 20.29 lakh barrels of liquor worth Rs 57.69 crore, and narcotics weighing 2,725 kg worth Rs 7.91 crore. During the 2012 polls Assembly polls the comparative figures stood at Rs 36.29 crore cash and over 3,073 litres of liquor worth Rs 6.61 lakh. A similar massive increase was noticed in Uttarakhand, where single-phase polls ended early this month. Rs 3.40 crore in suspected cash, 1.01 lakh litres liquor worth Rs 3.10 crore and over 81 kg of drugs worth Rs 37.88 lakh were seized. The comparative figures for seizures in the hill state during 2012 stood at Rs 1.30 crore cash, 15,151 litres of liquor worth Rs 15.15 lakh among others. In Punjab, the cash seizures this time stood at Rs 58.02 crore as compared to Rs 11.51 crore last elections, 12.43 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 13.36 crore as compared to over 3,2978 litres worth Rs 2.59 crore and 2,598 kg drugs worth Rs 18.26 crore as compared to 53 kg worth Rs 54 crore during the 2012 Assembly polls. Goa too has witnessed a similar trend with Rs 2.24 crore suspected cash being seized at the end of one-phase polls on February 4, over 76,000 litres liquor worth Rs 1.07 crore. The cash seizure in the beach state during last polls was a mere Rs 60 lakh while the drugs and liquor seizure was very less.
Commenting on the statistics, a senior Income Tax department official said, "It looks like demonetisation has not affected those who deal in black money and other illegal inducements used to lure the voters before and during the polls season."
"The surveillance teams are, however, on their toes to thwart these efforts as much as possible," the official, who is involved in the surveillance efforts, added.
(With inputs from PTI)
Also read: Phase 5 of Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election: 168 crorepati candidates, 117 with criminal cases
Also watch: Election Commission initiates probe into India Today sting operation 'Cash-for-vote scandal'
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ESOs Very Large Telescope (VLT) has produced this beautiful image of the spiral galaxy NGC 4981.
NGC 4981 resides roughly 73 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Virgo.
Also known as LEDA 45574 and MCG-01-34-003, this galaxy was discovered on April 17, 1784 by the English astronomer William Herschel.
Over a century later, on April 23, 1968, NGC 4981 once again made it into the records when a Type Ia supernova occurred within its confines: SN 1968i.
SN 1968i, however, was not to be the galaxys only supernova.
Almost four decades later, the core collapse of a massive star led to supernova SN 2007c.
This spectacular shot of NGC 4981 not showing any of the supernovae explosions was captured by VLTs visible and near-UV FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS) instrument.
FORS is the Swiss Army knife of ESOs instruments it is able to study many different astronomical objects in many different ways.
This instrument is responsible for some of the most iconic photos ever captured with the VLT.
A version of this image was entered into the Hidden Treasures competition by amateur astronomer Josh Barrington.
Eyeless catfish has finally received its own identity. It's been almost 40 years since scientists caught two specimens of catfish from the river near Ciudad Guyana, Venezuela during the US-Venezuelan Orinoco Delta Expeditions between 1978 and 1979. The catfish is not more than the size of an inch and the most special thing about the Catfish is, it doesn't have any eyes.
Now, after four decades of its discovery, two scientists from Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University started research on this barely studied species. After a couple of research scientists officially named this blind creature as Micromyzon Orinoco. They have announced the name at the official journal of Drexel University named Drexel Now.
Lead researcher of the study and the emeritus professor of Drexel's College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. John Lundberg said in a statement,We knew what these fish were upon capture. But the devil is in the details. researchers caught two specimens of catfish and those fishes were kept in the Ichthyology Collection of the Academy.
According to Science Science Daily, scientists took so much time to examine and compare with the known species because they were only able to catch two samples. Tiago Carvalho from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, who was also connected with the research, able to describe the fish with help from ichthyological collaborators based in California, Alabama, and Brazil.
Those fishes were very small in size, even not more than an inch. The larger specimens were only 15.6 millimeters(mm) and the smallest one was less than 15mm. That is one of the main reason why researchers were only able to catch only two specimens. The nets they used were not meshed enough to trap those fishes.
The second most problematic thing was their habitat. They could be found at the bottom of South America's deep, big rivers. It is hard to reach sunlight at this depth. As they live in the dark water which is an almost pigments condition, so they dont need eyes to live life. Lundberg explained that in this environment it is hard to develop eyes. Research says they belong to the family of Aspredinidae (banjo catfishes). sometimes Micromyzon Orinoco uses to hide beneath the sand bed of the river basin.
They are also demanding compensation for bank employees who worked extra hours on account of demonetisation.
By India Today Web Desk: To protest against the government's "anti-people banking reforms", the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, has called for a one-day strike on February 28.
They are also demanding compensation for bank employees who worked extra hours on account of demonetisation.
Also read:
Demonetisation:Bank union seeks overtime for extra working hrs
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Demonisation? After working hard for over three weeks, bank cashiers may lose entire salary
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW United Forum of Bank Unions, comprising nine unions in the banking sector -- namely AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBEF, INBOC, NOBW and NOBO. "Bank employees and officers in all public sector banks, including SBI, all old-generation private banks, foreign banks, Regional Rural Banks and Cooperative Banks will observe one-day strike on February 28," All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C.H. Venkatachalam said. "The unions in the banking industry have been fighting for more than two decades against the reform measures of the government as these are against the interests of general public and labour force in the country," AIBEA said. "Further, every effort is being made to outsource permanent jobs in the banking industry, too, which is fraught with risks," it added. Venkatachalam said the strike call comes after all attempts to find a solution to the demands raised by the unions yielded no results. The conciliation meeting before the Chief Labour Commissioner on February 21 failed to break the deadlock as the bank management body -- Indian Banks Association (IBA) -- did not agree to the union demands. Most state-run banks have informed customers that functioning of branches and offices will be hit if the strike goes ahead on Tuesday.
With inputs from IANS
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FLORENCE, S.C. Congressman Tom Rice, a Myrtle Beach Republican representing the7th District, made a couple of stops in Florence in the latter part of last week and the Morning News took the opportunity to get his stance on a variety of issues.
Rice is in his third term in Congress and currently serves on the Ways and Means Committee.
Health care
Rice said hes in favor of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act more commonly referred to as Obamacare.
He said that while the system has helped some people, its remained a boondoggle for million more. He said premiums have gone up and many people havent been able to keep their providers, as promised by the Obama administration.
We are working with the Trump administration to finalize the terms of a replacement policy, Rice said. We re going to make it the least disruptive for people as possible. We dont want anybody to lose coverage and were going to do the best we can to make that happen.
He said the plan he favors would allow tax credits for health-care coverage.
Education
K-12 education setbacks are among the most debated topics in South Carolina politics. There are varying opinions on ways to best fix the states corridor of shame counties along Interstate 95 that have notoriously poor education standards.
Some are worried that the Trump administration will move schools toward privatization, leaving low-income students in rural school districts with little option for quality education.
Rice said the solution is school choice. He said whether its public, private or charter schools, parents should have a choice for where they send their children.
We are leaving children behind in many of these districts and when they graduate they arent ready for the college, let alone the working class, he said. I want everybody to have access to quality education, whether theyre from affluent communities or from one of our lower income areas. We shouldnt chain families in these failing district to failing schools. Lets give them a choice.
Economy
As a veteran tax lawyer, Rice believes lowering the corporate tax rate will increase Americas competitiveness in the business world.
He said the nations corporate tax rate has been at the same level for decades. Countries such as Germany and France have lowered their rate, creating more economic opportunity for companies.
Rice said its time for America to think about doing the same thing.
As a nation we are not competitive anymore because of the looming regulatory structure in place and what its done to our banking industry, particular community banks, he said. Other countries have worked to make themselves more competitive against us.
Environment
Rice called himself an environmentalist, but does promote legislation that would prevent environmental organizations from suing the government to hold up infrastructure projects without proper cause.
What were seeing is billion-dollar projects being held up for years at a time because a special-interest group with a few thousand dollars files a lawsuit, he said. In most cases we do everything by the book, have a proper mitigation plan but it still gets held up.
Rice also sponsors a bill that would limit some of the Environmental Protection Agency's reach, though would keep it intact.
If you dont think abuse of legally prescribed painkillers is a problem in South Carolina, just keep this number in mind: 61 million.
Thats the number of powerful, synthesized narcotic pills, known as opioids, that medical professionals prescribed in 2014 in just three counties Charleston, Greenville and Horry.
Opioids include synthesized oxycodone with trade names like OxyContin, Percocet and Percodan. These legal, synthesized drugs relieve pain, but produce highs like their vilified cousins, morphine and heroin.
With so many legally prescribed narcotics floating around, its no wonder theyre being stolen, sold and misused. Its no wonder teenagers have discovered a new high and are filching pills stored next to dental floss and vitamins in unlocked medicine cabinets. Its no wonder people are becoming addicts and dying.
Federal and state officials say opioid addiction has reached epidemic levels. In Charleston County, deaths due to opioid overdoses are more than 70 percent higher than the national average. In Dorchester and Berkeley counties, its double and triple, respectively.
Opioids are a menace from within, a stalking nightmare for families, according to Jason J. Sandoval, resident agent-in-charge of the Charleston office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Theres no Mexican cartel, he told a Rotary Club this week. Theres no mean drug dealer. Theyre in our medicine cabinets.
Sandoval has become an anti-opioid evangelist trying to curb these legal drugs that are ripping apart communities. He says the demand for opioids has to be reduced. Too often when an addicts supply of legal painkillers goes away, the addict turns to heroin, which is three times cheaper than 20 years ago.
If we wait on corporations to recognize and address the damage these drugs are sowing in our community, we will wait in vain, he said.
This week, four Statehouse Republicans introduced a package of bills designed to thwart opioid and heroin abuse.
My family and I watched addiction eventually take our oldest son away, said Rep. Eric Beddingfield, R-Greenville. His death and my desire to help others has led me to seek solutions.
While proposed legislation includes measures to educate students and health-care providers about prescription drug abuse and to provide report cards on prescribers of painkillers, the key proposal seeks to transform a voluntary state prescription drug monitoring program for opioid prescribers into a mandatory program. Currently, about a third of health professionals who prescribe schedule II controlled substances report what they prescribe to the state. That leaves a lot of room for people hungry for opioids to shop for doctors to fill prescriptions.
Having an electronic database of who is prescribing what to whom should provide a good foundation to help curb abuse, says Rep. Phyllis Henderson, R-Greenville.
Our goal is to fix the issue, she said, noting that making the drug monitoring program mandatory will provide data to spotlight problem areas.
While all of this is well, good and vitally needed, it may not be possible to legislate our way out of the opioid mess. Whats fundamentally needed is a change to our culture so people dont feel the need for a pill whenever they have a problem.
While researching for this column, we heard stories about health professionals providing a months worth of opioids for a teen who got wisdom teeth removed the same operation for which doctors prescribe a few tablets of Tylenol with codeine. Doctors need to educate patients about pain management, be stingier with pills, and refrain from writing big prescriptions to avoid paperwork or floods of requests for refills.
We also heard how teens are raiding medicine cabinets for pills, going to parties and taking them to get a new high. If your parents locked the liquor cabinet, the unlocked medicine cabinet of today provides a much more dangerous threat, Sandoval reminds us.
Its urgent for the legislature to pass bills like those proposed this week to deal with the opioid epidemic. At the same time as a society, we need to be realistic about how we manage pain and not immediately turn to pills being pushed by Big Pharma and doctors pills that are being misused far too many times with deadly consequences.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
The association also decided that its members shall wear black arm bands to work till Kumar is released from jail and the case is transferred to CBI for a free and fair probe.
By Rohit Kumar Singh: Agitated over the arrest of senior IAS officer and Chairman of Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC), Sudhir Kumar in connection with multi-crore employment scam, IAS Association on Sunday passed a resolution in an Extra-Ordinary General Body meeting not to take verbal orders from the Bihar Chief Minister unless given in writing.
The association also decided that its members shall wear black arm bands to work till Kumar is released from jail and the case is transferred to CBI for a free and fair probe.
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HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: 110 members of IAS Association, later, on Sunday met Governor Ram Nath Kobind and submitted a memorandum listing out their demands. The members of the association also formed a human chain as a mark of solidarity for Sudhir Kumar. "We have met Governor and put forward our demand. We want the case to be transferred to the CBI for a fair probe," said Vivek Kumar Singh, President of IAS Association. The members of the association have already met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with their demands on Friday. Kumar was arrested on Friday from Hazaribagh along with three other family members in connection with multi-crore employment scam. The association alleged Kumar and his family members have been falsely implicated in the case. More than two dozen people, including Parmeshwar Ram, Secretary of Bihar Staff Selection Commission have already been arrested in the BSSC paper leak case. A special Investigation Team is set on directions from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is probing the case. The SIT had said that Sudhir Kumar's arrest has taken place only after they found incriminating evidence against him.
Also read:
BSSC chairman Sudhir Kumar arrested in connection with multi-crore job scam
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By Press Trust of India: Patna, Feb 26 (PTI) The IAS Officers Association today met Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind and submitted a resolution demanding a CBI probe into the arrest of BSSC Chairman Sudhir Kumar in connection with paper leak scam.
The extraordinary general body meeting of Association, held today, was attended by 110 officers in which they also demanded Kumars immediate release, Associations Bihar Branch Treasurer and IAS Officer Dipak Kumar Singh said.
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"A resolution was passed at the extraordinary general body meeting. A delegation met Governor Sri Ram Nath Kovind while the rest of the officers stood outside the Governors house in a human chain," Singh said.
"The delegation submitted the resolution to the Governor who has assured to look into the matter," he said.
Earlier, the Association in its meeting on February 24, the day Kumar was arrested by the SIT, had demanded for a CBI inquiry to ensure an independent and fair probe.
"The CBI will be in a better position to independently establish the links beyond the officials as repeated reports have suggested interference and/or patronage of persons with clout," according to the resolution.
A copy of the resolution will also be submitted to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar whom the Association has already met in this regard.
The resolution said, "It has also resolved that all further verbal instructions from any high office including the office of the Chief Minister shall not be complied with unless given in writing."
"A delegation would visit Kumar to express solidarity with him in this hour of crisis and bear all the legal and other related expenses on his behalf," it said, adding "as a mark of solidarity with Kumar, its members will wear black arm bands until resolution of its demands are met."
The delegation would also meet Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Speaker Vijay Choudhary and Leader of Opposition Sushil Modi. PTI AR AYP
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By Press Trust of India: Bhubaneswar, Feb 25 (PTI) The Odisha Assembly today witnessed seven adjournments with both ruling BJD and the opposition Congress demanding apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remark about the state at an election rally in Uttar Pradesh.
When the House assembled for the Question Hour at 10.30 AM, BJDs Samir Ranjan Dash raised the issue and dubbed the Prime Ministers remark of acute poverty and starvation in Odisha as "unfortunate" which amounted to an "insult of the people of Odisha".
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Dash was supported by other ruling party legislators, who were on their feet criticising Modi for his remark.
Opposition Congress also came out in support of the ruling BJD to oppose the Prime Ministers statement. Congress Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati rose to denounce it as "shameful and inappropriate".
The House witnessed pandemonium as Congress MLAs led by Bahinipati rushed to the well shouting slogans against Modi. Some of them also unsuccessfully attempted to climb the Speakers podium.
Speaker Niranjan Pujari adjourned the House for the first time at 10.33 AM. The House was then adjourned at frequent intervals for seven times.
As the House stood adjourned, ruling BJD lawmakers, including ministers staged a dharna near Mahatma Gandhis statue in the Assembly premises protesting against the Prime Ministers remark, stating that it was in "bad taste".
As the House was scheduled to pass the motion of thanks on the Governors address today, Pujari convened an all-party meeting to end the impasse.
However, Bahinipati shouted from the well of the House, saying that Congress would not allow the proceeding unless the Prime Minister tendered an unconditional apology for his "anti-Odisha" remark.
Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra (Congress) told reporters outside the House that Modi had acted in a "disgraceful manner" by attempting to derive political mileage using poverty in Odisha.
"This (PMs remark) is an insult on the Odishas pride," said Law minister Arun Kumar Sahoo.
BJP, however, dismissed the criticism with party legislator Pradip Purohit claiming that people of Odisha have realised that the Naveen Patnaik regime had "failed" on all fronts.
Buoyed by the success of BJP in Odisha panchayat polls, Modi at an election rally in Gonda had said, "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." PTI AAM SKN RG SRY
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Press Release
February 25, 2017 EDSA PEOPLE POWER REVOLT A MOVE FORWARD: PANGILINAN MANILA - The EDSA People Power Revolt in 1986 moved the Philippines forward, and it is always a call for remembering and celebration, Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan said Saturday. The Liberal Party president is reacting to a call from the administration to "move on" from what happened 31 years ago, when Filipinos took to the streets, prayed for the soldiers who left the dictator's side, faced and turned back tanks, and brought down a dictator - together. "Bakit tayo mag 'mo-move on' sa makasaysayang pangyayari sa ating bansa na kung saan sa pamamagitan ng ating sama-samang pagkilos at pagkakaisa bilang mga mamamayan ay naibalik natin ang demokrasya at kalaayan sa bansa? (Why should we move on from that moment in history when through our collective will as a people we regained our freedoms and restored democratic rule?)" Pangilinan said. "Dapat ipinagdiriwang ng bansa ang panunumbalik ng ating kalayaan at ang pagpapatalsik sa mapangabusong diktador na siyang umagaw sa ating kalayaan at demokrasya (Regaining our freedom and ending the abuse and brutality of dictatorial rule should always be remembered and celebrated by the nation)," he added. "At dapat parati natin itong ginugunita dahil pinagmumulan ng ating karangalan, ng lakas, at ng inspirasyon (And we should always remember that because that is a source of pride, a source of strength, a source of inspiration)," said Pangilinan, who was a councilor of the University of the Philippines University Student Council at the time. On Friday, the Liberal Party, together with UP and the Institute for Leadership, Empowerment and Democracy (ILEAD), hosted a discussion on the relevance of the 1986 EDSA People Power today. Pangilinan was one of the speakers, along with former Elections Chairman and member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission Christian Monsod, investigative journalist Raissa Robles, former National Security Adviser Jose Almonte, and Vice President Leni Robredo. Monsod championed the genuine heroes of EDSA, particularly the NAMFREL volunteers, but was disheartened because "we lost something as we went our separate ways after EDSA." "Thirty-one years after EDSA, we still have the problem of mass poverty. We are a country of contradictions. We have first world amenities in urban areas, but no housing for the poor. It is not only bullets the kill. Poverty kills. Hunger kills. It is the dying of dignity," he said. Raissa Robles shared her alarm over historical revisionism, and how the current administration is "cherry-picking from history to suit [its] political intent." "There is a concerted effort from the Duterte administration to erase EDSA from the memory of the Filipino people. It was the people and the religious that made EDSA what it was. The fact that Duterte will hold the celebration of EDSA inside Camp Aguinaldo is in fact already a revision of history," she said. Jose Almonte, meanwhile, praised the current administration for seriously taking on the peace talks with communist rebels. "We are the country with longest insurgency in the world. We are fighting ourselves. Why? If we do not alter the connection between politics and business, then we will never go anywhere. At least President Duterte is saying outright that he will do something about it," Almonte said. As the last speaker, Vice President Leni Robredo issued a challenge to the current administration. "Mr. President, we call you to task. We ask you to focus on the war that really matters: the war on poverty. Please use your leadership to direct the nation towards respect for rule of law, instead of blatant disregard for it. We ask you to uphold basic human rights enshrined in the institution, instead of encouraging its abuse. Be the leader you promised to be, and evoke in us hope and inspiration instead of fear," Robredo said. The discussion is part of the Liberal Party's efforts on redefining the party, with focus on the grassroots and other sectors of civil society. Last week, Pangilinan attended a forum on the death penalty in Cebu. Pangilinan said the party will also be holding a forum on poverty. # # # Link to Sen. Pangilinan's speech on the relevance of the 1986 EDSA Revolution today: https://www.facebook.com/officialkikopangilinan/videos/10155037921693200/
Duterte-Pimentel Kitchen launch set in Cagayan de Oro
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Hundreds of poor residents will be served free "lugaw" during the launch of the "Libreng Kusina sa Mindanao," a mobile Duterte-Pimentel Kitchen free-feeding program, today (Feb. 25) in Barangay Macabalan in Cagayan de Oro City.
The event is being organized by supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte and Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III in cooperation with local leaders of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP Laban).
Teresa Pimentel, convenor of the event, said the feeding program is the Mindanaonons version to celebrate the anniversary of the 1986 "People Power" that led to the downfall of the martial law regime.
She said it was in Mindanao the seeds of the protest movement against the late President Ferdinand Marcos also took roots when then opposition Mayor Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr. of Cagayan de Oro City openly criticized him.
Because of his open defiance on Marcos, the elder Pimentel was imprisoned several times on trumped up charges, becoming one of the steadfast leaders of the opposition against martial rule.
Meanwhile, Chairman Marlo Tabac of Barangay Gusa, who is also the PDP Laban City Council president, said the free "lugaw" program is open to everybody, especially the less fortunate residents of Cagayan de Oro City.
He said the PDP Laban is planning to expand the service of free "lugaw" to other cities and provinces in Mindanao to help the poor, especially school children in the countryside.
Expected to grace the "Libreng Kusina sa Mindanao" are top PDP Laban leaders.
Pimentel thanked Barangay Macabalan Chairman Norvel Saa for his assistance in preparing the venue of the free "lugaw" public service by the "Libreng Kusina sa Mindanao."
Press Release
February 26, 2017 SENATE INITIATES LONG-OVERDUE REVIEW OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN LGUS -ANGARA The Senate committee on local government, chaired by Senator Sonny Angara, has called for a consultative meeting last week among key stakeholders and experts to conduct a comprehensive review of the Local Government Code. "More than 26 years have passed since Congress enacted the Code. Its review is long-overdue. It is now imperative to institute reforms so it can truly fulfill its main objective which is to equally distribute growth in the country through autonomy grounded on decentralized and devolved public functions," Angara said. The Local Government Code or Republic Act 7160 was signed into law in 1991 to decentralize governance and allow autonomy for local government units (LGUs). Section 521 of the Code states that the Congress shall "undertake a mandatory review of this Code at lease once every five years and as often as it may deem necessary, with the primary objective of providing a more responsive and accountable local government structure." The Senate local government committee has identified the Code's key areas of reform. These include: a) devolved services, b) standards of creation of LGUs, c) revenue sharing and taxing powers, d) balance of power, e) term of office of local officials, and f) autonomous regions. Senator Risa Hontiveros, vice chairperson of the committee, stressed that the intent of the review is really to strengthen local governments, and enhance their autonomy and decentralization. Of the identified areas of reform, the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) pressed the Senate committee to prioritize the increase in the revenue share of LGUs. They also want to simplify the formula for the computation of LGU share. At present, 40 percent of the national internal revenue is allocated to LGUs. LGUs are also given taxing powers in order for them to generate more revenues. Angara, however, lamented that more than half, or up to 62 percent, of economic activity in the country is still concentrated in NCR (36%), CALABARZON (17%), and Central Luzon (9%), while the rest of the country accounts for the remainder. "Ours is a grossly unequal economy, and that inequality can be drawn along geographic lines," he added. To address this, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies proposed the creation of the equalization fund to help the poorer LGUs. "Nauunawaan po natin ang pangangailangan ng mga lokalidad para sa tama at patas na alokasyon sa kita ng gobyerno. Atin pong nilalayon ngayon na maging sapat ang alokasyon para sa lahat ng LGUs upang matulungan silang umunlad at umahon sa kahirapan," the senator said. Angara said the committee aims to complete the review within a six-month period to come up with clear-cut reforms.
BSF sources said that Parmod Kumar was posted at forward defence line on LoC and had joined duties on Feb 15 after availing 20 days leave.
By Ashwini Kumar: A BSF constable today committed suicide on Line of Control (LoC) in Mendhar area of Poonch in Jammu by shooting himself with his service rifle.
BSF sources said that Parmod Kumar was posted at forward defence line on LoC and had joined duties on Feb 15 after availing 20 days leave.
He said that Parmod kumar was from Mohammadpur village in Siwan district of Bihar and was posted in 200 BSF Battalion.
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BSF is investigating the reason for suicide and a case has been registered.
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Paul Chinn/The Chronicle
The kerfuffle over the future of the Tiburon commuter ferry has ended peacefully, and Golden Gate Ferry will take over operation of the route in March, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District announced.
The districts Board of Directors voted Friday to take over the weekday ferry service from Blue & Gold Fleet starting March 6.
Long ago, a dispute arose in the heavens over which creatures should rule the young planet Earth.
As the tale is told on a remote stretch of the Sonoma County coast, an agreement was reached between the heavenly spirits, who would soon be born into the flesh of plants and animals. Man would lead the world, they decided, but gently.
The deal, celebrated to this day by local Indians as their origin story, prompted the creator to populate the great bluffs of Stewarts Point, about 100 miles north of San Francisco.
Human beings shot down to that area there, said Martina Morgan, a member of the Kashia band of Pomo Indians, as she walked the wind-battered coastline on a recent morning, pointing to a rocky outcropping in the water. There the people walked onto the land.
The history of the Kashia, which dates back at least 12,500 years, unfurled its latest chapter this month. The roughly 1,000 members who live in a nearby reservation or a surrounding town were assured permanent access to what they consider their creation site.
The Save the Redwoods League in San Francisco announced a plan to protect 870 acres of coastal headlands and wooded hills in and around the small community of Stewarts Point, including the Kashias storied birthplace of man.
The mostly undeveloped property, which has been used primarily for grazing and logging, has long been privately held and at risk of being subdivided for homes.
It was really sad to think that one day they were going to close it (to us), said Morgan, who remembers collecting seaweed with her grandmother here as a child. History has a way of changing things, the land and the people.
Change doesnt always start out good, she added, but can end good.
The Save the Redwoods League, an environmental group normally in the business of protecting forests, not Indian access, negotiated a somewhat novel legal arrangement for the property.
The organization is placing a set of conservation easements on the land essentially legal conditions that stay with the site no matter who owns it which will prohibit development and set the stage for a public trail here. It will also allow the Kashia to visit a certain number of times each year.
Were all looking forward to getting down there, not having to be chased away, said Reno Keoni Franklin, chairman of the governing Kashia Tribal Council, who sometimes comes to the bluffs to relax and clear his mind that is, if he isnt caught trespassing. If were not feeling well or someone needs a certain prayer, we might go there.
The easements will also allow the Kashia to engage in such age-old sustenance activities as diving for abalone, collecting mussels and harvesting kelp.
Although the tribe recently won access to another oceanfront property a few miles to the south, known as the Kashia Coastal Preserve, it wasnt long ago that its seaside traditions had come to a standstill.
Over the past 200 years, the Indians lost most of their ancestral land to new settlers. The tribe, whose territory once spanned the Sonoma County coast from the Gualala River to the Russian River, were forced to move inland, where today about 75 people still live on a 40-acre reservation east of Stewarts Point.
The reservation abuts the nearly 900 acres slated for protection. On a recent tour of the property, the beauty of the land the tribe once called home became abundantly clear.
To the west, the ocean broke on a seemingly endless expanse of dramatic cliffs that tower above the sea. At one point, an unmapped waterfall poured onto a rocky beach. Heading inland, the grassy bluffs give way to hills thick with Bishop pine, Douglas fir and redwoods.
Were starting to get up a little higher, the trees are starting to get taller, said Todd McMahon, a forester who is helping manage the property for the Save the Redwoods League and who led last weeks tour.
As McMahon steered his all-terrain vehicle up an old logging road, a sag pond came into view. The muddy pool sits on a fault zone and emerged when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake caused the land to give way.
The area just liquefied, he said. Its like something from the Creature From the Black Lagoon.
The jewel of the property may be the old-growth redwoods near the south fork of the Gualala River. The nearly 300-foot-tall trees are what drew the attention of the Save the Redwoods League, which bought the property for $11.25 million in 2010.
The groups intention, though, was not to hold on to it, but preserve it. In exchange for the easements, which are seen as a public good, the Save the Redwoods League will be paid $6 million by the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and the state.
The easements not only limit development but allow the group to partially recoup its investment as it moves to sell the property at a reduced price, due to the new restrictions. A buyer could use the land for light logging or grazing.
This is a truly unique and special occasion, said Sam Hodder, president and chief executive of the Save the Redwoods League, who was among those trekking the muddy hillsides during last weeks tour. The Stewarts Point project brings together coast redwood conservation with social justice and new recreational opportunities.
Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander
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Anyone who thinks of science as a narrow, arid realm had their hypothesis disproved on Saturday morning at the San Francisco Zoo.
Thats where a morning-long event honored the 171 winners of middle school science fairs in San Francisco. The students represented 24 schools in the city, public and private. The range of topics ranged even wider from the likes and dislikes of twins to the effect of cigarette butts on ocean acidification or whether people of different ages respond differently to shocks and if video games affect depth perception.
I would notice that after playing video games you feel dizzy, said Catherine Ikeda, a seventh-grader at St. Brendan Parish School, explaining the catalyst for her project 2-D or Not To See, which won a first-place ribbon. I wondered if it was just me, or if it was a provable fact.
This year hasnt been a good one for the notion that the methodical pursuit of information is a virtue. Santa Clara tech behemoth Intel has dropped its sponsorship of two high-profile science fairs, preferring to back hands-on maker fairs. President Trump has repeatedly claimed massive voter fraud in last Novembers election despite an utter lack of evidence that any widespread fraud occurred.
But the emphasis Saturday was a polite rebuttal to all that, with two large rooms in the zoos Lurie Education Center filled with tri-fold display boards showing that disciplined research can lead to demonstrable conclusions.
Some folks think science fairs are antiquated and outdated, and I totally disagree, said Marcus Wojtkowiak of the Randall Museum, which is operated by the Recreation and Park Department and has sponsored the citywide fair for 35 years. Science is when you start with a question you dont have an answer to, you frame an experiment and then you test your conclusion.
Some winning experiments required no equipment, such as the test by one sixth-grader of whether twins or non-twin siblings would have the same preferences. They were asked to choose between photographs, such as Klay Thompson or Stephen Curry (Curry by a daunting margin in both test groups), and the relative cuteness of a kitten or a puppy (both sample groups went for puppies, but with twins the verdict was unanimous).
By contrast, eighth-grader Lia Sanchez of Aptos Middle School pursued her line of inquiry with a camera, a stroboscope and a prank pen that sends out electric shocks.
This year, our teacher challenged us to think of something were really interested in, and I love photography, said Sanchez, one of the first-place recipients for her grade. Then I was going through my things and found my old shock pen, and thought it would be fun to shock people.
Soon she was busy applying methodical shocks to three test groups of varying ages, finding no appreciable difference from group to group. That wasnt what she expected, but thats OK.
If I were to repeat this, I would do different things, said Sanchez, such as space out the shocks rather than apply them at short intervals, which might have led to an overall numbing.
Sanchez has reached the citywide finals before, though this was the first time she received a ribbon rather than an honorable mention certificate. She doesnt plan to stop, either.
Science is something I would think about pursuing, Sanchez said. Its so important, especially now.
It also can be fun.
To learn whether video games dull your depth perception immediately afterwards they do Ikeda needed 33 fellow students to test their depth perception on a home-made register, play Minecraft for three-minute stints, then take the test again.
Was it any trouble finding the 2017 equivalent of lab mice?
Um, no, Ikeda responded politely, the duh implied. Everyone wanted to do it since they got to play Minecraft at school.
John King is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron
On Wednesday, Geisha Williams will take charge of PG&E Corp. as the first female CEO in the energy companys history.
Fifty years ago, Williams arrived in the U.S. as an immigrant from Cuba. Her ascension at PG&E comes at a time of immense uncertainty and change, for both the company and its industry.
Last year, a federal jury convicted PG&Es utility subsidiary Pacific Gas and Electric Co. of safety violations and obstruction of justice related to the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion, which killed eight people. PG&E this month chose not to appeal the verdict.
President Trumps administration could threaten the transition to renewable power that California and PG&E have spent years pursuing. Many of the utilitys more than 5 million customers, meanwhile, are complaining about sharply rising bills.
Williams, 55, sat down with The Chronicle to discuss rates, renewable power, immigration and being a female executive in an industry dominated by men. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Paul Chinn/The Chronicle
Q: Has PG&E finally put the shadow of San Bruno behind it?
A: San Bruno is always going to be with us, just like its always going to be with the town of San Bruno. When San Bruno occurred, I had been with the company a little over 2 years, and I went on site in the morning hours to see the damage firsthand. And it was like nothing Id ever seen in my life the devastation, the human impact, the suffering, the death. The impact that pipe explosion had on that community is indescribable. I know they will never forget, so we will never forget. The trial may be over, the sentencing may be over, but what we learned from San Bruno, that focus on safety? That will never change.
Q: Are there still changes needed at PG&E?
A: Weve made an incredible amount of progress in the last few years, on the safety front, the reliability front, our infrastructure, our management structure. Really, were a different company in many, many ways. But its like everything else youre always building on that progress. You know you can always get better. Im really happy with the management team we have in place, their knowledge, their background, their experience.
Q: We already have high utility rates compared to the rest of the country. And over the last couple of months, weve heard a lot of complaints from PG&E customers about their bills. Is there a point at which you cant charge more, a point at which people will start defecting to (solar)?
A: Im very sympathetic to the hardship that I think high bills have been for our customers. And we have had some high bills this winter, particularly in places that are very energy intensive. So what can we do to reduce the cost of the service that were providing to customers?
While our rates are high, our bills for the typical customer are like 30 percent below the national average. Thats a function of this incredibly mild weather we have in parts of California. But the other driver is how successful weve been, as a company and as a state, at energy efficiency. Were really bullish on continuing that work.
And then you saw our announcement to reduce our costs by $300 million. We took a hard look at our back-office costs, our support services costs, we looked at our contractors, our vendors and really trimmed it. Because we know that we have a responsibility to provide this essential service affordably at the same time, never compromising safety. Safety is our absolute core value.
Q: PG&E in the years since San Bruno has come out and said, OK, before the blast, our focus was not sufficiently on safety. We were not giving it as much attention day to day as we needed to. And yet, rates before the explosion were already pretty high. Is there a reason why customers shouldnt feel like, I was paying you guys back then. Why werent you doing all this work then?
A: Its hard for me to answer that, not having been here for most of that time. I think we were making investments in our systems and our infrastructure. We were adding generation. We were doing a great amount of building onto the system. So it wasnt like it was wasted, by any means. What San Bruno taught us, though, is that our focus in terms of our investment strategy and where it was going could have been improved. And I think weve made those improvements. Thats why youre seeing a greater emphasis on our gas transmission and storage part of the business, where were really doing everything we can to replace pipeline and improve our ability to inspect that pipeline. But prior to that, think about where we were in California: growing, adding thousands and thousands of new homes and businesses every year, building infrastructure to support that. Thats where the money was going.
Q: The utility business is very male. Do you have any advice for women who might be interested in this field and climbing this corporate ladder?
A: I get asked that question, as you can imagine, quite a bit.
Let me tell you a story. I was in my early 20s, had just graduated from college. And Im the first person in my family to get a college education, and Im the first person in my family to be in corporate America or anything like that. Im an immigrant. I came to this country when I was 5 years old.
I say all that because my aspirations coming out of college were not particularly lofty. I wanted a good job with a good company. Maybe if I worked really hard and things worked out I could become a supervisor someday, or maybe a manager.
I had the good fortune of working for this man who turned out to be a lifelong mentor of mine. And he asked me one day, Geisha, what do you want to do someday? What are your career goals and objectives? And I said, Well, you know, maybe I can be a supervisor or a manager someday.
Q: Where was this? Which company?
A: This was Florida Power and Light, in Miami. And he said, Well, yeah, but I mean long-term. I said No, I am talking long-term. I had a bit of a puzzled look on my face. And he said, Geisha, someone has to run this place. Why not you?
Now, for me my 24-year-old version of myself that was like a lightning bolt. Why not me? What, are you kidding me? People like me didnt run companies, certainly not women. Certainly not Latinas. Certainly not immigrants. That didnt happen. And he just lit a fire under me. I started asking myself, Well, why not me? What would it take?
I remember looking at our organizational chart and looking at all the people who were running the company: vice presidents, senior vice presidents, the president, the CEO. And I noticed that they were engineers. Well, I was an engineer. I noticed that they had very strong backgrounds in operations, whether it was in generation or transmission and distribution. And I thought to myself, If I work hard, and I get that background and those experiences, why shouldnt I be able to do that?
So my advice for women is give yourself permission to succeed. Go for it. Lean in. And take the tough jobs. Look at your respective company, whatever it may be, and look at the career paths for the folks who are running the place. I would venture to say, more often than not, they were in operations. So get in there. Dont be afraid. Work hard. And when you get good results, people will notice.
Q: What year did you come here?
A: 1967. My father was a political dissident in Cuba. And this was back in the days when they had something called Freedom Flights. Lyndon Johnson was president. And the philosophy of the Cuban regime was, Hey, if you dont want to be here, leave. The United States in the middle of the Cold War was very accepting of political refugees. So we moved here with the clothes on our backs its the typical immigrant story. You needed to have a sponsor, and my fathers aunt was in St. Paul, Minn. So we went from the balmy subtropics to St. Paul, Minn., in the winter. It was crazy.
We came here, and they just went to work. They enrolled me in school, and my father worked three jobs. He worked in a factory during the day, he worked washing dishes at night. And then he worked weekends stocking shelves. Im very proud of them, because they somehow were able to put together enough money, and they bought this tiny little grocery store in the neighborhood. And they did great. They flipped it, made a little money, bought a little bit bigger one, and so on. At a very young age I learned how to make change, and I think thats why my math is so good. I learned the value of customer service. And hard work wont kill you.
Q: You hear a lot of talk about the utility death spiral, with rooftop solar chipping away at the traditional business model PG&E had. What do you think PG&E will look like as a company 20 years down the road?
A: I think having solar and storage and even electric vehicles makes the utility the grid in particular more relevant. These technologies rely on being able to charge and discharge at different times of the day. The grid provides that connective network that enables solar customers, in the middle of the day when theyre not using all the power that theyre generating, to be able to export it onto the grid. The grid becomes this balancing system. Thats why were making investments in the grid to enable things like two-way power flows, to enable greater levels of visibility and control, to add charging stations for electric vehicles.
Q: But if you have a lot of customers generating their own power, doesnt that limit the amount of growth you can have as a company?
A: I think it changes how, potentially, we should be looking at rate structure or the way utilities get compensated for the services they provide.
Think back to when you first got your first cell phone. You were paying per minute. Now nobody cares about the number of minutes that you use. And I wonder if in the future as a utility nobody will really care how many kilowatt-hours you actually consume. It will be more about having access, and having that backup. I dont know. Here in California, in the next five, 10 years, were going to be figuring it out. Californias always first.
Q: Were probably going to see very different energy policies coming out in the next year (from Washington). Does that concern PG&E?
A: We are very supportive of the states climate change and energy policies. And being a California utility serving Californians, we are going to be all in, doing everything we can to help the state achieve its goals. At the same time, weve been on record being supportive of the Clean Power Plan, weve been supportive of the Paris accords. We have a really strong record of being climate change advocates and certainly clean-energy advocates. And I see that continuing.
David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF
Bob Plantz of Santa Rosa would like to buy an electric vehicle possibly a new Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid but hes not sure whether the federal tax credit being offered on the cars will still be around when he files his 2017 taxes next year.
Assuming that my tax bill will be high enough to take advantage of the credit, how can I know that my vehicle is still within the number allowed for the manufacturer, and how can I know that the federal government will not change the rules for the 2017 tax year? he asks. I believe that the current mood in Washington is not very supportive of this tax credit, to put it very mildly.
The federal tax credit is one of several incentives designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and foreign-oil imports by encouraging electric vehicle sales.
The federal credit is worth up to $7,500 to the original buyers of all-electric vehicles and between $3,667 and $7,500 (depending on model) to buyers of plug-in hybrids, which run on external electricity and gasoline.
The California Air Resources Board is also offering a rebate of $1,500 to buyers and lessees of plug-in hybrids, $2,500 to buyers of battery electric cars and $5,000 on fuel-cell vehicles. Very-high-income households are not eligible. Lower-income households get an extra $2,000 rebate.
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People who lease these cars cant claim the federal credit, but the lessor can and will usually use it as a way to bring down the lease payment, said Ron Montoya, senior consumer advice editor with car website Edmunds.com.
In January, Pacific Gas & Electric started offering a $500 clean fuel rebate to customers who own or lease either type of electric vehicle, regardless of when they purchased it. About 18,000 of its 110,000 customers who drive electric vehicles had claimed the rebate at the end of January. Several other California utilities are offering rebates. Like the federal and state incentives, they are one-time only.
Toyotas new plug-in Prius Prime costs about $4,000 more than a comparably equipped regular Prius hybrid. By the time you get $4,500 from the feds and $1,500 from the state, its cheaper, said Plantz, who is not a PG&E customer. But if he cant make full use of the federal credit, it could cost more.
To make full use of the credit, buyers must owe enough federal income tax, make sure it doesnt run out for that manufacturer and hope Congress doesnt kill it. Lets look at each of those individually.
Taxes: People who buy a qualifying car claim the credit when they file that years taxes, but the credit cannot exceed their federal tax liability for the year. That limit should not be a problem for most new-car buyers, but it could be for some. A single person with $50,000 in wages who takes the standard deduction would owe about $5,690 in federal tax for 2016. Any credit over that amount would be forfeited.
Manufacturer limits: Once an automaker has sold a total of 200,000 electric vehicles, the credit available on that makers cars starts to phase out.
No automakers will hit 200,000 this year, said Don Anair, research and deputy director of the Union of Concerned Scientists clean vehicles program. We would expect in 2018, the top-selling electric vehicle manufacturers (General Motors and Tesla) will start approaching the cap. But even then, it wont be a hard cutoff.
Once a carmaker hits the 200,000 mark, the credit remains in effect for that quarter and the next. After that, the credit shrinks to 50 percent for six months, 25 percent for the following six months and then zero. (Tax credits for non-plug-in hybrids phased out years ago).
Politics: One goal of the tax credit is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that produce climate change. In a November interview, Trump said he has an open mind on climate change, but in a 2012 tweet, he said, The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. Scott Pruitt, selected by Trump to head the Environmental Protection Agency, is often described as a climate-change skeptic.
On the other hand, Trump has made the creation of U.S. jobs a priority. And the top-selling electric vehicles the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf and Tesla models S and X are made in America.
Only Congress can kill or amend the credit. The plan put out last summer by House Speaker Paul Ryan, which House Republicans are using as a tax-overhaul blueprint, calls for eliminating most special-interest deductions and credits in exchange for lower tax rates. It doesnt name the electric vehicle credit, but when Ryan was Mitt Romneys presidential running mate, he called for an end to all green-energy subsidies.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said last week that he wants Congress to pass very significant tax reform before its August recess. If it did eliminate the electric vehicle credit, it could make it retroactive, although its not likely.
Congress has generally been more willing to pass retroactive tax reductions rather than retroactive tax increases, but they have done it in the past, and the courts have generally upheld the retroactive imposition, especially if it is only a few months rather than a few years, Mark Luscombe, principal analyst with Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting, said in an email. My guess would be that, if Congress can make the revenue numbers work out, the eliminated tax breaks would not be imposed retroactively even if they try to make at least some of the rate reductions retroactive.
Plantz, a retired computer science professor, said he is less worried about the state electric-vehicle rebate. But its not without risk.
California has allocated $133 million in rebates through the end of this fiscal year in June, Anair said. In years past, when funding for rebates ran out before the end of the fiscal year, people who had applied for the rebate got put on a wait list pending funding for the next year. So far, every year there has been budget approval and people on the wait list received the rebate, Anair said.
Still, there are no guarantees.
Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes
Even with incentives, whether electric vehicles make economic sense depends on driving habits and electric rates.
Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
If PG&E customers sign up for the utilitys electric-vehicle rate plan and do most of their charging between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., their energy cost works out to the equivalent of $1.20 per gallon. If they charge during the peak times of 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., they would pay the equivalent of roughly $3.70 per gallon, PG&E spokeswoman Ari Vanrenen said.
In Plantzs case, because his home is all-electric, he is in the highest rate tier. If he switched to his utilitys time-of-use metering and charged the car at night, the Prius Prime would cost about $11 per month less to drive than the regular Prius, and about $27 per month less than a gasoline-powered Toyota Corolla.
He estimates that a Prius Prime Premium plug-in would cost roughly $29,000 up front, or $23,000 after the federal and state incentives. That compares with $25,000 for a regular Prius 3 and $21,000 for a gasoline-powered Corolla XSE. So with the incentives, the Prime is a better deal but compared with the Corolla, it would take about six years to break even, he said. But of course most vehicle purchases are probably not based on economics alone.
Kathleen Pender is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: kpender@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kathpender
Where to find more information
On the federal tax credit: www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/evtech.shtml
Cumulative sales by maker: http://bit.ly/2kV2YJm
On the state rebate: https://cleanvehiclerebate.org
On the PG&E rebate: http://bit.ly/2jcyCO4
PG&E rate plans for electric vehicles: http://bit.ly/2inPcga
Getty Images / /
Police on Sunday identified two people who were found dead in Santa Rosa homes in what authorities believe were connected homicides.
Dale Robert Carlson, 57, was found Saturday at around 10:30 a.m. in a home at 2630 Valley Center Drive, after police received calls reporting an injured person.
Narendra Modi has already visited the North American country. He signed a multi-million dollar deal during his 2015 trip.
By India Today Web Desk: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to make a state visit to India later this year, External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in New Delhi. "We expect the Canadian Prime Minister to visit India sometime later this year," Swarup said.
Swarup was speaking at a party organised to bid farewell as he leaves the office of the spokesperson of the Indian External Affairs Ministry. Swarup is headed to Canada where he will take up the position of India's High Commissioner to the country.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already visited Canada, becoming the first prime minister in 42 years to visit the North American country while still in office.
During Modi's trip, India inked a multi-million-dollar deal for uranium to power its civilian nuclear programme for five years and also inked 13 agreements, including on skill development, following talks with then Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Justin Trudeau, the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, assumed office in November 2015. Canada's population of over 35 million, includes 1.3 million people of Indian origin.
Also read: Vikas Swarup appointed India's new High Commissioner to Canada
Also read: Indian techies welcome in Canada after Trump's refugee ban
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Tim Nonns election in November to the school board in his Sonoma County community coincided with a personal challenge: the almost complete loss of his eyesight more than a decade after he was diagnosed with glaucoma.
Three months later, the 63-year-old Rohnert Park resident says hes fighting for his ability to do his new job.
Nonn is is suing his fellow elected officials in the Cotati Rohnert Park Unified School District, as well as the superintendent, after he was barred from having a volunteer aide a woman who had also assisted him in his campaign help him during public meetings and at some school visits and staff briefings.
In the unusual suit, filed in Sonoma County Superior Court, Nonn says he tried to negotiate a solution to the stalemate, but was rebuffed.
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I didnt want to do this. I just want to function fully as a trustee, he said in an interview. Its a matter of pulling up a chair next to me.
The suit, filed Feb. 15, claims that the superintendent and three of the four other school board members violated federal and state laws guaranteeing reasonable accommodations for the disabled.
District officials reject the allegations. They said they met with Nonn multiple times, and took several steps to try to accommodate his needs, including giving him a laptop with software that reads district materials aloud and asking speakers at meetings to provide written materials in advance when possible.
They said they made a district employee available to act as a reader and scribe, and attempted to bring in another person on a contract basis to fill that role. They also offered to hire an expert to provide information and recommendations about Nonns needs.
We have endeavored as a board of trustees to accommodate Mr. Nonn in his role as a trustee since the election, said board President Tracy Farrell in an email. Staff, at our direction, have been researching and providing accommodations for him.
But Farrell did not say why the board objects to Nonns use of his chosen aide, retired special-education teacher Janet Lowery, during meetings and other events.
RAMIN RAHIMIAN/Special to The Chronicle
Nonn acknowledges that the district has made accommodations, but said he is better served by his aide, though he added he is willing to consider an independent, third-party contractor. Nonn and his attorney say using a district staffer could open conflicts of interest, and that he wants an aide who is independent and trained in assisting the visually impaired.
It is imperative that Mr. Nonn function efficiently and discretely when reviewing documents and information during public board meetings, the suit states.
One of the two student representatives on the school board, Nafe Nafe, said he and fellow student leaders were disappointed that the adults couldnt work things out without expensive litigation.
Weve come to the conclusion that as students we are taught to resolve problems in a respectful and professional manner, he said at a board meeting last Tuesday. We unanimously believe that an adult school board should be able to resolve their differences in a similar fashion, without wasting school funds on a lawsuit that is easily resolvable.
Nonn was diagnosed with glaucoma in 1995, his sight declining over the subsequent years until he lost all vision in his left eye. In September, amid the school board campaign, he had surgery on his right eye to relieve pressure, but it resulted in further loss of sight. He is now legally and permanently blind, with minimal peripheral vision in his right eye.
He enlisted Lowery to help him during the campaign, reading him questions from voters and helping him navigate debates and public appearances.
Four candidates ran for two seats on the board, and Nonn was easily the top vote-getter. Incumbent Jennifer Wiltermood came in second to remain on the board.
After joining the board, Nonn told district officials he wanted to continue using Lowery who agreed to work for free to help him during board meetings and convey information from staff documents and slide shows as well as from members of the public.
Its difficult, he said. I dont want people to feel sorry for me.
The lawsuit alleges that without an appropriate aide, Nonn cant fulfill his duties. At a Dec. 20 meeting without assistance, he said, he couldnt see a presentation on a financial matter that included charts and graphs, and felt he was unprepared to make a decision. He abstained from voting.
I have never seen a case like this, said his attorney, Timothy Elder, who is also blind. Im baffled why theyre fighting this.
Nonn campaigned on fiscal responsibility and reform, saying the board majority was too cozy with the superintendent. He had strong union support, including from teachers.
I won by a really huge margin because people want change in schools, he said. I think its political retribution.
Federal law requires government agencies to provide equal access to services, programs and information, though the access doesnt necessarily have to match what the person with a disability is requesting, said Andrew Mudryk, executive director of Disability Rights Advocates in Berkeley.
The courts often must determine whether a public agencys accommodations provide equal access.
Nonn said he acquiesced to district demands that his aide not be present during closed-session meetings of the board, when private legal or personnel issues are taken up, but that it wasnt enough.
Nonn submitted a doctors report certifying that he is blind in both eyes and requires the help of a reader and scribe, said Elder. But he said district officials appeared unconvinced and requested additional medical inquiries and reviews.
The lawsuit names Superintendent Robert Haley and board members Farrell, Wiltermood and Marc Orloff. The fifth board member, Leffler Brown, was excluded as a defendant because he has not opposed Nonns request.
Farrell said the district believes this dispute can and should be resolved between the parties, or, if necessary by the court. We do not believe this should be litigated in the media.
Nonn is seeking unspecified damages and legal fees, but said he will donate any money awarded to district schools.
They keep saying Im being too demanding, he said. The legal fight, he said, is such a waste of money. It should be going into the classroom.
Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
The $300 state grant Devon Graves got his senior year at Cal Poly Pomona was only enough for gas and groceries it didnt make his $20,000 in student loans any easier to manage. Still, it meant a lot to the teen from Murrieta, a commuter town on the edge of Riverside County.
This award was a symbol of the states support for my education, and that symbolism meant more to me than the amount, said Graves, who didnt qualify for any other financial aid before becoming one of the first recipients of a taxpayer-funded Middle Class Scholarship in 2014.
His parents were like many others too cash-strapped to cover his tuition by writing a check, and too well-off to get one of the more generous grants reserved for the poor. Health problems prevented his mother from working and forced his family of five to rely on his fathers sheriffs deputy salary, but even that hardship failed to open doors to extra help.
Now, with the states financial fortunes beginning to worsen, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed to eliminate the financial aid program for nearly 50,000 students to save money and help close a nearly $2 billion budget gap even as the University of California and California State University systems prepare to raise tuition for the first time in six years. Under Browns plan, current recipients would continue receiving grants.
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount (Los Angeles County), said the governor was turning his back on middle-class families, and he vowed to keep college affordable by protecting the program. But some college-access advocates and even a top university administrator say it isnt working as designed.
Fewer students qualify for the awards than the state first projected, and many of those who do, get relatively small checks under program rules that offer less to applicants whose families make more.
And because theres no income floor written into the law, a third of scholarship recipients come from families making less than $80,000 even though the program was designed to help middle-income families making $80,000 to $150,000 annually who dont qualify for much other relief.
Its those disadvantaged students the program wasnt intended to serve who have the greatest need, get the largest checks and would be most harmed if it disappears.
Were pro-funding for students of all income levels, said Dean Kulju, CSUs director of student financial aid services and programs, but the Middle Class Scholarship program isnt hitting its target.
Former Assembly Speaker John Perez first pitched the financial aid program for middle-class families in 2012 as an antidote to recession-era budget cuts that led UC and CSU tuition to almost double in four years. Perez worked with Brown to craft a program whose costs would be phased in over four years and paid for out of the states general fund.
That scholarship program is now in its third year. It costs the state $74 million to administer and offers awards valued at up to a maximum of 30 percent of tuition $3,690 for UC students and $1,644 for CSU students. If the program is around next year, it will begin covering up to 40 percent of recipients tuition.
Still, data collected by the state show the average value of awards distributed so far this year $1,107 for UC students and $799 for CSU students to be far lower than those ceilings because many recipients come from wealthier families who qualify only for small awards.
Its hard to argue the program has helped with access, said CSUs Kulju. It hasnt been as efficient or effective as one would like.
H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for Browns Department of Finance, wouldnt say why the governor chose to target the program to help close the budget gap. He stressed, however, that Browns proposed budget preserves other higher education commitments, such as promises to increase funding to UC and CSU campuses and maintain the Cal Grant program for needy students.
The Institute for College Access and Success, a nonprofit advocacy group, has opposed Californias financial aid program for middle-income families since its inception, arguing that the state should direct all public resources to the neediest students.
Its vice president, Debbie Cochrane, said she wouldnt mind seeing the state dismantle the program so long as it uses the savings to help expand Cal Grant scholarships. That program has enough funding to help only 25,000 students annually, turning away another 300,000 applicants each year whose grades and family income qualify them to receive the support.
COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California.
We should not be cutting money from financial aid, Cochrane said. However, where we spend the money we have matters.
Since 2001, poor California students who apply for a Cal Grant straight out of high school have been entitled to a full ride. But students who wait a year or more to enroll forfeit that right and instead must compete against thousands of other deserving applicants for assistance. The California Student Aid Commission found that some low-income Middle Class Scholarship recipients are students who sought, but failed to win, one of those competitive Cal Grants.
Rendon said he wont stand to see the program thrown out, although hes open to a mid-course correction that reshapes its application criteria.
As for Devon Graves, hes now a 23-year-old UCLA graduate student studying higher education administration and financial aid. He said Browns threats to eliminate the program are concerning.
I understand the governor is worried about balancing the budget, he said. But the state must not forget the promise it made to middle-class students and families when it created this program and come up with a budget plan that supports them.
Jennifer Calefati is a reporter for CALmatters.org, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
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CAAMFest director Masashi Niwano was attending the Hawaii International Film Festival in November when Donald Trump was elected president. Like many there, Niwano was shocked and confused, but one thing was clear: His own festival, which opens in San Francisco on March 9, would be more urgent than perhaps at any other time in its 35-year history.
Its no accident that the countrys most important Asian American cinematic showcase will be rich this year with historical films particularly concerning the internment of Japanese Americans and the Chinese Exclusion Act that are haunting reminders of both the past and present.
There are so many parallels from the past to the Muslim ban, the immigration issue, the refugee situation, Niwano said, and as long as were here, were going to fight to tell these stories.
This years festival could be a harbinger to many Bay Area and U.S. cultural events, as artists begin navigating their way through the Trump era. Though all of the CAAMFest films were made before Trump ascended to office, they were completed during the whirling political maelstrom in which the controversial candidate emerged.
And those undercurrents are evident in a variety of films, whether its a personal recollection of the internment camps, a meditation on racial identity or an exhaustive historical essay about past immigration disputes.
The films have this additional context and significance around them, Niwano said. Its scary that some of these historical moments are feeling a little too relevant today. But its good for us to look back. Its so important to remind people. There are new generations who dont know these things happened.
The festivals lineup includes six new films about the internment camps, and it will close with the highly anticipated The Chinese Exclusion Act, a documentary that will appear nationally on PBS later this year. The festival also will touch on themes of racism and prejudice in such films as Finding Kukan, Gook and Who Killed Vincent Chin?
We pushed a lot of these films into special presentations because theyre going to be conversation starters and bring in diverse communities, Niwano said. My family history in America doesnt start in the internment camps, but I still feel that history. It makes you have a different take about historical movements in America.
The collection of internment films is diverse both in terms of storytelling and geography, with settings that include Ohio, Arkansas and California.
Director and Cleveland native Matthew Hashiguchi, who now lives in the Atlanta area, comes to the festival with Good Luck Soup, an engaging documentary that is a valentine to his grandmother, who was sent to an internment camp and whose experience would affect Hashiguchi decades later.
My friends had grandparents who were in the World War II generation and who had taught them that Japanese people were bad, Hashiguchi said. Until about 1990, we still heard that we were the enemy about something (Pearl Harbor) that had happened in 1941.
His film also touches on the experience of being Asian American in a region where race is often perceived as either black or white. Its an experience thats not part of the racial dialogue, he said.
Though Hashiguchi did not set out to make a political film, its not lost on him that his story will have political reverberations.
I come from a politically diverse family, and some of them wouldnt appreciate the comparison of the internment camps to the current Muslim ban, he said. But theres a real consistency with the hate going on today. I guarantee that in 50 years, theres a Muslim kid who will be picked on for what happened in the past, just like me, just like my father, just like my grandfather.
Relocation, Arkansas Aftermath of Incarceration is another family affair, a compelling, affecting documentary that focuses on an isolated camp in the Mississippi River Delta. Before embarking on the project, filmmaker and Houston resident Vivienne Schiffer had written a novel, Camp Nine, about the place.
Thats because both she and her mother, Rosalie Gould, lived near the Rohwer detention center. Rosalie has made it a lifelong crusade to make sure that the story of the camp is never forgotten, and Schiffer has followed in her footsteps.
Schiffers film takes some surprising turns, including a civil rights twist that includes the Little Rock Nine. Even Bill Clinton weighs in.
We were not prepared to have this film be so relevant, Schiffer said. But many people are resurrecting this concept of the other, upon whom they impose a label of fear and exclusion.
If you do something to people, its not going to just affect them its going to radiate out to their families, their friends. This will not happen to Japanese Americans again. But you change one little detail, it can happen to anybody else. As soon as another group comes up, everybody forgets.
Another piece of history that many people have forgotten is the Chinese Exclusion Act, but New York directors Ric Burns and Li-Shin Yu hope to change that with their documentary.
Exhaustive, illuminating and eerily timely, The Chinese Exclusion Act opens with the influx of newcomers to California in the 1850s, which eventually led to 1882 legislation that banned Asian immigrants for the next six decades. Its a deja vu experience that touches on trade wars, globalization, fear of modernity and job loss, xenophobia and civil rights.
It was not our intent, but as we were making the film, we realized with greater clarity the parallels to the present, Burns said. In the 21st century, immigration is the last refuge of scoundrels. We have never had a reason to regret opening our doors and weve always had reason to regret closing them.
At the very least, we are in a perilous set of circumstances. And every American feels it a strong sense that the things that were most stable are crashing beneath us.
Yu added: The Bay Area was ground zero for this story. And it will be leading the way for America again. Out of this story came the inspiration in which Chinese immigrants, regular people shunted to the side, said, Were not going to be excluded. Were going to fight for our rights. Thats remarkable.
And its why Niwano chose The Chinese Exclusion Act as the closing-night film.
We want that as the audiences last memory of CAAMFest and hope to inspire them to be active in 2017, he said. We want them to remember that in the past, when things were really tough, the communities were able to come out of it even stronger.
David Lewis is a Bay Area freelance writer.
CAAMFest 35
What: The oldest and largest Asian American film festival in the United States.
When: March 9-19
Where: 14 venues in San Francisco and Oakland, including the Castro Theatre, the Alamo Drafthouses New Mission Theater and Roxie Theater in San Francisco, and the New Parkway Theater in Oakland.
Opening-night film: The Tiger Hunter, a comedy-drama about new immigrants in America, starring Danny Pudi (Community). 7 p.m. March 9, Castro.
To see a trailer: http://preview.tinyurl.com/hnoqzml
Opening-night party: 9:30 p.m. March 9 at the Asian Art Museum.
Closing-night film: The Chinese Exclusion Act, which documents the only U.S. law that barred an entire group of immigrants based on race. 7 p.m. March 19, Castro.
To see a trailer: http://preview.tinyurl.com/zz7ag3f
Spotlight filmmakers: Emiko Omori (Rabbit in the Moon), Ham Tran (Bitcoin Heist).
Centerpiece films: Who Is Arthur Chu?, a documentary about the controversial Jeopardy! champion, 6 p.m. March 11, Alamo; Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming, an animated film about a poet, 6 p.m. March 12, Alamo.
Tickets, information: www.caamedia.org
Rock Dog benefits from the central rule of kid-friendly filmmaking: If you have a child under the age of 9, the best movie theyve ever seen is almost always the most recent one.
Too lackluster to be praised highly, yet too benign to be excoriated, Rock Dog is the perfect family film for a rainy day with no other options. It does not deserve mention in any animation history book, and yet its completely satisfactory in the moment. This is the answer to the question Weve seen Lego Batman three times already. Is there anything else in the theaters?
If all of the above sounds like faint praise, then I have succeeded in my goal. But Hollywood has proved that this genre is surprisingly difficult even for the lukewarm success benchmark. Some films Rock Dog is better than: all of the Ice Age sequels, both Smurfs movies and three out of four entries in the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise.
Based on a Chinese graphic novel, Rock Dog borrows from Kung Fu Panda and Ratatouille so heavily and equally that it feels like those movies gave birth to a slightly underachieving cinematic child. Bodi (voiced by Luke Wilson) is a sheepdog living on a mountain, where his kind defend their flock with mystical powers. But his true love is music, to his fathers shame; and he heads for the city to seek tutelage from aging rock star Angus Scattergood (Eddie Izzard) who is in need of his own creative jump start.
Rock Dog is a low-wattage production, just 80 minutes long, and distributed in the U.S. by Lionsgate a year after it bombed in China. But it has an established writer-director in Ash Brannon, who once worked on several Pixar classics, and co-directed the excellent Surfs Up.
Rock Dog has some of the quirky touches of that film, including enjoyable early scenes in the mountains, where the sheep dress up like dogs to fool coyotes, and Bodi gets a rock education from a radio that falls from the sky. Sam Elliott, as a wise yak named Fleetwood, proves once again that he should contribute a voice-over to every movie, regardless of genre, until the end of time.
Theres less success once Bodi arrives in the city, and the TV commercial-quality visuals and character design start to show their seams. (A leopard voiced by Matt Dillon never escapes the prison of his resemblance to Chester Cheetah from the Cheetos advertisements.)
The last act forces together a moral about artistic expression and a save-the-village battle, as if the filmmakers couldnt decide whether to crib the resolution of Kung-Fu Panda or Ratatouille, so they just tried to do both at the same time.
Its a mess, but a pleasant one. This will be some childs favorite animated comedy at least until the next one comes along.
Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles pop culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub
Rock Dog
Animated comedy. Starring the voices of Luke Wilson, Sam Elliott and Eddie Izzard. Directed by Ash Brannon. (PG. 80 minutes.)
To see a trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpaVY8Zq9LQ
Among the dozens of foreigners facing possible deportation who appeared before San Francisco immigration judges last week was Arturo Rojas, a former military officer from El Salvador who said he had fled his homeland in fear of his life.
In his native country, Rojas had worked with local law enforcement to combat criminal gangs. But when his name showed up on a powerful gangs hit list, his lawyer said, he left his wife and their infant son behind and headed north.
He managed to obtain a U.S. visa and flew to San Francisco last month, only to be stopped by immigration agents, who confiscated his visa and ordered him held for deportation.
This was his first day in court. Rojas, a pseudonym The Chronicle is using because of concerns about his safety, was one of the few immigrants appearing with an attorney.
The others seeking asylum, like Rojas, or exemptions from deportation because of family hardship, or release on bond while they prepared a defense, or just some information about what awaited them in a language they understood had to speak for themselves.
Immigration courts, an arm of the Justice Department, have a nationwide backlog of 542,000 cases. In the San Francisco court, one of four in California, the backlog is more than 39,000. Immigrants free on bond, the practice in most cases, typically wait more than two years for a hearing on whether they will be deported. Thats nearly double the waiting time in 2008.
Those held in custody, like Rojas, have priority for the hearings, and an average wait of four months.
Under the Trump administration, the wait times are about to grow substantially longer for an already overburdened immigration court system.
While President Barack Obamas administration reached near-record levels of deportations by focusing on what it said were immigrants who had committed serious crimes, new Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has ordered removal of immigrants suspected of any crimes, including using false identifications, putting the vast majority of the nations 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally at risk of deportation.
Many of the newly targeted immigrants would be deported without court hearings under a program known as expedited removals. But the administrations plan would also have a serious impact on immigration courts, which could see millions of new cases even as President Trump has ordered a hiring freeze for all nonmilitary federal agencies.
It would really bring the court to a standstill, said Victor Nieblas, an attorney in the City of Industry (Los Angeles County) who recently served as president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Already, he said, judges are overworked. Theres not enough judges. Theres not enough staff.
There are 300 immigration judges nationwide, and experts believe at least twice that many are needed to handle the current caseload, said Dana Marks, a San Francisco judge who is president of the National Association of Immigration Judges. She and her colleagues, she noted, lack the staffing of conventional courts, such as bailiffs and stenographers, and have few law clerks to help them prepare rulings.
What immigration courts do is handle death penalty cases in a traffic-court setting, said Marks, an immigration judge for 30 years, referring to the life-or-death stakes faced by immigrants who seek asylum because of threats to their lives in their homeland.
As caseloads mount, she said, its likely to cause people to work too quickly. Occasionally errors are going to be made.
Compared with the gavel-banging formalities of ordinary courts, most of the immigration hearings are low-key discussions involving the judge, the prosecutor from the Department of Homeland Security, and the immigrant. Those in custody, like Rojas, the former Salvadoran officer now held at an immigration facility in Richmond, are shown on a video screen.
Rojas had applied for asylum after his detention, and persuaded an asylum officer that he had what the law defines as a credible fear of harm if deported. But he still must prove in court, like other asylum-seekers, that he faces government-sanctioned persecution in his homeland, because of either political opinions or membership in a social group the military, in Rojas case.
He sat silently at Thursdays brief hearing, listening to a Spanish interpreter, while Judge Anthony Murry told his lawyer that Rojas was ineligible to be freed on bond, but there might be a way to get him released while he waits months for a hearing on whether he should be deported.
He has a good case, said Manuel Ugarte, a lawyer hired by Rojas relatives in the Bay Area to represent him. He said Salvadoran gangs recruit military veterans and are known to kill those, like Rojas, who refuse.
Rojas had a valid tourist visa and should have been allowed to enter the country, Ugarte said, but Customs and Border Protection agents accused him, falsely, of using his visa unlawfully to apply for legal residency.
Im sure there was racial profiling, said the lawyer, who saw the case as part of an overall crackdown on immigration by the new administration.
Since Trump took office Jan. 20, Ugarte said, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which runs the detention facilities, has increasingly refused to release immigrants on bond after their arrest. Nieblas, the former lawyers association president, said the same agency is also refusing to settle once-routine cases and forcing immigrants to litigate them in court.
In most court cases, theyre on their own. Unlike criminal defendants, immigrants have no constitutional right to legal representation, and a recent study found that 37 percent were represented by lawyers, mostly from nonprofit organizations charging no fees. For immigrants in detention, only 14 percent had lawyers.
The same study, reported in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review in December 2015, found that immigrants with lawyers were more than five times as likely to win their deportation cases as those without lawyers. The issue is percolating in San Francisco, where Mayor Ed Lee has approved $1.5 million in city funding for immigration lawyers at nonprofit agencies but opposes Public Defender Jeff Adachis request for $7 million to hire 10 staff attorneys to represent detained migrants.
San Francisco immigration judges tried to fill the gap at last weeks hearings by offering advice when they could.
Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
Guatemalan immigrant Isaias Peres Salas, who entered the U.S. without authorization in 2008, was seeking asylum, but didnt know how and said he hadnt been able to find a lawyer.
If Im lucky I can live for a week, and after that I would most likely get killed, Peres said from the Richmond detention center, speaking by video through an interpreter at the court in his native language of Mam.
You need to fill out an application, Judge Murry said as someone at the center handed Peres the paperwork. Write as best you can who would harm you in Guatemala and why.
Murry told Peres that the writing must be in English. Dont worry about being perfect, just do the best you can, he said.
The judge offered the same advice to another Guatemalan, Norma Garcia-Ambrocio, who wiped away tears as she described her fears of countrymen who killed the father of my children.
Garcia, who entered the U.S. in 1998, was now subject to deportation for an unspecified criminal conviction, Murry said. But he told her to get help in filling out an English-language asylum application and keep looking for a lawyer.
But Murry had no relief to offer Christian Llanos-Avila, who entered the U.S. from Mexico as a child but faces deportation to Mexico because of a 2011 conviction of a forcible sex crime in Alameda County.
Llanos accepted that he would be deported, but when Murry told him hed be barred from returning for 20 years, he asked, Is there any chance that could be a little bit less? Ive got relatives I would like to visit.
The 20-year ban is required by law, Murry replied, and it might be longer in Llanos case because of his serious conviction. Good luck, sir, he told Llanos, who thanked him.
There were no such regrets in another immigration court, where Son Van Nguyen faced mandatory deportation to his native Vietnam. Nguyen entered the U.S. as a postwar refugee in 1981 and gained legal residency in 1986, but in 1993 he was convicted of first-degree murder in Orange County and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. After his recent parole, he was turned over to the immigration courts.
Deport me back home, Nguyen, bald and bespectacled, said through an interpreter from a detention center in Sacramento.
Also willing to accept deportation was Reynaldo Reyes Preciado, a legal U.S. resident since the late 1970s who faces removal to Mexico after serving prison time for a 2013 sex crime conviction in San Bernardino County.
Ive been sick in my head, the gray-haired man told Judge Valerie Burch. He said he didnt need a lawyer and was prepared to leave, but I work here in this country for 40 years. I want to know if Im going to receive any benefit for Social Security.
I wish I knew, Burch replied, but Im only an immigration judge.
She told Reyes he needs to ask the Social Security Administration. The inquiry will apparently have to come from his U.S.-born children, as she told the detainee he would be back in Mexico in a couple of days.
Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
Immigration courts by the numbers
542,000
Nationwide backlog
of cases
39,000
San Francisco backlog of cases
300
Immigration judges nationwide
2 years
Typical wait for
a hearing
37 percent
Immigrants represented
by lawyers
14 percent
Immigrants in detention represented by lawyers
Getty Images / /
One man was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting inside a Vallejo bar early Sunday, police said.
The shooting happened shortly after 1 a.m. when a gunman opened fire inside Gentleman Jims Bar at 1324 Lincoln Road East, Vallejo police Sgt. Fabio Rodriguez said.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) The Central Zoo Authority has "fully backed" a proposal to ban the use of elephants in circuses, a fading remnant of pre-liberalisation India.
The CZA has written to the chief wildlife wardens of the states to ensure the rehabilitation of the elephants which were in their possession.
"The Central Zoo Authority fully supports proposal to stop use of elephants to perform in circuses," member secretary of the CZA D N Singh has written to the Environment Ministry.
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He was referring to a communication between senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan and the ministry in this regard.
The CZA, which has been monitoring circuses that houses elephants in captivity since 2003, has de-recognised all but one circus previously recognised by it due to "extreme cruelty and owing to violation of rules under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972".
Prashanth V, a senior functionary of the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), said apart from those under the CZA, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has another 35 circuses under it while the total number, including the illegal ones, will be higher.
"The CZA has also made it clear that it supports a ban on other performing animals and it has already urged the AWBI to initiate steps in this regard," he said.
The CZA letter states that since the circus owners have individual ownership certificate for elephants in their possession, these can be cancelled by the chief wildlife warden concerned, to facilitate their rehabilitation.
The ownership certificate of each elephant is issued by the chief wildlife wardens of the states under the provisions of the wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Indian elephants are listed in Schedule-I of the wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The performance of animals and their use in circuses is regulated by the AWBI. PTI SBR SMN AAR
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A vote last year on legislation requiring wayward doctors to disclose restrictions on their medical licenses to their patients suggested a number of state senators need to get their backbones examined. Rather than support the sensible measure or register a reasonable objection, no fewer than a dozen declined to vote at all, ensuring the bills failure.
A new review of the California Medical Board and the hundreds of doctors it has put on probation gives board members and legislators another chance to register a pulse. The gravity of the medical malfeasance in question underscores the need to ensure that the states patients are thoroughly informed of it.
Prepared by Senate committee staff for a hearing Monday, the report notes that more than 500 California physicians are on probation, often for serious and acknowledged transgressions. Proven violations that result in probation, the report notes, include gross negligence or incompetence, substance abuse, inappropriate prescribing, sexual misconduct or conviction of a felony.
The terms of probation may prohibit doctors from maintaining a solo practice, prescribing drugs or performing procedures without third-party monitoring. And yet those who continue to practice are not required to disclose any of that information to patients. While the Medical Board does make the case records available online (at www.mbc.ca.gov), it falls to patients to go hunting for them.
About 0.5 percent of the 137,000 doctors licensed by California are on probation, and a look over the long and unsettling list appended to the committee report shows them to be ethical as well as statistical outliers.
In Alameda County alone, the doctors violations include methamphetamine possession, sexual assault, and theft of a patients engagement and wedding rings. Other Medical Board files detail the accusations against Bay Area physicians: sending scores of inappropriate text messages a day to a college student who sought treatment for depression; prescribing more than 10,000 Vicodin tablets to a patient without an appropriate diagnosis or follow-up; and providing substandard obstetrical care that contributed to the deaths of a mother and infant.
Although such doctors may continue treating patients under certain restrictions, the committee report notes that the Medical Board has rejected recommendations from its own staff and others that they be required to disclose their probationary status to patients. Last years attempted legislative solution likewise came to naught under intense pressure from the California Medical Association, noted the bills sponsor, Democratic Sen. Jerry Hill of San Mateo, who called the organization one of the most powerful lobbies in Sacramento.
Its unfortunate that the doctors group has been so avid in its defense of some of the worst practitioners of an honorable profession and that legislators and the Medical Board have acquiesced. State officials should stop protecting bad doctors and start looking out for patients whose health and lives could be at risk.
SACRAMENTO There was a duality at the first California Republican Party convention of the Trump era. For the 1,200 convention-goers, nothing felt sweeter than having a GOP president and control of Congress for the first time in more than a decade.
But below the smiles was a hesitance to fully embrace Donald Trump not politically surprising in a state where the New York City developer has a 37 percent approval rating among all voters. The president also has a 60 percent disapproval rating among the Latino voters the GOP needs to attract to become relevant again in California, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll this month.
When asked about Trump this weekend, many convention-goers first mentioned how happy they are with Trumps conservative Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, or how hes delivered on many of his campaign promises through executive orders and how theyre confident he will send federal money to repair Californias battered infrastructure.
But others admitted they were less comfortable with his late-night tweeting. Or his off-message tangents. Or the impact his crackdown on illegal immigration could have for Californias agriculture industry, where many of the workers are undocumented.
A month into Trumps presidency, some California Republicans remain conflicted about their president. And everybody has a theory about why.
Thats because our party in this state is not truly conservative. Some of them are, in my opinion, part of the swamp that (Trump) is trying to drain, said Randall Jordan, a San Luis Obispo contractor and convention delegate who chairs the Tea Party California Caucus. For his part, Jordan is 1,000 percent behind Trump. Every day is like Christmas so far. Hes doing everything he promised to do.
Publicly, convention-goers celebrated Trump. They posed next to a life-size cutout of him in the lobby of the convention center hotel. Others thanked God for giving us President Trump at this time, Lord. Its just the perfect time, in a prayer before a Tea Party caucus meeting.
But in personal conversations, many attendees often began their remarks by explaining that while Trump wasnt their first choice, they were supporting him for all the benefits of having a fellow Republican in the White House. Fridays keynote speaker, conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, acknowledged the split between the Ronald Reagan-style mainstream conservatives who dominate the party and the new insurgents Trump has brought to it.
We have two parties in this room, and the question is whether or not those two parties will work together effectively over the next four years, Hewitt said.
But while the media and others wring their hands about Trumps in-your-face tweets, Hewitt urged the convention-goers to remember, He is a showman. He is an entertainer. He is a tremendously effective communicator. I dont think he has a bone, not an inch, not an ounce of racism in him or hostility toward anyone.
And he tried to tell Californians to overlook any concerns that Mr. Trump is not particularly conservative, Hewitt said. Hes a builder.
Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista (San Diego County), who stumped for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the GOP primaries, agreed Saturday that Donald Trump is not everybodys Republican. Hes not everybodys conservative. But he is our president, our president for everybody.
Issa sought to show his independence from Trump on Saturday by repeating his call for a special prosecutor to look into the purported ties between members of Trumps administration and campaign, and Russia. Issa, the former House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman, told HBOs Bill Maher Friday night that it would be inappropriate for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was involved with the Trump campaign and is a Trump appointee, to investigate the matter.
I would expect that the attorney general will find a career U.S. attorney, appoint him or her to head that up and do that job in an independent way, Issa told reporters Saturday. For credibility, we have to hold this president to the level of transparency that the last president made every effort to thwart. We have to make sure this is a transparent administration.
Issa, an eight-term incumbent who won re-election by only 1,621 votes in November, is trying to straddle the same difficult line on Trump as other Republicans in California. They want to embrace him because hes a Republican president but not hug him too tight given how unpopular he is with most of the states voters.
Republicans cant afford to alienate many more people west of the Sierra. Only 26 percent of Californias registered voters are registered Republicans, just slightly more than the 24 percent who prefer not to state a party affiliation and far less than 45 percent who are Democrats. The GOP has no statewide officeholders, and Democrats hold a supermajority in the Legislature, rendering the Republicans virtually irrelevant.
In the next decade, Latinos will be a majority of the states voters, but only 16 percent are registered as Republicans. Only 23 percent of Asian Americans are Republicans.
It is no wonder that John Cox, the San Diego County venture capitalist who recently said he was putting $1 million into exploring a 2018 gubernatorial run, was the only major Republican hopeful for the top job to be schmoozing the convention hallways this weekend.
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence who served on Trumps transition team, suggested ways that Trump could inspire California Republicans.
With little political power, Nunes urged Republicans to use ballot measures to try to regain power. In a keynote speech Saturday, Nunes suggested putting the same five initiatives on the ballot every two years so voters would know what the party stands for.
Nunes five ballot measure ideas: One would transfer funds set aside for high speed rail in California and place it toward water storage facilities like dams. Another would allow public service employees not to have union dues automatically deducted from their paychecks. A third would allow drilling off the coast of California. A fourth would eliminate the state income tax, and a fifth would turn the Legislature into a part-time, one-chamber body.
Like Trump was willing to put everything on his line in his presidential line, Nunes said, We have to be willing to lose.
But that may only be wishful thinking as the cost of those ballot measure campaigns particularly over drilling rights and union dues could swell well over $100 million combined, a high price for a party with little support and still struggling to find candidates to run for governor and U.S. Senate in 2018.
Yet while its members may be conflicted on Trump, the state GOP has backed up the Trump administration in deed. It passed resolutions that criticized sanctuary cities and another that supported Trumps travel ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries. The conservative immigration positions are unlikely to endear the party any more to Latinos, 60 percent of whom already have a strongly unfavorable impression of Trump.
Meanwhile, many here are trying to focus on the positives Trump brought to the party.
Stick to what hes done and stay away from what he says, said Nick Bloise, a Carmichael (Sacramento County) delegate who ran unsuccessfully for Assembly last fall and endorsed Trump. For me, the bottom line was the Supreme Court.
Even though he is happy that Trump has fulfilled some of his campaign promises, many people are distracted by his personality, said Fred Schein, president of the Marin County Chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, which represents LGBT Republicans. Hes a new type of politician, so a lot of longtime political people are trying to find a new category to fit him into.
But other Republicans already are feeling the fallout. In Los Angeles, where a number of local elections will be held March 7, some Republican Latino candidates are being hit with attack mailers tying them to Trump even in nonpartisan races. That could potentially really hurt GOP efforts to try to rebuild its poor image among Latinos, a group with only 16 percent registered as Republicans.
The jury is still out as to whether it will be effective, said Ruben Barrales, president of Grow Elect, which has worked for several years to try to elect Latino Republicans to local office in the hope that they will climb their way up the political ladder.
Tim Donnelly, the former assemblyman and Minuteman movement founder from Twin Peaks in San Bernardino County, said Trumps presidency is providing Californian Republicans with a moment in which they can grow their party. But it cant be a political moment.
Instead, he outlined how to adapt the Trump model to California. Use social media to go around the mainstream media. Hold big rallies, like the kind in the early days of the Tea Party movement that backed him.
The way that we win a state like California is to blow up the narrative and smash the paradigm, Donnelly said. We have to bring people in not on being Republican or Democrat but on being proud Californians. Because I think right now a lot of people are embarrassed about how the state is being run.
Luke Bauman, a Sacramento State student who grew up in Brentwood, wasnt always a Trump supporter. But now he is cautiously. If hes doing good stuff, then Ill support him, Bauman said. But if hes doing dumb stuff, then I wont.
Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
President Trumps speech to senators and House members Tuesday night isnt technically a State of the Union address its being billed as a speech to a joint session of Congress. Thats probably appropriate, because its likely to be more about the state of Donald Trump than the state of the rest of us.
After all, the presidency is his reality show. Were just the audience.
Trumps speech is sure to be laced with his accomplishments and loaded with a healthy dose of alternative facts to back up those accomplishments.
And, of course, theres the question of how long it will take until he attacks the unfairness of the fake media. My bet is that it will come between Mr. Speaker and Mr. Vice President.
In other words, look for the same warmed-over campaign speech Trump has offered up time and again since the election.
It will be interesting to see whether hell talk about the next chapter in his administration, if in fact there is a next chapter beyond signing executive orders.
It also will be interesting to see what, if anything, he has to say about health care, given the blowback that Republicans have been getting over their repeal and retreat approach to Obamacare.
And we probably shouldnt rule out surprises. If nothing else, Trump is a showman. His first month-plus has resembled a season of The Apprentice. But hits can get stale quickly without new material to keep the audience entertained, and President Donalds act is already getting more than a bit repetitive.
Ill be tuning in to see whether any Democrats pull a stunt along the lines of GOP Rep. Joe Wilsons You lie! shout-out during an address by President Barack Obama in 2009.
If you miss the speech, dont worry. You can always catch the replay on Saturday Night Live.
The Democratic state Senate leaderships decision to have GOP Sen. Janet Nguyen dragged from the chambers for her attempt to criticize the late Tom Hayden was one of the dumbest moves Ive seen in a long, long time.
The Democrats knew the day before Nguyen tried to give her speech Thursday that she was going to go after Hayden for his opposition to the Vietnam War, and that she would technically be out of order. So its not like they didnt have time to figure out what to do about it, if anything.
The smart answer would have been to let her speak. That way they might have picked up a friend on the Republican side rather than a confirmed enemy, which is what they have now.
So, lets review. What should have been a three-minute speech that attracted zero media attention has turned into a national story. In the process, the Democrats managed to elevate an all-but-unknown Orange County Republican into a household name in California and beyond, cementing her re-election and probably turning her into a candidate for statewide office.
I had a meeting with acting San Francisco schools Superintendent Myong Leigh the other day to see what I could do to help the Willie L. Brown Middle School.
The guy is really impressive. He comes with a strong background in school finances.
I suspect that if he was asked by the school board, Leigh would probably reluctantly take the job full time. But hes got to be the least political guy Ive come across in the upper echelons of city (or school) government.
We spent an hour talking about this and that, and not once did he try to pick my brain for who he should curry favor with.
Movie time: John Wick: Chapter 2. There is no story, no acting and no reason to go see this new installment, starring Keanu Reeves as a professional assassin. Its like they took all the outtakes from the first movie and strung them together. They ought to give everybody their money back as they leave the theater.
I Am Not Your Negro. This documentary on the life of author James Baldwin is the best black history movie Ive seen in years. Its centered around Baldwin and the lives and deaths of the three Ms of the civil rights movement, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
Great narration by Samuel L. Jackson. By the end, you realize that although the action takes place in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, the stories would be just as real today.
And now, the envelope please for the annual Oscar picks.
Best movie: Should be Hidden Figures, but it will be La La Land.
Best actor: Should be Denzel Washington for Fences, but will be Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea.
Best actress: Emma Stone for La La Land.
Best supporting actress: Viola Davis should and will win for Fences.
Best supporting actor: Mahershala Ali will win for Moonlight.
As the nation basks in some of the warmest February weather it has seen in decades, the U.S. Geological Survey is being quick to point out that the early spring conditions are just another symptom of climate change.
The USGS shared a new analysis just released by the USA-National Phenology Network, which the agency helps to fund, showing that an early spring has already swept through the Southeast and is continuing to work its way across the country. As the agency points out, the analysis reaffirms a fact scientists have known for at least a decade now that climate change is variably advancing the onset of spring across the United States.
The analysis relies on a special spring index, which defines the start of spring as the point when temperatures allow for certain early-season events in plants, such as the emergence of leaves and blooms. The index was created using data thats been collected for a citizen science project over the past few decades, according to Jake Weltzin, executive director of the USA-National Phenology Network and an ecologist with the USGS, which helped fund the project.
Since the 1950s, volunteers have been collecting information about the leafing and blooming of certain plants, such as lilacs and honeysuckle, Weltzin said. More recently, climatologist Mark Schwartz of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee used this information to develop an algorithm that can now be used with national temperature data to determine where and when spring has arrived across the country.
By comparing this years temperatures with data from previous years, the scientists are able to determine which locations are seeing an unusually early spring compared to the average. Washington, D.C., for instance, saw its spring arrive a whopping 22 days early, according to the analysis.
In general, the new season has already made its appearance throughout most of the Southeast and as far north as southern Illinois and Indiana. Its now starting to show up scattered locations across the Western states, including in parts of Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, and has even begun to creep into California.
The findings are all just another way of pointing to the progression of climate change, Weltzin noted. He also noted that, while the balmy conditions may seem nice on the surface, an early spring can come with all kinds of downsides. For one thing, the onset of warm weather is also associated with the reemergence of disease-carrying parasites and insects.
There are other indicators of the long-term climatic changes that are happening in the U.S., Weltzin noted. But the onset of spring remains one of the more dramatic red flags.
Chelsea Harvey is a Washington Post writer.
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.
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.
Sunday
Volunteer workshop: Hosted by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, on how to shape the 2018 election, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the 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.
Derek Dammann / Getty Image
A person trespassing on railroad tracks in Richmond was struck and killed by an Amtrak train Friday evening, officials said.
Amtrak Train 542 hit the trespasser near the 1700 Nevin Avenue station about 6 p.m., said Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman. The persons name was not released.
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The Grammys may have snubbed Beyonce for Album of the Year, but the pop icon is getting rightful credit in the world of academia.
Next quarter, the ethnic studies department at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo will offer a class all about Beyonce and its for credit, the Mustang News reported.
Each week, the class will use Beyonce's work to explore three themes: women of color feminism, anti-black racism, and police brutality.
Beyonce fan and assistant professor Jenell Navarro will teach the class, which is being offered as an elective for four units.
Navarro curated the syllabus along the lines of emotions in Beyonce's "Lemonade" album, such as accountability, freedom, redemption, and hope.
Besides looking closely at the poetry and visuals of the album, Navarro said the students will compare Beyonces work to classic feminist texts such as Audre Lordes The Uses of Anger and Sojourner Truths Aint I a Woman. These two seminal writings will be considered alongside Beyonce songs, Dont Hurt Yourself and Diva.
Every week, there will be assigned listening off of one of Beyonces six albums or her earlier work with Destinys Child.
In lieu of a final exam, students will put on Cal Poly Bey Day. At the conference, students and faculty will present on Beyonces work, dance troupes will perform, and Lemonade will be screened.
Importantly, Bey Day will also host an altar dedicated to some of the women of color lost to police violence to memorialize some of our missing sisters.
Although Navarro said she was uncertain how students would react to the class, she said it filled almost instantly after registration opened two days ago.
The class has not been approved as a standalone class, but Navarro says she will continue advocating for it and plans to teach it yearly.
I think well get it, she said, Particularly because weve had such great student interest.
Navarro says the class comes at an important time for many women of color on the campus.
Since Trumps election, we havent had a lot of good news, she said. But when we found out Beyonce was pregnant, it was like, finally! We feel like we can celebrate alongside her because we know how difficult it is to be a woman of color, a mother of color, and a politically conscious one at that.
Following Beyonces announcement, the syllabus received some minor tweaking to include the study of black motherhood, and what it means to be a revolutionary mother. Navarro has two children of her own, and she cites her 5-year-old as an even bigger Beyonce fan than she is.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is whats known as a predominantly white institution (PWI), with about 65 percent of the population identifying as Caucasian.
We have to start looking like the state we serve, said Navarro of the university. We are not content being a PWI, and one that often does not foster a welcoming climate for under-represented students.
Navarro says the level of excitement from students on campus, specifically students of color, has been inspiring.
If youre in your early twenties and youre a young person of color whos politically conscious, Beyonce is on your mind, said Navarro. I hope it gives these students an opportunity to feel more represented on this campus.
Read Michelle Robertsons latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.
By Press Trust of India: Kolkata, Feb 26 (PTI) Countrys leading interior infrastructure maker Century Plyboards India is ready with an alternate strategy for the Laos crisis that banned export of raw wood and veneer since over a year.
"We have installed a plywood unit in Laos and in the next fiscal (FY18) it will produce and export plywood worth around Rs 120 crore. With this, the subsidiary will turn profitable," Century Ply chairman Sajjan Bhajanka said in an interview.
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"We are still lobbying with Laos government to allow export of veneer - at least conditional - from Laos which could add another Rs 100 crore to the subsidiary with higher production levels," he said.
Century Ply Laos Co. Ltd is a step down subsidiary of Century Ply (Singapore) Pte Ltd with 90 per cent holding carrying out all investments in the small Asian country rich in wood stock.
Century Plyboards holds 51 per cent in the Singapore subsidiary formed with a Laos based partner. Total investment in and through Singapore subsidiary is around Rs 80-90 crore.
Along with the plyboard unit, the Laos company has two more veneer units under its direct control and two other units for exclusive outsourcing arrangements.
Bhajanka said, till this fiscal the company had managed to import veneer sourced from partners having existing quota to feed Indian units.
On the Myanmar subsidiary of Century Plyboards, Bhajanka said, the situation is set to improve as the export ban issue is settling down and fresh cutting will take place, but, by the time stock comes, it will be 2017 end.
Laos and Myanmar bases are mainly focussed towards sourcing raw materials. PTI BSM NN SBN
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In a show of solidarity with transgender youth, San Francisco City Hall has been lit in the colors of the transgender flag since Friday night.
The pink, white, and blue lighting follows President Trump's revoking of a guidance that protects trans students in federally funded public schools.
TASOS KATOPODIS/AFP/Getty Images
WASHINGTON FBI Director James Comey is again in a familiar spot these days the middle of political tumult.
As a high-ranking Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration, he clashed with the White House over a secret surveillance program. Years later as head of the FBI, he incurred the ire of Hillary Clinton supporters for public statements on an investigation into her emails. Now, Comey is facing new political pressure as White House officials are encouraging him to follow their lead by publicly recounting private FBI conversations in an attempt to dispute reports about connections between the Trump administration and Russia.
SANTA MONICA Sunday might be dominated by La La Land, but Saturday belonged to Moonlight.
Barry Jenkins luminous coming-of-age tale swept Saturdays Film Independent Spirit Awards, taking home six awards including best feature. Moonlight won every award it was nominated for at the 32nd annual indie awards, the dressed-down, beachside ceremony held the day before the Academy Awards.
Moonlight won for its directing, screenplay, cinematography and editing. It was also honored for its ensemble cast in the Spirit Awards Robert Altman Award. Backstage, Jenkins said its tale of a poor, young, black kid in Miami stood in stark contrast to President Trumps administration.
I think Moonlight exists as a beacon of inclusivity, said Jenkins, flanked by his African American cast and producers.
The afternoon ceremony frequently had a strong political tenor. Casey Affleck, who won best actor for Manchester by the Sea, wore a shirt with the word love in Arabic.
The policies of this administration are abhorrent and will not last, said Affleck, accepting his award. Backstage, he spoke about the torrent of terrifying news that comes out of Washington every day.
Some Oscar contenders were missing their presumed rivals at the Spirit Awards, which nominated only films made for $20 million or less (and thus disqualifying Academy Awards favorite La La Land). But if Moonlight, nominated for eight Oscars including best picture, is to pull off the upset Sunday, it has some history on its side. The last three Spirit Awards best-feature winners Spotlight, Birdman, 12 Years a Slave all went on to win best picture at the Oscars.
Host Nick Kroll and John Mulaney maintained an irreverent tone through a ceremony often punctuated by belly laughs. In their opening monologue, Kroll mockingly defended the common charge of liberal elitism often thrown at Hollywood events like the Spirits.
Were not in a bubble. Were in a tent, said Kroll, referring to the Spirits Santa Monica home. Were fringe artists on a California beach. If we leaned any further to the left, wed topple into the ocean.
Best actress went to Isabelle Huppert, the French actress of Elle, who bested Natalie Portman and Annette Bening. Just as Affleck wasnt up against Oscar favorite Denzel Washington in best actor, the best actress category was missing Emma Stone of La La Land.
Molly Shannon, the former Saturday Night Live cast member, was visibly overjoyed by winning best supporting actress for her performance in Other People. She concluded her speech by exclaiming, I really truly feel like a ... SUPERSTAR! aping her old SNL character.
Jake Coyle is an Associated Press writer.
1 Sewage spill: Officials in Southern California are crying foul after more than 140 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Tijuana River in Mexico and flowed north of the border for more than two weeks. The spill was caused Feb. 2 during pipe maintenance and wasnt contained until Thursday, the International Boundary and Water Commission said in a report released Friday. Serge Dedina, the mayor of Imperial Beach (San Diego County), said residents of his city and other coastal communities north of the border have complained about a growing stench. Dedina criticized federal officials in the U.S. and Mexico for not alerting people to the spill.
2 Officer-involved shooting: A gunman died Saturday during a shootout with central Florida police officers. Casselberry Police Chief Larry Krantz said James Lee Parran, 65, called officers to say he had battered his wife. When four officers arrived, Parran came out of his house firing a shotgun. The officers returned fire and Parran went back inside. He was later found dead. Krantz said it is unclear if the officers shot Parran or if he killed himself. Two officers were treated at a hospital for pellet wounds and released.
WASHINGTON A Department of Homeland Security report assessing the terrorist threat posed by people from the seven countries covered by President Trumps travel ban casts doubt on the necessity of the executive order, concluding that citizenship is an unreliable threat indicator and that people from the seven countries have rarely been implicated in U.S.-based terrorism.
The document first reported by the Associated Press and later confirmed to the Washington Post relies on public materials, and a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman said it was clear on its face that it is an incomplete product. Still, it could prove another hurdle in the administrations effort to restore the travel ban, undermining the White Houses argument that the measure is necessary for national security reasons.
The report was prepared at the request of the acting secretary for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis and does not represent the official position of the Department of Homeland Security.
Gillian Christensen, a Homeland Security spokeswoman, said in a statement that it had not been subject to the extensive interagency review process required of finished intelligence products and did not include data from other intelligence community sources.
The report is three pages long and does not address head-on whether the temporary ban on people entering the United States from Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Libya is an effective measure. But it asserts that citizens from those countries are rarely implicated in U.S.-based terrorism, and citizenship itself is an unreliable indicator of terrorist threat to the United States.
Based on an analysis of Justice Department press releases, it says of 82 people who died in the pursuit of or were convicted of any terrorism-related federal offense, more than half were U.S.-born citizens.
The report referenced eight people from Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Sudan and Yemen who it said were convicted of or died in pursuit of terrorism. It said none had done so from Syria and did not specifically mention Libya. It also excluded those merely traveling or attempting to travel to join a foreign terrorist organization.
The report also concludes that while terror groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen pose a threat of attacks in the United States, the other four countries are regionally focused. That conclusion is based on another, non-classified report.
Trump has said he plans to re-write his executive order which courts have ordered frozen and a White House official has said the new version is expected this week. Those suing over the matter said the original order represents an unconstitutional targeting of Muslims, disguised as a national security measure.
Matt Zapotosky is a Washington Post writer.
Democratic senators are protesting the Trump Organizations 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 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.
Chennai police on Sunday impounded multiple supercars, including a Ferrari, a Porsche and an Audi, on East Coast Road near Akkarai.
By Pramod Madhav: Chennai police on Sunday impounded multiple supercars, including a Ferrari, a Porsche and an Audi, on East Coast Road near Akkarai after a bitter spat with uncooperative drivers.
East Coast Road is a stretch that runs from Chennai North to Karaikal through Mahabalipuram, Puducherry and is considered as a scenic route. It runs along the coast, and doesn't see a lot of traffic.
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The road is a haven for weekend riders who team up for short trips to Mahabalipuram or Puducherry. For many years, ECR has also witnessed a large number of accidents caused by illegal racing.
Acting on complaints from residents, police installed check posts and road check points to keep 'over-enthusiastic' drivers at bay.
On Sunday morning, during a routine check, police complained that a line of supercars flouted their warning to stop, and sped away. The drivers were caught at the next checkpost near Uthandi.
A Ferrari 480 Spyder, a BMW X6, a Porsche Carrera 911, an Audi TT8, a Land Rover Discovery, a Lamborghini Gallardo and a Lamborghini Aventador, were among the cars that were impounded by police.
A spat reportedly began when one of the police officers accused a driver of not stopping his car, and running over his foot. The driver denied the allegation.
As well, the other drivers didn't show the vehicles' registration papers, and that irked the police. They refused to allow anyone else to drive the vehicle, saying special training was required to drive them.
Police made the vehicle owners and the vehicles waited near Uthandi for many hours, giving a visual treat to anyone passing by.
As the crowd grew, the vehicles were moved to Kanagaraj police station limits.
Police claimed the drivers' unruly, uncoorperative behavior of the drivers had delayed the release of the vehicles.
The total cost of the supercars impounded is estimated to be as high as Rs 30 crore.
WATCH VIDEO: Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini impounded: Cops crack down on Chennai's speeding super brats
READ ALSO: President Donald Trump's former Ferrari F430 to go under the hammer
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Texas Tribune has reported that Barbara Pierce Bush is set to be the keynote speaker at a North Texas Planned Parenthood fundraising luncheon next week.
While fundraisers like this are held throughout the year in Dallas, Austin, and Waco, the announcement of Bush headlining the event in this political climate comes as a shock to many, as her stance on social issues differ significantly from her father, former President George W. Bush. The event will take place in Fort Worth, Texas, and raises money for the organization to continue providing reproductive health services throughout greater Texas.
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma
Beijing, Feb 26 (PTI) Chinese police have detained 24 people after a major fire broke out at a multi-storey luxurious hotel in Nanchang, capital of eastern Jiangxi Province, state-media reported today.
Twenty-four people, including hotel shareholders, the contractor of the project and workers, have been taken into police custody, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
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The condition of the three people who were among the nine injured in the deadly fire yesterday was stated to be serious, the report said.
Those killed in the fire at HNA Platinum Mix Hotel in the Honggutan New District, included three hotel guests and seven construction workers, the city government said.
A preliminary investigation found the blaze was caused by welding and cutting which violated safety rules.
Over 260 residents of a 24-storey apartment building connected to the hotel were also evacuated yesterday.
This is the second major fire accident in China this month. Eighteen people were killed after a foot massage parlour caught fire in the eastern province of Zhejiang on February 5. PTI KJV AJR
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A driver was fatally shot Saturday night on Highway 4 in Antioch, California Highway Patrol officials said.
The victim, who was not identified, was behind the wheel of a Toyota Solara when an assailant opened fire shortly after 9 p.m. just west of Hillcrest Avenue, the CHP said.
Officers and paramedics found the victim dead in the Toyota at the Hillcrest Avenue off-ramp.
No suspect was identified or arrested in the slaying.
Anyone with information about the killing is asked to call CHP investigators at (800) 835-5247.
Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Feb 26 (PTI) Amid the controversy over an Army jawan describing the menial duties a Sahayak is entrusted with by the Army officers and their families, comes the tale of a senior Army officer flying all the way from Canada to attend a wedding in his Sahayaks family.
For Col G S Ghuman, all it took was a call from his former buddy - as Sahayaks are known in the Army - inviting him to attend his sons wedding.
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Havildar Balagowda Raigowda Patil worked as the Colonels buddy for almost two decades, before the two retired from the Army around 10 years ago.
"He (Patil) is family. How could I say no? I had to attend his sons wedding. So here I am, in India," Col Ghuman told PTI.
The feeling was reciprocated by Patil, who said, "Saabs (Col Ghuman) mother treated me like her fourth son. Saab also never treated me as a junior but like a brother."
"I was with saab since the IPKF days in Sri Lanka. I never felt humiliated as a buddy," Patil, who retired in 2006, said.
Col Ghuman retired the next year. Both were in the 25 Madras Regiment, where Patils son, who got married recently, is posted as an Army jawan.
The wedding took place at Patils native place, around 50 kms from Belgaum.
Col Ghuman also used this trip to reconnect with former jawans in his unit, and travelled to places like Mangalore, Kochi and Hyderabad to meet them and their families, before flying back to Canada.
Col Ghumans gesture comes amid reports that the Army is contemplating withdrawing combat soldiers working as Sahayaks from peace stations across the country and post them back to their field formations.
Called by various names like orderly and batman, the sahayak/buddy has been, and remains, an intrinsic part of an Army officers life.
"A buddy forms a strong relationship with his officer that remains even after retirement. A wrong idea is being put across that combat manpower is being misused for the benefits of officers and their families," he said.
Last month, after Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh posted a video complaining about the Sahayak system, the Army has stipulated that buddies should not to be detailed for looking after pets, toddlers and children and also should not be assigned for washing the private vehicles of officers. PTI VT ARS PTP
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By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) Questioning claims of corporate hospitals that imported stents are better, a group of doctors today alleged these hospitals have formed a "grand alliance" to subvert the Centres recent decision to cap prices of lifesaving stents.
Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Healthcare (ADEH) said the decision by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to cap the prices of lifesaving stents will hit the profits of these hospitals which were absolutely "unethical and criminal".
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ADEH also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that the decision is implemented without any obstacles by such people and the compliance is ensured, saying if foreign companies are refusing to supply the stents to Indian hospitals, then there is a need to give full support to Indian companies to increase their production.
"ADEH questions the claims of the corporate hospitals that the imported stents were in anyway better than the ones manufactured in India.
"The corporate hospitals seem to have formed a grand alliance to subvert the revolutionary decision of the NPPA to cap the prices of life saving stents as it will hit their profits which were absolutely unethical and criminal and are doing medical corruption," G S Grewal and Arun Mitra of the core committee of the ADEH said.
Thegovernment recently had slashed prices of stents by up to 85 per cent by capping them at Rs 7,260 for bare metal ones and Rs 29,600 for the drug-eluting variety.
ADEH said that it was after a long drawn struggle that such an order has come into force after advocate Birender Sangwan had filed a PIL in court that the hospitals have been charging exorbitantly, sometimes over 1,000 per cent on the price of stents.
The court passed an order in 2015 asking the government to cap their prices but the government not only slept over this but even thought of dissolving the NPPA, they said.
Thereafter an appeal was filed in the court for action against the government for not complying with the order as a result of which to avoid the contempt notice by the court the government asked the NPPA to cap the prices before March 1, 2017.
"There was no scientific evidence or paper presented anywhere which proves the claims that the imported stents were better than those manufactured in India.
The "bogey of imported stents" was being created by the corporate hospitals and some cardiologists only to mislead, misguide and confuse the common people and the government in the country.
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"The corporate hospitals which were running the medical profession for purely commercial interests were trying to subvert this decision. It is pertinent to note here that the Indian stents have got approval from the US FDA which means that they are at par with other stents and can be sold even in the USA," the body said. MORE PTI TDS KUN
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Deepika Padukone said that she understands comparisons with Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Sonakshi Sinha, who entered the industry around the same time as her, but pitting her against Priyanka Chopra was bizarre.
By India Today Web Desk: Ever since Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra set off to make their mark in Hollywood, they have been pitted against each other. From television show appearances to red carpet looks, Deepika and Priyanka have constantly been compared to each other. Ask Deepika about it, and she finds it "bizarre."
DNA reports that when the actor was asked at a recent event about comparisons with India's other export to Hollywood, she said, "At a personal level, I know Priyanka very well for any sort of comparisons. It feels weird on being compared to her because our worlds are totally distinct. What she wants to achieve and what she is working towards is different from what I am doing. Her demands and requirements are completely different from mine. These comparisons are so bizarre."
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Deepika added, "I can still understand comparisons with Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma or Sonakshi Sinha or someone who entered the industry at the same time as I did, but I can't seem to wrap my head around comparisons with Priyanka."
Deepika made her Hollywood debut with Vin Diesel-starrer xXx: Return Of Xander Cage which released last month, while Priyanka's debut Baywatch will release in May this year.
ALSO READ | Deepika snatches Sexiest Asian Woman title from Priyanka: A look at their cold war
ALSO READ | Deepika on cold war with Priyanka: I was in school when she won Miss World!
ALSO READ | Deepika says Aishwarya, NOT JUST Priyanka put India on the global map
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Polling is underway for the election of members on the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. The DSGPC manages nine places of worship, 18 schools and six colleges in Delhi and is considered a powerful Sikh body in the national capital.
By India Today Web Desk: About 3.75 lakh Sikh voters are voting today to elect new members of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGPC).
The DSGPC manages nine places of worship, 18 schools and six colleges in Delhi and is considered a powerful Sikh body in the national capital.
A keen contest is expected between Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi (SADD) and Shiromani Akali Dal Badal (SADB) in the election. SADD president Paramjit Singh Sarna and SADB chief Manjinder Singh Sirsa are in direct contest at West Punjabi Bagh seat.
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Manjinder Singh Sirsa is the general secretary of the outgoing management committee.
DELHI SGPC: THINGS TO KNOW The DSGPC represents roughly eight lakh Sikhs living in New Delhi. The committee is headquartered at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in New Delhi. The DSGPC manages nine historical Gurudwaras in Delhi including those at Rakab Ganj Sahib, Bangla Sahib and Sis Ganj Sahib. The DSGPC has an annual budget of over Rs 100 crore to manage the institutions including colleges and schools. The elections are being held to elect 46 of the 51 committee members. The rest five are nominated by different bodies. One member is nominated by the Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee- the umbrella body. Two others are co-opted and the rest two are nominated by Singh Sabhas of Delhi. The elections are conducted and managed by the Directorate of Gurudwara Elections, which functions under the direction of the Delhi government as the provisions of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Act, 1971. The elected members remain in their office for four years before fresh polls are held. Only those Sikhs, who have not cut their hair and follow the religious code of conduct in disciplined manner including observance to the five tenets, are eligible to vote in the DSGPC election. Till now, the elections were bipolar with SADD and SADB engaging in direct fight. But, this time the AAP supported Panthic Sewa Dal (PSD) is also in the fray and is expected to have a bearing on the election. The PSD was formed by AAP MLA Avtar Singh last year. The candidate contesting the DSGPC election must have completed 25 years of age, be an amritdhari (one who does not cut hair) Sikh, not take alcoholic drinks and be able to read and write Gurumukhi script. A total of 335 candidates including 184 independents are standing in the DSGPC election. About 560 polling booths have been created for casting votes.
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By Press Trust of India: Bengaluru, Feb 26 (PTI) A large number of people, including parents, today staged a peaceful demonstration near HAL police station here against incidents of sexual assault on children and demanded quick action by authorities in such cases.
Few police personnel also joined them as a mark of solidarity.
The demonstration was held in the wake of the alleged sexual assault on a three-year-old girl by a non-teaching staff member of a preschool here on February 17.
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Several people, mostly parents and children, dressed in black turned out at a ground here with placards as a mark of protest.
"We wanted to make our voice be heard, thats the reason we are demonstrating. Authorities have said they are with us. We hope that some action is taken soon," said a parent.
Additional Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru East, Hemant Nimbalkar said police joined hands for cause of the child safety along with the parents and civil society.
"Assured strict action against accused," he tweeted.
The man, who worked as a supervisor at the school, was arrested on February 18 and a case was registered under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) against him following a complaint from the parents of the girl.
Additional cases were filed against him on February 23 by the police as more parents came forward to report similar incidents of sexual assault by him on their children.
Police have also also booked the school management under the POCSO for failure to report the offence.
Parents alleged that the principal and the management members did not initiate action against the accused and tried to defend him initially.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in a series of tweets yesterday said the guilty will not be spared.
"Have asked Police Commissioner to diligently investigate the play school child abuse cases. The guilty will not be spared," he said.
"Education & Women & Child Dev Depts must ensure strict implementation of Child Protection Policy in schools. Time for a public info campaign (sic)," he said in another tweet.
Earlier, parents had also met city Police Chief Praveen Sood and requested for speedy investigation and stringent punishment for the accused. PTI KSU RC AQS
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SACRAMENTO Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, rejected calls from his fellow Republican for a special prosecutor to investigate purported ties between Russia and members of President Trumps administration and campaign.
Earlier Saturday, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista (San Diego County), the former House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chair, said it would be inappropriate for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was involved with the Trump campaign and is a Trump appointee, to investigate the matter. Nunes was a member of Trumps transition team and held a fundraiser for him in California during the campaign.
But after addressing the California Republican Party convention Saturday, Nunes rebuffed Issas idea, telling reporters: At this point we cant go on a witch hunt against any American people ... just because they appeared in a news story.
Right now theres no evidence of anything. Until this gets to a point that gets serious where theres somebody that you know has had some affiliation with the Russian government of some kind but right now that doesnt exist. And so, and I hate to use this, but its a lot like a fake news story. It wont go away.
Nunes said the intelligence committee is investigating the matter, but I have to have some evidence that some American actually had contact with Russians. And I dont have that now. This is almost like McCarthyism revisited.
On other matters:
Nunes disagreed with new National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, who recently told his staff that using the term radical Islamic terrorism is not helpful in fighting terrorism. Trump repeatedly mocked President Barack Obama and Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton for refusing to use the term for fear it would further radicalize people against the U.S.
Nunes said he wants to understand what (McMaster) meant by that. Good people can disagree. But I do think it is important to call terrorists what they are. And if you try to weasel around or use weasel words around it, its more dangerous.
Nunes also rejected a story by the Washington Post that said that the Trump administration asked several members of Congress and the intelligence community to reach out to news organizations to challenge the accuracy of reports on ties between the administration and Russia.
The story expressed concern about whether Nunes and others could perform their oversight roles if they were making calls on behalf of the administration.
I was the one to actually call the White House several times to try to get them to do something about these leaks, Nunes said. This is very dangerous to national security. You cannot let transcripts of the president of the United States leak out.
Is that coordinating? Nunes said. Some massive coordination is pretty far fetched.
Its not true, he said. It didnt happen.
Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
For shoppers seeking the ease of e-commerce, the feel of a designer showroom and the instant gratification of brick and mortar, the Mission Districts new Reformation boutique could be the answer.
Founded as an e-commerce site in 2009 by Yael Aflalo, the ethical fast-fashion label, known for its It Girl following, is hoping San Francisco will be the ideal laboratory for its first tech-enabled store.
All high-volume clothing stores have very low-end experiences, said Aflalo, 40, who manufactures most of the brands sustainable and notably fashionable womenswear out of the companys own factory in downtown Los Angeles. Here, youll have all the ease of online shopping, but with the added bonus of being able to try it on and take it home with you.
A departure from its three other stores (one in Los Angeles and two in New York), Reformations tech-centric Mission locale aims to eliminate the frustrations of the physical shopping experience, from hovering salespeople and disorganized inventory to dirty dressing rooms with unflattering lighting.
The sleek 2,000-square-foot space finds that sweet spot between high-end retail and fast fashion. Instead of cramming the sales floor with inventory, Aflalo applied the streamlined Apple retail approach: individual samples of the brands best-sellers hang on well-spaced white hangers made from recycled materials; all other stock remains hidden in the back.
Other e-commerce turned brick-and-mortar businesses that were early adopters of the Apple model include menswear brand Bonobos, eyeglass purveyor Warby Parker and San Francisco-based Everlane, which sells mens and womens basics.
Reformation prices range from $28 for an oversize white T shirt and $40 for a color-block basket handbag to $198 for a cropped, navy faux fur jacket.
Because the brand manufactures limited-edition runs and doesnt follow the standard seasonal fashion cycle, new stock hits the sales floor every week, Aflalo said.
Myles Pettengill
The minimalist store design by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson features six touch-screen monitors mounted on white walls, polished cement floors, modern white furniture and a rammed earth feature wall sustainably made from compressed dirt, a design by Rammed Earth Works in Napa, that separates the front showroom from the back dressing area.
A visit prior to the stores scheduled Feb. 27 opening revealed some technical glitches still being ironed out, but the process is supposed to happen something like this:
While in the showroom, customers browse and select items to be sent to their dressing room from any of the touch-screen monitors, a concierge calls the customers name once the room is ready, and the selections magically appear in an armoire that is pre-loaded from the back.
Similar in concept to the dressing rooms rolled out in 2014 at the Rebecca Minkoff boutique on Fillmore Street, the smart dressing rooms feature a menu of dimmer buttons for customized lighting (basic; cool; golden and sexy time), wired speakers for listening to mobile playlists, and an in-room touch-screen monitor for ordering additional sizes or items, or for making a purchase, at which point an actual salesperson comes to the room with an iPhone to ring up the sale.
Aflalo said shes hoping the features will bring a more personalized, high-end retail experience to mass market. Information collected from shoppers using the stores technology will also help the company cater to customer preferences and improve inventory and designs.
If all goes well, she said, the Bay Area store will serve as a template for future Reformation boutiques.
Coming from an e-commerce background, its all about the one-click checkout and making it super easy, said Aflalo, who targeted San Francisco for its latest store opening because it is the brands third-largest online market. In stores, youre left wondering Is anyone out there? Do you have another size? You poke your head out, see no one, get frustrated and say, Im out of here! It really shouldnt be that hard.
Nerissa Pacio Itchon is a Peninsula freelance writer. Email: style@sfchronicle.com
Shop 914 Valencia St., S.F. (415) 877-3720. www.thereformation.com.
The brainchild of Julia Child and Robert and Margrit Mondavi that helped revitalize downtown Napa 16 years ago has just experienced its own resurrection. Closed since 2008, the former Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts officially reopened last weekend with a new name, the CIA at Copia, and a new commitment to public access.
The name change reflects its current owners, the Culinary Institute of America, which acquired the property in late 2015 with an eye to freeing up space for its academic programs at its Greystone campus in St. Helena. The revived center offers daily cooking and wine-themed classes, a tasting showcase of local wineries that will rotate wineries every three months, a retail shop, and a redesigned, more welcoming restaurant, according to CIA Provost Mark Erickson.
BEIRUT In synchronized attacks, insurgents stormed into heavily guarded security offices in Syrias central city of Homs, clashed with troops and then blew themselves up, killing a senior officer and at least 31 others, state media and officials reported.
The high-profile attacks against the Military Intelligence and State Security offices, among Syrias most powerful, were claimed by an al Qaeda-linked insurgent coalition known as the Levant Liberation Committee. A Syrian lawmaker on a state-affiliated TV station called it a heavy blow to Syrias security apparatuses.
The attacks came as Syrian government and opposition delegates meet in Geneva in U.N.-mediated talks aimed at building momentum toward peace despite low expectations of a breakthrough. The U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura called the attacks tragic.
Every time we had talks or a negotiation, there was always someone who was trying to spoil it. We were expecting that, he said.
Syrias ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar al-Jaafari, who leads Damascus delegation to Geneva, said the attacks were a message from the sponsors of terrorism to the peace talks.
The government responded with an intense air strike campaign against the only neighborhood on the citys outskirts still under opposition control and other parts of rural Homs.
The government regained control of the city of Homs one of the first to rise against President Bashar Assad in 2015. But the al-Waer neighborhood remained in rebel hands. Settlement negotiations to evacuate it have repeatedly faltered.
The attack early Saturday was the most high-profile in a city that has been the scene of repeated suicide attacks since the government regained control. The head of Military Intelligence services Maj. Gen Hassan Daeboul, who was killed in Saturdays attack, had been transferred from the capital of Damascus to Homs last year to address security failures in the city, according to local media reports at the time.
Details emerging of the Saturday attacks reveal coordinated attacks that used a combination of armed assault and suicide attacks to breach the security offices. The governor of Homs Province, Talal Barzani, said three blasts in total killed at least 32 people. He said the attackers were wearing suicide belts.
Sarah El Deeb is an Associated Press writer.
MOSUL, Iraq Two crudely armored pickup trucks cruised along an eastern Mosul highway. A masked Iraqi officer riding shotgun yelled Go! Go! Go! and switched the radio from Iraqi folk music to fast, patriotic battle hymns as the vehicles sped up and weaved through the busy afternoon traffic.
Inside were members of Iraqs National Security Service, or NSS, a secretive intelligence and security unit that reports directly to the prime minister. Using tips from Mosul residents, they are taking the lead in hunting down suspected Islamic State sleeper cells that have managed remain behind as Iraqi forces fight to retake the countrys second largest city.
As Iraqi forces try to advance in Mosuls western half, taking the citys airport and a sprawling military complex, the east an area declared fully liberated from the extremists in January has been rocked by insurgent attacks, including one earlier this month targeting a popular restaurant in which four people were killed and seven wounded.
Iraqi intelligence officials estimate dozens of Islamic State fighters and sympathizers remain in hiding in eastern Mosuls more than 23 square miles of dense urban neighborhoods.
These are people I know, said Col. Hisham, a Mosul native and assistant commander of the Nineveh division of the NSS who led the operation Tuesday.
For example one of my neighbors was a major IS commander. ... But we have to do our job, said Hisham, who gave only his first name because he feared for his familys safety.
During a raid last week, the convoy of trucks swerved onto a side road and turned into an alley, braking suddenly outside its first target: the home of a suspected Islamic State member. Leaping to the ground, the NSS forces secured a perimeter then forced their way into the courtyard of a modest home. They emerged moments later with a tracksuit-clad man in a headlock as a female relative screamed in shock.
Another unit kicked in the metal gate of a second house and pulled out a frightened-looking teen. Both were bundled into the back of one of the pickups, their hands bound.
In the months since Iraqi troops began pushing the militants out of Mosuls eastern half, life has returned to the citys streets. But there are also strong undercurrents of unease. One resident reported a number of Islamic State sympathizers remain in his neighborhood despite the streets being declared cleared by Iraqi security forces. One family who relocated to Irbil, 50 miles east of Mosul, after their neighborhood was retaken by government forces said they were too scared to return after seeing how many Islamic State members remained behind.
We know who they are, one woman said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Susannah George and John Beck are Associated Press writers.
MOSUL, Iraq The Iraqi advance into Mosuls western half slowed Saturday as combat turned to urban warfare and Iraqi forces met stiff resistance from the Islamic State group.
Hundreds of civilians poured out of Mosul on foot following the advances, but the vast majority of 750,000 estimated to still be in the citys west remain trapped, and describe deteriorating humanitarian and security conditions.
Special forces Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi said his troops are moving very slowly and that Islamic State fighters are responding with car bombs, snipers and dozens of armed drones.
The drones have caused relatively few deaths, but have inflicted dozens of light injuries that have disrupted the pace of ground operations.
Similar to the way operations inside eastern Mosul initially unfolded, in west Mosul the militants repeatedly brought Iraqi convoys to a halt Saturday with small teams of one or two men and a handful of car bombs.
Al-Saadi said the Mamun neighborhood was particularly difficult because its streets are not organized in a grid. The roads are random, he said, which makes it more difficult for his men to set up roadblocks to stop car bombs, a difficulty that foreshadows obstacles Iraqi forces expect to face in the narrow alleyways of western Mosuls historic district.
But al-Saadi said he expects the pace to increase after Iraqi forces retake territory and infrastructure on Mosuls southwestern edge which will allow them to shorten supply lines.
Along the road beside al-Saadis base of operations, hundreds of civilians fleeing Mosul walked slowly past, many with sheep, cows and goats in tow. Nearly all of the hundreds who fled Saturday trekked more than three miles from the citys edge to a small village serving as a screening center.
Many of those fleeing said they were from villages outside Mosul and had been forced to march to the city more than four months ago to serve as human shields.
Weve been through terrible times, said Juri Fathi, a mother of six who was forced to live in a school in Mosul for three months. I had to burn my childrens clothing just for warmth.
Fathi held her youngest child a four month old boy in her arms as she spoke. She said he was born in an abandoned home between her hometown of Hamam al-Alil and Mosul as she was being led on the forced march by the Islamic State.
I named him Mussab (or difficult), she said, for these tough days.
Susannah George is an Associated Press writer.
Riding the upswing
Whats new?
Property developer Sunland Group has recently affirmed the company is on track to meet FY17 guidance of $35 million in NPAT. This coincided with the announcement of an on-market share buyback of up to 10 percent of the companys shares, which comes on top of previous buybacks that has seen the number of shares outstanding halve and underpinning an improvement in both earnings and Net Tangible Assets (NTA) per share.
While median house prices have risen to eyewatering levels relative to median incomes in many major cities such as Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland and Vancouver, this is yet to play out in Southeast Queensland. Between 2009 2015 median house prices rose by only 17 percent in Brisbane compared to a 63 percent rise in Sydney. We consider this to not only offer greater room for price appreciation in Queensland property compared to its southern state neighbours, but perhaps more importantly for Sunland is that it also reduces the downside risk in case the property market were to endure a correction.
Approximately 88 percent of Sunlands total FY16 development portfolio is in Queensland, with the bulk of this being in the Gold Coast. Following the GFC property prices in the Gold Coast dropped from 2009 2013 before finding its feet in 2013 2015 and has returned to growth. This should be positive for Sunland group, and we expect that the 2018 Commonwealth games and the growing number of inbound tourists coming to Australia to be supportive of Gold Coast property prices, with some experts predicting double-digit price growth in 2017.
In Brisbane, median house prices are over 70 percent less than in Sydney, while the difference in incomes is only 17 percent. This has been attracting property investors to the region, but while the Brisbane housing market is expected to grow steadily, apartment prices are projected to fall this year due to the number of new developments which is expected to outpace growth in demand.
Tourism in Australia is booming, with annualised tourism exports now $47 billion, overtaking the $41 billion brought in by coal exports. The number of short-term arrivals is now rising at 10 percent a year, whereas the number of people heading overseas has halved to 3 percent. Growth out of China has been particularly impressive, with a record 1.2 million Chinese tourists visiting Australia in 2016.
Airlines are responding by opening up new routes to Asia and the Queensland government is attempting to ride this wave in tourism by investing $90 million in a Queensland tourism campaign. With the Great Barrier Reef, sunshine & beaches and numerous theme and adventure parks on offer, we expect growing inbound tourist numbers to be positive for Queensland real estate and Sunland group.
Outlook
Sunland has recently reaffirmed guidance of $35 million net profit in FY17, an increase of 11 percent on the previous years $31.5 million. Hitting this target will pave the way for a fully franked 10 cent per share dividend (8c in FY16), which is in the mid-range of the groups payout ratio of 40-50 percent of net operating earnings.
Price
Sunland Group is currently trading at a 32 percent discount to NTA on a FY17 PE of 7.8 with a dividend yield of 5.3 percent. Complementing these positive investment fundamentals is Sunland Groups technical set-up, with overhead resistance situated at the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of $1.91. A sustained break above this level would bolster upward momentum and likely clear the path for a broader advance towards the March 2015 high of $2.09.
Worth buying?
Sunland Group recently reaffirmed FY17 guidance of $35 million in NPAT. This coincided with the announcement of an on-market share buyback of up to 10 percent of the companys shares, with previous buybacks seeing the number of shares outstanding halve and underpinning an improvement in both earnings and Net Tangible Assets per share.
We continue to remain favourably disposed to the Queensland property market, where Sunland has the bulk of its portfolio. We see as Queensland property as mid-way through a cyclical recovery, which compares favourably with the arguably overheated Sydney and Melbourne property markets.
James Lennon is a senior analyst at investment research and funds management house Fat Prophets.
Disclosure: Sunland is held with the Fat Prophets Concentrated Australasian Share, and Small & Mid-Cap Models.
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Delegat Group, New Zealands largest listed winemaker, lifted operating profit 17 percent in the first half and is predicting annual profit to be in line with last year.
Profit excluding one-time movements in asset valuations rose to $24.7 million in the six months ended Dec. 31, from $21.1 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Operating earnings before tax rose 22 percent to $41.4 million, on a 6 percent gain in operating revenue to $135.8 million. Global case sales rose 14 percent, with the gain partly offset by unfavourable foreign exchange movements.
Delegat said that the numbers reported under conventional financial reporting standards "do not provide adequate insight into the group's underlying operational performance, primarily due to a number of fair value adjustments that are required to be reported on." Net profit fell to $19.1 million from $21.5 million a year earlier as the company's grapes and derivative financial instruments were written down by $7.7 million, with total writedowns of $5.66 million net of tax.
The company forecast full-year operating profit to be in line with 2016's record $37 million, based on current exchange rates, although it said forex volatility makes it difficult to forecast financial performance.
"The results achieved in the six months to December 2016 are testament to the strength of the group's business model," it said. "Delegat Group is well positioned to pursue its strategic goal to build a leading global super premium wine company. The group is on target to achieve global case sales for the full year of 2,632,000, up 9 percent on last year."
Delegat invested $23 million in the first half, with vineyard development in New Zealand and the Barossa Valley, and development of wineries in Hawke's Bay and Marlborough. It borrowed $10.3 million in the period, taking net debt to $292. million, up 3 percent from June 30, 2016.
The bulk of Delegat's sales still came from its distribution in its New Zealand, Canada, Asia and Pacific segment, with a 4.4 percent lift to $144.2 million in revenue though a 25 percent drop in segment profit to $14.5 million. The Australian segment lifted revenue 13.9 percent to $46.3 million and profit rose to $809,000 from $487,000 a year earlier, while revenues dropped 9.9 percent in Europe to $39.1 million and profit fell 33 percent to $780,000. US revenues rose 3.2 percent to $41.9 million, and profit rose 6.6 percent to $629,000.
The shares last traded at $6.15 and have gained 4.2 percent in the past 12 months.
BusinessDesk.co.nz
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US President Donald Trump announced today that he will not attend the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner.
By Reuters: US President Donald Trump announced today that he will not attend the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner, a high-profile event that draws celebrities, politicians and journalists.
"I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!", Trump wrote on Twitter.
Trump has had a strained relationship with the press, calling journalists "the enemy of the people" and frequently criticizing outlets and individual reporters whose coverage he does not like.
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The annual dinner will be held on April 29 in Washington.
Some news outlets such as Bloomberg News and the New Yorker that typically host lavish after-parties have said they are backing out this year.
On Friday, the White House excluded several major U.S. news organizations, including some it has criticized, from an off-camera briefing held by the White House press secretary.
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, a decision that drew strong protests.
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--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) Delhi University teacher Prasanta Chakravarty, who was was roughed up during the recent North Campus clashes, has been hospitalised due to severe abdominal pain as a result of internal injuries.
"Passed out with shooting abdominal pain, at Fortis Noida emergency," he posted on Facebook.
He said he has been diagnosed with deep bruises and "concealed spasms" on the right kidney and his spine muscles have also suffered serious injuries.
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Chakravarty, an associate professor with DU, said people who assaulted him during the clashes appeared to be "some kind of mercenaries" and not students.
He had alleged the involvement of outsiders in the violence between student groups ABVP and AISA. PTI SBR KUN
--- ENDS ---
Victoria Priola | vpriola@siadvance.com
CONCERT AT HUB 17 IN STAPLETON
As part of the UpTop Sunday Concert Series, Hub 17 in Stapleton features local hip-hop artist William "Starda" Perry on Sunday, Feb. 26.
The show goes from 5 to 7 p.m and admission is free and BYOB (Bring Your Own Beer).
Hub 17 is located at 73 Wave Street. For more information, visit www.onwavestreet.com/events/2017/2/26/uptop-featuring-starda or call 917- 558-5271.
(Photo courtesy of Robert D aley)
Don't Edit
13 more days! SO many talented filmmakers will be in attendance. Will you? #sifs2 #statenislandfilm #nycfilms #rcm #richmondcitymedia Posted by Richmond City Media on Monday, February 13, 2017
FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE IN STAPLETON
Staten Island's Richmond City Media welcomes Staten Island film fanatics to their "Staten Island Filmmakers Showcase" at Edgewater Hall in Stapleton on Sunday, Feb. 26. Starting at 2 p.m, the all night event will feature 14 locally grown films and have networking hours for those in the arts community.
The showcase, spearheaded by the Richmond City Media team, led by Melissa Pellicano, is not only showcasing films made by local talent. The goal is for those outside the Island to see the cinematic beauty that Staten Island can be.
No film experience necessary for this event-- all are welcome to get a taste of the Staten Island arts and film community.
Tickets go for $9, $12 at the door. Edgewater Hall is located at 691 Bay St. For more information, check out Richmond City Media's Facebook page or http://www.richmondcitymedia. com/sifsprogram
Don't Edit
Victoria Priola | vpriola@siadvance.com
HEMLOCK THEATRE PRESENTS: 'DOG SEES GOD'
Hemlock Theatre's production of the acclaimed off-Broadway play "Dog Sees God" on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 1 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $20, $15 for students and seniors. All shows are at The Little Victory Theatre, located at 4089 Victory Blvd. in Travis. For reservations, contact HemlockTheatre@gmail.com.
Don't Edit
Victoria Priola | vpriola@siadvance.com
FILM SCREENING AT TIBETAN MUSEUM
On Sunday, Feb. 26,The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art welcomes Staten Islanders to a screening of "Silent Holy Stones" at the museum.
The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art is located at 338 Lighthouse Avenue. For more information, visit www.tibetanmuseum.org/events-calendar or call 718-987-3500
(Advance file photo)
Stephen Harrison was a proponent for cashless tolling, which he discussed during his run against Congressman Vito Fossella back in 2006.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- While cashless tolling is a new reality for Staten Island motorists, the idea was first floated for the borough more than a decade ago.
One of the first conversations about cashless tolling came up while Stephen Harrison was running for Congress against Vito Fossella back in 2006.
"We were one of the first [places] to talk about it and one of the last to get it," Harrison said a laugh during a recent interview with the Advance.
Harrison said that his idea for cashless tolling was shot down by Staten Islanders, and the conversation was dropped once he lost to Fossella. (Harrison garnered 43 percent of the vote in his loss.)
"People were refusing to look at the technology being offered ... the idea was ignored and refuted by the opposition for no reason other than politics ... I would have been thrilled if they had taken the idea and run with it [after the election]," said the Brooklyn-based lawyer.
The Advance was a proponent, however, urging Islanders to think outside the box in an editorial written a day after the election.
"This city has some of the worst traffic on the planet, and the long commuting times and air pollution that regularly violates federal air-quality standards because of it," the editorial stated. "Officials should be taking a good, long look at the possible solutions to it that new technology offers. Borough and regional elected officials should make that clear to the ever-reluctant MTA that it's time to get into the 21st Century when it comes to the way it collects tolls."
The editorial also mentioned that the technology was being used then on toll roads in Illinois, California, London and Melbourne, Australia.
NOW A REALITY
Flash forward to 2017 and the technology is quickly becoming a reality across the borough. The Bayonne Bridge became the Port Authority's first cashless tolling facility on Monday, and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge expects to go cashless by this summer.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced last year that cashless tolling will be completed on all MTA-operated bridges and tunnels in the New York metropolitan region by the end of 2017.
The transition opens the borough to a world of possibilities when it comes to alleviating congestion, from two-way tolling to variable tolling, Harrison said.
Many say that cashless tolling -- which eliminates toll booths -- could pave the way for two-way tolling.
NO TOLL BOOTHS, NO BACKUP
"It's not the toll, it's the toll booth that caused the backup," Harrison said.
The traffic was the reason then-Congressman Guy Molinari got an amendment into a federal transportation bill to end two-way tolling back in 1986.
"It was a significant achievement ... I recognize everyone wants to honor Molinari's plan. He did a great job, but it's time to build on that," Harrison said.
Rep. Daniel Donovan said recently that he'd like to see more evidence in support of it before changes are made.
"Changing a system that's been in place for 30 years can't happen on a whim or be based on unsubstantiated theories," Donovan said. "Proponents of a two-way toll have said it would decrease traffic. If that's the case, then a conversation should certainly be had. But until I see that data, I'm not going to support any change to the status quo."
Harrison argues that keeping the old system in place out of respect to Molinari's idea is akin to not utilizing new technology because others methods exist.
That's like saying the cell phone "would do a disservice to the honor of Alexander Graham Bell," he said.
Harrison said it's time to think outside the box again about things like variable tolling -- tolls based on the time of day and volume of traffic.
He said variable tolling would help eliminate unnecessary traffic from vehicles -- such as trucks -- that use the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge headed toward Brooklyn because it's free.
"It's time has come," Harrison said. "Cashless tolling gives you the ability to vary the toll at different times to accomplish different things."
NWS Cop of Month
The city's Department of Administrative Services (DCAS) has released its examination schedule for March, which includes the police officer exam. In this photo, Assistant Chief Edward Delatorre, the NYPD borough commander (middle) stands with the Cop of the Month awardees PO Debra Matteo, PO Kyle Erickson, PO James Biagini, PO Salvatore Corulla, PO Darya Keating and PO Juan Baez. December 13, 2016 (Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The city's Department of Administrative Services (DCAS) has released its examination schedule for March.
Open, competitive, computer-based tests will be administered throughout the month for positions such as child protective specialist, environmental police officer, police communications technician, police officer, school safety agent, special officer (NYC Health and Hospitals) and traffic enforcement agent.
The city of New York employs hundreds of thousands of people in its 80 agencies.
Taking a test is the way to get started in the highly competitive hiring process for most of these positions. Application fees range from $40 to $101.
For more information about registering for these and other tests, log on to the DCAS website.
The following is a list of things to know when taking an exam at a DCAS Computer-based Testing and Applications Center (CTAC).
Electronic devices, including cell phones, are not permitted in the testing areas.
Check the Notice of Examination for the test you will be taking to see if calculators are permitted.
If you are requesting a fee waiver, you must provide a copy of acceptable documentation. DCAS staff cannot make copies of your documentation.
Seating is limited. Once the CTAC is filled to capacity, no more candidates will be admitted.
You are encouraged to apply and schedule yourself to take a test earlier in the month since there is generally more seating available at these times.
You may not have any other person, including children, present with you while you are applying for, being processed for, and/or taking a test, and no one may wait for you inside a CTAC.
Testing centers are located at 2 Lafayette St. in Manhattan and 210 Joralemon St. in Brooklyn.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Concerned Staten Islanders gathered in a peaceful protest rally Saturday outside the New Dorp office of Rep. Daniel Donovan, demanding to be heard on health care concerns.
About 100 people gathered at the corner of New Dorp Lane and Edison Street, singing songs, chanting, carrying signs, and waving the American flag, to urge Donovan to meet face to face in a town hall meeting, to hear their concerns about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.
The Republican congressman, who has not had a town hall meeting since he was elected in 2015, has sat down with union officials and individuals, and recently held a teleconference speaking to 14,000 constituents and taking questions from 18 of them on topics including the ACA.
Stapleton resident Lori Honor, a teacher and small business owner, kicked off the rally Saturday by urging protesters to remain peaceful. "Yelling and anger doesn't really solve anything," she said.
"We are here to show our support for the Affordable Care Act," Honor said. "It's not un-American to remind our elected officials that this is what democracy looks like."
The crowd around the congressman's office included seniors, mothers with infants, veterans, students and families. Shoppers along New Dorp Lane paused to join the rally, and drivers going by honked their horns in support.
Ten-year-old Lucy Selzer, who was there with her mom, Ann Marie, carried a hand-made sign reading "C'mon Dan Do the Right Thing."
"I'm here because I know affordable health care helps many of my friends and family. I think it's very rude of him [Donovan], and wrong that he is ignoring us," said Selzer, a student at PS 65, Stapleton.
Some wanted to know more about the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act.
"What's the plan, Dan?" asked Dylan Schwartz. "These actions have consequences for the people you represent." Schwartz said his mother's medical coverage under the Affordable Care Act while she was critically ill prolonged her life.
Max Rose, a North Shore resident and executive with Brightpoint Health, said studies have shown the ACA's focus on preventive care has resulted in fewer costly visits to the emergency room. "We always had access to universal health care; it was called the emergency room," he said. "We can't afford to go backward."
A similar rally took place Saturday outside Donovan's Brooklyn office.
Saturday's health care rally came on the heals of a union-sponsored town hall meeting Thursday night in Stapleton.
Those who attended the meeting, which was sponsored by 1199 SEIU and other community groups, called on 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.
DONOVAN RESPONDS
Donovan spokesman Patrick Ryan said the congressman is not planning a face-to-face town hall meeting any time soon, but that "his door is always open to constituents."
"Every American has the right to express opinions -- it's a healthy component of democracy," Ryan said.
"The reality is," he continued, "that the Affordable Care Act has caused families to lose their doctors, limited health care choices, and caused soaring deductibles and premiums. Some families can't even afford to use their insurance because the deductible is so high.
"Congressman Donovan believes reforms are needed to create a working and stable healthcare system, and he has continually said that he will not pull the rug out from millions of people."
Ryan added that Donovan would "continue to meet with constituents to hear every perspective, especially as he works to put in place real solutions that provide quality and affordable healthcare for every American."
By Press Trust of India: Patna, Feb 26 (PTI) Echoing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars concern for receding water flow in the Ganga and increasing silt deposit due to Farakka barrage causing floods in Bihar every year, experts today advocated "urgent review" and comprehensive study of the barrage to make the river rejuvenated.
Magsaysay award winner Rajendra Singh, also known as Waterman, advocated removal of Farakka barrage and said that "On the basis of what we have discussed so far, we can easily say that Farakka is inauspicious (Ashubh) for Bihar. It is a curse (Abhishap) which needs to be removed. Because unless and untill we remove it, we cannot move forward."
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Singh was addressing an international seminar, organised by Bihars Water Resources Department, on "Incessant Ganga" on the second day.
"We have so far discussed so many aspects such as engineering and technological aspects of Farakka, but there are other aspects such as environmental, cultural, natural, spiritutal that need to be discussed," he said.
Speaking on the occasion, environment expert Himanshu Thakkar advocated urgent need for review of Farakka barrage which, he claimed, had failed to fulfill any of the purpose - irrigation, hydro electric power, water supply - of the barrage for which it was built.
Farakka barrage was built to maintain the navigability of Kolkata port, he added.
Thakkar, who is a coordinator of South Asia Network on Dams, River and People, New Delhi, said "There is a need for urgent review of Farakka barrage which is 42 years old. In the US, review of barrage is conducted in every 20 years, but in our country this practice is not followed." MORE PTI AR PR PR
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WTC memorial
In this 2013 photo, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, left, joined Stephen Knapp Jr., right, and his family as they laid flowers during a ceremony to honor the six people who died 24 years ago in the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 in New York. Knapp's father, Stephen Knapp, of Great Kills, was one of six people killed in the bombing. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.--Among the nearly 3,000 names etched in granite at the 9/11 Memorial, there are six names-- near the North Pool-- of those who died on a different date.
A ceremony to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the first attack on the World Trade Center on Feb. 26, 1993, will take place at noon on Sunday, outside the Freedom Tower at the 9/11 Memorial.
Join us Sun. 2/26/17 as we commemorate the 24th anniversary of the first attack on the #WTC. Ceremony begins at 12 p.m. on the #911Memorial. 9/11 Memorial (@Sept11Memorial) February 25, 2017
The event honored the six people who died in the 1993 attack, when a truck carrying 1,200 pounds of explosives was detonated in the basement parking garage of the North Tower.
Among those killed was Stephen Knapp, 47, of Great Kills. He was a second-generation Port Authority of New York and New Jersey employee who worked as chief maintenance supervisor.
Other victims include Bill Macko, a Bayonne man who also worked for the Port Authority.
More than 1,000 people were injured.
The attack was hatched in Jersey City by Ramzi Yousef, the so-called mastermind, and was partly financed by Yousef's uncle, the "blind sheik" Omar Abdel-Rahman, who also lived and taught at mosques in Jersey City. Six conspirators were eventually convicted of the bombing.
Docent Myrna Weinstein described her recollection of the events.
"I was in my office, getting ready to go for lunch when the building rumbled and shook like a minor earthquake under my feet," said Weinsten. "When I entered the smoke filled crowded stairwell there was confusion about the cause of the smoke. No one believed it was a terrorist attack."
A collage of headlines from that day, along with a message from the then FDNY Commissioner William Feehan were posted Sunday to the NYC EMS Watch Twitter account.
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Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), announces that there will be a complete road closure on February 26 and 27.
The complete road closure will take place on Cannegieter Street in the area of the Cadastre and the intersection Walter J. Nisbeth Road/Percy Labega.
Milling and recapping will be carried out between 8.00pm and 5.00am.
The contractor responsible is Windward Roads.
Ministry VROMI apologizes for any inconveniences this may cause.
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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 drive through customers has to access the drive through 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.
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.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) A major fire broke out today at the Times of India building in central Delhis ITO, the second such incident in two years.
A fire official said the flames were reported at around 4.45 PM and 10 firetenders were rushed to the spot. Later, 22 more tenders were deployed.
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The blaze has now been partially doused and operations are on.
A senior police offcier said the fire started in the server room on the first floor of the five-storey building on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. The people present there managed to get out in time, he said.
"It is suspected that there was some problem in the cooling system and extra heat was generated. It is suspected that it was the trigger for the fire that spread quickly through the first floor," he added.
The extent of the damage has not yet been ascertained.
A major fire had engulfed parts of the buildings top floor in May last year. PTI SLB SBR BSA
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Jats from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh will protest in the national capital as well on March 2 and submit a memorandum on the quota issue to the President.
By Press Trust of India: Jats will organise 'Black Day' in Haryana today as part of their 28-day-old agitation for quota and some other demands even as the state government set up a high-level committee to look into their grievances.
The community members will wear black turbans, caps and ribbons and arm bands to protest the government's policies, said Yashpal Malik, president of the All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) which is spearheading the agitation.
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"From March 1, the protesters will not cooperate with the government. No one will pay power, water bills and instalment of loans that they owe to the government," Malik said.
He said Jats from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh will protest in the national capital on March 2 and submit a memorandum on the quota issue to the President.
ALSO PLAN TO GHERAO PARLIAMENT
They also plan to gherao Parliament, the date for which will be announced on March 2.
Malik said a large number of Jats supported by many other people held peaceful demonstrations at Balla village in Karnal district, Mayyar in Hisar, Jassai in Rohtak, Raswala Chowk in Jhajjar, Ikkas in Jind, Jainpur Jattan in Kurukshetra, Deban in Kaithal and Anaj Mandi in Yamuna Nagar.
Besides seeking quota in education and government jobs under Other Backward Classes category, the demands of the Jats include release of those jailed during last year's agitation, withdrawal of cases slapped during the protest and government jobs for the kin of those killed and injured while taking part in the stir.
SPs DIRECTED TO RESOLVE GRIEVANCES
Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Ram Niwas said on Saturday that a four-member state-level committee comprising ADGP (Law and Order), Additional Advocate General and two representatives of the agitators had been constituted for redressal of grievances of the Jats.
He directed the SPs to resolve the grievances raised by the agitators, and urged the Jat leaders to meet the SP concerned along with evidence, if any.
Action would be taken against those found guilty, irrespective of caste and investigation in such cases would be carried out within 24 hours, he said, adding the Director General of Police has also directed the SPs in this regard.
Ram Niwas said everyone in a democracy has the right to express his opinion in a peaceful manner but any attempt to disturb the law-and-order situation in the state would not be tolerated.
He ordered all deputy commissioners and SPs to deploy adequate police personnel at vulnerable points in view of the Jat agitation and ensure that normal life is not disrupted and all essential services continue uninterrupted in the state.
PARAMILITARY FORCES DEPLOYED
Duty Magistrates should be deployed at all places and videography carried out to ensure that peace is not disturbed, Ram Niwas ordered while addressing DCs, Commissioners of Police and SPs through video-conferencing on Saturday.
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Planning has been done to divert traffic wherever required and adequate paramilitary forces are available in the state, he added. Drones will also monitor situation at all places.
To maintain law and order, Sonipat district magistrate K Makarand Pandurang issued orders to impose ban on all internet services under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code for 24 hours with effect from 5 pm on Saturday till 5 pm today.
The District Magistrate said the ban had been imposed to prevent people from misusing these services to spread wrong information and rumours.
He said all telecom service providers have been directed to strictly abide by these orders.
As many as 30 people were killed and property worth over crores was damaged at many places in Haryana during last year's Jat stir which had turned violent.
Rohtak and some of its neighbouring districts, including Sonipat and Jhajjar, were the worst hit by the violence.
ALSO READ | Haryana: Jat protests enter 22nd day, internet services blocked, ban on liquor sale
Reservation row: Jat leaders from Haryana, UP to resume stir from Jan 29 over unfulfilled demands
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Why Jats are protesting in Haryana: All you need to know
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Good morning Canberra, another Monday is upon us, but at least the weather is nice.
We can expect a high of 27 degrees today with a bit of cloud and a 20% chance of a very small shower. Much of the same in the coming days too.
Now to today's headlines:
"This is the life I live"
Courtney Martin was a vivacious young woman with a smile that could light up the room.
Secondly, asking the question of whether professional care is the best way to go. Dr Abel said while up to 90 per cent of people say they'd like to die at home, in reality in Australia only about 16 per cent do. "We know there are significant numbers of people, particularly outside the cancer setting, who are not being asked about where they want to die, or where would they like to live well until they die, and that's a tremendous problem," he said. The concern is if the person decides to die at home, professional care is often not an option primarily due to the burden and the cost. The cost to the community is greater if a person who doesn't have the right support has to live or die in hospital. An analysis by Medibank Private, the nation's biggest health fund, showed Australians are being admitted to hospital more often and at greater expense than ever before as the population ages and gets sicker.
The age-group driving the bulk of the rise in admissions is 55 years-plus. The compassionate communities approach aims to engage everyone, from friends and family, to neighbours and work colleagues, to help out in one way or another. "There is a huge untapped resource of community support," Dr Abel said. In 2015 when Dr Abel's mother was dying, he rallied the troops. After researching the compassionate communities charter for years, it was time to see it in action, and first hand. Dr Abel describes the discussion with his mother, when she decided not to undergo chemotherapy, of where she wanted to die. Initially when leaving hospital, her wish was to spend time at home before moving to a hospice, so she wouldn't be a burden on the family. But she changed her mind.
"While she was still in hospital, we set up a supportive network. We rang around people and said, 'Look, mum is terminally ill and she's going to come home, let's see what we can do to help'." With the help of an electronic app, which Palliative Care Australia are in the process of creating themselves, the close family, about five people, took control of the hands-on care. "Downstairs, there was a tribe of people doing stuff like shopping, cooking and cleaning," Dr Abel said. "I actually only cooked one meal in that time, in a period of a few weeks." "She was so comfortable and so content [at home], she said 'I think I'd like to die here'."
"It worked so well that there were enough of us to have a shift system at night for the last few days of my mum's life, which meant that my step dad could sleep in another room. He was quite elderly, just having him do the caring you can see how quickly, if there were disturbed nights, that he would lose his own health." Dr Abel described the experience, while in a very sad circumstance, as "life-enhancing" for everyone involved. He said the key message for carers was to say yes. "If someone says, 'I'm really sorry to hear about your illness, is there anything I can do to help', and people say no, they're managing fine, that is the opposite of network building. That is how you collapse networks," Dr Abel said. "By the time somebody has asked three times if they can help they no longer know what to say and cross the street, rather than be caught in that situation again."Even if it's just asking for a litre of milk, when you've already got plenty, Dr Abel said.
When that person comes back with the milk, they might sit down and have a cup of tea. "It helps on so many different levels. Maybe you just talk about how frustrated you are with Donald Trump, or maybe you talk about the hardships of being a carer." Palliative Care Australia CEO Liz Callaghan said the Canberra community was better than other capital cities at rallying around people in need. "We are a very caring community," she said. But the compassionate communities model takes that a step further, by implementing a successful model to get the support networks initiated.
"The infrastructure around the primary health networks is a really good place to start, and in Julian's model in the UK, the GP practises there identified vulnerable populations that they could help network and identify those networks. That's the first step." "I think there are pockets all over the country of small communities coming together and realising they want to do something different," Ms Callaghan said. It all comes back to that cup of tea, Dr Abel said. "The central thing is to sit down and have a cup of tea." "Sitting around, talking over a cup of tea is a way people gather together and share what's happening and how you can support them."
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Feb 26 (PTI) The NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, and Goldman Sachs today selected 15 women entrepreneurs and their ideas for incubation over next year as the final phase of its Women Startup Programme.
This is a Goldman Sachs-backed customised online and classroom training programme designed to grow next generation of female entrepreneurs, Goldman Sachs said in a statement.
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The 15 women selected to incubate (their ideas) at IIMB will receive a fellowship of Rs 40,000 per month, while they further develop their business ideas.
"Since 2008, through our 10,000 women initiatives, Goldman Sachs has been investing globally and in India in the economic empowerment of women through education and access to capital," Goldman Sachs (India) Chairman and co-CEO Sonjoy Chatterjee said.
"The innovative business ideas developed through this mass outreach online and classroom programme reflect the entrepreneurial talent in India and the tremendous potential of women entrepreneurs," he said.
Launched in November 2016, the women startup programme drew more than 1,700 aspiring female entrepreneurs from across the country for a five-week online course focused on encouraging women to identify and test their business ideas.
Afterwards, 50 women entrepreneurs were selected to attend a three-week boot camp at IIMB to enable each to develop a "problem-solution" methodology for comprehending the success and sustainability of their ventures. PTI DSK GK GK SRE
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Three trainee tradies are seriously injuring themselves on Canberra worksites every month, with up to one in seven apprentices lodging compensation claims in some organisations.
While many of the reported injuries were relatively minor, some of the more serious cases included:
Almost every week an apprentices or trainee in the construction injury is injured in the ACT.
nail guns and screws into limbs
timber and metal in eyes
sliced fingers
heads hitting metal brackets
strained backs and twisted ankles.
ACT government data shows in the past three years apprentices have been involved in about 100 incidents serious enough to lead to accepted compensation claims. A government spokeswoman was unable to provide the potentially larger number of lodged claims.
Ahmed Fahour is stepping out the door at Australia Post in July, but it will take another decade for the organisation to deliver his final package.
It will be worth the wait.
The chief postie like the rest of his posties managed to qualify for the defined benefit scheme, which means his super payout is based on his final salary and years of service rather than the more modest defined contribution scheme most of us are familiar with.
You get a lump sum based on a formula that works something like this: final salary multiplied by years of full-time service multiplied by 14.3 per cent.
Bondi, Mosman, Newtown, Ryde and Campbelltown are among the 67 Sydney suburbs that will receive the National Broadband Network by June.
The list of suburbs comes with the launch of a new online tool that will allow Australians to check what sort of NBN technology they will be receiving and when, by conducting a search on their home address.
The "check your address" function launched on the NBN website on Monday and is expected to provide greater clarity on the network's national rollout, which has been plagued by back flips and contradictory messages.
NBN is currently connecting more than 25,000 homes and businesses to the network each week, with the rollout reaching one in three Australian homes and businesses.
Brazil is moving to cast off the last shackles of government influence at iron-ore giant Vale SA -- but not before replacing the chief executive with someone more politically palatable.
Murilo Ferreira's six-year contract won't be renewed when it expires in May, the Rio de Janeiro-based company said in a statement on Friday.
Murilo Ferreira, chief executive officer of Vale SA, is leaving his post. Credit:Michael Nagle
The announcement came days after Vale unveiled a plan to scrap its controlling shareholder pact amid criticism the miner was run like a quasi state company.
While the company didn't say who decided Ferreira's fate, analysts including Upside Investor's Pedro Galdi say politics were involved. He took the CEO job in 2011 as part of a management shakeup driven by then-president Dilma Rousseff.
South African-based brands are the latest wave of offshore retailers eyeing Australia as an expansion market, attracted by its proximity, similar climate, matching seasons and consumer outlook.
Woolworths Holdings led the way with its purchase of David Jones, Mimco, Country Road, Politix and Witchery, and now other brands are following.
This is despite the small and highly competitive Australian retail landscape being notoriously tough and 16 retail brands having hit the wall in the past year.
One of the latest to enter is the Foschini Group (TFG), one of Africa's oldest companies, with 22 retail brands spread across 2700 stores including fashion, footwear, jewellery, cosmetics, telecommunications, homewares and furniture.
Insurance giant QBE has announced a $1 billion share buyback off the back of a bump in profit and a rosier outlook on the global insurance market.
Almost three-quarters of the ASX-listed company's business comes from outside of Australia and intense competition has depressed premiums and hurt earnings in recent years. But chief executive John Neal said on Monday that prices were close to the bottom of the down cycle.
"Global pricing has been pretty challenged for almost seven years now and probably for the first time in a long while we're starting to see a bit of inflation," he said.
"I think insurers are starting to struggle a bit when it comes to achieving margins. So there's just a sense that we're close to the bottom of the cycle and maybe closer to seeing price increasing generally."
When we look at all the crazy behaviour in the United States, we comfort ourselves that it couldn't happen here. Well, last week we took another step in that direction.
Why do blue-collar workers get so alienated and fed up they vote for someone as mad as Donald Trump? It couldn't be because, while America has waxed fat over the past 30 years, their pay has been stagnant in real terms.
How have the top few per cent of US households captured most of the economic growth for three decades?
Three main reasons, which apply in varying degrees to us.
Why is it, despite the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the dedicated efforts of campaigners such as Rosie Batty and rising outrage over a never ending succession of hateful violent crimes, society is not winning the battle against domestic violence? Convicted murderer Marcus Rappel's distasteful performance during his sentencing hearing on Friday, which resulted in him being removed from the court, demonstrated that even after two years in custody as a result of killing his former partner, he is reluctant to accept responsibility for his actions. Rappel, who murdered Tara Costigan with an axe while she was holding their week-old baby in her arms in February 2015, accused the judge of speaking "rubbish", said he had called him a liar and called for "rights for fathers". The outbursts had been prompted by by Justice John Burns' detailed description of the events leading up to Ms Costigan's death before he handed down a 32 year and two month jail sentence.
While Ms Costigan's family are understandably disappointed Rappel did not receive a life sentence, the prison term is significant and reflected Justice Burns's view the crime fell into the "worst category". Rappel will not be eligible for parole until 2041. The most surprising aspect of Friday's events in the ACT Supreme Court is that despite having pleaded guilty to the charge of murdering Ms Costigan, the mother of three children, last March and having had two years in custody in which to reflect on the heinous nature of that crime, Rappel appears to have little or no remorse. His conduct was all about himself; not the daughter, niece, friend and mother whose life was cut tragically short or the three children, including his own daughter, who will now grow up without a mother. With the Australian National Research Organisation for Women finding, in its Violence Against Women in Australia report, that one in four women had experienced violence involving an intimate partner or former partner it is clear the anti-violence message isn't cutting through to those responsible for the assaults. The ABS personal safety survey in 2012 found almost two million people, or one in 11, had been subject to violence by a partner since the age of 15. Just under 1.5 million of these were women.
I feel your frustration. In listening to Australia's debate on energy, and in visiting many of your regional communities, it's clear that the decision makers are missing a key ingredient to fixing the status quo.
This has nothing to do with the types of energy being generated. And it goes beyond the political parties that are locked in the power squabble in the halls of your Federal Parliament.
An offshore wind farm near the Danish island of Samso. Credit:Bob Strong
It's you, your neighbours and communities.
Right now, politicians of all stripes are discussing a complete revamp of how you power your life. This sort of wholesale change only happens once in a generation and will affect every single Australian. You should be in charge of how this transformation happens what it looks like, and how it works not treated as an after-thought.
Thank Saroo Brierley for Lion, the movie that should win best film at the Academy Awards today, but likely won't. It's a film far too foreign for the Oscars, but even its nomination is a decent nod to an exceptional tale, a parable for our time.
It is more sob-inducing than heartwarming, as much about the potential of Australian big-heartedness as about the life of Brierley, first an Indian boy lost at a train station and later a Tasmanian windsurfer who remains lost.
He finally finds his birth mother a quarter of a century on, thanks to a memory jogged by obsessively looking at Google Earth, a real-life reunion that will leave only the flint-of-heart dry-eyed.
The story is exceptional both for the way in which he found his mother, and for the unconditional love given to Brierley and his adoptive brother, also from India, by a loving Tasmanian couple who saw them only on arrival in Australia.
By India Today Web Desk: Ileana D'Cruz is one of the few actors who does not shy away from flaunting her relationship. Unlike many of her contemporaries who hide behind the 'good friends' tag, Ileana frequently posts pictures with her Australian boyfriend, Andrew Kneebone, on her Instagram account.
Given their PDA on social media, the Main Tera Hero actor was asked by Bombay Times if marriage was on the cards. Ileana replied, "I find it funny when you ask me that question. What's the big deal about marriage? I am happy, I am in a great space, I am doing great films and I am where I am. I think marriage is overrated. Dude, calm down! When I want to announce the fact that I am getting married, I will do it. A little mystery is also important. If I always let the cat out of the bag, why would people be interested in me anymore?"
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Interestingly, a report in The Times Of India suggested that Ileana had already tied the knot with Andrew in a secret ceremony and was keeping the news of her nuptials under wraps.
On the work front, Ileana will be seen next in Milan Luthria's Baadshaho and Anees Bazmee's Mubarakan.
ALSO READ: Ileana D'Cruz lashes out at Twitter troll who calls her 'horny'
ALSO WATCH: Ileana D'Cruz talks about her fitness regime
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Several years ago while working as a tutor at the University of Sydney, I received a call from a distressed student who disclosed she had been raped just hours earlier.
The night before, she and other college students had gone out drinking before a small group had crashed in a bedroom. In the early hours, she awoke to find one of the men on top of her raping her, as other students lay sleeping nearby.
Confidentiality of victims will be safeguarded through de-identified quotes and case studies in the national report.
It was not the first or only disclosure I received. In the seven years I spent at the University of Sydney I received at least 16 accounts of rape, attempted rape, indecent sexual assault, and harassment.
As shocking and heinous as the violence was, many of the victims described the university administration's response as being equally appalling, some even referring to it as a "second rape".
A just and enduring resolution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is critical and long overdue ("Blind support for Israel does it no favours", February 18-19). However, holding Israel substantially responsible for achieving this peace while ignoring the Palestinians contribution to the impasse and their responsibility for moving the process forwards, as Mark Kenny and many commentators and signatories to petitions seem to do, reflects profound naivety and/or bias and undermines constructive debate of a complex issue.
Raymond Schwartz Kogarah
Illustration: Cathy Wilcox
If the Palestinians spent more of the millions and millions they've been given by the West for decades on infrastructure rather than putting money in the hands of terrorists, there wouldn't be shanty towns. If they didn't stab people in the streets and put bombs on buses and in restaurants, there wouldn't be check points and walls. If the Palestinians accepted one of the many generous two state solutions that have been offered to them since Jordan ruled the West Bank, and were prepared to live in peace side by side with Israel, there could already have been a thriving Palestinian State.
Mark Kenny should realise that peace will only come to the Palestinians when there is serious international pressure on them to accept Israel's existence, renounce terror and accept a two state solution that's already been offered and gives them most of what they say they want.
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.
All high-income Australians would pay the 1 to 1.5 per cent Medicare levy surcharge under a budget proposal that would raise a breathtaking $4 billion per year, more than six times the net amount saved in the first Turnbull budget.
At present only high-income Australians without private health insurance are made to pay the extra levy.
Extending it to all families earning more than $180,000 per year and all individuals without children earning more than $90,000 per year would raise at least $900 per year more from each high-income Australian with private health insurance, and would offset the removal of the high-income temporary budget deficit repair levy, which expires in the middle of this year.
"In 2013 there was bipartisan agreement, and broad public support, for an increase of 0.5 percentage points in the Medicare levy to help fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme," said Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Cassandra Goldie.
The Turnbull government is launching a major crackdown on "shonks and rorters" in the family daycare sector, with new measures designed to save taxpayers up to $250 million.
The government will introduce regulations into Parliament on Monday to set tighter controls to stamp out abuse of the grandparent childcare benefit and special childcare benefit.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham. Credit:Louise Kennerley
The changes will set maximum rates and age limits for children accessing this childcare fee assistance in family daycare services, Education Minister Simon Birmingham said.
"The perpetrators of fraud are on notice and the Turnbull government is determined to break your dodgy business models," he said, describing the sector as a "hotbed for shonks and rorters".
Cuts to penalty rates will hasten the "mass casualisation" of Australia's workforce, leading to a decrease in job security, less paid leave and more workplace stress, a new report warns.
The McKell Institute says the Fair Work Commission's "alarming" decision to cut penalty rates for a range of retail, hospitality and fast food workers will further discourage employees from pursuing secure part-time or full-time work, pushing them instead into less secure but higher-paying casual jobs.
"For many workers, casual work can be an attractive and flexible option," the left-leaning think-tank says in the report.
"But for others, casual work means less job security, less annual work breaks, and a more tenuous relationship between them and their employer. These factors result in enhanced job insecurity, which can lead to financial stress and poor health outcomes."
The Turnbull government is "on life support" and the Liberal Party is "bleeding" voters but Tony Abbott is not angling to reclaim the prime ministership, his most loyal confidante claims.
Peta Credlin says her former boss has a right to speak out on party policy despite the damaging war of words that erupted after his latest intervention, with senior ministers lining up to condemn a speech in which he attacked the government as "Labor lite" and drifting to defeat.
Ms Credlin, who was Mr Abbott's chief of staff in government, says it's a mistake to assume he wants to return to the top job.
"I do not believe that Tony Abbott wants the job again. I think he would have a hard time reconciling around that Cabinet table with people like Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop and others," she told Sky News.
1. Turnbull's horror poll
Regular readers of Double Shot do not need me to remind them that on the day Malcolm Turnbull knifed Tony Abbott for the prime ministership, he cited 30 bad Newspolls.
So one man will be waking up pleased, if only through schadenfreude, and that of course is Tony Abbott. The results are "disastrous," for the Turnbull government, writes Michelle Grattan, who for the past fortnight has been invoking her memories of how Paul Keating's parliamentary aggression played out with voters as a caution against the enthusiasm within the Coalition for Turnbull's newfound bullishness against Shorten. [The Conversation]
Abbott's warning last week that the government desperately needs to start talking to the disaffected coalition voters who prefer Pauline Hanson and her motley crew of conspiracy-theory-touting candidates is vindicated by today's horror Newspoll.
On that note, time for me to wrap up. What happened?
today was all about penalty rates ;
; and opinion polls ;
; Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull all but said the government would accept the Fair Work Commission's determination ;
all but said the government would accept the ; but he tried to suggest this was all Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's fault for setting up the commission's reference a gazillion years ago;
fault for setting up the commission's reference a gazillion years ago; whether anyone outside the Coalition buys this argument is another matter;
and we still do not know how much the new fence around Parliament House will cost.
My eternal thanks to Andrew Meares and Alex Ellinghausen and to you for reading and commenting.
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Andrew, Alex and I will be back in the morning. Hope to see you then.
Jodie Foster was among the United Voices that spoke up against US President Donald Trump at a rally outside the offices of the United Talent Agency (UTA) in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.
According to UTA, more than 1500 people, including agents, clients, and supporters, gathered on Friday to protest the Trump administration's policies, including its recent travel restrictions on seven Muslim-majority countries. The agency cancelled its annual Academy Awards party and organised this event in its place.
Jodie Foster ... it's time to resist. Credit:Willy Sanjuan
"This is exactly the way to celebrate our industry and our commitment to humanity on and off screen," Foster said.
"I don't do this very often, but this year is a different year, this is a singular time - it's one to show up, time to engage. As the very dead Frederick Douglass once said, 'any time is a good time for illumination'.
By Press Trust of India: She battled cancer for nearly three years and when death finally came knocking, former bureaucrat Sharwaree Gokhale donated a major chunk of her hard-earned money for brain research in India.
The former Maharashtra cadre IAS officer of 1974 batch, Gokhale passed away in January last year.
She bequeathed her flat in a posh Mumbai area to the Centre for Brain Research, an autonomous body under the Indian Institute of Sciences, Bengaluru.
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Gokhale retired from services as Additional Chief Secretary (Health) after serving for nearly 36 years. But post retirement, she was diagnosed with stomach cancer.
"She underwent treatment for nearly three years, which included chemotherapy and a surgery. But when Sharwaree realised that she was losing her battle to the disease, she did extensive research for over 6-8 months on how her money could be put to good use.
"She would say my money should remain in my country and used for scientific research," Chandra Iyengar, former home secretary of Maharashtra, says.WHAT HER FAMILY SAID
Gokhale's US-based brother Jagadeesh, who was also her immediate family, says it was her fascination for science that made her take that decision. Jagadeesh formerly worked with the US Department of the Treasury.
Iyengar says her belief that the brain was the most fascinating part of human body and it must be harnessed made her donate the flat for research.
As in life, Gokhale remained meticulous till the very end, tying up loose ends and choosing the institution meticulously.
"She wanted to tie all the loose ends and ensure that the flat is bequeathed to the institute as per her desire. After signing the final set of documents, Gokhale died in just six days," Iyengar says.
Her friends suggested she donate money to NGOs and for social causes.
"But she was very firm on donating her property to the CBR. She wanted to donate her money to an organisation, which she thought, can use it wisely and did a lot of research before making her will," says Meeran Borwankar, former Pune police commissioner, who used to assist her in her miscellaneous works.
Her former colleagues describe Gokhale as someone with a very different approach towards life.
"Sharwaree was different from all of us. She was a person with strong likes and dislikes. Her thinking level was very high and abstract," her batchmate Leena Mehendale says.
"With her donation, she continues to contribute to the progress of human kind even in her death. Her gift to CBR will help in furthering our knowledge of human brain especially with reference to age-related brain disorders," the CBR says.
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Universities have been accused of "actively covering up sexual assaults" in a submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission, which alleges there have been just six expulsions in the past five years despite more than 500 official complaints.
The allegations, made by the advocacy group End Rape on Campus Australia, are based on more than five years of data and freedom-of-information requests, which show more than 500 official complaints of sexual assault and harassment have been made to universities in the past five years, with 145 reports relating specifically to rape.
In that same period 153 sexual assaults have been reported to police from the addresses of universities in NSW, the ACT, Victoria and WA. There have been six expulsions during that time.
As hundreds of thousands of students return to university on Monday, the report highlights harrowing cases of sexual assault and "hazing" at the nation's top universities, including the University of Sydney, which called in former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick last year to clean up the culture of its residential colleges.
Lobbyist and Liberal powerbroker Michael Photios "took one for the team" by resigning as head of the party's left faction to shut down attacks about his influence on Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her government, a senior source has revealed.
Mr Photios, whose firm Premier State is registered to lobby the NSW government on behalf of private sector clients, announced he would step down as chairman of the moderates board at a meeting of the left faction at Sydney Town Hall on Saturday night.
The moderates board is the structure within the left faction where debate occurs about which candidates to support for preselection and related matters.
As chairman, Mr Photios was the leader of the left faction of which Ms Berejiklian is a loyal member.
Finance Minister Victor Dominello has vowed to review how a Sydney home owner was offered less than an official valuation by the NSW Valuer-General for his property, forcibly acquired for the $16.8 billion WestConnex motorway.
Two days before a conciliation hearing in the Land and Environment Court on Tuesday over compensation he will receive, former St Peters resident Richard Capuano received a letter on behalf of the acquiring agency, Roads and Maritime Services.
The letter from law firm Clayton Utz revealed RMS was arguing the market value of his former home is $75,000 less than the NSW Valuer-General's assessment.
The Valuer-General assessed the market value of the St Peters terrace at $900,000 but RMS now says the value is $825,000. Mr Capuano's position is the market value is $1.675 million.
Amy Parfett was 25 when she first started working on her own business with her old school friend Melany McBride.
"At a time when your life is super social there is a degree of sacrifice you have to make," she says.
"We forwent a wage for a really long time so we were financially struggling a bit at a time when everyone else's careers were taking off."
Besides a lack of cash, Parfett says the pair's inexperience caused a few problems along the way.
Barcelona: HMD Global's newly revitalised Nokia phone business went back to the future on Sunday, re-introducing a brightly coloured version of the classic 3310 talk and text phone, the world's most popular device in the year 2000.
The new model resembles a slimmer, larger-screened version of the original and is priced at just 49 euros ($67). Its 22 hours of talk time and up to one month of standby time potentially heighten the phone's appeal as a backup for smartphone users. Unfortunately, it might not be much use to Australians.
While the new 3310 is a significant upgrade in many areas with a colour screen, a camera, a microSD card slot, the ability to play MP3s and even a new version of the classic game Snake it sticks with old 2G GSM network standards for calling and texting, according to the Nokia website.
In Australia these networks are currently being phased out, with Telstra having already turned its 2G service off and other telcos to soon follow suit. HMD, which has exclusive rights to make phones with the Nokia brand, told Fairfax Media the new 3310 was a "2.5G device", which is a term generally used to mean it uses GSM for call and text but can also access rudimentary internet over GPRS or EDGE.
In Woody Allen's recent film Cafe Society the hero, Bobby, is told by his Jewish mother that his wicked gangster brother Ben has been convicted of murder and is going to the electric chair.
When Bobby goes to visit his brother he's surprised to find a Catholic priest sitting with him, particularly as both Bobby and his brother are Jews.
Woody Allen's Cafe Society. Credit:Lionsgate
Ben explains that because he is facing death, with the help of the Catholic priest he has converted to Christianity just as a precaution, because the Jews don't believe in life after death. When his anguished mother hears of it she wails "first a murderer then a Christian! What did I do to deserve this?"
In the unlikely event that Ben had instead been converted to Buddhism he might have had considerable cause to reflect on the drastic criminal activities of his past life. Buddhists say you will be born again in another realm, which will depend on your Karma that is, how you have conducted your present life on earth. Ben's Karma would have been, well, very far from good.
A man was hit in the head with a hammer, beaten and robbed after a minor car accident in Melbourne's northeast on Monday morning.
The 25-year-old Mount Waverley man was stopped at a light on Manningham Road in Bulleen about 2am when a car rear-ended his vehicle.
The man was taken to the Austin Hospital in a stable condition. Credit:Ken Irwin
According to police, the man turned into Golden Way to exchange details with two men when they rushed at him and hit him in the head with a hammer.
One attacker restrained the man while the other repeatedly punched him in the face until he fell to the ground.
Daniel Andrews' response to the expense furore that has engulfed his government has ratcheted up by the day in line with a swelling sense of public anger.
On Thursday, when the story broke, the Premier was close to silent, his office releasing a brief statement saying the use of "second residence" entitlements would be examined by Parliament's audit committee.
On Friday he disappeared to Morwell, where he pointed out that Telmo Languiller, now the Legislative Assembly's former speaker, was technically "entitled" to claim the $37,678 taxpayer-funded perk to live in Queenscliff while representing a western suburbs electorate, even though it was out of step with public expectations.
Then it was revealed that Mr Languiller's deputy, Don Nardella, who represents the neighbouring electorate of Melton, had also claimed the allowance over about three years while he was living in Ocean Grove.
Two environmentalists who entered an East Gippsland logging coupe to document the destruction of rainforest have had charges against them dismissed.
The court decision is the final chapter on what has been a two-year saga for Ed Hill and Joe Henderson, whose actions led to the state government conceding it needed to bolster timber harvesting rules but who were then charged on summons with illegally entering the logging zone.
A giant cut-tail ash tree logged and left behind on the edge of rainforest gully. Credit:Goongerah Environment Centre
The men, who describe themselves as "citizen scientists", say they found evidence the state-owned timber corporation VicForest had illegally logged protected rainforest canopy trees in the Bendoc State Forest in April 2015.
A Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning report later found that while the logging may not have been illegal, it was a needless destruction in an area that had "significant environmental assets", but little financial value to loggers.
The home suburb of all political candidates would be printed on ballot papers under a plan being pushed to better let voters know whether their local MP lives in their electorate.
The Andrews government has been thrown into chaos after the Labor lower house speaker and his deputy were revealed by Fairfax Media to be living on the Bellarine Peninsula rather than in their western suburbs electorates and claiming a generous allowance designed for country MPs.
Telmo Languiller and Don Nardella were forced to resign after Premier Daniel Andrews made it clear their positions were untenable. The saga has also prompted the government to look at reforms of entitlements.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy's shadow cabinet will on Monday discuss a plan to print on ballot papers the suburb of residence of all candidates in 88 lower house seats. The policy would extend the practice from the upper house,
By Press Trust of India: Dubai, Feb 26 (PTI) The Indo-Pak dispute was a "stumbling block" in regional cooperation with SAARC proving to be ineffective due to its "politicisation", former Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf said today.
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) happens to be the regional instrument for cooperative socio-economic development but it is proving to be quite ineffective, Musharraf said while addressing South Asia Rising conference hosted by Eisenhower Fellows from South Asia.
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"Individual countries are performing on their own but when we talk of collective performance of South Asia, there is no collective goodwill or collective cooperation and unfortunately the Indo-Pak dispute happens to be the stumbling block," the former Pakistani president said.
"There is no doubt in my mind that opportunities for collaborative cooperation within South Asia abound. Collectively we have a large quantity of water available for livestock, for human consumption, for agriculture and also for the cheapest form of power generation," he said.
Musharraf said that the region also has abundant fertile land and natural resources.
"We also have a very strong and very large human resource potential, which also happens to be very intelligent. However, we do require better literacy and skill development," he said.
The conference is the third of its kind, with the first two conferences held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2006 and 2012.
The former Pakistani president said South Asia needs to look at itself with introspection and clarity.
The challenges within and between states have had the better of all the abundant opportunities that exist in South Asia, he said at the conference whose focus was on regional connectivity and citizen empowerment.
"We see poor leadership leading with poor governance exacerbated by corruption and nepotism. Then we see political turmoil within and between states as a result of which we are collectively failing to optimise the potential that we have in South Asia for growth," Musharraf said.
He said that the politicisation of the SAARC platform is another issue.
"We saw politicisation this year when SAARC was supposed to be held in Pakistan but it was scuttled," he said.
Musharraf said that Kashmir happens to be the main dispute between India and Pakistan, which needs to be resolved.
He also said that Afghanistan has emerged as another challenge obstructing regional cooperation.
"Unfortunately, Afghanistan also blames Pakistan for introducing religious militancy in the region. But nothing is farther from the truth," he said, adding that it all started with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan back in 1979.
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Musharraf left Pakistan for Dubai in March last year, after his name was removed from the Exit Control List.
Raman Madhok, Managing Director & Head -- CMI Group, from India -- and Shahid Mahmud, Chairman and CEO -- Interactive Group, were the co-chairs of the two-day conference that will end tomorrow. PTI CORR ASK ASK
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Residents have been evacuated and a primary school is in lockdown during a siege on a property in Melbourne's north-west.
Dozens of heavily armoured special operations police have cordoned off a suburban block in St Albans after shots were fired at officers during a drug raid on Monday morning.
Several people are reportedly holed up inside the Levenia Street with officers zoning off the area around the address.
Police moved towards the front of the property with a battering device at 10.15am, with several officers also donning breathing apparatus.
Democratic congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, foreground left, addresses the media in front of the New York Times offices on Saturday, after the newspaper and other media were barred from a Trump administration press briefing. Credit:AP The cover-up strategy has been on display for some time Trump's denunciation of the "fake" news media and his disparaging of the intelligence agencies as incompetent. And in recent days the tactics have come into sharper focus declare the media "enemies of the American people"; bar reporters representing "enemy" news outlets from White House briefings; and press-gang intelligence officials and key members of Congress to compromise themselves as anonymous spinmeisters for Trump. Richard Nixon: brought down by the Watergate scandal. The White House confirmed on Friday that after a failed effort to get the FBI to "knock down" the Times report, it had taken to marshalling intelligence officials and legislators to cold-call media outlets, or to have the administration offer them to reporters as sources who would dismiss the report.
But as reported by the Post, the recipient of one of the calls said the would-be sources would not answer substantive questions and insisted on being identified only as "a senior intelligence official in the Trump administration" or "a senior member of the intelligence community". White House strategist Stephen Bannon listens as Reince Priebus speaks. Credit:AP This White House ring-around followed an exchange between Trump's chief of staff Reince Priebus and FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, in which the White House claims McCabe told Priebus: "I want you to know [that the Times story] is BS." Priebus subsequently gave a series of interviews, claiming he had been authorised "by the top levels of the intelligence community" to debunk the Times report on the Trump campaign's contact with Russia as "overstated" and "complete garbage". Storm clouds passing over the White House on Saturday. Credit:AP
Engaging intelligence officials is a breach of the practice of keeping those services above partisan politics. And the integrity of current congressional investigations is brought into question by the identity of some of the congressmen who were enlisted like Republican senator Richard Burr and representative Devin Nunes, who, respectively, are the chairmen of the Senate and House intelligence committees. That these calls to the media were carefully planted distractions was revealed by NBC, which reported that in challenging the Times report, the federal officials questioned an aspect of the story not all of the report and certainly not its thrust. Katharine Graham with Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein (left) and Bob Woodward in 1972. Their issue was not that there had been communications between the campaign and Russia, but the Times' identification of some of those on the Moscow end of the calls as Russian intelligence agents. But that reporters make mistakes does not debunk the entirety of their work. In their deservedly celebrated coverage of Watergate, the Post's Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were almost undone by a couple of critical mistakes but that they were wrong in those instances didn't mean that there had been no break-in and no cover-up.
Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks arrives at the Old Bailey in February 2014. Credit:Getty Images Similarly, The Guardian's sensational revelations on News International's bribery and phone-hacking scandal included a series of errors and that The Guardian was wrong in those instances didn't mean that the phones of the royal family and other celebrities were not being hacked. In the same vein, little attention is paid to an absurd contradiction in Trump's twin attacks on the media and the intelligence agencies the "fake" media are "the enemy of the American people" and the agencies are incompetent because they can't stop leaks across government, much less from within their own ranks. But how can that be? On the one hand, the President claimed in a speech on Friday to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that the media engages in fabrication " they have no sources; they just make 'em up when there are none". But on the same day he tweeted: "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."
And on Flynn's demise it was clear Trump worried more about the truth than the fakery of what was being leaked: "It's a criminal action - criminal act - and it's been going on for a long time. Before me. But now it's really going on." So are the offending news reports fabrications, or are they based on genuine classified information? In its February 9 report that revealed the lie in Flynn's denial about talking to the Russians, the Post was anything but reckless it was based on interviews with no less than nine current and former administration officials. But here's Trump banging on at CPAC: "There're no nine people. I don't believe there was one or two people. Nine people. And I said, 'Give me a break.' Because I know the people. I know who they talk to. There were no nine people. But they say 'nine people'. And somebody reads it, and they think, 'Oh, nine people. They have nine sources.' They make up sources. They're very dishonest people." But if the sources were made up, if the reporting was so dishonest, it would have been unconscionable for Trump to show Flynn the door. Yet that is precisely what he did.
On Thursday, White House strategist Stephen Bannon, the man who the President channels as he lashes out, framed the "corporatist media" as the enemy in setting out the ground rules for this administration: "If you think they're going to give you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken. Every day, it is going to be a fight." There's irony too in Trump's belated crusade against unnamed sources in news reports. "I'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources," he told CPAC. "They shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name. Let their name be put out there. Let their name be put out." Apart from his own administration's habit of offering officials as unnamed sources, the President has often been his own unnamed source. Linda Stasi, who covered him for the New York tabloids in the 1990s, told the Times: "He used to be the one leaking! "He was leaking about himself. He would call up with fake accents and pretend it wasn't him. He would tell us 100 times: 'Now listen, I'm going to tell you something, but it didn't come from me.'" Trump has a fight on his hands alright. But his biggest problem is that it is he, not the media, that drives suspicion about this administration - his latent authoritarianism feeds into his fawning over Putin, which feeds into intelligence leaks that can't simply be brushed aside.
The reek of a cover-up exacerbates all that, particularly if the intelligence services are being enlisted to that end. "I doubt that there was any enthusiasm from the intelligence leadership to get involved in this in the first place," former CIA director Michael Hayden, a Bush appointee who held senior security posts in Republican and Democratic administrations, told the Post. Observing that intelligence analysts were more accustomed to "precise" language as opposed to Priebus' blunt denials, Hayden said: "Think Benghazi here this is what happens when the intel guys are leaned on for the narrative of the political speakers. The latter have different rules, words, purposes. Getting intel into that mix always ends unhappily, [and] it looks like we just did." Today's Washington is not London, almost a decade ago, when The Guardian was alone in pursuing the phone hacking scandal; or Nixon's Washington, where the Post did the bulk of the heavy lifting to expose Watergate. In 2011, Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger wrote of the isolation he and reporter Nick Davies felt as they challenged the might of Rupert Murdoch: "Life was getting a bit lonely at The Guardian. Nick Davies had been alerted that [News International CEO Rebekah] Brooks had told colleagues that the story was going to end with 'Alan Rusbridger on his knees, begging for mercy'."
In the end, it was Murdoch's News of the World that was forced to fold. And this time around, the Post is not alone. The broad press pack has deep connections across the administration and agencies and the approach Trump took to planting gossip in New York tabloids in the past is proving poor training for wrestling with Washington reporters who pursue issues of national importance. Long before Trump's Saturday tweet that he'd skip this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner, at which a succession of presidents have allowed themselves to be the butt of cutting humour, many media houses had announced that they would not be booking their customary tables for this year's event. Writing at the weekend, the New York Times' Glenn Thrush, now being immortalised with regular takeoffs by Saturday Night Live, and Michael Grynbaum depicted Trump as a social media master up against the power of ink and pixels. "To some extent, the clash with the press was inevitable," they write.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) is inviting all Carnival 2017 booth holders to their final meeting before the 2017 Carnival season gets underway on Dutch St. Maarten. This meeting will be the last of three that is held annually to outline all regulations for booth holders. It will be held on Tuesday, February 28 at 7:00pm at the University of St. Maarten room 202.
It is also the final meeting before the deadline of March 1 for booth holders to make full payment for the booths that have been allotted to them. In this meeting they will also be briefed on regulations regarding garbage removal, fire safety regulations, beverage retailing and overall booth operations in Carnival Village.
It is essential that booth holders attend this meeting to receive relevant information. We will still be in contact with them leading up to Carnival, but this meeting is absolutely vital as we move forward. In particular, we are asking booth holders to adhere to the March 1 deadline for full payment of the booth that has been allotted to them to avoid any unfortunate circumstances, the SCDF said.
PHILIPSBURG:----This week The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle had the opportunity to have three guest speakers to join them at their weekly meeting, Sanjana Manek of St. Maarten Foundation for Psychologists and Orthopedagogen and from Heineken John leone and Regatta Director Michelle van der Werff.
In light of Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution month in the Rotary calendar for February Sanjana Manek of the St. Maarten Foundation for Psychologists and Orthopedagogen knew as SFPO presented a summary of the principles of the nonviolent resistance (NVR) training.
One of the key principles focuses on increasing the self-control of parents, therefore, avoiding escalation. In addition, the two usual escalation responses were mentioned. It was also suggested that parents be aware of the instances that can lead to an escalation in the home. This parent training aims to provide many tools and techniques to parents.
SFPO is continuing the project entitled, Restoring Parental Authority, and is looking for parents with children aged 8-12 years who are frustrated with their child's behavior. SFPO can be contacted at 523-9940 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . SFPO is also an international training partner with the NVR School in Israel."
John and Michelle came to inform us about the 37th Edition of the Heineken Regatta which is the biggest warm water Regatta World Wide.The 37th edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta confirms their participation in the Clean Regatta program from conservation organization Sailors for the Sea. The sailing kicks off with the Gill Commodores Cup on Thursday, March 2nd. On Friday 3rd March is the boats will sail the Round the Island Race, this year it will sail clockwise, this is also a record-setting race, sailing will continue on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th March. On Monday 6th March certain class winners will compete in the final series of racing for the regatta The St. Maarten Heineken Star, in this event they will compete with remote control lasers to determine the 1st Heineken Star. The Heineken Regatta has become known for the most famous prize giving (there are no cash prizes) and for the best after party.
Mid Isle will be holding their Fundraising Motor Treasure Hunt on Sunday, March 19th starting at the Kim Sha Beach in Celebration of the Rotary Foundation turning 100 years old. Thats a century of Rotary members changing lives and improving communities all over the world. See any member of Mid Isle for more information or call 520-1052 or 520-1899. The proceeds from this event will go towards a fetal monitor for the maternity wing at the SMMC and other needed items.
The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle meets Tuesday at 7 pm at Marys Boone in Simpson Bay. For more information please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit our Facebook page Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle
I&M continues to restore service in South Bend after Saturday's storms
As of 10 a.m. Sunday, 6,100 customers in the South Bend area remained without power. Most will be restored Sunday, but some won't be until Monday.
Both Waseem and Naeem reportedly considered leader of ISIS Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and slain founder of Al-Qaeda Osama Bin Laden as their role models.
By Gopi Maniar Ghanghar : The two accused arrested from Gujarat for suspected links with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) reportedly idolised Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Osama Bin Laden.
The arrests of the two persons identified as Waseem Ramodiya and Naeem Ramodiya has reportedly revealed ISIS' plans to spread its wings in Gujarat region.
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Saturday arrested both Waseem and Naeem from Rajkot and Bhavnagar. The brothers were arrested after the ATS received information regarding their whereabouts.
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Sources from the ATS said that the squad obtained the contacts of Waseem and Naeem from the call details of Mufti Kasam Qazi who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh earlier this year.
EXTENSIVE SEARCH TO TRACK DUO
Based on the information, the ATS has been conducting an extensive search operation to track down the duo.
Both Waseem and Naeem reportedly considered leader of ISIS Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and slain founder of Al-Qaeda Osama Bin Laden as their role models.
Also read: Gujarat ATS foils ISIS bomb plot, arrests brothers with links to terror outfit
According to the police, Waseem spoke in Kutchi-Hindi dialect. One of the calls intercepted by the police revealed that Waseem had purchased 160 grams of an explosive material.
As per the call records, the dealer on the other side is heard saying that 160 grams was not worth and that Waseem required to acquire about 400 grams.
The anonymous caller also asked Waseem to purchase firecrackers and use them to make explosives.
HERE ARE EXCERPTS FROM THE CALLS
Waseem: We are prepared to carry out the mission
Handler: Kill the kafirs and shoot a video
Waseem: We need to kill a kafir who stays some 30 kms from my city near a famous temple, where they ward off ghosts.
Next call:
Handler: Waseem you will have to wait for sometime...
Waseem: We will have to wait for more explosives, it will be done soon
Handler: Inshallah
Another call:
Handler: Brother, can we get the explosives at one place.... you will have to place them at the target location by yourself.
Incidentally, the ATS arrested the duo even before Waseem could carry out the plan.
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Informers have become a new headache for the Army units operating in Jammu and Kashmir against terrorists. According to sources, twice in the past fortnight, army's local informers in the Valley double-crossed and provided red herring to the units involved in operations, leading the jawans into militants' trap.
By Ajit Kumar Dubey, Shashank Shekhar: Informers have become a new headache for the Army units operating in Jammu and Kashmir against terrorists. According to sources, twice in the past fortnight, army's local informers in the Valley double-crossed and provided red herring to the units involved in operations, leading the jawans into militants' trap.
According to Army sources in the Valley, intelligence inputs provided by local informers in both Hajin and Shopian operations were proven wrong, leading to the death of six personnel whereas only one terrorist could be eliminated.
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INCIDENTS IN SHOPIAN, HAJIN
In a recent case in South Kashmir's Shopian district, three armymen were martyred and one critically injured in an ambush on 44 Rashtriya Rifles when an Army patrol party was returning from a search operation in Kungoo village based on intelligence inputs.
The incident has pressed the alarm bell for security establishment as it is 'unusual phenomenon' that in ten days, two major intelligence inputs have gone wrong, sources said.
On February 14, at least three soldiers were killed and 15 security personnel were injured during an encounter with terrorists at Hajin in Bandipora district based on wrong intelligence inputs. A militant was also killed during the encounter, which began after security personnel received intelligence inputs about the presence of gunmen in a residential part of the district.
According to the source, in the Shopian attack, the army company was given a tip-off about a hideout of some militants but after hours of search, they couldn't find anyone and were attacked on their way back.
"It was apparently a trap as the armymen were attacked with great effectiveness on their way back from the patrol. Armymen were caught unaware as militants came prepared and fired indiscriminately," the source said.
The Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the ambush and the group has also released a video, which shows a group of armed men celebrating the success of the attack.
The fallen soldiers have been identified as Lance Naik Ghulam Mohiuddin from Anantnag, Sreejith MJ from Kerala and Sepoy Vikas Singh Gurjar from Rajasthan. A civilian was killed by a stray bullet.
The attack also left two army officers, Lieutenant Colonel Mukesh Jha and Major Amardeep Singh, injured while they were travelling together in a light vehicle. Senior officials claimed post protest after gunning down Burhan Wani, the army gave a stress on strengthening its intelligence network that also got many positive results.
15-20 SUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS AGAINST MILITANTS IN LAST TWO MONTHS
In the past couple of months, the army carried out 15-20 successful operation killing over two dozen militants. They also cracked down their network and seizure arms in heavy quantity.
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According to the source, now militants have started targeting informers and planting misleading information to the army.
Official said the police and the army had launched a joint search operation following a tip-off about the presence of terrorists in a residential house in Hajin.
But according to senior defence ministry sources, forces zeroed down a building but the attack came from sideways by the hiding terrorists. Sources said army had specific input about a building in which militants were hiding but as soon the building was covered, the firing started from the opposite directions leaving them trapped. After resorting to heavy firing, one terrorist was killed in the encounter.
ALSO READ:
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J-K: 2 Army jawans, 4 Hizbul militants killed in gunfight; encounter over, search ops on
ALSO WATCH: Jammu and Kashmir: Suspected Hizbul terrorists on camera
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A lunar sample bag used to protect the first moon rocks collected on the moon will be turned over by NASA to an Illinois woman who won the bag at a disputed auction.
NASA, following a judge's order, will turn over an Apollo 11 moon rock bag to the Illinois woman who bought the artifact at a disputed auction.
Judge Vanessa Gilmore, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, ruled on Friday (Feb. 24) that Nancy Lee Carlson's property was "illegally seized" by the space agency. Gilmore ordered that the Apollo 11 lunar sample bag be "produced and handed over" to Carlson at NASA's Johnson Space Center on Monday (Feb. 27).
The finding brings to an end a nearly two-year dispute that landed the moon rock bag at the center of multiple lawsuits in two states. [NASA's 17 Apollo Moon Missions in Pictures]
The zippered cloth pouch, which was labeled in bold black letters "Lunar Sample Return," was used on July 20, 1969, as an "outer decontamination bag" to protect the first moon rocks retrieved from the surface of the moon as they were delivered to Earth by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.
Carlson purchased the bag for $995 in February 2015, at a Texas auction held on behalf of the U.S. Marshals Service. The bag was sold along with the other forfeited property of a museum curator in Kansas to pay restitution after he was convicted of stealing and selling museum and government-owned space artifacts.
Due to an inventory error, the bag was not identified as still belonging to NASA, or that it had been flown on Apollo 11, at the time it was sold. Carlson later sent the artifact to the Johnson Space Center to be inspected.
NASA will return an Apollo 11 lunar sample return bag to auction winner Nancy Lee Carlson at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. (Image credit: NASA)
NASA verified the presence of moon dust and established that the bag had been used on the first moon landing. But without a record of it being released from federal property, the space agency withheld returning the artifact to Carlson and contacted the U.S. Justice Department to reverse the improper forfeiture.
U.S. law directs that in the case of federal forfeitures, the government is required to notify any party that "reasonably appears to be a potential claimant with standing to contest the forfeiture." As the bag's significance wasn't recognized at the time though, NASA was not made aware that it was being forfeited and sold.
In December 2016, a U.S. District Court in Kansas ordered that the lunar sample return bag belonged to Carlson. The judge said the government failed to cite examples where a court had ordered the invalidation of a sale to a "bona fide purchaser after a final order of forfeiture."
Noting NASA was a "victim in this case, not a wrongdoer," the Kansas judge wrote in his ruling that he hoped Carlson and the space agency could "amicably resolve the dispute in a way that recognizes both of their legitimate interests."
The government did not appeal the Kansas judge's ruling, but argued before the Texas court that the bag should not be returned to Carlson. Federal attorneys cited a 2012 law that granted Apollo-era astronauts title to their mementos but specifically excluded owning lunar rocks or other lunar material.
If the astronauts cannot possess lunar material, argued the government, then "certainly a non-astronaut like [Carlson] cannot possess it."
Instead, the U.S. attorneys offered to compensate Carlson the $995 that she paid for the lunar sample return bag, or if disputed, an amount based on an expert appraisal.
Judge Gilmore rejected that argument and ordered that the Apollo 11 bag be returned to Carlson on Monday.
"NASA is obviously disappointed by the decision of the court," said NASA spokesman William Jeffs in a statement provided to the Houston Chronicle. "This artifact was never meant to be owned by an individual."
NASA officials have appealed to Carlson to publicly exhibit the bag, reported the Chronicle. Carlson's lawyer said that she would consider the request, but wants NASA to return the moon rock bag first.
Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2017 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
A "ring of fire" appeared in the sky over parts of South America, the Atlantic Ocean and Africa today (Feb. 26), during an annular solar eclipse.
An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly in front of the face of the sun, but does not appear large enough in the sky to entirely cover the star. The black disc of the moon blocks out most of the sun's face, but a sliver of the sun remains visible. You can see a video of this incredible sight here, courtesy of the Slooh Community Observatory.
This timelapse image captures the annular eclipse of Feb. 26, 2017, courtesy of Slooh Community Observatory. (Image credit: Slooh
Slooh hosted a live webcast of the annular eclipse, and shared views of the event from Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. At the observatory in Chile, the eclipse peaked at about 8:35 a.m. EST (1335 GMT), creating a halo of light in the sky. [Where to See the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse, State by State]
"That is mind boggling!" said Gerard Monteux, host of the Slooh webcast, as he watched the dark sphere of the moon passing over the bright disc of the sun, eventually creating a red "ring of fire." When the eclipse reached its peak, Monteux became quiet for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, I'm justI'm speechless," he said.
"It's hard to believe that's our sun that we see every day," said Burnie Burns, founder of Rooster Teeth Productions and a guest on the webcast. "It's so interesting to see something from a totally new perspective. Look at that!"
The moon's orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle, but an ellipse (which is more like an oval). That means the moon isn't always the same distance away from the Earth. When the moon is close to the Earth, it appears larger in the sky, so that during an eclipse the moon can appear to block the entire disc of the sun. During an annular eclipse, the moon is farther away from the Earth, and appears smaller in the sky, so it does not entirely cover the disc of the sun.
This image shows the stages of the 2017 annular eclipse surrounding peak annularity, courtesy of the Slooh Community Observatory. (Image credit: Slooh
During the Slooh webcast, Eric Edelman, a Slooh astronomer, said that modern science provides humans with the opportunity to not only understand eclipses, but predict when and where they will occur.
"At this point we can predict eclipses out hundreds of years because we know the orbits of [the Earth, sun and moon], and we know that to an extreme precision," Edelman said. The alignment of those three bodies "shows to us that our universe is constantly in motion, and [during an eclipse] we get to see a really incredible piece of that action," he said.
On Aug. 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will be visible in the U.S. You can learn more about where and how to see the total eclipse here at Space.com.
Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
First trace of differences between matter and 'ordinary' antimatter
Cracow, Poland (SPX) Feb 24, 2017
The world around us is mainly constructed of baryons, particles composed of three quarks. Why are there no antibaryons, since just after the Big Bang, matter and antimatter came into being in exactly the same amounts? A lot points to the fact that after many decades of research, physicists are closer to the answer to this question. In the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) experiment the first trace of the differences between baryons and antibaryons has just been encountered. In data collected du ... read more
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New York, Feb 26, 2017 (SPS) -The Polisario Front has informed the UN Secretary General Antonio Guteress of the risks resulting from stalemate in the peace process and the fraught situation prevailing in the buffer zone of Alguergarat.
Representative of the Polisario Front Ahmed Boukhari held talks Friday at the UN headquarters with the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, to whom he handed a message from Sahrawi President Brahim Ghali on the dangerous deadlock in the UN process since many years, Sahrawi representation in New York told APS Friday.
The stalemate maintained by Morocco has been exacerbated by the fraught situation in Alguergarat area where Morocco seeks to build a road crossing the territories controlled by the Polisario Front. This is an infringement of the peace process.
The Sahrawi party warned against "Morocco's deliberate and planned provocations" in the sensitive region located at borders with Mauritania.
Morocco will assume the responsibility of any escalation in Alguergarat.
This is the second appeal made by the Polisario Front to the UN within three days. The Polisario Front urges the UN to relaunch the peace process which stopped in 2012 and avoid any escalation in Alguergarat zone.m (SPS)
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Algiers, Feb 26, 2017 (SPS) - President of the Sahrawi Petroleum and Mining Authority, Ghali Zbeir, revealed Saturday in Algiers the extent of Morocco plundering of the Sahrawi resources, notably phosphate and fishery products.
He warned against the continuing complicity of certain foreign companies despite the binding ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
Speaking to the press in the presence of SADR Ambassador to Algeria, Bouchraya Hamoudi Bayoune, Ghali Zbeir said the Moroccan occupation exploited and exported the phosphate extracted from the occupied Sahrawi territories, notably from mine Boukraa, adding that 2.1 million tonnes of phosphate has been exported in 2014.
The official who said that phosphate export from Western Sahara had been in operation since the beginning of the occupation, referred to a "conveyor belt" through which 2000 tonnes of phosphate were transported every hour.
The expansion of this transport means by the occupation illustrates Moroccos willingness to continue to plunder Sahrawi resources.
Ghali Zbeir also cited the extension of Al-Ayun Port where goods processing and sorting plants are being installed.
Fisheries resources are also largely plundered as Western Sahara Coast is one of the worlds richest in fisheries resources.
Among other resources plundered, the Sahrawi official mentioned renewable energies. With the help of foreign companies, especially from France and Italy, Morocco built solar and wind power plants, which produce and export energy to Morocco. The German Investment Bank contributes to the financing of these companies, he said.
According to the president of the Sahrawi Petroleum and Mining Authority, "these figures remain approximate because it is difficult to obtain accurate data, since the region is under military control and Moroccan statistics are not transparent," he said.
But some media manage to "expose the Moroccan plundering of the Sahrawi resources and the complicity of some parties," said Ghali Zbeir.
Indeed, 20 companies decided in 2016 to stop investing in Western Sahara, like the Norwegian Pension Fund, which excluded Cairn Energy and Kosmos Energy from its investments, said the Sahrawi official.
The Sahrawi official warned against the plundering of Sahrawi resources by Morocco, saying that any collaboration with Morocco was perceived as "an incentive for the continuation of its activities, which contributes to the lingering of 40 year-old Western Sahara conflict." (SPS)
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By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha
Washington, Feb 26 (PTI) The Kansas governor and his counterpart in Missouri have strongly condemned the shooting incident that resulted in the "tragic" death of an Indian engineer this week.
"This sort of senseless violence is never acceptable. Law enforcement here in Kansas will continue to thoroughly investigate this crime," the Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said.
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"The friends and family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla are in our prayers. We hope for a speedy recovery for the other men who were shot," Brownback said.
The Missouri Governor Eric Greitens thanked his state law enforcement official for arresting the shooter who had fled the Kansas city after shooting the two Indian men.
"It is alleged that, when the suspect went into the bar, he shouted get out of my country before firing his weapon. We will learn the truth of what happened in the bar soon enough, but what we can say for certain is this: this hate has no place in our state," Greitens said.
"This violence has no place in our state. And if you are a violent criminal who harms the innocent, you will find no quarter in our state. Come across our border, and we will find you and bring you to justice," he asserted.
After the shooting, the suspect fled across the Kansas border into Missouri.
"It was Missouri police officers from the Clinton Police Department who arrested him. He was sent back to Kansas and will face the judgment of the court on Monday," he added.
"We owe our thanks to Missouri law enforcement for their quick action. Though the suspect went quietly, there was no guarantee of that. Anything could have happened. Our police officers put their lives on the line on every call of this kind," Greitens said.
"It was a concerned Missourian who is said to have alerted the police. The suspect had admitted the crime to her and asked her for a place to hide out. She took responsible and decisive action that led to the arrest," he said in a statement. PTI LKJ ARK
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/ Contributed photo
BROOKFIELD - The Brookfield Historical Society will host a presentation next week on the way two men influenced the Revolutionary War.
Raymond Sullivan, a history buff and director of public health for the town, will discuss how John Adams and Dr. Joseph Warren contributed to the start and success of the American Revolution.
F ive people were rushed to hospital after a Mercedes car crashed into pedestrians in south east London.
Police and paramedics were called to Bromley Road in Bellingham at 8.20am on Sunday after the car smashed into a wall.
Scotland Yard said the vehicle had hit a number of pedestrians when the crash happened near Catford bus garage and a hand car wash.
One witness reported seeing a person trapped underneath the car.
Emergency services at the scene / @tinklyboo
Four men and a woman were injured in the incident and, after being treated at the roadside, were taken to hospital.
Three of them, a 35-year-old woman and two 25-year-old men were initally in a critical condition.
The woman and one of the men were later described by police as being "serious but stable".
Mercedes: The car was shown crashed into a hedge / PA
Two other men, aged 36 and 46, are in a stable condition.
Police said the car driver was detained by an off-duty police officer.
Investigation: Police outside the car wash / PA
He was later arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drink driving.
The driver was also taken to hospital with a head injury.
Police said there was no suggestion the incident was terror-related.
The road was closed off on Sunday morning as police investigated.
A neighbour told the Standard the crash took place beside a handheld car wash that was already open for business on Sunday morning. It is not known whether anyone at the car wash was hurt.
Another said: "It seems like the car's ploughed into two bollards and ended up in the hedges by the bus garage. I hope everyone's ok.
Crash: Five people were injured / Lewisham Licks
"It's so sad, this always happens on this strip of road. There's always some accident or the other."
"It's really heartbreaking because we live here and I'm always seeing these accidents," he said. "I wonder what it's going to take for some action.
"From what I could see everyone seemed alive when leaving in the ambulances, so I hope it stays that way."
Bellingham: The road was closed by police
Photos from the scene showed scores of emergency service vehicles at the scene outside the car wash and beside the bus station.
One witness wrote on social media: Big car crash on Bromley Road.
Tons of police, ambulances, even helicopter landed in PC World.
One person trapped under a car and two others injured at the car wash. My thoughts and prayers are with them.
The Mercedes appears to have come off the road and ploughed through a row of bollards before hitting a low wall at the end of a hedge.
The car's bonnet and boot were popped open by the impact, and its airbags all deployed. Debris was left strewn across the pavement.
A Met Police spokesman said: Police were called at approximately 8.20am on Sunday, 26 February, to reports of a Mercedes in collision with a wall and pedestrians on Bromley Road in Bellingham.
"Officers, the London Ambulance Service and London's Air Ambulance attended."
He said: "The driver of the car was detained at the scene by an off-duty police officer before being arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
"He was also arrested on suspicion of drink drive before being taken to a south London hospital with a head injury."
London Ambulance service said medical crews arrived at the scene in Catford in less than seven minutes.
A spokeswoman said: "We treated five patients for a range of head, chest and leg injuries at the scene and took all five to hospital as a priority."
Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to contact the Serious Collision Investigation Unit's witness appeal line on 020 8285 1574 or via 101.
On Wednesday, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and his friend Alok Reddy Madasani were shot by a 51-year-old Navy veteran, Adam Purinton, who allegedly shouted "get out of my country" and called them "terrorists" before shooting them.
By Ashish Pandey: The body of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, killed by an American in a bar of Kansas city, is expected to arrive in Hyderabad on Monday evening.
His wife Sunayana Dumala and brother are accompanying the body. Srinivas grew up in Hyderabad and after completing his B.Tech from Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University in 2005 had left for USA for higher studies and job.
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On Wednesday, 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla and his friend Alok Reddy Madasani were shot by a 51-year-old Navy veteran, Adam Purinton, who allegedly shouted "get out of my country" and called them "terrorists" before shooting them.
Also read: Indian killed in Kansas bar shooting: Donald Trump behind murder, says Srinivas Kuchibhotla's family
However, Srinivas died of bullet injuries in hospital while Alok Madasani was critically injured.
Meanwhile, K. Tarak Rama Rao, minister of NRI affairs of Telangana, on Saturday visited the house of Srinivas and consoled the grieving family members.
The family of Srinivas has blamed President Donald Trump for the tragedy.
"A racist person said 'get out of my country' and targeted my brother and his friend. This was for the first time that someone hurled racial abuse at my brother. Trump is only the primary reason as of now," Kuchibhotla's brother told reporters.
Also read: More than $1M raised for kin of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, two other men injured in incident
The government has assured all help to bring back Kuchibhotla's body from Kansas at the earliest, he added.
"External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, the local BJP team and the Telangana government have been very supportive amid this tragedy. We want the body to be here at the earliest," he said.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
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A young man has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed in the neck in broad daylight in east London.
The man, in his 20s, was knifed in Dagenham at around 4pm on Saturday, police said.
Emergency services raced to the scene on Oxlow Lane at 4.20pm to reports of a stabbing.
Witnesses took to social media to describe a sea of blue lights and the road cordoned off.
Several people posted that they had seen a helicopter landing in a nearby park.
Joseph Jenkins posted on Facebook: Oxlow Lane shut off, helicopter landed over Ponfield park whats happened?
A picture of the scene showed police and ambulance vehicles and the road cordoned off with police tape.
Police said the man was rushed to an east London hospital but his injuries are not believed to be life threatening.
There have been no arrests.
A south London Tube station was placed on lockdown by police on Sunday morning after a man was stabbed.
Police rushed to Vauxhall station at 5.20am after reports someone had been knifed inside.
British Transport Police said a man had received injuries to his leg in the attack.
A spokesman said the stab injuries were only minor and he had already been released from hospital.
The incident meant part of the station remained closed on Sunday morning as police combed the scene.
A man, 35, was arrested nearby and is currently being quizzed by police.
A spokesman for British Transport Police said: Officers were called to Vauxhall Underground station at 5.19am this morning after reports that a man had been stabbed.
He received minor injuries to his leg and has since been released from hospital.
A 35-year-old man was arrested away from the station a short time later and is currently in police custody.
Part of the station remains closed this morning as we carry out our investigation.
T housands of people descended on Trafalgar Square for a free screening of an Oscar-nominated film just hours before Sundays star-studded ceremony in California.
The Salesman is up for best foreign language film but its Iranian director is boycotting the event over Donald Trumps travel ban, which bars people from seven Muslim-majority countries entering America.
Asghar Farhadis film was given its UK premiere in the central London Square and received the backing of mayor Sadiq Khan as well as actors including Keira Knightley, Dominic West and Lily Cole.
Trafalgar Square was turned into a huge outdoor cinema for the screening, complete with food and drink stands.
The screening took place hours before the Oscars ceremony in California / REUTERS
Mr Khan took to the stage and, after a few microphone issues which prevented him being heard, declared to loud cheers: "President Trump can't silence me."
He said the "key message" they would send to the world by gathering together for the screening was that "London is open", and added that the city stands with Farhadi and "all those discriminated against because of their nationality, their faith or their background".
Sadiq Khan addressed crowds at the protest screening / REUTERS
Mr Khan added he was "really proud" of the "fantastic audience" who turned up to watch the film, despite the grey clouds, the odd drop of rain and chilly temperature.
"There are people here from Iran to Iraq, from Shoreditch and Streatham, from Lebanon and London - showing the world that London is open. Open to talent, open to creativity and open to people," Mr Khan added.
"At a time when people want to have travel bans, we should talk about welcoming people. At a time when people want to build walls, we should build bridges.
Hundreds of people attended the free screening / REUTERS
The director was not present at the premiere, held hours before the 89th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, but addressed the crowd in a recorded message.
Farhadi said: "Despite our different religions, cultures and nationalities, we are all citizens of the world."
He apologised for not being at the event in person, and added: "However, I am there in spirit and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart."
Actor Lily Cole spoke to the large crowd / REUTERS
Actor Lily Cole also delivered a speech to the large crowd of people who had packed out the area in front of the National Gallery.
She said: "We are here to say what alternatives are possible, we are here to demonstrate that alternatives are possible and why things like the Trump ban are unnecessary in this day and age, because London is wonderfully open.
"I hope you remember the pretext that brought us here, because we may see more ludicrous policies coming out, we may see more attempts to discriminate against millions of people based purely on their race and where they were born.
"And what we all need to be here today to remember and keep saying is, 'no, that's not acceptable' and an alternative is possible."
This year's Oscars ceremony is expected to be dominated by political speeches about Mr Trump and his controversial travel ban, while comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who will host the show, has said the US president will be a target for jibes.
L ondon is set for stormy weather and heavy showers in the early part of this week as Britain approaches the official start of spring time.
Monday will see thunderstorms envelop the capital with heavy showers falling in short sharp bursts throughout the day, according to the Met Office.
An unstable air mass passing through the capital is predicted to cause a strong breeze and thunder storms.
Temperatures will drop to a maximum of 10C in the first half of the week ushering in a cool start to spring which officially begins on Wednesday.
The first night of spring will be cool with the potential for some frosts in Londons suburbs.
Storm Doris hits London
It comes as Ireland braces itself for the effects of Storm Ewan which is due to hit its shores on Monday.
Storm Doris - In pictures 1 /20 Storm Doris - In pictures Strong winds on the Millennium Bridge today as Storm Doris sweeps over London today Jeremy Selwyn Strong winds on the Millennium Bridge today as Storm Doris sweeps over London today Jeremy Selwyn Strong winds on the Millennium Bridge today as Storm Doris sweeps over London today Jeremy Selwyn Strong winds on the Millennium Bridge today as Storm Doris sweeps over London today Jeremy Selwyn Strong winds on the Millennium Bridge today as Storm Doris sweeps over London today Jeremy Selwyn Strong winds on the Millennium Bridge today as Storm Doris sweeps over London today Jeremy Selwyn Strong winds on the Millennium Bridge today as Storm Doris sweeps over London today Jeremy Selwyn Strong winds on the Millennium Bridge today as Storm Doris sweeps over London today Jeremy Selwyn Strong winds on the Millennium Bridge today as Storm Doris sweeps over London today Jeremy Selwyn A commuter's hair blows in the wind as they look over the side of London Bridge Getty Images A jack-knifed car transporter near Banknock on the M80 during early morning snowfall Andrew Milligan/PA Waves crash over the marina wall in Brighton Gareth Fuller/PA A plane takes off from Leeds Bradford Airport as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph Danny Lawson/PA Traffic on the M9 near Falkirk during early morning snowfall, Andrew Milligan/PA Waves crash over Newhaven Lighthouse on the south coast of England Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
London is not expected to feel the effects of the storm.
Martin Bowles, meteorologist at the Met office, said: It could well be thundery on Monday in London with heavy showers, as an unstable air mass passes through.
Timelapse shows Storm Doris making its way over London
He added: London will see a cool start to spring, with the potential for some frosts overnight in Londons leafy suburbs.
"But on Thursday it will get warmer and feel more spring like.
A mber Rudd has promised the UK will see the end of freedom of movement as we know it under Theresa Mays Brexit strategy.
The home secretary told ITVs Peston on Sunday that the current right to travel and work in different EU countries will not remain when Britain leaves the EU.
She said one of the Prime Ministers top priorities is to give certainty to the EU people who are here, people who contribute to the economy.
As soon as we get reciprocity so the UK people living in the EU are also secure because weve got to look after them as well, she added.
Amber Rudd said immigration figures would not dramatically fall after Brexit / ITV
One thing I can confirm is we will be ending freedom of movement as we know it. Otherwise were looking at all sorts of different alternatives.
In the same interview, Ms Rudd also claimed immigration figures would not dramatically fall after Britain leaves the EU.
She suggested that the Government was against cliff edges in response to Brexit secretary David Daviss remarks that some jobs would take many years to fill in sectors which rely on migrants.
A new immigration system will be put to businesses in the summer, she said.
G ina Miller has demanded MPs have a meaningful vote on the final outcome of Brexit negotiations.
The businesswoman, best known for successfully challenging the Governments right to take Britain out of the European Union without parliamentary approval, said it was Parliaments sovereign duty to sign off on a final Brexit deal.
Speaking on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show, Ms Miller backed Tory peer Lord Heseltines call for the EU (Withdrawal Notification) Bill to be amended to include a provision for Parliament to debate the final exit deal.
The House of Lords will continue its debate on the so-called Brexit Bill next week with many peers likely to vote for key amendments such as the right for Parliament to vote on the final deal and a clause to guarantee rights of EU nationals already in the UK.
But responding to Ms Millers comments on the show Conservative commentator Tim Montgomerie said her proposition risked unpicking the vote of the people saying Parliament should "respect what people decided".
In the debate on the programme Mr Montgomerie said: I wasnt ever David Camerons number one fan but he said very clearly before the referendum there wont be a second vote this is the one time we will make a decision on Europe and then the decision was taken and we cant keep revisiting it.
Ms Miller responded: This is not about the vote for the people, this is about Parliament doing its sovereign duty.
Mr Montgomerie continued: This is Parliament potentially unpicking the vote of the people and that is incredibly dangerous.
Ms Miller fired back: Why are you so frightened of Parliament having this debate?
To which Mr Montgomerie said: I dont mind Parliament having the debate, but ultimately parliament should respect what people decided on 23rd June.
Ms Millers comments come as Tory grandee Lord Heseltine said he would rebel against Theresa May over Brexit ensuring that Parliament had the final say on what he described as the defining issue of our time.
Writing in The Mail on Sunday he said Labour, Liberal Democrat and rebellious Tory colleagues ready to back a change to the Brexit Bill simply want to uphold the Supreme Court's ruling that MPs and peers have ultimate authority.
He wrote: "In the end the outcome of Brexit will have to be confirmed by Parliament.
"It will also have to pass in 27 national European parliaments, several sub-national parliaments and the European Parliament.
"It was perhaps unwise for our Government to suppose that our Parliament should be excluded where all others were included.
"Very sensibly, after the Supreme Court interpreted the law, that position was reversed and Parliament was restored to its rightful constitutional role as the ultimate authority.
"I will vote in the House of Lords to ensure that position is legally intact.
Ms Miller's comments caused a furore online with social media users battling it out on Twitter.
Some said they were "full of admiration" for Ms Miller with many describing her as "brave" and "intellignet".
But others were less sympathetic accusing her of trying to "silence the voices of 17 million people."
L abour's Jeremy Corbyn will insist on Sunday that now is not the time to "retreat, run away or give up" despite the party suffering a humiliating defeat in the Copeland by-election.
Mr Corbyn, who has once again faced calls to step down, will say he "cannot lie and say the result in Copeland was what we wanted", but he will also insist the "time has come" for his left-wing policies.
The Tories seized the Cumbrian seat from Labour in a dramatic victory on Thursday, with the result marking the first gain for a governing party in a by-election since 1982.
The loss of Copeland shows the "scale of how hard our task is to persuade people of our message", Mr Corbyn will say, as he addresses activists at the Scottish Labour Party conference in Perth.
There he will stress that Labour is "committed to fixing our rigged economy" and to "tackling the underfunding crisis in the NHS and in social care".
He will argue this "redistribution of power and wealth" offers Scots more opportunities than independence but will also warn if Scotland "pulls away from the UK" it will hinder efforts to tackle inequality.
Mr Corbyn will say: "The policies and ideas we are setting out are policies whose time has come.
"But to win that fight we need to remain united. United in our belief in our movement. United in our commitment to once again make our society fairer, better and more just.
"That's why Labour believes that together we're stronger. Unity is still our strength.
"The scale of how hard our task is to persuade people of our message was underlined just this week in Copeland.
"Whilst we stood up to hatred and division in Stoke, I cannot lie and say the result in Copeland was what we wanted.
"But now is not the time to retreat, to run away or to give up."
He will challenge Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to ditch talk of a second independence referendum, urging her to "listen to the people and respect democracy".
The Labour leader will insist: "The Scottish people are telling you to get on with your day job. And start fixing the mess you have made."
He will also stress that the problems facing the working classes are the same on both sides of the border.
Mr Corbyn will argue: "Class, not identity, is what still impacts most on people. It's the class that they are born into that impacts on their life chances.
"If you look at Nicola Sturgeon's constituency in Glasgow and mine in London, you'll see many of the same problems. Unemployment and poor housing, poverty pay and exploitative private landlords.
"What's required for the people of Blackburn, West Lothian or Lancashire, is a challenge to the power wielded, unaccountably, by big business and high finance. Independence doesn't offer that.
"It is the rigged economic system we need to challenge.
A Labour Lord has claimed she was not "in the least bit intimidated" by Theresa May's presence in the upper chamber during last week's crucial Brexit debate.
The Prime Minister was seen to be ramping up pressure on peers as she made the highly unusual move of sitting on the steps in front of the Royal Throne as debate got under way on the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill.
Her presence, in a position she is entitled to occupy as a member of the Privy Council, was seen as a visual warning to peers not to seek to block or delay the legislation, which will give her the authority to launch EU withdrawal negotiations under Article 50.
But Baroness Smith of Basildon, Labour's shadow leader of the House of Lords, said she welcomed the Prime Ministers attendance.
She said she hoped it was a sign that Mrs May would listen to peers if they disagreed with her on Brexit.
Lady Smith told Huffington Post UK: "I had a slightly different take on this from a lot of commentators. I was really pleased. I think it showed some respect for the House of Lords, I've heard people say she was there to be intimidatory. Well I was the only opposition speaker she listened to, and I wasn't in the least bit intimidated.
"So I'm hoping that's a good sign. Because under David Cameron, we saw quite a strange reaction whenever the House of Lords or anyone disagreed with him, it was like a child throwing its toys out of the pram.
"And I'm hoping with Theresa May it's slightly more mature and if we have disagreements on an issue, she'll accept that. That's what happened when we had Labour governments. I'm hoping that's why she was there."
P aul Nuttall was today unavailable for an interview on The Andrew Marr Show because he "had a trip booked" following his by-election loss to Labour in Stoke.
Ukip leader Paul Nuttall lost out to Gareth Snell by 7,853 votes to 5,233 in Brexit heartlands Stoke-on-Trent Central, where 69 per cent of the constituency voted Leave.
Speaking the on The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Ukip deputy leader Peter Whittle said: He had a trip booked, as you might imagine, straight after the by-election and he wanted to break it but we insisted.
Particularly after what hed been through we insisted that he go. So Im afraid youve got me.
Andrew Marr replied: Its very nice to have you here but if he had a trip booked, then presumably he assumed he wasnt going to win the by-election?
Defending Nuttall: Peter Whittle insisted he needed a rest / BBC
Peter Whittle, who ran as Ukips candidate for Mayor of London, reaffirmed Nuttall was on holiday: No, no, he had a trip booked as quite often happens after by-elections.
Given the gruelling time that hed been through, and a particularly personal attack, we wanted him to rest up.
Ukip leader Paul Nuttall / AFP/Getty Images
Whittle added there is absolutely no question that Nuttall will continue as Ukip leader as he has without question united the party despite his disappointing loss in Stoke.
He denied Nuttall was too inexperienced to have won but told Marr: If there was one mistake we made, it was that maybe Paul shouldnt have run so early, I accept that maybe, because hes only been leader for 12 weeks.
People hadnt got to know him well enough I think. Without question Ukip has an appeal for patriotic, working class people.
We didnt win this time there are many by-elections coming up.
Paul Nuttall's campaign was dogged by controversy, including questions raised over his residency in the constituency, his admission that he had not lost close personal friends in the Hillsborough disaster despite contradictory claims on his website, and his failure to name one of the six pottery towns in the seat.
Following the result, Nuttall insisted We are not going anywhere - a statement which turned out to be truer than ever when the party discovered a car had not been booked for him to leave in and he had to be chaperoned away in a police car.
Nigel Farage had previously called the by-election absolutely fundamental for the future of Ukip.
D onald Trump has snubbed the White House press corps by announcing he will not attend the annual correspondents dinner in April.
It is tradition for the US President to address the guests at the glamorous event which includes journalists, politicians and celebrities.
Making his announcement via Twitter on Saturday, he wrote: I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!"
Every sitting president since 1924 has attended the dinner at least once.
Mr Trumps announcement came the day after the White House barred news organisations, including UK publications, from an informal press briefing, as Mr Trump denounced the media as the enemy of people.
Donald Trump: We are fighting the phoney, fake news
UK media outlets including the BBC, The Guardian and The Daily Mail were blocked from the off-camera Friday briefing held by press secretary Sean Spicer, in a move that has angered supporters of a free presss role in a democracy.
CNN, Buzzfeed and The New York Times, of which Mr Trump has been highly critical, were also denied access.
The decision to exclude certain media outlets came after a Mr Trump made a speech in which he blasted the media describing negative news coverage as fake news.
The event, which is due to be held on April 29, is normally a light-hearted affair in which the president makes a humourous speech.
Former President Barack Obama attended the dinner eight times.
Major news outlets including Bloomberg News and the New Yorker magazine have said they will not hold their regular after-parties this year.
The New York Times has said it will respond to Mr Trump's attacks on the media by broadcasting an advertisement called The Truth Is Hard during Sunday's Oscars.
The 30-second video to air during the Academy Awards will close with the words: "The truth is hard. The truth is hard to find. The truth is hard to know. The truth is more important now than ever."
Four crowdfunding pages were set up to help the families of the three victims of last week's shooting at a bar in Kansas, US.
By India Today Web Desk: Crowdfunding efforts to help the families of the victims of the Kansas bar shooting in which Hyderabad engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla lost his life have managed to raise more than $1 million.
Following the shooting, four crowdfunding pages were set up on crowdfunding forum GoFundMe to help the kin of Kuchibhotla and the other two men - Alok Madasani and Ian Grillot - who were wounded in the shooting.
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Madasani, also an Indian, is Kuchibhotla's co-worker at GPS device-maker Garmin and has been discharged from the hospital. Grillot, meanwhile, is being hailed as a hero after he lunged at suspected gunman, Adam Purinton, during the shooting. The 24-year-old American was injured in the process.
A GoFundMe spokeswoman said the outpouring to support on the four funds involves more than 26,000 donations from all US states, the District of Columbia and 39 countries.
US OFFICIALS CONDEMN INCIDENT
The United States government has assured India that a thorough investigation will be conducted, with the governors of the states of Kansas and Missouri joining the list of US officials who have strongly condemned the shooting.
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said, "The friends and family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla are in our prayers. We hope for a speedy recovery for the other men who were shot."
Missouri Governor Eric Greitens, meanwhile, said that violence has no place in his state. The gunman was arrested from Missouri. Greitens further revealed that Purinton had admitted to committing the crime to a citizen.
"It was a concerned Missourian who is said to have alerted the police. The suspect had admitted the crime to her and asked her for a place to hide out. She took responsible and decisive action that led to the arrest," Greitens said in a statement.
Also read: Indian killed in Kansas bar shooting: Donald Trump behind murder, says Srinivas Kuchibhotla's family
'GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY'
The shooting took place Wednesday last week at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas. The bar, which had remained shut since the shooting, reopened on Saturday.
According to reports, Adam Purinton, the gunman, asked the two Indians about they type of visa they had and shouted 'get out of my country' before opening fire, suggesting that it was a racially-motivated hate crime.
Purinton was later arrested from a bar in the state of Missouri and remains jailed on charges of murder and attempted murder.
Also read: How a suspected hate crime in Kansas shattered the American dreams of a Hyderabad engineer
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Also watch: Kansas bar shooting: Do we belong here, asks wife of murdered Indian techie
(With inputs from AP and PTI)
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M oonlight dominated the Independent Spirit Awards ahead of the Oscars as it came away with six wins including Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Feature.
The previous three Spirit Awards Best Feature winners all went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars.
Moonlight, a beautifully-shot drama about growing up gay and black in Miami, won every award it was nominated for at the 32nd annual indie awards.
Directed by Barry Jenkins, Moonlight is based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue and follows the story of Chiron, who is played by three actors throughout his life - Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and finally Trevante Rhodes, and Naomie Harris as his mother.
Moonlight trailer
None of the actors playing Chiron were allowed to meet in real life before the film's completion, despite performing with strikingly similar mannerisms.
The film now holds the record for the most awards won by a single film this decade at the ceremony.
Alex Hibbert, who plays Chiron as a young boy, holds the award / Getty Images for Film Independent
The Spirit Awards only nominate films made for around 16 million or less, therefore disqualifying Academy Awards favourite La La Land, which has 14 Oscar nominations compared to Moonlights eight nods.
Naomie Harris plays Chiron's mother / Getty Images
O.J.: Made in America won best documentary over Ava DuVernays 13th and Raoul Pecks I Am Not Your Negro. All three are also Oscar-nominated.
Coming-of-age tale American Honey went home empty-handed despite getting six nods.
Best feature
Moonlight
Best male lead
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Best female lead
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Best supporting male
Ben Foster, Hell or High Water
Best supporting female
Molly Shannon, Other People
Best director
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Best screenplay
Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight
Best documentary
O.J.: Made in America
Best international film
Toni Erdmann
Best cinematography
James Laxton, Moonlight
Best editing
Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon, Moonlight
Best first feature
The Witch
Best first screenplay
Robert Eggers, The Witch
By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha
Washington, Feb 26 (PTI) The governors of Kansas and Missouri states have strongly condemned the shooting incident that resulted in the "tragic" death of an Indian engineer last week.
"This sort of senseless violence is never acceptable. Law enforcement here in Kansas will continue to thoroughly investigate this crime," the Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said.
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"The friends and family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla are in our prayers. We hope for a speedy recovery for the other men who were shot," Brownback said.
32-year-old Kuchibhotla, who was working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, Kansas, was killed after he was shot by a navy veteran yelling "get out of my country" and "terrorist" at a bar on Wednesday night in Kansas City in the state of Missouri.
Kuchibhotlas Indian colleague Alok Madasani was injured when the 51-year-old shooter opened fire on them. A third person, an American who tried to intervene, was also injured.
Missouri Governor Eric Greitens thanked his state law enforcement official for arresting the shooter who had fled the Kansas city after shooting the two Indian men.
"It is alleged that, when the suspect went into the bar, he shouted get out of my country before firing his weapon. We will learn the truth of what happened in the bar soon enough, but what we can say for certain is this: this hate has no place in our state," Greitens said.
"This violence has no place in our state. And if you are a violent criminal who harms the innocent, you will find no quarter in our state. Come across our border, and we will find you and bring you to justice," he asserted.
After the shooting, the suspect fled across the Kansas border into Missouri.
"It was Missouri police officers from the Clinton Police Department who arrested him. He was sent back to Kansas and will face the judgment of the court on Monday," Greitens said.
"We owe our thanks to Missouri law enforcement for their quick action. Though the suspect went quietly, there was no guarantee of that. Anything could have happened. Our police officers put their lives on the line on every call of this kind," he said.
"It was a concerned Missourian who is said to have alerted the police. The suspect had admitted the crime to her and asked her for a place to hide out. She took responsible and decisive action that led to the arrest," he said in a statement. PTI LKJ ARK ASK ASK
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A missing youth from Kerala, who is suspected of joining ISIS in Afghanistan, died in a drone strike on Saturday.
By Revathi Rajeevan: A missing youth from Kerala, who is suspected of joining ISIS in Afghanistan, died in a drone strike on Saturday.
Ashfaq, one of the 21 youths from Kerala, who went missing and reportedly joined ISIS, today messaged his family that another youth identified as Hafisudeen was killed in a drone attack.
The message about the death was received by Hafisudeen's relative BCA Rahman today morning.
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Rahman told the media that he had received a message via a social media app from another relative Ashfaq, who is also in Afghanistan, that Hafeesuddin, 26, died in the drone attack on Saturday.
"We consider him to be a shuhada (martyr) and Allah knows best," read the message.
YOUTH'S LAST RITES HELD
The youth told Rahman that his body has been buried. When asked if any other person was killed in the attack, the youth said that they were awaiting their turns. "We are waiting for our turn. Inshah Allah," replied the youth.
Immediately after getting the message the family informed Kerala Police. However, the police are yet to confirm the incident.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had told the assembly last July that 21 persons, including children, had left the state for Afghanistan to join the IS.
Out of these, 17 were from Kasaragod district while four belonged from Palakkad district.
Also read:
Gujarat ATS foils ISIS bomb plot, arrests brothers with links to terror outfit
Saw child suicide bombers as young as 10, says Indian doctor freed from ISIS captivity
ISIS beheads Iraqi officer; the steely look in his eyes will haunt you for long
WATCH VIDEO: ISIS recruit from Kerala killed in drone strike in Afghanistan
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By Press Trust of India: Kasaragod (Ker), Feb 26 (PTI) A youth, who was among the 17 missing persons from here and suspected to have joined terror outfit ISIS, has been reportedly killed, police said.
One of the Hafizs relatives had received a WhatsApp message saying that he had become "shaheed" (martyr), a senior police officer told PTI here.
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But, there was no official confirmation in this regard, he said.
NIA has been probing the case of the missing of at least 21 youths who had left the state under mysterious circumstances over a period of time and suspected to have joined ISIS.
Among them, 17 were from Kasaragod and four from Palakkad.
They include four women and three children. PTI LGK RC AQS
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Its been more than a year since Trout Unlimited kicked off efforts to form a local chapter, came up with a name for it Chasing Rainbows and elected a slate of officers (including me).
Its been so long that one of the projects the chapter hoped to promote renovation of Dry Spotted Tail Creek near Mitchell got passed over for the latest round of funding from the Nebraska Environmental Trust.
So long that were already looking for nominations to replace one of the initial board members.
So long, in fact, that I had time to actually catch a trout on a fly.
But after a lot of time and effort behind the scenes, the local board is ready to begin holding meetings.
Were a full, legitimate not a provisional chapter, said President Jon Morgan.
The Chasing Rainbows chapter will meet Thursday, March 2, at 6 p.m. at the YMCAs Trails West Camp in Scottsbluff.
Trout Unlimited already has a chapter based in Omaha. It has about 400 members, including about 50 who lived from Ogallala west. TU representatives met with local anglers more than a year ago to help organize the western chapter and detail some of the organizations national programs, including education efforts and fishery improvement projects. Since the initial couple of meetings weve been a sub-schapter, utilizing the state chapters resources to continue momentum to get the local chapter rolling. The board has approved bylaws based on the national and state model. Membership is generally open to trout anglers living west of Highway 83, which passes through McCook, North Platte and Valentine, although any interested anglers, including Wyoming residents from the Goshen County area, are invited to join. Membership costs $17.50 for inaugural annual dues, and $15 of that will come back to the chapter. After the first year its $35 or $20 for senior citizens or more, if you want, depending on your level of interest.
The agenda will include taking nominations to elect a new board member and discussing chapter projects, including the Dry Spotted Tail Creek restoration project and an effort to restore migratory trout runs on Nine Mile Creek.
The Spotted Tail project will continue seeking funding. The national TU organization has committed funding to the project, which calls for the creek between Mitchell and Morrill to be rechanneled to provide trout habitat on property owned by Platte River Basin Environments. The Nebraska chapter received a grant of $5,000 through the Trout Unlimited national Embrace-A-Stream grant program to help restore the creek. Volunteers from TU, working in cooperation with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Platte River Basin Environments and Ducks Unlimited, have used initial funds to work on planning stages of the project.
Chasing Rainbows will get some initial funding from the Nebraska chapter, and a portion of the dues from local members will be returned to the chapter to help with local trout enhancement projects. Board members will also discuss meeting schedules, future fund-raisers, conservation project committees and other organizational matters. Anyone interested in learning more about the Chasing Rainbows Chapter of Trout Unlimited is welcome to attend.
The board met occasionally during the past year, mostly to work on bylaws and keep a line of communication going with the Omaha group. Chapter status will give the local group access to TU education materials and website development tools, as well as some influence with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Game and Parks has been stepping up its interest in developing what are called cold-wtaer fisheries the streams that are the natural home of native trout, most of which are in our part of the state.
My hope is that itll give members a chance to make new friendships with people interested in fishing for trout, whether theyre handy with a flyrod or not. Id also like to see the chapter work with streamside landowners and Game and Parks to develop better natural fisheries, through in-stream improvements and hatchery boxes, and make them more accessible to walk-in angling, as an alternative to planting hatchery-raised fish in drive-up urban ponds.
Chapters often get involved with educational efforts, such as teaching fly casting and fly tying, and working with kids and women who are interested in fly fishing. But its not strictly a fly fishing group.
We want to look at conservation projects for 2017, said Morgan, who has belonged to a Colorado-based chapter for years. Its not just a fishing club. The main thing is conservation. Its people doing what needs to be done to enhance the habitat that supports wildlife.
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.
Romanian policemen and partners in Schengen member states have found, in the past week, 574 persons, 340 vehicles, 33 documents and three license plates that were signalled as being sought through the Schengen Informatic System (SIS), a press release remitted on Sunday to AGERPRES by the Romanian Police General Inspectorate (IGPR).
"Following the additional exchange of information through the SIRENE Bureau of the Center for International Police Cooperation of the Romanian Police General Inspectorate (IGPR), between February 17-24, the location was made, on the territory of our country, of 367 persons that are the subject of notifications within the SIS. Romanian policemen enforced 20 European arrest warrants, located 154 persons that were wanted in view of participating in judiciary procedures and eight persons that were marked as missing by partners in the Schengen states. Furthermore, on Romanian soil, 291 vehicles were located and 23 documents were seized, as well as three license plates that were sought by partners in the Schengen Area to be confiscated or used as evidence in legal proceedings," the quoted source shows.Furthermore, following the exchange of information, 207 persons sought by Romanian authorities were identified by foreign partners on their territory."Of these, 43 were sought by Romanian police on the basis of European arrest warrants, 17 were persons sought to participate in a judiciary procedure, and one person was marked as missing by Romanian authorities. Partners in the member-states identified 49 vehicles and 10 documents sought by Romanian authorities, in view of seizing them or to be used as evidence within criminal procedures," the quoted source also mentions.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) Integrated marketing services firm Kestone IMS plans to expand its global operations to Malaysia, Indonesia and Dubai and targeting a five-fold increase in its turnover to Rs 500 crore in the next five years.
The company, which has presence in India and Singapore, is also looking to widen its presence to the online space.
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The aim is to expand its global operations to Malaysia, Indonesia and Dubai as the next markets, Kestone IMS President Piyush Gupta told PTI.
Stating that its existing clients in India have also asked the company to serve in overseas locations like Singapore, he said: "We will take some people from India and hire few others from abroad as per our convenience and requirements."
Sharing the companys target, Gupta said, "with a turnover of over Rs 100 crore at present, the aim is to grow 5-fold in the next five years."
In order to expand its reach, the company is also looking to offer all its services online.
Founded in 1997, Kestone IMS is engaged in diversified verticals, including digital marketing, event management, manpower services and customer engagement programs, among others. PTI PRJ RKL BAL ABI
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UPDATED at 7:44 a.m. Monday with mug shot of Keith Wigger.
O'FALLON, MO. A Wentzville man is facing criminal charges for a series of car collisions Friday night that sent six people to the hospital.
The St. Charles County prosecuting attorneys office filed charges on Saturday against Keith Wigger, 27, for two felony counts of assault. Wigger is being held on a $50,000 cash-only bond.
Police say Wigger was driving a truck on Bryan Road near Osage Meadows Drive when his vehicle collided with two cars about 9:15 p.m.
The speeding truck was southbound on Bryan when it struck the back of a BMW passenger car. The truck then crossed into the opposite lane and hit an oncoming car head-on, police say.
Wigger was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the BMW and four people in the third vehicle were taken to a hospital.
Prior to the crashes, the truck had sped past a St. Charles County police officer on Bryan Road.
The officer then pursued the truck for a short time, but a supervisor ordered the officer to stop the pursuit. The truck continued speeding southbound on Bryan.
The Missouri Highway Patrol was at the scene late Friday.
The revelry of Mardi Gras here comes in many forms.
For some, its the streets of Soulard, packed dozens deep with people from all over dressed in gold, green and purple.
For Jessica and Blaine Brandon and 100 or so of their closest friends its an exclusive party.
This marks the seventh Mardi Gras that the Brandons have thrown in their Soulard home on Ninth Street a block removed from the annual Grand Parade route.
The executive director of the Guardian Angel Settlement Association and a Minnesota native, Jessica Brandon started hosting her annual party shortly after moving to St. Louis in 2010.
When in Rome, she jokes.
The libations grow each year. The 2017 spread included a bloody mary and hurricane bar, multiple dips such as shrimp remoulade and a crawfish stew.
Preparation this year, as in the past, began five days before the throngs descended on Soulard.
The Brandons enlist party guests along with friends from around the country in a process that relies on restaurant-level cooking equipment.
Its fun, and everybody seems to love it they keep coming back, Jessica Brandon said about the annual pilgrimage of out-of-town friends to St. Louis. This has kind of become my thing.
Many Soulard residents batten down the proverbial hatches or flee the neighborhood on Mardi Gras weekend to avoid the crowds.
Not the Brandons.
If you dont like the noise in the city, dont live in the city, Blaine Brandon said. The ruckus doesnt bother him. He actually kind of likes it.
Before moving to Soulard, the Brandons experienced St. Louis Mardi Gras as most do: buying drinks and food from street vendors and waiting in a 10-person line for one of the 1,500 port-a-potties.
This is a big part of why we bought this house, Blaine Brandon said. We could afford to live in Kirkwood, Chesterfield wherever, but we choose to live here because we love it.
Calm day
Maj. Michael Sack said that by late evening St. Louis police had arrested 44 people, 41 of whom were minors in possession of alcohol. They were issued summonses and released. The other three arrests were made for misdemeanor violations.
Earlier, a St. Louis police official said the holiday was going well.
It seems like everyone is in a good mood, Lt. Col. Jerry Leyschock said.
St. Louis resident Ukiah Wheeler agreed. Its the environment and the energy that brings him back to the parade and festivities each year and maybe the beads, too.
The weather is part of it, according to Mack Bradley, president of the Mardi Gras Foundation. He joked that a cold, sunny day is better than a dreary warm day. The high Saturday was only 41 degrees, much cooler than recent mild February weather.
Bradley said its impossible to tell how 2017 attendance compares to past years. The foundations best judgment comes from how many tons of trash they collect, he said.
Organizers estimate around 17 million strands of beads are thrown out during Mardi Gras, and that the event brings in more than $21 million to the St. Louis region.
12 people died on the spot after a truck they were in hit the concrete barricade of a road in West Khasi Hills.
Several people were killed after a truck accident in Meghalaya (ANI photo)
By Indo-Asian News Service: At least 16 people were killed on Sunday when a truck they were in rammed into the concrete barricade of a road in Meghalaya's West Khasi Hills district, police said.
More than 50 people were critically injured in the accident in Jdohkroh village, 11 km from Nongstoin, the district headquarters of West Khasi Hills.
"Twelve people died on the spot and four succumbed to their injuries in hospital," Sylvester Nongtnger, the police chief of West Khasi Hills, told IANS. The dead included nine were women and a 13-year-old girl.
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Nongtnger said all the victims were proceedings towards Nonglang village to attend the synod of Presbyterian Church.
The injured, including the driver and helper of the truck, have been rushed to nearby hospitals and to the Shillong Civil Hospital, the police said.
Quoting witnesses, the police officer said the accident occurred due to speeding. "Nonetheless, we are investigating the cause of the accident."
Also read: Ghaziabad police try 'hushing' Audi accident that killed 4
Also read: Karnataka shocker: Teenager bleeds to death after accident while onlookers take videos
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A federal watchdog that protects consumers from predatory businesses is in the crosshairs as Republicans look for ways to ease banking regulations. Against the wishes of most Americans, lawmakers are hunting down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with an intent to kill.
Since its creation through the Dodd-Frank Act following the 2008 meltdown, the CFPB has fought in court on behalf of 27 million consumers, winning them nearly $12 billion in redress from fraudulent lenders and banks that violated federal law.
Republican lawmakers dont like that the agency can do all this without much congressional oversight. Banks complain that the bureaus regulatory procedures are onerous. Republicans have introduced legislation that would strip the bureaus powers, basically reducing the watchdog to, in the words of Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, a toy poodle.
Thats modest compared to the proposal by Texas conservatives Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. John Ratcliffe to abolish the agency altogether. President Donald Trumps team, for its part, wants to fire the CFPBs director, Richard Cordray a move supported by Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin, a darling of the financial services industry. Trumps team reportedly is considering Fannie Maes vice president, Brian Brooks, as a successor.
In surveys, Americans say they dont want any of that to happen. In a July poll, 79 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Republicans said they supported the bureaus mission. The election result doesnt appear to have changed their views. In December, more than half of Trump voters opposed efforts to weaken the consumer agency. If Trump believes the election was all about the peoples will, then lawmakers should stop meddling where their help isnt wanted.
Most people dont need to be told that some companies hurt consumers. Take, for example, the more than 40 million student loan borrowers who owe over $1.2 trillion in debt, or the hard workers locked into cycles of debt by payday lenders. Take the home buyers who wound up in foreclosure because mortgage companies kept relief options hidden. Or the minorities who face discrimination when attempting to borrow money, and then go into deeper debt because theyre only offered costlier subprime loans.
Its easy to label the CFPB a rogue agency, given that Congress doesnt control its budget and director. But theres a reason the bureau received this degree of independence: It keeps the bureau accountable to consumers rather than to a Congress bankrolled by the very corporate interests they are supposed to keep in check.
There are too many victims and no shortage of deceptive businesses on the CFPBs slate. Thats why a large majority of Americans wants the bureau kept strong, intact and free from meddling by lobbyists and banking interests.
This is one watchdog who earns his keep. Dont put him down.
About 70 percent of Missouri voters in November approved a constitutional amendment aimed at getting big money out of state politics. This vote became necessary because, eight years earlier, a Republican Legislature and governor had overturned limits on campaign contributions approved by 74 percent of voters in 1994.
Twice in 22 years, a supermajority said it doesnt want big donors running Missouris government. A loud popular mandate doesnt matter to wealthy donors and their minions in Jefferson City, who assume voters have short attention spans.
After the Legislature and Gov. Matt Blunt thumbed their noses at the 1994 law and ushered in no-limits rules in 2008, six- and seven-figure contributions became commonplace.
So Fred Sauer of Clayton, a very conservative Republican, took it upon himself to get Amendment 2 on Novembers ballot. The intent was clear: The people of the State of Missouri hereby find and declare ... that the interests of the public are best served by limiting campaign contributions, providing for full and timely disclosure of campaign contributions, and strong enforcement of campaign finance requirements.
The public be damned. Special interests are now trying to find a way around this one, too. Its a constitutional amendment, so its a little trickier. The Legislature cant merely override the measure like it did with the 1994 law.
Multiple court challenges have been filed. The Missouri Ethics Commission is working overtime interpreting the laws basic provisions. It has ruled that Amendment 2 didnt apply donation limits to candidates for local offices. But it further ruled that corporate contributions to races like that for St. Louis mayor are forbidden. As a result, four candidates in the March 7 Democratic mayoral primary have had to return $71,000 in donations.
But then theres this: Jason Rosenbaum of St. Louis Public Radio reports that because contribution limits dont apply to city- and county-level candidates, local politicians could turn themselves into super PACs or laundromats.
Say youre a big donor who wants to give a million dollars to help a gubernatorial candidate. Amendment 2 says you can give no more than $2,600 per election directly to any candidate for state office. But you could give $1 million to a local officeholder a county commissioner, for example who could then set up an independent expenditure committee to help your gubernatorial candidate.
None of this is in the spirit of Amendment 2, nor is it what voters wanted. Nor did voters know that Eric Greitens would benefit to the tune of nearly $2 million in anonymous money through a loophole in federal campaign laws and then, having been elected governor, run around the state making speeches about ethics.
Instead of looking for loopholes, big donors and their pet politicians should abide by the voters will.
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?
Editors note: Our policy is not to publish op-ed submissions by candidates for public office, but the editorial board failed to exhaust all options to obtain an interview with Republican Andrew Jones before publishing our primary endorsements for St. Louis mayor on Feb. 19. We invited Jones to make his best case.
Just as our city lies at the confluence of two mighty rivers, our future offers two stark choices: Between the politics of the past, and the promise of a fulfilled potential.
For this reason, I agree wholeheartedly with the Post-Dispatchs general opinion that the upcoming mayoral election is one to either maintain an unacceptable status quo or take a chance on a substantially new direction. We must turn away from 70 years of Democratic decline and bring bold ideas and truly different solutions to end years of business, and politics, as usual.
First, we must address public safety and crime. I was deeply moved by the Post-Dispatchs Sunday story on our opioid epidemic and the startling front-page image of the couple injecting heroin into their veins. This epidemic breeds petty crimes, and violent ones. How can we bring hope and a better future to men and women, children even, who seem to need these drugs to endure life today?
When I become your mayor, I will immediately assign a task force to eradicate the small element of repeat criminals who commit the overwhelming majority of violent crimes. We need to deploy current public safety resources optimally and in line with national best practices. The citys thin finances cannot afford a candidate who makes promises to win elections, pledging to find the money later.
I will also meet with those who are living in the highest violent crime areas, to rebuild the relationship between the police and citizens. The time when our citys children fear the police, the men and women who are there to protect them, needs to end.
To be sure, building hope in our citizenry and a love for community starts earlier in life. We need educational programs that help everyone. Thats why I will work to encourage trade schools and workforce development. As much as we need to improve our city schools, we must take care of our school-age boys and girls now. They cant wait two years, or five. Every month spent in a failing classroom endangers their future. Thats why I support school choice for parents in struggling schools.
A safer city with stronger educational opportunities will help fuel our economic growth and attract businesses. As your mayor, I will build coalitions and establish a comprehensive strategic plan for the St. Louis region. We need to be competing with cities and regions across the Midwest and around the globe, not throwing tax incentives to lure retail stores across municipal lines.
One of the big issues currently facing St. Louis is the use of tax incentives to attract new building projects and businesses, or to improve our aging infrastructure. I support these incentives only as a last resort and only for projects with a business plan that meets rigorous standards and impact metrics.
Finally, as a Republican, I am not beholden to the divisions and special interests that have held our city back for two generations. I am also in the unique position for the next four years to best represent St. Louis in seeking cooperation from Republican-controlled state and federal governments.
St. Louis has done great things, and it can do them still, once it sheds petty biases and grievances of the past. We can be a place where our families feel safe and our young can prosper, where businesses can be born, thrive and create jobs. We shouldnt be losing our best and brightest to other cities; we should be attracting the best and brightest here.
We can make St. Louis once again a beacon of civic excellence with a focus on public safety, improved education and economic opportunity. Were the city that 200 years ago launched two intrepid explorers across the western United States, that a century ago hosted the first Olympics in the Western Hemisphere and a Worlds Fair we are still so very proud of, and that not too long ago was at the forefront of aerospace and high-tech innovation.
What is St. Louis today, and what can it be tomorrow? On Election Day, the answer is up to you.
Botanical Heights resident Andrew Jones, 56, is a senior executive for an area utility and a candidate in St. Louis Republican mayoral primary.
If Trump talked of grabbing women by their pussy, Angela Missoni totally showed how to turn the idea on its head.
By India Today Web Desk: After hundreds of women taking to the streets in protest of the new POTUS, the anti-Trump sentiments have now found expression at the ramp.
Fashion turned political when Angela Missoni showcased models strutting down the runway wearing pink knitted cat-eared hats at the Milan Fashion Week. The pink hats came out as Missoni's statement of support for the Women's March and the egalitarian ideas they stood for.
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"I wanted to have a regular show, but at the same time I thought that when I have a show my voice is louder, so I can use it for a good cause-to support the women march and movement, and for everybody who believes that we need to raise a voice for human rights," said Missoni.
Also Read:Women are making hijabs out of the American flag, and it's beautiful
The pink pussy hats immediately recall Trump's lewd comments on women, especially when he boasted about grabbing them by their genitals.
Italian designer Angela Missoni speaks at the end of her Autumn/Winter 2017 women collection during Milan's Fashion Week.Photo:Reuters
"I feel the need to recognise that in a time of uncertainty there is a bond that can keep us strong and safe, that unites those that respect all human rights. Let's show the world that the fashion world is united and fearless," Missoni said at the end of her show, on the fourth day of Milan's fashion week.
Italian fashion brand Prada also showcased designs dwelling on the role of women in the society. Milan fashion week runs until Febuary 27, with Marni, Dolce&Gabbana and Giorgio Armani set to showcase their collections in the next days.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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Afghanistan Foreign Office on Sunday summoned Pakistans ambassador to Kabul and complained that due to the closing of the Pak-Afghan border people are facing difficulties.
The Afghan officials said that Pakistan is shelling across the border. The Pakistani Ambassador responded to the concerns, saying that to stop infiltration of terrorists the border was closed.
He said that Pakistan wants peace in Afghanistan and has initiated Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad.
To ensure peace, closing the border was imperative, he said. The ambassador further said that Pakistani posts were being attacked and the army was only retaliating.
The border has been closed for the ninth executive day.
On Feb 24, Pakistan Army conducted targeted strikes across the Afghan border on Thursday, killing two high-profile terrorists affiliated with Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, according to security sources.
Those killed included Wajihullah alias Ahrar, who was sponsored by a hostile intelligence agency for terrorist activities in Pakistan, security sources said. He was the mastermind of the recent suicide attack in Lahore and earlier incidents in Punjab, they added.
Earlier, Pakistan was hit by five terrorist attacks in a week. In wake of the attacks, Pak-Afghan border was shut down and an operation was initiated to eliminate terrorism.
During the meeting, professional matters, security issues and Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad came under discussion.
Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif said that Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad would lead to complete elimination of terrorism and extremism.
The chief minister lauded the sacrifices of Pakistan Army in the ongoing war against terrorism.
He also lauded the sacrifices of police personnel and people from different walk of life.
He added that Pakistani nation had the capability to meet both internal and external challenges. He added that Pakistan had offered great sacrifices in war against terrorism.
He pledged that terrorists would be eliminated for the soil of Pakistan.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir held talks in Baghdad with Iraq's leadership Saturday, the first such visit by a chief diplomat from the kingdom since 2003.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi received Jubeir and his accompanying delegation, a statement from his office said, a key step in efforts to normalise frosty ties.
Both sides discussed cooperation in various fields, including the fight against the Daesh gangs, it said, referring to the militant Islamic State (IS) group Iraqi forces are currently battling in the northern city of Mosul.
The Saudi minister also met his counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who said in a statement the visit was the first by a Saudi foreign minister since 2003.
This visit is to reestablish relations in a more stable way than previously, a senior government official said told AFP on condition of anonymity.
It's the first visit of its kind.
Abadi, who has been at the helm since 2014, has supported efforts to improve strained ties but the road to normalisation has been rocky.
Thamer al-Sabhan, whose credentials were received in January 2016, became the first Saudi ambassador to Iraq in a quarter century, after relations were cut following ex-president Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
He left the same year after Baghdad demanded he be removed following remarks he made to the press about an alleged plot to assassinate him and criticism he voiced of the Hashed al-Shaabi.
Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) forces, which have played a key role in the fight against the IS group, are a paramilitary umbrella dominated by Shia militia and seen by Riyadh as a proxy for arch-rival Iran.
Jaafari was one of the most vocal critics of Saudi Arabia at the time and issued several strongly-worded statements against the kingdom and Jubeir himself.
He told him directly on the sidelines of a global conference on the anti-IS war last year and in a statement expressing Iraq's annoyance over what he called unacceptable interference.
The victim has named two Class 9 students who allegedly molested her during lunch time and free periods.
By Ram Kinkar Singh: A Class II student of a Delhi government school has accused two seniors of molesting her inside the school campus. While one of the accused has been arrested, another has been detained.
The victim has named two Class 9th students who allegedly molested her during lunch time and free periods. The minor said that the accused forced her to indulge in sexual acts.
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The victim said that the accused molested her for the first time on February 23. She later informed her elder sister about the incident. The incident came to light after the victim's elder sister informed the family about it.
Also read: More children break silence, allege sexual assault by supervisor
"We informed the school teacher about the abuse. However, they did not take the matter seriously and ignored it citing exams," said the victim's uncle.
Compelled by the inaction of the school authorities, the family sought from the police. The family also alleged that the victim was forcefully sedated by the accused.
The police have booked the two girls under Section 6 and 10 of the POCSO Act and Section 328 of the IPC. Sources said that the arrested girl is not a minor.
Also read: Bengaluru play school horror: Spate of FIRs reveal many other kids sexually assaulted by same man
Investigation into the incident is underway.
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A night of all nights in the spiritual calendar of Hindus View(s):
By Udumbara Udugama
Maha Shivaratri which was celebrated on Friday, is the worship and expression of devotion to Lord Shiva. Along with Hindus in Sri Lanka, Maha Shivaratri or the Great Night of Shiva is celebrated on a large scale in India and Nepal. Chief Trustee for the past 35 years of the well known Sri Selva Vinayagar Kovil in Kandy Krishnamoorti Govindasamy, explained the significance and the rituals performed at their overnight vigil on Maha Shivaratri.
Devotees fast and arrive for the special Maha Shivaratri puja which starts in the afternoon and continues throughout the night. The Abhishek of the icons of Lord Shiva takes place with king coconut water, honey, milk, turmeric and water. The devotees chant Om Namah Shivaya and continue to sing bhajans (devotional songs) in praise of Lord Shiva. Every two hours there is a special puja where many rituals are performed by lighting oil lamps, offering flowers, milk, sweets, fruit etc. There is also a 108 Hakgedi puja where conch shells are placed strategically by an officiating priest while the bhajans are sung. At dawn, around four a.m, the final rituals are performed and the devotees break their fast. Finally they partake of the prasadam, the offerings that were made to Lord Shiva.
Every fortnight is a Shivaratri in the Hindu calendar but the most important is the Maha Shivaratri, celebrated in February-March every year which falls on a moonless night. Devotees keep vigil the whole night meditating on the virtues of Lord Shiva. They learn self-restraint by fasting. Women consider it a special festival. Married women believe that by observing a fast and performing Shiva Puja, their marriage will prosper while unmarried women believe they will be able to get an ideal husband like Lord Shiva.
Hindu Puranas (ancient texts) present many different myths and legends about Maha Shivaratri festival. One relates the story of a poor tribesman who was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Going into the forest to collect firewood, he lost his way. He heard the growls of wild animals and climbed a woodapple tree for safety. Afraid that he would fall asleep and fall off the tree, he plucked a leaf at a time and dropped it while chanting the name of Shiva. In the morning he saw that he had dropped a thousand leaves on to a Lingam at the foot of the tree. Lord Shiva was pleased with this unwitting worship and he and his tribe were blessed by Shiva.
This legend explains the all night worship of Shiva on Maha Shivaratri.
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Feb 26 (PTI) German auto major Volkswagen is working to bring more feature-packed fresh products every year to India while revving up localisation instead of trying to compete in the highly competitive mass market segment.
Having learnt lessons in the past decade of its presence in the country, the worlds largest automaker has undertaken a course correction and is working to establish itself as the most preferred affordable premium brand in India.
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"We have been here (in India) for ten years now as a brand but we are still in the learning phase. Some of the assumptions that we took in the early days when we came then with Vento and Polo, they have proved to be not 100 per cent right," Volkswagen Group Sales India, Director VW Passenger Cars, Michael Mayer told PTI.
He said the company had much higher expectations of growth of the market but that did not happen in 2011-13 and that "fairly dampened" the plans.
Giving an idea of the challenges here, Mayer said the tag of the "worlds largest car manufacturer and Europes biggest car manufacturer becomes pointless when it comes to understanding and performing as brand and establishing as a brand in the Indian market. It has got structure and characteristics of its own."
Asked what the company has learnt from the experience, Mayer said: "One of the learnings is that Indian consumers are driven by newness.
"If you dont change your products constantly and provide a reason to buy this years version compared to last years version, which has to be visible to the customer, you are basically out. So thats what we have changed."
Citing the features in the companys compact sedan Ameo such as the rear view camera, auto dimming mirror and automatic gearbox, he said VW has been able to deliver what Indian customers at that segment aspire for in their cars.
"We are now there with the Indian customers, which was probably not the case in the early years, when we had the understated approach of Volkswagen all through," Mayer reflected.
The second thing is localisation, he said.
"You have to drive localisation in order to be able to compete in the aggressive commercial climate in India. We are doing a lot behind the scenes with our factory and our local engineering. So, that will drive a lot of our future products decisions. We have to be very much Indianised in order to be competitive," Mayer said.
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VW constantly reviews the content of each car and every quarter it is "driving up new localised content with our suppliers and try to get that into other product lines," he added. (MORE) PTI RKL ABM ABI PTP
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By India Today Web Desk:
The doctor from Andhra Pradesh was in Libya for the last 18 years and was trying to get back over 10 lakh from health authorities as part of his gratuity when he was put in jail by ISIS.
India's top US diplomat meets President Trump
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India's envoy to the US Navtej Sarna has met Donald Trump, even as his counterparts from other countries also met the US President at the Oval Office in White House.
Ayesha Takia on plastic surgery rumours: Vicious people have morphed my pics
Ayesha Takia has denied going under the knife and claimed that her photographs have been morphed and distorted by some vicious people.
Steve O'Keefe surprised by India's batting collapse in Pune Test
Man of the match Steve O'Keefe picked up 12 wickets in the match as Australia hammered India by 333 runs to win the Pune Test and take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
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Graeme Thompson, a trained theatre archivist, found it very exciting when he discovered that Ken White, a former stalwart of the 16th Ave Theatre had correspondence with New Zealand playwright Bruce Mason and was a friend of his.
He found these in the papers that Ken White handed over to the theatre before he died.
Bruce Mason wrote 34 plays and influenced the cultural landscape of the country through his contribution to theatre. As Graeme says: Bruce Mason is regarded as the guy who kick-started New Zealand theatre.
Graeme has been working on the 16th Ave Theatre archives for about six weeks, for six hours per week. This came about through a chance meeting between his wife and Jaine Kirtley from 16th Ave Theatre. He studied drama at the University of Otago with the Allen Hall Theatre, and his peers included Te Radar, and Duncan and Robert Sarkies. This gave him a love of theatre, and later he went on to be a trained archivist at Archives NZ. He was also on the NZ Theatre Trust Board, which encourages professional and amateur theatre to archive the records of their performances.
It was tremendously exciting from a historical point of view, says Graeme, and also as a former member of the New Zealand Theatre Archive Trust Board, for me to discover that Bruce Mason had written letters to Ken White in the 1950s in which he mentions hes working on his latest play and that its called The Pohutakawa. This was before it was called The Pohutakawa Tree.
Bruce Masons best-known play is The End of the Golden Weather, a classic made into a feature film directed by Ian Mune in 1991. The Pohutukawa Tree is another significant play, and was written during the 1950s and 1960s. Exploring Maori and Pakeha themes, it was Masons first major success, with Mason using theatre to highlight social and political issues in New Zealand society.
Mason writes in one of his letters to Ken White - You told us of the Pohutakawa Tree, that it moved forward without tension. Perhaps what I feel about yours as a whole is that it jumps forward, and recoils, only to jump forward again.
Not only is it significant in that they were corresponding about the plays they were doing, says Graeme, and talking about plays in New Zealand, but one actress wanted to play the female character in The Pohutakata Tree. But Bruce Mason said he didnt want anyone other than a Maori to play the Maori role.
The Pohutakawa Tree is regarded as being one of the pioneering works of New Zealand theatre.
Ken White had produced a play on the West End in England called They called him Jonah which was a play about the discovery of Adolf Hitler on a Pacific Island in the 1950s, as New Zealand was taking over the stewardship and governance of the island. The copy of this play, kept in the archives, has comments inserted by Bruce Mason.
Many years later, Graeme says, 16th Ave Theatre had a play written where Adolf Hitler was discovered living on the west coast of the South Island after World War II.
Bruce and Ken were great friends, and the first performance of The End of the Golden Weather happened here in Tauranga. Graeme states that the correspondence between the two is a particularly significant discovery of New Zealand theatre history.
Graeme has been creating templates for the 16th Ave Theatre volunteers to use and list materials, and is showing them how to archive the theatrical collection. This has been done with limited time, as he relocates this week to work as a records management adviser for the New Plymouth District Council.
Its a tremendous treasure trove! exclaims Graeme. What is even more exciting than just Ken Wrights paper, is that for each production, the theatre has kept posters, newspaper clippings, sometimes theres a script and photos. These go back to the 1920s and even further.
News Clipping from 1919 Production Facing the Music
In 1919, the Tauranga Amateur Dramatic Company, the predecessor of 16th Ave Theatre, performed Facing the Music. Theres a clipping about it in the files.
Graeme discovered more delights during his archiving efforts.
The theatre is also amazing in that it produced Amateur Theatre in New Zealand, a View from Tauranga which is on video and DVD, and it is in 3 volumes, says Graeme. Theyve published a list of all the plays since 1936 and who was in them. Weve discovered by looking at photos of those productions that some people didnt make it into the book.
One of the things that will happen once these archives are listed, arranged and described, is that Graeme will encourage the records to be taken to the Tauranga Library so they can be properly housed.
In the 1980s Ken White spent 3-4 years filming interviews all over New Zealand with people who had some connection to the 16th Ave Theatre in Tauranga. These three videos each 3 hours long are now stored in the archives. This record is quite a significant snapshot of an important part of the history of amateur theatre in New Zealand as Ken also interviewed others not directly involved in Tauranga.
In my opinion, Taurangas 16th Ave Theatre is one of the most professional amateur theatres I have ever seen, says Graeme, with an amazing theatre and tradition going back to the 1930s. It has an amazing position in terms of the birth of New Zealand theatre producing New Zealand plays with Ken White and the contact they had with Bruce Mason. I remember when I came in I was just astounded with how good this was and think Tauranga people should know how exceptional it is.
Records of press releases, photos, and theatre programmes were kept in a scrapbook from 1955 onwards, about the same time as the letters from Bruce Mason. 16th Ave Theatre has deliberately had a policy of keeping the archives.
This is a significant piece of the social history of Tauranga and a very significant piece of the history of theatre in New Zealand, says Graeme. Its fantastic."
A man is in custody after the armed offenders squad swarmed a Western Bay road last night.
The road was sealed off by police as they hunted an alleged armed offender.
At around 8.15pm on Saturday, police responded to reports of a domestic incident on Armstrong Road.
Police were informed a firearm was present, prompting assistance from the AOS.
A police spokesperson says several firearms were recovered and a man was taken into custody.
Charges are expected to be laid later.
No one was injured during the operation.
The upcoming Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival will see a line-up change with Lithuanian-born artist Ernest Zacharevic withdrawing due to personal reasons.
Paradox festival artistic director George Shaw says stepping in to fill the gap is one of the worlds finest muralists, Sydney based artist Fintan Magee, who theyve wanted to work with for years.
He was one of the first artists that we contacted for Paradox back in August. Unfortunately he was working in some far flung place and we couldnt track him down.
Its obviously sad that Ernest had to withdraw but by then Fintan was back on the radar, so we finally get to work with him and we know that his distinctive style will light up Tauranga.
Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival is being developed by Tauranga City Council in partnership with Oi YOU! and Tauranga Art Gallery and will run from March 28 through to June 15.
Buildings across the city will be brought to life with giant artworks created especially for Paradox created by top local, national and international artists.
Paradox will also feature the Oi YOU! Collection which includes the most extensive assembly of Banksy works in the Southern Hemisphere and will be up on display at Tauranga Art Gallery during the festival.
Tauranga Art Gallery director Karl Chitham is excited about the line-up of artists the gallery will have on display.
With installations, throw-ups, virtual reality and pieces by some of the worlds most talented artists, Paradox Inside will be a totally immersive experience.
We are looking forward to seeing amazing works by artists like Askew One, Lucy McLauchlan, Sofles and with the recent addition of Fintan Magee and the virtual reality experience by Rone.
Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival will run from March 28 through to June 15. For more information visit the festival website: www.taurangastreetartfestival.nz
New regulations have been approved under the Resource Management Act to provide a national approach to the use of poisons like 1080 and brodifacoum.
Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith says pests such as stoats, rats and possums kill 25 million native birds a year.
If we are serious about ensuring the survival of species like kiwi, we need to use effective and efficient poisons like 1080.
This new approach standardises the rules for using such poisons rather than the current system of different rules in different regions. This change will reduce costs and delays for operators, ensure consistent conditions throughout the country, reduce mistakes from misunderstanding rule differences and allow best practice approaches to be used.
The change will not increase any of the risks around the use of these poisons, which are effectively managed by the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996. It is expected to save $11 million over the next 20 years, enabling more pests to be controlled and more species saved.
This change was advocated for by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, who was concerned about the duplication and inconsistency of the differing regional rules. The proposal was consulted on last year, with 70 per cent of submissions favouring the change. The new national regulations will come into effect on April 1.
The environment minister announced the news while visiting Tiritiri Matangi Sanctuary in the Hauraki Gulf as part of Nationals annual Bluegreens Forum.
I know there is opposition to poisons like 1080 and brodifacoum but they are essential tools to saving New Zealands natural heritage. Islands like Tiritiri Matangi are only so prolific in birdlife because of the use of these poisons in the past. These new regulations will help us create more special sanctuaries for the future and contribute to the Governments goal of a Predator Free NZ by 2050.
Further information on the regulation is available at www.mfe.govt.nz
Shave for a Cure week is fast approaching, with Kiwis across the country signing up to lose their locks during the week March 20-26.
The iconic fundraising campaign for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand (LBC) enters its fifteenth year and is aiming to raise over $1 million to support Kiwis living with blood cancer.
When Shelley Woodney was celebrating her birthday in early 2015, a sore mouth and gums meant she couldnt enjoy her food and she headed to bed feeling unwell.
After two days in bed, Shelley ended up in hospital.
The haematologist told me I had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. I started treatment right away and didnt leave the hospital for the next 10 days, she says.
Shelley spent 12 weeks having chemotherapy and blood transfusion which she says started out well although she had time in and out of hospital.
Once she finished her treatment, Shelley was given the choice to have a stem cell transplant.
Just eight days after her transplant, Shelley was so unwell in the Intensive Care Unit that the doctor advised her to bring her children in to see her.
It was the middle of the night and I said we wouldnt call them until the morning because I just wasnt going to die and that was that!
Although she knew the odds of coming out of ICU were slim, Shelley was determined to recover which she has and was given the news that she was now in remission.
Shelley Woodney.
Every day six children and adults are diagnosed with a blood cancer like leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma or a related blood condition and latest Ministry of Health data estimates that close to 21,000 Kiwis are living with blood cancer.
Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand CEO Pru Etcheverry says: We are incredibly appreciative of every brave person who has signed up to Shave for a Cure over the years and to those who have taken up the challenge so far this year. Of course we are equally grateful to the family, friends, colleagues and communities of these people who donate so generously in support of these Shavees.
The funds raised will help Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand, which receives no government funding, to support and advocate for patients and families living with blood cancers and blood conditions.
The organisation also provides education programmes, information, raises awareness and funds research into better treatments and potential cures.
On March 17 from 12pm to 2pm, New Zealand celebrities will band together to show their support at Farmers flagship CBD store Shave for a Cure launch event.
Farmers are hugely valued long-term supporters of both Shave for a Cure and Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand.
Throughout Shave for a Cure Week there are shave events organised at selected Farmers stores right across the country, where members of the public can come together and Shave as individuals or as teams. For a full list of shaves go to https://shaveforacure.co.nz/get-involved/farmers-shaves/
Shavees can register and establish individual fundraising pages at shaveforacure.co.nz
Bigger ships, bigger capacity and potentially $300 million savings for our exporters and importers.
And that delights the Minister for Economic development and Tauranga MP Simon Bridges.
The Port of Tauranga has indicated its on track to be the first in the country to handle more a million containers in a year.
Thats because of the development of the Ports shipping channel, which enabled ships up to 8000 containers to service New Zealand double previous capacities. And thats where those massive savings can be made.
The efficiency gains of these larger ships is supporting future economic growth not only for Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty but for the broader New Zealand economy.
Simon says each year the port moves more than 49 million tonnes of exports and imports, with a combined value of more than $75 billion.
As an island nation, maritime is essential. Our primary industry export sector is worth around $37 billion, with export revenue reaching an estimated $36.7 billion in the year to June 2016.
The primary sector is one of the most important drivers of New Zealands economy and the greater Tauranga and Western Bay region.
Forestry, kiwifruit and dairy exports account for about 75 per cent of the Port of Taurangas exports.
For most, the past week has been one which has restored our faith in the Kiwi Summer as settled weather graced most of the country.
A ridge of high pressure dominated New Zealand, supressing fronts as they moved up the South Island.
This meant that those in the north remained generally dry with fine weather, while those further south still had to contend with a couple of plucky fronts trying to take on the ridge anchored in the north.
This series of weakening fronts over the South Island meant places in the east experienced quite a range in maximum temperatures.Ashburton had a balmy week with temperature maximums reaching 32 degrees Celsius.
While the high pressures to the north, which brought dry conditions to the Far North for much of summer, have now sunk further south over central New Zealand.
Connected to this is a corresponding southerly shift of the subtropical jet stream linking to changes in weather a little further afield.
Due to the subtropical jet stream trending southwards, tropical depressions have more of a chance to develop because of lower wind shears, says MetService meteorologist April Clark.
Though the life of the first Tropical Cyclone in the South Pacific this season (TC Bart) was fleeting, it shows a change from the settled pattern in the tropics so far this year. Back home, with the exception of the far south, the theme for Saturday was fine weather.
Some excellent conditions were had for many outdoor events across the country with temperatures hitting 22 degrees in Ohakea for the RNZAF Tattoo Air Display.
Though southerlies and cloud in the east linger behind a weak front today things should fine up today, though isolated showers, some possibly heavy with thunderstorms are expected about the ranges and central New Zealand today.
The Naagin actress took to social media site Instagram to wish Sriti on her big day.
By India Today Web Desk: It is Kumkum Bhagya actress Sriti Jha's birthday today. And while we don't know yet how Sriti plans to celebrate her special day, but we do know that the actress has received the sweetest birthday wish from her close friend and Naagin actress Mouni Roy.
Also read: Kumkum Bhagya's Sriti Jha has just got a hair makeover and you will love it; see pics
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It is a well-known fact by their admirers that the two get along, in fact that is putting it mildly. The actresses always keep showering each other with love on social media site Instagram, and there are several photos of the two of them together. But perhaps the most special one is the one below, as it was posted by Mouni recently to wish Sriti on her birthday.
Mouni had written in the caption of the photograph, "Happy happy birthday to my better sincere lovelier more evolved half. @itisriti. You give me so much joy! Come back soon. I miss you, love you so, Of Unicorns & distant lands."
Happy birthday, Sriti!
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Organizers of a Celebration of the First Amendment Saturday afternoon at Floyds Eco-System had to set up extra chairs for the additional attendees who heard speeches, panel discussions, songs and poems about the Constitutional amendment that protects freedom of speech, the press and other such freedoms.
Designed to speak out against what many see as assaults on such freedoms, the crowd applauded and cheered when speakers discussed the right to protest against the government and freely express opinions. Floyd Countys Commonwealths Attorney Eric Branscom kicked off the speeches with a history lesson that talked about a President who wanted to suppress freedom of speech and the press and jail those who did not agree and was backed by the political party that controlled Congress.
Turned out he was talking about President John Adams in 1794 and control of the Federalist Party over Congress then. Branscom said it took Virginians Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who followed Adams, to implement a version of states rights and pardons to get those who disagreed with Adams out of jail and protest the then-new First Amendment.
Even so, Branscom said, it would take 165 years before the U.S. Supreme Court would fully overturn the legal challenges from the 1700s in the Times v. Sullivan case that reaffirmed freedom of the press and the other freedoms of the amendment.
Radford University media professor, author and former newspaperman Bill Kovarik introduced himself to the audience as an enemy of the people, citing a term used by current President Donald Trump, and then brought applause and cheers in a speech where he called for strong opposition and protest against the head of state.
We are friends of the people, Kovarik said, adding that the media must questions those elected to office locally, statewide and nationally.
I work in the tradition of Ben Franklin, Joseph Pulitzer, Ernie Pyle and Woodward and Bernstein, Kovarok said.
The press is not perfect, he said. Were watchdogs.
He said that being called an enemy of the people is dangerous speech.
The press is the Constitutions best friend, he added.
A panel on free speech included Branscom, Floyd County Sheriff Brian Craig, activist Tree Gigante and attorney and columnist Alan Graf, who answered questions from the floor and talked about protest.
Craig praised organizers of events like the Womens March in January for working with his department.
We know the people involved in these events, and we work with them, he said.
Graf said that he, as an attorney, has represented people charged with crimes because they protested legally.
When I came to Floyd, I told the sheriff that I also had sued the police over handling of protests, he said.
As a living, Craig answered with a laugh.
Gigante said protests in many cases are not only a right but should also be considered a duty.
Sometimes, she added, it may be necessary to violate the law to carry out that right.
Brancom said law enforcement must establish where the line is drawn between peaceful and violent protest.
What are the boundaries? Sometimes the limits must be it comes back to pushing against the government, he said.
A panel on freedom of religion consisted of Graf, who told the audience Im Jewish and I come from a holocaust family, Imam Abdullah Ferrom of Roanoke Mosque and Quaker Kim ODonnell.
ODonnell said her religion considers relationship with God a deeply personal thing. Our right to practice is a something we strive to protest.
Ferrom said Muslims work to peacefully co-exist with other religions but face a lot of distrust from others who cite their religion as justification for violence against his beliefs.
He cited threats of having a Muslim registry required in America as a threat.
If there such a thing as a Muslim registry, I will register as a Muslim, Graf said, which brought applause and comments of so will I from members of the audience.
The event also awarded youth and adults for essays, poems and songs about the First Amendments and threats against the freedoms it is designed to protect.
First place winners who were present read their essays or poems to the audience and sang their songs.
Michael Kovick closed the event with his second-place winning song.
The awards:
Adults: Essay
Luke Staengl First Place
Linville M. Meadows, Second Place
Will Bason, Honorable Mention
Youth: Essay
Isabelle Largin, First
Skyler Locke, Second
Kesla Hubbard, Third
Andrew Finn, Honorable Mention
Alex Hicks, Honorable Mention
Leah Pierce, Honorable Mention
Kaci Marshall, Honorable Mention
Adult: Song
Stella TrudelFirst
Michael Kovick, Second
Deborah Harris, Third
Greg Arens, Honorable Mention
Youth: Song
Jillian Greenhalgh, First
Karlee Williams, Second
Adult: Poem
Kim ODonnell, First
Dan Feather, Second
Youth: Poem
Morgan Roberts, First
Gracenne Clinger, Second
Cameron Callahan, Third Place
Julian Hensley-Buzzell, Honorable Mention
Isaac Byrd, Honorable Mention
Stella Sessions, Honorable Mention
The prime minister today spoke to the nation on the 29th episode of Mann Ki Baat Modi began the address by lauding ISRO's achievements and signed off by stressing on the importance that needs to be given to India's daughters.
By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today addressed the nation on his Mann Ki Baat radio show. The 29th edition of the prime minister's monthly radio programme came amid an ongoing election cycle.
The model code of conduct is still partially in place as two of Uttar Pradesh's seven phases of polling and Manipur's both phases of voting are yet to be carried out. The Election Commission had earlier given the government the go-ahead to air the show .
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During his last Mann Ki Baat episode, which came just ahead of board examinations, Modi addressed students, urging them not to treat exams as a matter of life and death.
HERE ARE THE UPDATES FROM THE MODI's ADDRESS:
The whole world celebrates 8th March as Womens Day. In India, more importance needs to be given to our daughters, he says, signing off.
References Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu's campaign to stop child marriages.
The programme is changing people's mindset, the prime minister says.
'Beti Bachao, Beti Badhao' is not just a government programme, it's a programme of social change.
Also praises the women's team that won the Asian Rugby Seven Trophy.
Modi now lauds the national blind cricket team that recently won the Blind T20 World Cup.
The officer himself cleaned the toilet pit, Modi notes.
Switches tracks to talk about clean India. Mentions how senior IAS officer recently took part in a drive to promote use of clean pit toilets in Telangana.
2,700 tonne food grain produced, 8 per cent higher than the previous record, he says.
This year, we have record food grain production, Modi says.
Teach people how to use the BHIM App on Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14, he urges.
Those associated with this movement are the country's anti-corruption cadres, Modi adds.
I urge citizens, especially the youth, to be ambassadors of the digital transaction movement, he says.
Modi belts out figures on the popularity of the government's digital transaction-promoting schemes.
10 lakh people have received rewards under the Digi Dhan scheme, he says.
Modi says digital transactions are becoming popular.
Goes on to talk about the importance of digital transactions, but hasn't mentioned demonetisation yet.
Our society is becoming technology-driven, Modi notes.
Another entry at the competition could combat hardships faced during floods.
The competition included a mobile app that can provide essential information to India's fishermen, the prime minister says.
NITI Ayog recently held a competition for technologies that can be of social use, Modi says.
Quotes Mahatma Gandhi to say that biggest contribution of science is satisfying human need.
'The nation needs scientists.'
'Spirit of inquiry has played a major role in human development.'
Modi praises female scientists involved in ISRO's missions.
ISRO's cost-effective launches have been praised all over the world.
This is a proud achievement for the entire country, Modi says.
'ISRO achieved a world record by sending 104 satellites.'
Technology has made massive progress, Modi says, referencing the recent ISRO launch that put 104 satellites in space.
Modi begins his address quoting Sufi poet Amir Khusrow's verses about the arrival of the vasant ritu.
Also read: Exams not a benchmark of success: Narendra Modi's Mann ki Baat to students in 10 points
WATCH | Mann ki Baat: Urge the youth to be ambassadors of digital transaction movement, says Modi
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A regional marketing initiative for the coalfield counties will soon be underway.
Funding for the Coalfield Regional Marketing Initiative is in the final budget that was sent to the governor Feb. 24. The initiative was created by the members of the house and senate from southwest Virginia. Senators Ben Chafin and Bill Carrico and Delegate Todd Pillion issued a joint statement last week explaining the legislation.
Since the introduction of the budget amendments in January, the language has been a work in process towards this final product.
The language in the budget calls for $500,000 from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Authority (VCEDA) required to be matched dollar for dollar from the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission. The LENOWISO and Cumberland Plateau Planning Districts will serve as the fiscal agents for the marketing initiative fund and are required to work collaboratively with VCEDA.
Let us be very clear, the funds for the marketing initiative are being held and will be administered by planning district commissions that represent all seven counties and the one city in the coalfield region that includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the city of Norton. The money will be working for all counties and cities in the coalfield region and nowhere else in Southwest Virginia. The executive directors of LENOWISCO PDC, Cumberland Plateau PDC, and VCEDA will work with the area legislators to hire a marketing director with a proven record of creating leads and jobs in a rural region.
Until now, there has never been an initiative, agency, or commission marketing our assets in the coalfield region in domestic along with international markets as their sole mission. The empty shell buildings and industrial development parks will be marketed in Asian, European, and other global markets. The new exposure to the coalfield region will bring new leads, new opportunities, and new jobs. In our view, this approach of aggressive marketing for the coalfield regions economic future is long overdue.
The marketing initiative for the coalfield region is an exciting opportunity to bring the region to the global stage. We must step up the pace and work more aggressively to diversify the economy and create more jobs in the region. The new initiative will be a new tool for success that will benefit everyone in the coalfields.
Gubernatorial candidate Corey Stewart is scheduled to attend the Smyth County Republican Committee meeting on Monday night, Feb. 27.
Stewart is one of four Republicans seeking the partys nomination to run for governor this year. The other GOP candidates are Ed Gillespie, state Sen. Frank Wagner and Denver Riggleman.
Interested citizens are encouraged to attend the meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. at The Henderson School in downtown Marion.
Stewart is scheduled to visit Abingdon earlier in the day, serving as the keynote speaker at a rally at Rep. Morgan Griffiths office in support of President Donald Trumps agenda and repealing the Affordable Care Act. That rally will take place at noon.
Stewart is a former Virginia state chairman for the Trump campaign.
SANDY CREEK, N.Y. -- An Oswego County man was intoxicated and using a mop instead of special hand controls to drive when he went to pick up his child from school, the New York State Police said.
Around 3 p.m. on Feb. 10, a trooper saw a Toyota Tundra go across a double solid line on Hadley Road in the town of Sandy Creek.
The trooper pulled the pickup-truck over. The driver, identified as David W. Dillabough, did not have his driver's license and instead gave the trooper his state-issued medical marijuana card, state police said.
Dillabough told the trooper he was on his way to pick his child up from elementary school, state police said.
But his license was suspended and had restrictions that required full hand controls, a wheel spinner knob and a vehicle with an automatic transmission.
When the trooper asked about the restrictions he learned Dillabough did not have the use of his legs. He was using a broken mop handle in place of hand controls to push the pedals, state police said. He told the trooper his hand controls were stolen.
During the stop the trooper noticed an open can of beer in the pickup.
State police said Dillabough failed a portion of a field sobriety test and refused a breath screening.
Dillabough, 34, of Sandy Creek, was charged with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operator, driving while intoxicated, failure to keep right, uninspected motor vehicle, operating in violation of restrictions, consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle and refusal to take a breath screening.
He was also charged in August 2016 with driving while ability impaired by drugs.
Truck plows into Endymion parade crowd in New Orleans
Twelve people were injured Saturday night (Feb. 25) when a vehicle plowed into a crowd at the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans, police said. The crash was reported at about 6:45 p.m. at Carrollton and Orleans avenues. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Twenty-eight people were injured Saturday night (Feb. 25) in New Orleans when a suspected drunken driver wrecked a pickup truck into spectators at the Krewe of Endymion parade in Mid-City, police said. The crash was reported at 6:42 p.m. at North Carrollton and Orleans avenues.
Story by
Beau Evans
- and -
Jonathan Bullington
NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
"He took out rows of people," witness Greg McNeely said.
Officials said 21 people, including a police officer and a child, were taken to seven hospitals. Five were in critical condition. Seven other people declined treatment. None of the injuries were life-threatening, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said.
The wreck came on the final weekend of Carnival and during one of New Orleans biggest parades. Endymion, known for its huge floats as well its delays, paused for about 10 minutes when the crash occurred, spectators said.
Police Superintendent Michael Harrison said the driver was quickly arrested. "We suspect that that subject was highly intoxicated," he said.
Landrieu said there was no evidence to suggest terrorism. Said an FBI spokesman: "We are currently coordinating with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to determine whether a federal violation has occurred."
BREAKING: Four Spring Hill College students are among those injured when a truck plowed into a crowd at a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade. Jessica Taloney (@WKRG_Jessica) February 26, 2017
We are grateful that no one suffered any life threatening injuries. Mitch Landrieu (@MitchLandrieu) February 26, 2017
Police said the truck was lakebound on Carrollton when it hit two vehicles. "He then lost control driving over the neutral ground, striking a city dump truck and hitting multiple pedestrians," said a Police Department statement.
"We heard tires screeching, and we looked to our left and saw a dark grey Chevy 1500 Silverado and it looked like he was swerving in between people that were walking, trying to get to the parade route," said Trey Klechak, 20, an LSU student from Covington. "It seemed like he got pissed off because all of a sudden he slammed the gas and his back tires started and it seemed like his foot never left the gas pedal."
Klechak said the truck struck a sedan and three people before mounting the neutral ground. "There were bodies flying off the hood while he was still driving," he said. "Luckily there was a dump truck parked on the other side, and luckily when he went up on neutral ground, he slammed into the dump truck."
Scott LeBlanc, 29, said he was at outside a home a few houses down from the scene when he heard screams and then saw people running. He ran toward the intersection and came upon a female nurse who, while treating an injured man, yelled for a shirt. LeBlanc said he surrendered his. He said paramedics arrived quickly and rushed the injured person into an ambulance and drove off.
Witness L.A. Morgan of Chicago said the truck hit several vehicles and pedestrians and turned sideways before coming to a stop. She said she could hear the driver cursing through the truck's open window. Spectators began screaming and running.
"I'm disturbed," said Donielle Lawson, a friend of Morgan. "It took the spirit out of the whole event."
The injured officer was identified by police as 2nd District Lt. Michelle Woodfork.
By 9:15 p.m., the truck and two wrecked cars had been towed. The intersection of North Carrollton and Orleans was reopened to traffic.
The crash came less than five hours after a gunshot wounded a man at the Krewe of Tucks parade, on the Uptown parade route. Police said they think the gun was accidentally fired inside a portable toilet, wounding a man outside, but no immediate arrests were made.
Landrieu said some of the same officers at the Endymion crash scene had been working at the Tucks shooting. "Obviously you don't want to have a day like this," Landrieu said. "We train year round to respond to events that can't be stopped because of bad decisions."
"We tell people not to drunk drive. We tell them not to bring guns," Harrison said. "We ask people to make good decisions."
Twelve people were hurt when a vehicle plowed into a crowd at Carrollton and Orleans avenues in New Orleans, police said. (Google map)
. . . . . . .
Kiri Walton contributed to this report.
CORRECTION: An earlier version incorrectly attributed the quotation, "I'm disturbed. It took the spirit out of the whole event."
By Press Trust of India: From Shirish B Pradhan
Kathmandu, Feb 26 (PTI) A number of Indian and Chinese companies will participate in an international summit in Nepal next week that aims to position the landlocked country as an attractive investment hub.
The Nepal Investment Summit 2017 in Kathmandu on March 2-3 will see the participation of nearly 250 companies from about two dozen countries, Ministry for Industry Nabindra Raj Joshi told reporters here today.
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Around 300 Nepalese firms will also take part in the summit themed Harnessing Investment Opportunities, he said.
Chinese firms are likely to outnumber Indian companies at the summit, with confirmed participation of 99 firms from China and 21 from India.
Twenty companies from Sri Lanka, 14 from Malaysia, 13 from Japan and 10 from Canada have also confirmed their attendance.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) president Jin Liqun have confirmed their participation, organisers said.
Other countries attending the summit include the US, the UK, Russia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Italy, France, Spain and Vietnam.
The aim of the summit is to position Nepal as an attractive investment destination and to explore possibilities of foreign investment in hydropower, infrastructure, tourism, information technology, mining industry and agriculture.
The summit is expected to help Nepal fulfil its infrastructure gap and provide feedback to policymakers about reforms needed to promote investment, Joshi added.
According to local media reports, this will be the first investment summit in Kathmandu since the promulgation of the Constitution in 2015. PTI SBP ABH
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Before I came to Cambridge I wasnt out. I had spent my childhood living in a working-class, conservative community in Essex, where to be a lesbian is to be an outcast. A place where, when I returned home from Cambridge in the summer, I was told gay people shouldnt be allowed by a kind stranger in the high-street.
For many, the Cambridge bubble becomes the place where one can be comfortable with ones sexuality. In Michaelmas of my first year, I found myself saying the words Im gay out loud for the first time. But coming to Cambridge didnt blow the doors off my closet and thrust me into the world as a fully lesbian, just waiting to be un-shackled. I would go to LGBT+ club nights and events in Cambridge, but would never click attending on Facebook, should friends or family see. I would laugh off questions from family about whether Id found a nice boy at university with excuses of being too busy. Whilst coming to Cambridge can provide students with the space to explore their sexual identity, for some, coming from environments which actively encourage them to suppress their sexuality, inhabiting two totally different worlds can be incredibly burdensome. Combined with the high pressure environment of the Cambridge bubble, a breeding ground for mental health issues of all varieties, navigating ones queerness at Cambridge be difficult.
Over a year later, I am one of the LGBT+ officers at my college. I wore the suit I always wanted to wear to halfway hall, whilst drinking out of a boob-shaped beer glass one of my bisexual best mates bought me for my birthday. Over time, the whiplash I experience when I transition between home and university has lessened, but the difference between home and university remains difficult to navigate.
The flying of the LGBT+ flag this month by (some) colleges across Cambridge is an important act of solidarity. However, we must make sure it doesnt obscure the need to actively support the LGBT+ community in Cambridge.
Research has shown that mental health problems disproportionately impact LGBT+ people, with a 2014 survey by LGBTQ support group METRO finding that 42% of young LGBT+ people sought medical help for depression or anxiety, compared to 29% straight, cisgendered youths. LGBT+ students are therefore particularly vulnerable to struggle with mental health issues at university. However, we must also recognise that the experience of every LGBT+ student is different. A sense of community is incredibly importantas demonstrated by the flying of the flagbut within the LGBT+ community there are issues that further increase the burden on an individuals mental health and well-being.
The demographic of the LGBT+ community at Cambridge reflects that of the university as a whole. Because of this, students often have to contend with feelings of alienation within the community itself. LGBT+ students coming from relatively affluent, middle-class and liberal areas are likely to have had different formative experiences in understanding their gender and sexuality than students originating from working-class, conservative communities. Due to such poor representation of BME students at Cambridge, the LGBT+ community is predominantly white. BME people in the UK are more likely than white people to be diagnosed with mental health problems The diversity of the LGBT+ community therefore renders every LGBT+ students experience of Cambridge different.
Community and solidarity are incredibly important and should not be undervalued. That certain colleges can continue to refuse to fly the flag is indefensible, and fosters a hostile environment for LGBT+ students in Cambridge. But every LGBT+ students experience of Cambridge can be wildly different, complicated by the demographic composition of the bubble. The LGBT+ community needs to be supported, but the nature of that support is not always the same.
LG unveiled today its latest flagship handset at Mobile World Congress, here is the all-new LG G6. We are live on the floor and LG has been kind enough of providing us a review unit a day before launch, so we've already spent some time with the phone. And the first impressions are good!
As expected, the G6 abandons the modular design used by its predecessor in favor of a more typical modern smartphone build -- complete with a non-removable battery. The first thing I noticed is how nicely it sits in the hand. The LG G6 is satisfyingly large but not cumbersome, making it perfect for one-handed typing.
While some might still prefer their fingerprint scanner on the front of the device, I found my index finger naturally gravitated to the correct position every time I picked up the G6. It scans my print and unlocks in an instant, and not once during several hours of varied use did it fail to correctly read my print the first time.
Earlier press renders showed off the thin bezels on LG's flagship, a trend that many of this year's smartphones are expected to follow. It allows for more screen real estate while keeping the overall footprint at a minimum. The photo below shows the G6 next to the Samsung S7 Edge. As you can see, LG's device is the smaller of the two, yet still has noticeably more screen space: 5.7 inches compared to the S7 Edge's 5.5 inches. There are no curved edges on the screen, but that will probably mean it's less likely to break as easily.
That Snapdragon 821 chip moves things along quite snappily. I found it loaded apps and web pages faster than my S7 Edge, and just felt altogether smoother.
The most interesting feature of the LG G6 is that 2880x1440 resolution. LG's updated custom UI, dubbed UX 6.0, sits on top of Android 7.0 and takes advantage of the 18:9 FullVision display. Using the split screen option with apps and web pages feels intuitive, but the feature shines when used with applications designed especially for it. Being able to review your images on the screen while taking a 1:1 photo felt pretty impressive, and it definitely seems like something that will be popular with Instagram fans. You can check out your recorded videos while lining up another shot, too. And I love the way the calendar app splits up the dates and the events.
Speaking of the camera, while it does seem quite good, I have to admit the S7, which has one of the best smartphone snappers out there, appeared to take slightly better images, especially in low light.
More time will be needed with the LG G6 to draw accurate conclusions, and how much it challenges the current Android king, Google's Pixel XL, remains to be seen.
From the few hours I've spent using the phone, I can honestly say that I like it -- a lot. It's quick, has some unique features, a bright display, and is the first non-Pixel handset to come with Google Assistant. The G5 was far from becoming the success LG hoped for, but the company looks to be onto a winner with the successor.
Our full review of the LG G6 will follow in the coming weeks.
The Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 will begin in just a few days, with many devices from different OEMs' waiting to get launched.
LG, Samsung, Huawei, or any other reputed smartphone company, all are eagerly waiting for this event to finally showcase their devices to people around the world. Out of these devices, one of the most talked about smartphone launches of 2017 is the Nokia series.
Nokia is also not far behind in the race as rumors suggest that the company has arranged for an impressive lineup of devices to launch at MWC 2017.
Nokia Arranges For LiveStream On Facebook And YouTube
HMD Global will be hosting a press event at the MWC in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 26, where they are speculated to feature four new Nokia devices, namely Nokia 6, Nokia 5, Nokia 3, and the renewed Nokia 3310.
The event is scheduled to start at around 4:30 p.m. in Barcelona and Nokia has announced that the company will be live streaming the entire show both in its official Facebook Page and on its YouTube channel.
"We'll be announcing live on Facebook the details of our Nokia smartphones on Android - see it here first! " stated a post on Nokia's official Facebook page.
This is particularly good news for fans who will be able to see the event real time from any part of the world.
Nokia 3310
One can very well understand the real enthusiasm behind the launch as people are very excited to see the revamped version of the classic Nokia 3310. To fuel the anticipation even higher, Nokia conducted a voting contest on its Facebook page asking the audiences to vote for the best "Nokia Phone from the archives - Nokia 3310 vs Nokia 3650."
Nokia 6 Expected Features
Although Nokia 6 has already been launched in China, on Jan. 8, the company is expected to launch the smartphone for the international market.
The Nokia 6 smartphone features a 5.5- inch Full HD display, powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor with 4 GB of RAM along with an internal storage of 64 GB. The smartphone proved to be a hit in China and sold out under a minute in flash sale after it was launched. Nokia is hoping to get the same reaction from the buyers in the international market.
Nokia 5 And Nokia 3 Expected Features
Pertaining to few of the early leaks shared by leakster Evan Blass, the Nokia 5 is expected to have a 5.2- inch HD display with 2 GB of RAM and a 12MP rear camera.
The Nokia 5 is expected to be priced at around 199 which is approximately $211. However, Nokia 3, which will likely come preloaded with Android 7.0 Nougat OS, is expected to be an entry-level handset that is priced at around 150 or roughly $159.
2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Ghosts and spirits will not stand the test of science. That was the message of Brian Cox, a famous English physicist and a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Manchester.
In a ghost-focused episode for his podcast The Infinite Monkey Cage, Cox said there is no basis for the existence of ghosts. If at all they ever existed, CERN's Large Hadron Collider would have certainly detected them.
Cox, also a well-known presenter of science programs, said there is always a high curiosity about ghosts as the question lingers whether spirits of people can live in the world even after the body's death.
The British physicist said such an afterlife is impossible as spirits would have been detected by the LHC, whose superconducting magnets and accelerators fling millions of particles at high speeds and can comprehend all the mysteries and properties of the universe.
Thanks to the LHC, scientists understand the behavior and interaction of elementary particles and how the world is composed of particles. The LHC data has been rendering valuable information on the decay of particles in addition to providing leads on new particles.
However, in all these high-value data nowhere there was never any clue or proof about the existence of ghosts.
Insisting on the existence of paranormal beings would amount to inventing an extension to the Standard Model of Particle Physics or skipping detection from the LHC.
That is inconceivable considering the energy scales typical of the particle interactions in human bodies, Cox added.
No Spooky Energy
Cox defended his arguments by noting that ghosts per se are not composed of matter but must be all energy. According to the second law of thermodynamics, any energy form is subject to dissipation upon heating.
If something escapes dissipation, the only reason must be ghosts drawing some "spooky energy" of their own. Such a possibility is not logical in the light of the standard model of physics or the results obtained from particle accelerator experiments.
"If we want some sort of pattern that carries information about our living cells to persist then we must specify precisely what medium carries that pattern and how it interacts with the matter particles out of which our bodies are made," said Cox.
He also told a questioner that the European Council for Nuclear Research has already disproved the existence of ghosts.
LHC Robotics
Meanwhile, the LHC located in the safe environs of the Franco-Swiss border has state-of-the-art robots managing its upkeep and security.
The high security is in line with the scale of the LHC, which emits protons through 2,000-odd magnets at an average rate of 11,000 times a second.
The tunnel where the LHC is housed has restricted access for human visitors. There are 120 tons of liquid helium kept at 1.9 Kelvin, according to Ron Suykerbuyk, a staffer at the LHC.
The helium storage is meant for cooling and keeping the electromagnets in the superconducting state as the wires carry 13,000 amps of electric current.
The underground access is strictly regulated when the cryogenic systems are on.
The CERN is looked after around the clock by the Train Inspection Monorail or TIM whose wagons, cameras, and sensors slide through the LHC tunnel's ceiling.
Two TIM robots are currently handling the surveillance by mounting patrol on LHC quadrants and keeping operators in readiness to access any part of the tunnel that is spread across 17 miles.
The TIM patrolling is further monitored by an automated eye that watches for any changes in the tunnel and radiation signals. Metrics of temperature, oxygen, and cellphone reception are taken care of by sensors.
"In addition to performing environmental measurements, TIM is a safety system which can be the eyes and ears for members of the CERN Fire Brigade and operations team," said Mario Di Castro, who heads CERN's robotics team.
In addition to the TIM, there are also tele-operated robots run by CERN to scan troublesome areas.
2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
NASA is working on a risk analysis report over sending astronauts on the maiden flight of the most powerful rocket the Space Launch System or SLS in the integrated flight with the Orion spacecraft.
SLS is tipped to fly crews to Mars as well. The human exploration chief of NASA said the Trump administration and NASA top management had sought a feasibility report on expediting the manned mission.
NASA has set a late 2018 liftoff plan for the Saturn V-class SLS with an unmanned Orion crew capsule to fly around the moon.
Launch Of Astronauts
But there is a realization that even if taking the crew in the flight would entail some delay, it will speed up the system's first launch of astronauts set for 2021.
NASA's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, in a memo to employees, explored the new idea by noting that he understands the challenges associated with such a proposition including the extra work on 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," Lightfoot added.
Commenting on the new interest in taking astronauts on board, Bob Walker, space policy adviser to the Trump administration, said an aggressive posture on human space exploration is what the administration is looking at. At least a lunar flyby at the earliest is expected by the administration.
Report In March
NASA will finalize its report in a month. The rocket's debut flight plan at the moment entails no astronauts on board until 2021. If astronauts have to be taken on board, the mission will be delayed besides escalating the costs.
"This is an assessment and not a decision as the primary mission for EM-1 remains an uncrewed flight test," said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of human explorations.
Gerstenmaier said a gap of three years between an unmanned flight test and a crewed mission is normal as it requires platform preparations at the Kennedy Space Center.
He denied any pressure on the agency regarding the induction of crew ahead of schedule and said no funding or time guidelines have been provided. The risk analysis by NASA will weigh all risks and gains, Gerstenmaier stressed.
He said the agency will be weighing the safety risks associated with the launch versus the benefits.
Caution By Safety Panel
Meanwhile, a recent report of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel advised NASA that only a compelling reason should warrant sending astronauts on the initial flight.
The panel was constituted after the Apollo 1 fire tragedy in 1967 in which three astronauts were killed during a countdown test.
NASA normally tests rockets without people on board, with a lone exception being the space shuttle debut flight of 1981 that carried two pilots on board.
The capsule meant to carry the astronauts already had a space demo. Carrying memorabilia and toys with no personnel, the capsule zoomed into an orbit of Earth in 2014 after being powered by a Delta IV rocket.
Exploration Mission-1 Highlights
The test flight Exploration Mission-1 will be launched from Kennedy Space Center for a span of three weeks.
The ambition is to "launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown," according to NASA.
After orbiting the moon, the EM1 will bring data to Earth for making the groundwork for a Mars trip.
However, William Hill, NASA's deputy associate administrator for exploration, said sending a crew on EM-1 will broaden possibilities on EM-2.
2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
One of the most awaited handset launches at this year's MWC is undoubtedly the new Nokia 3310, which is expected to cash-in on the nostalgia.
The reboot of the iconic Nokia 3310 is expected to retain some classic elements, but will also have a few modern twists thrown in for good measure.
While little is known about the specs and features of the modern variant of the comeback phone, tipster Evan Blass - who goes by the Twitter handle @evleaks - has shed some light on the matter.
What Does The Leak Detail?
Blass took to Twitter to reveal that the new Nokia 3310, which is poised for a Feb. 25 debut, could boast swappable faceplates. Those expecting fancy specs may feel a tad let down as Blass has shared that the Nokia 3310 reboot will take the classic route and deploy Series 30+ user interface (UI).
Few more Nokia 3310 deets:
-runs Series 30+ w color scrn
-multiple colors, faceplates poss. swappable
- think: mashup of old 3310 & new 150. Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 24, 2017
The assertion that the Nokia 3310 will deploy a Series 30+ UI may disappoint some as this indicates that the device will be a feature phone.
However, on the bright side, unlike the original Nokia 3310 - which had a monochrome screen - the comeback iteration will tout a color screen.
Concept videos have reimagined the upcoming Nokia handset and bear testimony to how eagerly awaited the device is. However, according to the latest leak, the new Nokia 3310 will be a mix of the classic model and the Nokia 150.
If Nokia takes the swappable faceplate route as suggested by Blass, then it could be looking to bring back a trend that was quite the craze 17 years ago. The Nokia 3310 is also expected to come in multiple hues per older rumors.
Nokia 3310: Expected Specs, Price And Release
The new Nokia 3310 is rumored to be deploying an 84 x 84 colored display, per older rumors as well. The feature phone will be robust like its older iteration and is expected to have a good battery life. The display may not be that sharp so that the battery does not get drained.
The Nokia 3310 is expected to mark the return of the much-loved game Snake. Playing it in color would undoubtedly be a lot more fun!
The comeback phone is expected to be lighter and sleeker than the original model and is expected to be made available in green, yellow and red.
Reports have suggested that the new Nokia 3310 will debut on Feb. 25 at HMD Global and Nokia's MWC press event. The device is expected to go on sale soon after. The new Nokia 3310 will reportedly go on sale for 59, which is approximately $63. In the UK, the handset will reportedly be a Carphone Warehouse exclusive.
Photo: Thomas Kohler | Flickr
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Around 50,000 seed samples were deposited into the world's largest seed depository that was built to protect the world's plant species and food sources in case of wars or natural disasters. Some of the newly deposited specimens into the Svalbard Seed Bank were simply returned after an unexpected withdrawal in 2015.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is located in the Arctic over 600 miles from the North Pole in the Svalbard archipelago. It was built underground in permafrost zone as a master backup plan in case of warfare or natural disasters that could wipe out the world's food sources.
When it was opened in 2008 by the Norwegian Government and the Global Crop Diversity Trust, it was meant to be a global deposit box for the world's seeds. Being located underground in the freezing Arctic, the idea was that in case of any natural disaster or warfare that could severely deplete world food sources, the Svalbard Seed Vault will be there to provide a restart for the world's crops.
With other seed banks across the globe, the Svalbard Seed Vault was supposed to be the final backup plan when all else fails. However, what started as a vault for distant disasters came in handy less than ten years after it was built, proving that it was built right at the perfect time.
Early Withdrawal
With the mounting unrest in their original headquarters in Aleppo, Syria, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) was forced to move to Beirut in 2012. However, as the civil war ensued, scientists had a difficult time in retrieving the seeds in their own Syrian vault. Because of this, ICARDA withdrew the initial deposit that they made to the vault in 2008 to aid their new headquarters in Beirut.
The scientists of ICARDA worked on these seeds for 17 months, duplicating and distributing them until they were able to once again complete their set. On Feb. 22, the ICARDA deposited over 15,000 specimens along with seeds from Benin, India, Pakistan, Lebanon, Morocco, Netherlands, Mexico, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, the United States, and Britain. The newly deposited seeds include major food sources such as chickpea, lentil, rice, and wheat.
"We are demonstrating today that we can rely on our gene banks and their safety duplications, despite adverse circumstances, so we can get one step closer to a food-secure world," said Aly Abousabaa, director general of ICARDA.
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Verizon customers are understandably wondering where their Android 7.0 Nougat update is for the latest Samsung flagship smartphones on the network, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge. All of Verizon's big competitors, T Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint, have already received the update, which Verizon promised would be coming to customers on its network early this year.
Android 7.0 Nougat Rolls Out For Samsung Galaxy S7 And S7 Edge
As we have been reporting, the latest version of Android's mobile software, Android 7.0 Nougat, has been rolling out to owners of Samsung's flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, around the world. In mid-January, users in China and some European territories were treated to the update, signaling the software upgrade for U.S. users of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge was coming soon. Of course, the usual delay was expected for most of the country's customers, whose phones are locked into a specific carrier who has to customize and approve the software upgrade prior to release.
About a month later, on Feb. 19, AT&T customers who owned Samsung's latest flagships were the first to be treated to the Android 7.0 Nougat update. Then a few days later, Sprint and then T-Mobile released their versions of Nougat to owners of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge on their respective networks.
Verizon Lags On Android 7.0 Nougat For Galaxy S7 And S7 Edge
That leaves only one of the big four carriers left to release the Android 7.0 Nougat upgrade to users on its network, and that's Verizon. Verizon has given no guidance as to when the software update would be released since last year, when the carrier mysteriously halted its participation in the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge Beta Program. It informed participants that it would no longer be providing new beta versions in a terse statement on the Galaxy Beta App, which read as follows.
"Dear Customers, Verizon will stay on the original software for the remainder of this trial. Beta trial users will be upgraded to the commercial N release when it is available early next year. Thanks, Galaxy Beta Program Team."
Since then the company has been mum on the eventual rollout of the official non-beta Android 7.0 Nougat software update to its customers. Many users of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge on the Verizon Network are angry that all of Verizon's competitors in the United States have released the upgrade and are venting their frustrations in online forums, especially because the statement from Verizon specifically indicated a release "early next year." Most objective assessments would not really consider March early in the year, and that month is only a few days away.
"All the other carriers have released this update ... Verizon is last again and again," posted user LOCPRES64 in Verizon's online forums, as others agreed.
Are you a Verizon customer who is waiting for the Android 7.0 Nougat release for the Galaxy S7 or S7 edge? Please let us know in the comments below.
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The Trump administration has had a strained relationship with the media ever since the president took office and likely even earlier. However, the administration made a surprising move when White House press secretary Sean Spicer blocked reporters from a number of media outlets from attending an informal, off-camera press briefing on Friday, Feb. 24.
Though the administration's battle against the media has been escalating of late, the move still came as a surprise to many especially since the media outlets that Spicer blocked from attending the press briefing are the ones that have been more critical of the administration.
An Unusual Decision
The decision to block media outlets including CNN, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, BuzzFeed, and Politico happened on the same day that President Donald Trump attended an annual conservatives' meeting where he launched into another tirade about the press, calling them dishonest and fake. Further, the president criticized the media for making up stories and using unnamed sources.
The list of media outlets that were allowed to attend the briefing included CBS, NBC, Bloomberg, Associated Press, and Time Magazine as well as Fox News, Washington Times, and Breitbart. The Associated Press, USA Today, and Time Magazine, however, did not attend the press briefing as a protest to the ban.
Bold Reactions To A Bold Move
It is said that members of the media were simply told that they could not attend the briefing because they were not on the list of attendees. Apart from the refusal of other media networks to attend the briefing despite being on the list, many were quick to boldly respond to the unprecedented decision.
Statement by Gannett's Chief Content Officer @joannelipman on the events surrounding today's White House briefing: pic.twitter.com/8wmLG2OGrZ USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 25, 2017
The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today's gaggle is being handled by the White House. We ... https://t.co/e6JkOOlwzQ WHCA (@whca) February 24, 2017
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 White House denied that the decision was made based on which media outlets were more critical or sympathetic toward the administration but insisted that the move was made to expand the pool of reporters that would be getting an update for the said "gaggle."
Amid the bold reactions, Ari Fleischer, a White House press secretary in President George W. Bush's administration, stated that while the move was unwise, it was also not uncommon for aides to ban certain media outlets.
Many were quick to point out that it was Spicer himself who pointed out in 2016 that the media shouldn't be banned from press briefings. What's for certain, though, is that this move by Spicer is one that made yet another dent in the already-strained relationship between the administration and the media.
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Protesting against the false promises made to them, buyers of the Jaypee homes staged a protest at Jantar Mantar on Sunday.
By Ilma Hasan: Sandeep Goyal had taken a loan from Axis Bank in 2010 after he saw an ad for a luxurious 3-BHK flat in Jaypee Kosmos in Noida. It has been 7 years since then, but Sandeep and hundreds of others like him haven't been able to move into their new homes.
Not only are the Kosmos flats incomplete, in the past seven years, construction of most of the buildings remains incomplete. Goyal says, "Whenever we visit the Jaypee office, all they tell us is that they don't have any money because they are insolvent."
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Also read: Noida builders face public heat: Home buyers up in arms against inordinate delay in allotment of apartments
Protesting against the false promises made to them, buyers of the Jaypee homes staged a protest at Jantar Mantar on Sunday. This is one of the many protests buyers have staged against the builders who haven't restarted construction in years.
Holding placards, buyers had come with their families shouting slogans against builders for failing to complete projects in time.
Also read: Realty check
Goyal further added that the buyers were also given a false commitment letter that construction would be over by 2016, but incomplete buildings dot the Noida and Greater Noida skyline.
"We are giving our EMI's and rent how we can survive if nobody listens and there is no interference from government, we have been fooled," added Goyal.
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The Russian cargo spacecraft Progress 66 which was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Feb. 22 has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) as estimated on Feb. 24. The unmanned spacecraft was launched to send supplies to the ISS.
This launch was Roscosmos' first cargo delivery to the space since the failure of Progress 65 supply ship on Dec. 1, 2016. For the unfamiliar, Roscosmos is the Russian counterpart of NASA and is similar to it in many functions.
Details Of The Arrival
The Progress 66 was sent to deliver supplies weighing 3 tons to the orbiting ISS laboratory. The unmanned space shuttle docked into ISS' Russian built Pirs docking module at 3.30 AM ET or 8:30 AM GMT. The Russian cargo ship is the second one to come to ISS after the SpaceX Dragon capsule delivered around 5,500 lbs of supplies on Feb. 23.
The cargo craft was lifted off into space using a Soyuz rocket at 12.58 AM ET on Feb. 22.The Russian Progress spaceship, along with SpaceX, forms fleet of robot-controlled spacecrafts assigned to transport necessary supplies to the astronauts aboard the ISS.
SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft docked onto the orbiting space station of Feb. 22 after aborting its first docking attempt. The spacecraft failed to link to ISS the first time due to incorrect navigational update.
Russian cargo craft docks to station at 3:30am ET (8:30am GMT) just one day after @SpaceX #Dragon arrived. https://t.co/mjkChPkNhK pic.twitter.com/49vWxe4cBi Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) February 24, 2017
Russian Progress 66 Stay Duration And Supply List
The Russian cargo ship was carrying food, fuel and supplies weighing nearly 3 tons to deliver it to the crew members of Expedition 50. The cargo ship will now remain stationed at ISS for nearly four months. The spacecraft will be leaving the orbiting laboratory in June to start its descent into Earth's atmosphere.
Russian Progress December Launch Crash
Roscosmos' previous Progress mission that took place on Dec. 1 2016 failed miserably with the spacecraft crashing within minutes of its launch.
The crash caused utmost panic in people in southern Siberia when they saw the burning space craft coming down at them from the sky. Investigations into the matter revealed that the third engine of the spacecraft had malfunctioned after its launch, causing the crash to take place.
The latest launch, however, faced no such technical issues and had a smooth take off and reached ISS as scheduled by the scientists.
Photo: European Space Agency | Flickr
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Drink in the natural wonders of Peru with a glass of the country's very own brandy.
By Sudipto De: Rudyard Kipling described Pisco as "the highest and noblest product of the age," and "composed of cherubs' wings, the glory of tropical dawn, the red clouds of sunset, and fragments of lost masterpieces by dead poets". It is very rare that a single drink encompasses the spirit of a whole country. But Pisco, the national spirit of Peru, typifies the beauty of this South American paradise. Named after the city where it was first produced in the 16th century, Pisco is a drink that takes you on a journey through the coasts and valleys of Peru.
A protected area in Loreto which is the largest natural reserve in Peru.Photo:Mail Today
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HACIENDA LA CARVAREDO, ICA
A visit to the Pisco vineyards is one of the things that should definitely be on your bucket list. At the Pisco vineyards at Ica, you can see the vines stretching out in rows before you. During harvest season, you might also participate in crushing of the grapes. Hacienda La Carvaredo Pisco Porton distillery is one of the oldest established in 1684. Nestled in the foothills of the Andes, they still create the liquor as a labour of love, with their hands. The copper still in which the drink is stored is reminiscent of a technique used ages ago and still followed today. A tasting to the famous drink with a plate of Ceviche and tapas is very much recommended.
The countryside in Peru has beautiful lakes and wheat fields.Photo:Mail Today
BODEGA VINAS DE ORO
Located about 200 km from the capital Lima, Vinas de Oro is one of the smaller vineyards. Opened in 1983, they focus on the modern methods of production. The extensive neat vineyards are combined with the high-tech distillery. You should definitely sip some of their magnificent produce at their beautiful modern tasting room.
Famous Incan citadel Machu Picchu, which is situated on a mountain ridge 2,430m above sea level.Photo:Mail Today
EL CARMELO HOTEL AND HACIENDA
This eclectic hotel is one of the best places to experience Pisco. A 200 year old vineyard which still produces Pisco with the traditional methods, it also has a restaurant where you can combine the Pisco Puros with some delectable Peruvian dishes. There are a plethora of minute details that romanticises El Carmelo, a peacock roaming the distillery or a selection of colonial artwork.
A trip to Peru is incomplete without trying out Pisco. A drink that takes the experience of having an alcohol to a whole new level altogether. It captures the turbulence, defiance and hard work of this beautiful nation in the most pure way possible.
Hacienda La Caravedo Pisco Porton distillery. Photo:Mail Today
Photo:Mail Today
WHAT IS PISCO?
Pisco is a grape-based brandy which shot to fame during the Spanish colonisation. With Spanish vineyards not having excellent produce, the grapes from Peru's fertile vineyards became legendary in status. With their own wines under threat, Spain banned exports out of their Peruvian constituency. This is when the wines were distilled into the Pisco we know today. What makes Pisco so unique is its purity. As Johnny Schuller, master distiller at Pisco Porton says, "Your Cognac is made by wood, my Pisco is made by God". Pisco uses no wood, no sugar, no water and no additives and preserves the authentic grapey taste of the spirit. The fresh mash from the grapes are fermented in copper pots and distilled.
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WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PISCO?
Pisco is made from eight different types of grapes and they have to specifically grown in five limited regions of Peru: Lima, Ica, Arequipa, Mocegua and Tacna. The non aromatic grapes brought from Spain are the Quebrenta, Negra Criolla, Uvina and Mollar while the aromatic grapes are Moscatel, Torontel, Italia and Albilia. Pisco can be broadly divided into three major categories:
PUROS: They are usually made from a single grape variety and distilled after they are totally dry. The most common of the lot, each of the grapes gives out a different taste profile.
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MOSTOS VERDES: These are usually distilled while the wine still has some sugar left in it. It has a much more distinctive and stronger aroma.
ACHOLADOS: These are the blends which can be produced from mixing any of the Puros or Mostos Verdes.
Pisco is enjoyed properly in the delicate tulip shaped Pisco glass. Fill it one-third with the majestic spirit and inhale the aromas. The high amounts of alcohol will take some getting used to. But once you get accustomed to it, the grapes will start to showcase their magic.
WHY IS PERU SO PROUD OF PISCO?
Pisco is a drink which gets its flavours from the rich, fertile soil of Peru. The coastal valley regions of Peru provide for a unique amalgamation of weather conditions. Landlocked between the coastal waters coming from Antarctica and the Andes in the East, it creates for a grape which has got a very high sugar content. The second reason why Peruvians are in love with Pisco is because it is a drink for which they have fought for. Since the breaking up of the Peruvian constituency, both Peru and Chile have claimed their rights to ownership of the drink. Although both origins are given due consideration in the United States, the Peruvians won the ownership with the Appellate of Origin from European Union in 2013.
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By India Today Web Desk: All eyes have been on Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra's outings in the West, ever since they migrated to Hollywood. And when the event in question is the 89th Annual Academy Awards, the anticipation is sky-high. While Deepika had denied that she will be attending the Oscars this year, Priyanka Chopra had confirmed her attendance by posting a selfie with rock legend Mick Jagger.
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However, Deepika made her presence felt at the Women in Film (WIF) pre-Oscar cocktail party. The actor, who made her Hollywood debut this year with Vin Diesel in xXx: Return Of Xander Cage, looked stunning in her asymmetrical black dress, leading to speculation that she will make her Oscar debut this year, after all.
Meanwhile, Priyanka was snapped having a ball at the WME pre-Oscar party. Pee Cee's Oscar debut last year became a rage and her white gown even earned her a mention in the list of top searched dresses of 2016.
Priyanka, who is already a known face in the West thanks to her television show Quantico, will make her Hollywood debut in Baywatch with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Zac Efron.
ALSO READ: What Priyanka Chopra at Oscars 2016 did for Bollywood, India and the Academy ALSO WATCH: Breaking down Oscars 2017
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Arce stressed that "this table has a vital importance to continue giving certainties and solutions, above the whims, subway agreements and political calculations". | Read More
Sources claim that not many students (from Left-backed students group) are refraining from handing over mobile footages or record their statements.
By Ilma Hasan: All India Students' Association (AISA) has strongly objected to reports that students were not cooperating with Delhi Police's crime branch who is investigating clashes outside Ramjas College on Wednesday.
Delhi Police's probe in DU clashes allegedly has hit a road block. On Thursday, the CP had directed crime branch to take over the probe. However, sources claim that not many students (from Left-backed students group) are refraining from handing over mobile footages or record their statements.
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Women students were allegedly beaten by male cops, but upon contact were not willing to give clips. Reports suggest that students are now planning to record their statements directly in court and give the evidence then. Sources say crime branch officers are now in touch with professors to convince them to join the probe.
Also read: Professor beaten up by ABVP mob has ribs broken, severe internal injuries
Responding to this, AISA issued a statement saying, "We submitted more than fifteen complaints along with the MLC reports, but the police didn't register the FIR. Against this inaction by the police the students went to the DP CP. Following the protest, the Joint CP transferred the case to the Crime Branch and gave us a helpdesk where we could register our complaints and give evidences. As of now, many students have registered their complaints and many are yet to do."
Meanwhile, senior officers have said that ABVP students will be recording their statements soon. Cops are also examining the 'video' showing students purportedly raising 'azaadi' slogans. The authenticity of the video, which was handed over by ABVP, needs to be established.
Kaur further said, "Earlier, the Delhi Police denied that they have any video recording of the event and that the videos that are floating across social medias and the ones with the journalists does qualify to be taken as an evidence. This has also led to mistrust among many students who are moving the court."
Also read: ABVP vs AISA at Ramjas College: 3 policemen suspended, Crime Branch to probe violence
The Crime Branch is also going through the CCTV footages of Chatra Marg, Arts Faculty, Ramjas College, Maurice Nagar police station to reconstruct sequence of events.
Kawalpreet Kaur, President of the DU AISA said, "How did our Finance minister prophesied that what was going to take place in Ramjas was bound to be something anti-national? Will the ABVP, BJP and RSS set the limits to free speech or decide what should be said and what not? Even when the organisers cancelled the invitation to Umar Khalid hours before the event why did the ABVP vandalize it? It clearly shows that the ABVP just has to create an atmosphere and crush the voices of common students which raise the issues of tribals and people of India."
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For Col GS Ghuman, all it took was a call from his former buddy, as Sahayaks are known in the Army, inviting him to attend his son's wedding.
By Press Trust of India: Amid the controversy over an Army jawan describing the menial duties a sahayak is entrusted with by the Army officers and their families, comes the tale of a senior Army officer flying all the way from Canada to attend a wedding in his sahayak's family.
For Colonel GS Ghuman, all it took was a call from his former 'buddy' - as sahayaks are known in the Army - inviting him to attend his son's wedding.
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Havildar Balagowda Raigowda Patil worked as the Colonel's buddy for almost two decades, before the two retired from the Army around 10 years ago.
"He (Patil) is family. How could I say no. I had to attend his son's wedding. So here I am, in India," Col Ghuman told PTI.
The feeling was reciprocated by Patil, who said, "Saab's (Col Ghuman) mother treated me like her fourth son. Saab also never treated me as a junior but like a brother."
"I was with saab since the IPKF days in Sri Lanka. I never felt humiliated as a 'buddy'," Patil, who retired in 2006, said.
Col Ghuman retired the next year. Both were in the 25 Madras Regiment, where Patil's son, who got married recently, is posted as an Army jawan.
The wedding took place at Patil's native place, around 50 kms from Belgaum.
Col Ghuman also used this trip to reconnect with former jawans in his unit, and travelled to places like Mangalore, Kochi and Hyderabad to meet them and their families, before flying back to Canada.
Col Ghuman's gesture comes amid reports that the Army is contemplating withdrawing combat soldiers working as sahayaks from peace stations across the country and post them back to their field formations.
Called by various names like orderly and batman, the sahayak/buddy has been, and remains, an intrinsic part of an Army officer's life.
"A 'buddy' forms a strong relationship with his officer that remains even after retirement. A wrong idea is being put across that combat manpower is being misused for the benefits of officers and their families," he said.
Last month, after Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh posted a video complaining about the sahayak system, the Army has stipulated that buddies should not to be detailed for looking after pets, toddlers and children and also should not be assigned for washing the private vehicles of officers.
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After almost a decade of financial irresponsibility, the Lenten price tag is going to be painful.
This year's Spanish Town Mardi Gras parade turned Baton Rouge's devastating August floods into cause for laughter on Saturday, with flamingo-themed floats satirizing FEMA, politicians and the red tape for flood victims trying to rebuild.
Though the Spanish Town parade during the last two years has prompted backlash for jokes about police brutality and sexual assault, Saturday's affair struck a different tone. Most floats stuck to the theme, "come hell or high water, it's slippery when wet" and several also paid tribute to the Cajun Navy and law enforcement officers who were killed during the summer.
Many riders said they were personally affected by the floods and enjoyed the chance to laugh after months of frustration with rebuilding. Cherie Bourgeois, who has been riding with the Krewe of Descentshun for 15 years, said only two couples on her float did not flood.
"Everybody was like, whatever we have to do to be as cheap as possible, we want to ride," she said.
So Bourgeois' krewe spoofed that idea, making their own "Great Values" parody of Wal-Mart's in-house brand of products. They plastered letters to "Mr. Flamingo" on their float about how they could only afford a generic brand flamingo this time around.
Some floats depicted FEMA as a devil-like character asking for forms while flamingos were submerged under water. Others showed politicians shouting at flamingos that they needed a permit as they were floating away. One made fun of the American Red Cross' flood response, calling them "American Double Cross" and handing out boxes of condiments and inedible food.
A float themed "support our troops, vets and police" had tombstones painted on it for slain Baton Rouge Police Department Officer Matthew Gerald, Corporal Montrell Jackson and East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Deputy Bradford Garafola. The three were killed in July, after a gunman came to Baton Rouge and opened fire on them in the wake of protests over the police shooting of Alton Sterling outside a convenience store earlier that month.
The Krewe of Bon Temps honored Sheriff's Deputy Nick Tullier, who was critically injured during the summer shooting of law enforcement. He spent months at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center and is now in further recovery at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.
Their float included letters and signatures encouraging Tullier to keep fighting. Mary Kling, who has been riding with the krewe for five years, said Tullier used to walk alongside their float as security.
Kling remembered a year when a crowd member tried to steal a giant, stuffed tiger on the truck pulling their float and Tullier chased him down and brought back their furry friend.
There were references in some float themes to the backlash over last year's parade which drew strong criticism for some floats that were regarded as highly offensive and racially inflammatory.
One krewe, instead of writing out jokes, included lines like "slap at overly sensitive groups here," "funny stuff goes here," and "safe space" on their float that said "#silencespanishtown."
Another was themed "Spanish Town, watered down" and some had warnings saying "this float contains content that some viewers could find offensive" or "snowflake safe space here."
Some participants said they were happy to put the past controversies behind them.
Darlene Williams and her husband pulled one float in their truck, as their Bichon Frise, Francois, poked out of the window with a Mardi Gras boa around his neck.
"We've been coming here since we were small and I've never had any problems," she said. A flood victim, Williams said she was happy to spend a day entertaining people with her dog instead of worrying about rebuilding her house.
Saws hum, hammers pound and wheelbarrows squeak in the middle of the day in neighborhoods near Clay Cut Bayou in southeast Baton Rouge, where evidence of the August floods still tarnishes many lawns.
But the piles on the curbs are starting to look different from how they looked in the immediate aftermath of the storms. What were once collections of muck, drywall and ruined appliances are starting to transform into groupings of boxes, drywall mud and granite ends.
As people start building walls, putting in windows and adding cabinets to their flooded homes, many say they have not received clear-cut answers about who is responsible for picking up the reconstruction debris.
City Hall's official response has been that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the cost of debris only from the flood's aftermath and that debris contractors will not pick up reconstruction debris.
But when flood debris from gutting a house and reconstruction debris are mixed together in piles at the curbs, it can be confusing to tell them apart.
East Baton Rouge Parish interim Environmental Services Director Adam Smith said mixed assortments usually will be picked up with debris sweeps, while interim Chief Administrative Officer William Daniel said clusters of "clearly reconstruction debris" will remain on the curbs.
Metro Councilwoman Erika Green, who represents heavily flooded parts of north Baton Rouge, is advising her constituents to put all of their debris post-flood muck and reconstruction alike at the curb.
"The contractors are not authorized to pick it up, but some days you'll get lucky and they'll do a sweep," she said.
The differing answers and the caveats that go along with them have left people rebuilding their homes and their contractors unsure about whose advice to follow.
Kai Smith, a realtor at Property First Realty Group, said the lack of answers has slowed her ability to put houses on the market as people look to flip them and sell them.
She has a client rebuilding a house on Morel Avenue in the Tiger Bend Road area, but she said they cannot put it on the market until they know what to do with a month's worth of construction materials at the curb.
Her calls have yielded finger pointing but no answers, she said.
"It's holding up the whole process of rebuilding," Smith added.
Caleb Christ, of Skilled Contractors, worked on a house on Morel Avenue this week and said he was planning on putting the debris at the curb.
He said his company often uses dumpsters for debris and the dumpster companies will take them away, but their impression is that flood and reconstruction debris which he said include many of the same materials is being hauled off in Baton Rouge.
"We're banking on them picking it up," he said, referencing the initial sweeps through neighborhoods in the immediate aftermath of the floods.
A few houses down, Gary James, of Anointed Hands Contractors, painted white shutters on his sister's house. He said he also has seen debris trucks pick up new construction material.
James said his company will take some of the odds and ends that they can use for other purposes like two-by-four pieces of wood and scrap metal but he has been putting siding and boxes at the curbs of the houses where he worked.
"Let it build up and they come get a big load at once," he said.
The city-parish's Daniel and Smith said contractors are responsible for hauling off their own debris. It can be more difficult for people rebuilding on their own, though, who might lack the vehicles or means to transport dangerous materials to the parish's North Landfill.
People tired of looking at debris in front of their homes should find a way to haul it off themselves, the city-parish has advised. But for those able to be patient, they said the city-parish is in talks with FEMA to possibly start a pilot program where the federal government would reimburse the pickup costs for some reconstruction debris.
The city-parish's contractors have picked up more than 1.83 million of cubic yards in flood debris, costing FEMA nearly $31.9 million and the city-parish an additional $2.9 million. City-parish officials say they do not know how much construction debris is cluttering lawns, and they are working with FEMA to determine an estimate.
Four students from Spring Hill College, a Jesuit school in Mobile, Alabama, were among those injured during the massive crash Saturday along E
Four students from Spring Hill College, a Jesuit school in Mobile, Alabama, were among those injured during the massive crash Saturday along Endymion's parade route in New Orleans, school officials have confirmed.
The college didn't release the names or ages of the victims, but said in a statement that all were released from a local hospital in New Orleans shortly after midnight and "are safely with friends and family."
"We are deeply grateful for everyone's prayers and for the grace of God that brought them through this ordeal," a spokesperson for the school wrote. "We are also grateful to the EMS and first responders of New Orleans, as well as the parents, alumni and friends of Spring Hill College in New Orleans. Many of you stepped forward last night to help at the hospital and to provide support and comfort to our students, and many others have continued to extend offers of assistance."
The students had traveled to New Orleans during Mardi Gras and were among a group gathered to watch the parade on Saturday evening when they were hit by 25-year-old Neilson Rizzuto. Rizzuto, who was arrested immediately by New Orleans police, was driving while intoxicated, according to authorities.
Spring Hill College officials said on social media that that the school's president, Christopher Puto, traveled to New Orleans on Saturday night to be with the students after hearing they had been injured.
Hundreds of people expressed concern about the students on the school's public Facebook page, and then relief when the school updated that the students had been released from the hospital.
Others said their children or friends had narrowly avoided the disaster because they had been at Endymion on Saturday, but not in the area where the accident happened.
"Prayers for all," several commenters wrote.
+4 Driver who plowed into Endymion parade crowd, injured 28 in New Orleans identified The man who authorities said Sunday was intoxicated when he crashed his truck into a crowd o
On the scene, shocked bystanders said they watched in horror as a gray truck driven by a young man raced downriver on North Carrollton Avenue toward its intersection with Orleans Avenue about 6:45 p.m. Saturday before slamming into two vehicles.
The truck then veered left into the neutral ground before it came to rest against a large dump truck.
Several people were pinned underneath the dump truck in the aftermath as paramedics and civilians raced to help them.
Officials said all in all, at least 28 people were injured, including five who were taken to a trauma center Saturday night in guarded condition.
EMS Director Jeffrey Elder said none of their injuries appeared to be life-threatening.
By India Today Web Desk: The suave and sexy Saif Ali Khan is any woman's dream. But the dream turned out to be a nightmare for a British woman who was duped by a married man on Tinder, who had used a picture of the actor as his profile photo.
According to Daily Mail, a man who goes by the name of 'Antony Ray' on Tinder had been using the Rangoon actor's picture and luring women into relationships. He led teaching assistant Anna Rowe to believe that she was the love of his life and that their relationship would culminate in marriage. However, she became suspicious when he could meet her only sporadically and hired a private investigator, who revealed that he was a married man with kids.
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The man, who had a separate phone and social media accounts for his illicit relationships, used the photo of Saif Ali Khan to avoid being caught by his family. Since he bears a resemblance to the actor, he managed to get away with it to his Tinder girlfriends.
After Anna, another woman has also come forward about being misled by the same man.
ALSO READ | Saif Ali Khan on son Taimur: I might change his name, don't want him to get unpopular
ALSO WATCH: Saif-Kareena become proud parents to a baby boy, Taimur
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Single mother of two Sharon Eurlings says proposed cuts to Sunday penalty rates are an "insult", which treat her Sunday as less important than other people's.
She has worked Sunday shifts for more than 20 years to pay the bills and care for her children. Her ex-husband looks after their children aged eight and nine on Sundays which allows her to earn an extra $100 to $200 per week.
The Fair Work Commission's decision to reduce penalty rates for hospitality workersfeels "insulting" and will be a big blow to her modest pay packet.
The decision will cut Sunday and holiday penalty rates by 25 to 50 per cent for full-time and part-time employees in hospitality, fast food, retail and pharmacy.
Here we go again. The folly and greed. The malice and delusion. It is little wonder politicians are disrespected so widely. Recent days have abounded with examples of lawmakers behaving badly, of politicians fuelling community contempt for politicians.
The Victorian speaker and his deputy have both resigned in disgrace after it was revealed by The Age that they have profited legally but nevertheless dubiously from allowances designed to compensate rural and regional members of Parliament for having to live away from home. These high-ranking lawmakers have been using the allowances to live near the seaside, away from their electorates.
Mr Shorten appears about as flexible as Mr Abbott in keeping his word. Credit:Ben Rushton
Their apparent greed and readiness to operate within the letter but not the spirit of the law has rightly caused public outrage. The way they obtained tens of thousands of taxpayers' dollars to unduly subsidise property reflects terribly on them and amplifies our main concern; as we have long argued, the rules must be changed at the state and federal level to protect public money and enhance public trust.
At the federal level, internecine strife is roiling the Coalition government. A former Liberal prime minister, Tony Abbott, removed by his colleagues after only two years in office, has again, but never before so brazenly, dishonoured his pledge not to be a wrecker inside the government of the man who replaced him, Malcolm Turnbull.
Police say 28 people have been injured when a pick-up truck ploughed into a crowd watching the Krewe of Endymion parade to celebrate Mardi Gras in the US city of New Orleans.
The crash happened on Saturday about 6.45pm local time, along the parade route near Orleans and Carrollton Avenues.
The driver appeared to be drunk, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said.
One man has been taken into custody.
Revelations of radioactive cow carcasses buried beneath land slated for a $20 billion education precinct in Melbourne's west should be no cause for alarm, the state government says.
Fairfax Media revealed on Sunday 60 carcasses were buried at a Werribee site the government was trying to sell to a Chinese consortium
A cow near the site in Werribee where radioactive carcasses are buried. Credit:Joe Armao
Documents obtained by Fairfax Media estimated the cost of cleaning up the radioactive waste could reach $300 million.
Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio did not deny the 775-hectare site was contaminated by toxic waste.
Washington: US immigration authorities are barring entry to a 21-year-old Syrian cinematographer who worked on a harrowing film about his nation's civil war, The White Helmets, which has been nominated for an Academy Award.
According to internal Trump administration correspondence seen by the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security has decided at the last minute to block Khaled Khatib from travelling to Los Angeles for the Oscars.
Khatib was scheduled to arrive on Saturday in Los Angeles on a Turkish Airlines flight departing from Istanbul. But his plans have been upended after US officials reported finding "derogatory information" regarding him.
Derogatory information is a broad category that can include anything from terror connections to passport irregularities. Asked for comment, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, Gillian Christensen, said: "A valid travel document is required for travel to the United States."
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...
Anees Villa is losing its charm as the unchecked construction in and around the heritage building has blocked its view.
By Manjeet Sehgal: One of the world's richest novelists, Salman Rushdie is not able to repair his ancestral home, which he finally got the possession of after winning the legal battle with the then government of Himachal Pradesh.
Built over an area of 2,934-sq yard , the typical British style home called 'Anees Villa' was gifted to him by his father Maulvi Anees Ahmed in 1969.
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HOUSE NEEDS RENOVATION
The entrance gate is missing, the brick- pillars holding the gate can be seen lying on the ground -- broken by a huge eucalyptus tree which was uprooted by the winds in August 2010. The unpainted roofs and planks holding the iron sheets have decayed in rain.
Similarly, the roof ceiling is damaged because of trickling water. The window panes are missing, and the watchman, Govind Ram has temporarily fixed polythene on the frames of missing glasses. The sprawling lawn lies in a neglected state with uprooted glass
Anees Villa is losing its charm as the unchecked construction in and around the heritage building has blocked its view. The house shot to fame in 1992 and was then placed on the world tourist map. People visiting Solan often make it a point to pay a visit to this place which lies close to the Shilli Sanctuary.
THE LAST RENOVATION
Anirudh Shankardas, the caretaker of Anees Villa said that Salman Rushdie has a plan to get the heritage property restored and also plans to visit India soon.
"The property was taken care of by my father Vijay Shankardas earlier who passed away four years back. I have been visiting the property very often and had consulted some local builders who are not competent to do the restoration work. We have chalked out a detailed plan and are consulting experts to do the restoration work in a scientific and planned way," Anirudh Shankardas said.
HISTORY OF ANEES VILLA
Built in 1927, Anees Villa was purchased by Salman Rushdie's grandfather Mohammad Uldin. According to the revenue records of 1953-69, this building was declared an evacuee property by state government after the records inadvertently showed Rushdie's father having migrated to Pakistan. Rushdie staked claim on the property in 1992 and moved the court. Finally he won the case after five years and the property was restored back to him in 1997. As Rushdie was in possession of a gift deed, the property was transferred in his name.
Interestingly, Rushdie never renovated his house except for getting it painted in the year 2000, when he personally visited Solan. The state government during its possession had spent Rs 1.54 lakh on its renovation which were waived off as a goodwill gesture when Rushdie won the legal battle.
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Anees Villa did not have drinking water supply and telephone connection till it was handed over to Salman Rushdie.
According to sources, Rushdie's father Anees Ahmed had first visited Solan in 1927. He also owned properties in Dalhousie (Chamba), Musoorie, Mumbai and New Delhi. Rushdie had spent his childhood in his Delhi home.
THE PROMISE OF WRITER'S HOME
Salman Rushdie visited Solan on April 13, 2000 and was charmed by the majestic Himalayan Cedar trees and salubrious environment. During his visit he had told his attorney and leading Supreme Court lawyer Vijay ST Shankardas that he wanted to convert the property into a writer's home. There was a plan to provide stay to five to six writers by converting one of the rooms into a library.
Rushdie's wish still remains a dream.
Also Read
It is a beautiful film: Salman Rushdie on Lion
Rushdies new novel on Mumbai family hit by 26/11; out in Sept
--- ENDS ---
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/02/2017 (2080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
RM of Hanover council will consider other options in finding a water supply without high levels of barium in the Kleefeld area after studies indicate that previously proposed solutions are not feasible.
In early February, the Manitoba Water Services Board (MWSB) wrote to Hanover and indicated the next step in finding a solution to their water troubles in Kleefeld might be a regional water supply system in partnership with a neighbouring municipality like the City of Steinbach, Town of Niverville or the RM of Ritchot.
In 2011, water sampling indicated Kleefelds barium concentration was 1.82 milligrams per litre (raw water) and 1.72 milligrams per litre (treated water). This exceeds Health Canadas maximum allowable concentration of 1.0 milligrams per litre.
Initially, a proposed solution was to connect Grunthal and Kleefeld to a single water supply system because of recent upgrades to Grunthals water treatment plant. Hanover entered
into a $1.2 million agreement with MWSB.
In October 2015, W.L. Gibbons and Associates (WLG) conducted an assessment to determine if it was conceptually feasible to expand the Grunthal water supply system to service both communities.
Engineer studies indicated that was likely not feasible due to ammonia levels and high costs. The assessment found increased pumping rates of Grunthals current supply system may result in drawing higher concentration of ammonia. It also found drilling deeper into the underlying limestone aquifer would likely result in elevated barium levels, while drilling deeper into the sandstone aquifer was considered the highest probability of finding good ground water.
In November 2015, an engineering firm was asked to design a water supply pipeline from the Grunthal water treatment plant to the Kleefeld water treatment plant. This allowed data to be collected prior to winter and to complete a design for a spring 2016 tender.
In May 2016, supplementary water quality investigations confirmed the previously identified risk for drawing ammonia into Grunthals water supply. The investigation also ruled out the use of the limestone aquifer because of the elevated barium levels risk. The sandstone aquifer was still considered the best option for superior water quality, but with some areas showing elevated ammonia.
In the same month, the MWSB presented this data to Hanover through a technical memorandum. The memorandum indicated the sandstone aquifer was the preferred source for better water quality. The MWSB presented costs for both the proposed pipeline and well installations, noting that both would exceed the $1.2 million funding agreement. MWSM presented the option of installing wells into the sandstone aquifer.
Hanover, MWSB and WLG met in June 2016 and decided to pursue the well installation option, rather than the pipeline.
WLG retained Friesen Drillers to drill for subsequent tests to develop the new groundwater wells. During Friesen Drillers first drill attempt in August 2016, a large solution cavity suspended drilling and a new location was required. Friesen Drillers then successfully installed a test well into the sandstone.
Tests results, presented to Hanover in October, indicated the water from the sandstone aquifer was very similar in chemistry to the water from the overlying limestone aquifer, concluding the new wells would not address Kleefelds water quality issues.
In November, all parties involved met to discuss results, noting that barium exceeding standards in both aquifers appears to occur along a roughly linear trend from Blumenort through to the Kleefeld and Grunthal areas. Any further groundwater investigation would have to occur outside of the barium trend, like in the area three to four miles northwest of Kleefeld.
WLG submitted a proposal to the MWSB for further groundwater investigations northwest of Kleefeld earlier this year.
Kleefeld is not under boil water advisory. However, exposure to elevated levels can result in gastrointestinal disturbances, elevated blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
Kleefeld does have a treatment system, but upgrading the current system is not considered feasible due to the need for complicated and expensive treatment technology, disposal of treatment residuals and operator certification requirements.
At this point, MWSB recommends Hanover look into regional water supply system options or revisiting the Grunthal pipeline with a focus on addressing ammonia issues.
RM of Hanover council passed a resolution Wednesday to continue working with The Water Services Board on a regional water supply system.
WARNING TO TRUMP SUPPORTERS VISITING HIS TOWER IN NEW YORK:
The portals to the public restrooms on the lower level are clearly marked MEN and WOMEN in big brass letters, but there is no guarantee that those who use the facilities will not encounter a transgender person.
During the campaign, Trump repeatedly suggested that he would be supportive of transgender rights. He made his position explicitly clear on the Today Show in August.
"So if Caitlyn Jenner were to walk into Trump Tower and want to use the bathroom, you would be fine with her using any bathroom she chooses?" Matt Lauer asked.
"That is correct," Trump replied.
Six months later, Trump is now the president, and he has changed his stance to one more in keeping with his baseand with the prejudices of appointees in an administration that is beginning to give off the vibes of a regime. Trump issued an order on Wednesday voiding an Obama decree that schools must allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity. Jenner described the decision with a word Trump often uses to describe Obama policies.
This is a disaster, she said in a Twitter video she termed a message for President Trump, from, well, one Republican to another.
She added: And you can still fix it. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me."
Those who joined Jenner in expressing their shock at the decision came to include Jackie Evancho, the 16-year-old performer who sang the national anthem at Trump's inauguration. She tweeted, as someone with a transgender sister:"I am obviously disappointed in the @POTUS decision to send the #transgender bathroom issue to the states to decide. #sisterlove.
But Trump has given no sign that he intends to change his position. He decreed that such matters as transgender rights are for the states to decide.
For Trump supporters who applaud his new stance, the problem with states rights is that some of the states are freethinking realms such as New York. And within New York State, there is no more free thinking place than the city that is so paradoxically the lifelong home of our president.
Just look at what Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted on Wednesday:
We affirm the right of every New Yorker to use the bathroom that fits their identity. A new president will not change our values.
A woman visitor to the tower on Friday afternoon stepped off the escalator that descends to the lower level and asked a plainclothes security man where she might find what she termed ladies room.
Sure hon, straight back and to the right, the security man replied.
She followed the directions and turned right at a Trump souvenir stand. She came to a marble clad passageway marked RESTROOMS TELEPHONES. She passed an alcove that has one of the last pay phones in evidence in midtown Manhattan.
A few steps past this artifact from the past, she came to twin entryways. She took the one to the left that marked WOMEN.
But, if she had chosen to turn right toward MEN, the cop who happened to be walking behind her would have been precluded from doing anything. As if he had better things to do than to police gender separation in a public restroom. Bad enough that NYPD policy precludes cops from assisting ICE in detaining noncriminal undocumented immigrants.
In fact, the officer could have encountered someone he knew to be a transgender undocumented immigrant and he would have been powerless. No doubt Trump would find this "SAD."
But what do you expect from a city that so little appreciates its native son Trump that he had to hold his homecoming rally during the campaign out on Long Island?
Back in 2015, Trump was booed by tens of thousands of people when he stepped onto the balcony of his own tower to see Pope Francis arrive at Saint Patricks Cathedral.
Feo! Feo! the largely Hispanic crowd chanted in Spanish, which translates to Ugly! Ugly!
At least a Trump supporter who visited the tower on Friday could delight in knowing that he was now president and down at the White House and putting the fear of the Donald if not God into all those boo-ers. No doubt some of those who cheered the Pope but chanted Feo! at Trump were now cowering at home, fearful that they would be deported.
And, if the MEN and WOMEN facilities in the tower do remain trans-friendly, a visiting Trump supporter could further delight on Friday in the knowledge that "Bathroom Bill" de Blasio was being grilled by federal prosecutors at his lawyers office just eight blocks from the tower.
The feds are seeking to determine if de Blasio took contributions in exchange for favored treatment by the city. That is nothing new for a politician. The difference in de Blasios case is that he does not seem to have pocketed so much as a penny.
What de Blasio seems to desire is not wealth, but prominence in keeping with his sense of himself. His Trumpian disparaging of the media is accompanied by a Trumpian desire to take a place on the national stage. He proceeded straight from his grilling by the feds to the airport for a flight to Atlanta, where the new head of the Democratic Party will be selected on Saturday.
In the days ahead, De Blasio stands a chance of becoming the first politician to get indicted for taking money with no intention of keeping any of it. But that is not likely to do much to change our presidents hometown.
Trump supporters who visit the restrooms at Trump Tower be warned. And consider this: Caitlyn Jenner remains free to use whichever restroom she wants at Trump Tower.
And Trump has nothing to say about it.
Prince Charles will dramatically and unilaterally declare Camilla Parker Bowles to be Queen Camilla in the first 24 hours after the death of his mother, an informed source tells the Daily Beast.
They have it all worked out, the source, who is close to a number of senior royals, told the Daily Beast. When Charles goes before the Accession Council he will tell them his choice of regal name, and then he will authoritatively make it clear that his wife is to be known as Queen Camilla.
The source says that while the name of the King--almost certainly Charles III although George VII remains a possibility--will be widely announced on the airwaves and in a sequence of traditional proclamations at key locations around the country that day, the fact that Camillawhose official title is the Duchess of Cornwall--has been declared queen will not be ceremonially proclaimed at that point.
Instead key editors, press agencies and royal correspondents will be informed of Charless wish, so the news will effectively go out alongside his proclamation as king.
The source says that the Prince of Waless team charged with plotting the Queen Camilla project is counting on the off-balance national mood following the death of the monarch to ensure they are not seriously challenged.
The dramatic moveemphatically denied by a source close to Prince Charles--will contravene long-held assurances that Charles will not attempt to make Camilla queen.
Charless website, for example, publicly states that Camilla will be known as HRH The Princess Consort when Charles accedes, and these assurances have served, over the years, to dampen the anger of traditionalists at court, who still perceive that making Camilla queen would be rewarding adultery.
Charles and Camilla carried on a long affair while he was married to Princess Diana which contributed to the breakdown of the marriage.
Camilla is still routinely disrespected in court circles, according to insiders.
There are many women at court who simply will not curtsey to Camilla, says the source.
The irony is that Camilla herself has not the least interest in being Queen, and the entire project is being driven by Charles who, insiders say, has taken to reminding his friends that there is not one British king who has not made his wife Queen.
The wife of the King is always known as Queen Consort, usually abbreviated to Queen.
But Camilla has always been a special case, owing not so much to the fact that she is a divorcee as to public affection for Princess Diana, whom the British public for the most part still perceive as grossly and tragically wronged by Charles and Camilla.
Diana famously described Camilla as the third person in her marriage.
How will the Queen take Charless ambitions then? In one sense this new plan is diplomatic in that she will never be forced to confront the reality of Queen Camilla face-to-face. It is certainly not something that, alive, she would encourage.
The Queen is unlikely to be unaware of Charles' machinations. She is known to be a steadfast opponent of the idea of making Camilla Queen and her acceptance of Charles's marriage to Camilla was to some extent influenced by his concession that Camilla would be merely Princess Consort.
But, in recent years, Charles had appeared to be quietly looking to row back on that understanding.
Penny Junor, the royal biographer who is the author of a definitive account of the life of Prince Charles and is currently completing a biography of Camilla, told the Daily Beast: Charles will push for this. He is so fiercely proud of her and I think would see anything less than the title of Queen as being a slight. And he has never been good at taking advice from people that disagree with him.
But she has no desire to be Queen. She got into this position because she loved him and wanted to support him in his otherwise lonely role; she didnt marry him because she wanted to be a Duchess or a Princess or even a Queen.
But it is a very difficult subject because there will always be people who say that to make her Queen would be to reward adultery.
Junor added that she expects the title of Queen Camilla, if granted, to be ultimately accepted, despite initial unease: The British public and the media have a habit of making mountains out of what at the end of the day, if handled sensitively, turn out to be molehills.
Charles may be underestimating the opposition, however. According to a 2015 poll by Comres, for the Daily Mail, just a third of the population (34%) say they like Camilla, with a greater number, 38% saying they dislike her.
A whopping 55% of the population are adamant that Camilla Parker Bowles should not become Queen.
A spokesperson for Prince Charles declined to comment. However, a palace source said that the substance of the statement made by Clarence House at the time of Camilla's marriage to the Prince--that Camilla would be called Princess Consort--still stood.
The source said that the claims that Charles would declare Camilla queen unilaterally shortly after his mothers death were "without foundation.
MOSCOWKsenia Nosova is a tall, red-haired, rather wealthy lady who enjoys traveling around the world, but always returns to her gorgeous home city, St. Petersburg, on the Neva River. It was Russias capital under Czar Peter the Great, who built it in the 18th century as a window to Europe. Nosova, a 49-year-old speech therapist, knows the history and culture of her city well. She felt at home at its local museums, which she saw as public places, meant to welcome lovers of culture whatever their backgrounds or religions.
But to the astonishment of Nosova and many others in St. Petersburg, on Jan.10 their governor, Georgy Poltavchenko, declared that the city would hand over the keys to one of the most beautiful museums, the St. Isaac Cathedral, to the Russian Orthodox Church. Poltavchenko also said the issue was decided. There would be no debate, and those words sparked a significant eruption of protests against the churchor better said, the church and state, which have ever less separation in the Russia of President Vladimir Putin.
Under Putins rule, the Russian Orthodox Church has grown very influential. Priests and bishops pushed legislators to make certain restrictions and adopt certain laws in line with their teachings, reaching deep into the cultural life of the country. One example: the storm of controversy surrounding a film still in production about a love affair that Russias last czar, Nicholas II, had before his marriage and before he was crowned. Why the cries of blasphemy? Because in 2000 Nicholas was canonized by the Orthodox Church, which considers that saints shouldnt be shown having affairs.
Last week, the Church came out in support of new legislation to ban anything that might be construed as humiliating to President Putin.
The question of church properties seized by the atheist Soviet communist state almost a century ago has been creating resentments among liberal Russians for several years, ever since the Kremlin approved a law allowing the return of thousands of properties to religious organizations. Many of these buildings had been museums and concert halls for as long as anyone alive could remember. But in 2010, the Russian Orthodox Church started taking control of them, and in the process, has taken much of the life out of them.
That St. Isaac would fall under church authority turned even some true Orthodox believers like Nosova into protesters. She said she was not demonstrating against her religion, she was protesting the policies of the Russian Orthodox Church. Until now my friendsMuslims, Jews, atheistscould visit the museum at St. Isaac rCathedral and feel relaxed, as it was a secula, friendly place beloved by foreign tourists, Nosova told The Daily Beast. Our church is so greedy. It has already taken control of Kazan Cathedral. I went there to pray the other day and looked dark. I counted only six other visitors.
In most Russian cities, such a deal might go smoothly, but not in St. Petersburg, the deputy chief editor at Echo of Moscow, Olga Bychkova, told The Daily Beast. I can hardly think of another Russian city, where people would value their architecture and culture more than in St. Petersburg, she said. It does not surprise me that people rose up against the Russian Orthodox Church to show that the society cannot be always neglected.
Orthodox believers have long had a place to pray at the St. Isaac museum cathedral, but as a secular cultural center it was also a place where visitors of any confession felt free to walk around, chat about historyand laugh. Every day St. Isaacs welcomes crowds of visitors. It is one of the top attractions in St. Petersburg.
So, first hundreds, then thousands of people came out to the streets to demonstrate against the overwhelming influence the Russian Orthodox Church exerts on internal policy. Russian Patriarch Kirill called on the public to see a symbolic meaning of unity in passing the cathedral under the Churchs wing. But the critics insisted that it would divide Russian society. Hundreds of people came out to rallies, knelt down on the snow, and read aloud their constitutional rights. Earlier this month over 2,000 protesters gathered outside the cathedral. Holding hands, people made three circles around St. Isaac in horovod, or roundelay, a traditional dance since pagan times.
Both the governor and Russian Orthodox Church are unbelievably cynical, if they think they can make such important decisions without asking the museums managers and us, the society, said Nina Mikhailova, a retired professor who came to street rallies with her two grandsons.
Museum managers, including the director of the Hermitage, Mikhail Piotrovski, along with well-known academics and public figures spoke against of the Church taking over state museums.
Then, as sometimes happens, the Kremlin surprised its critics, distancing itself from the scandal and from Governor Poltavchenko.
With the next Russian presidential election only a year away, even if the outcome is foregone conclusion, Putin is being careful about such contentious questions.
A few months before his election campaign, Putin cannot afford mass protests in his former home town, suggested independent political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin.
But one of the anti-Church movement activists, Diana Kachalova, remains skeptical. She did not believe that authorities were sincerely taking the side of the protesters.
The Kremlin is looking for a compromise for St. Isaacs future, not because they are such democrats but because they do not need a powerful opposition movement right before the election campaign, Kachalova said. The protests, she said, will go on.
President Donald Trump is taking his ball and going homeor, rather, ditching the ball and going home.
Late on Saturday afternoon, the leader of the free world tweeted that he would break with decades of tradition and not attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the annual fete held by the White House Correspondents' Association to raise money for college journalism scholarships.
"I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year," Trump tweeted. "Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!"
The announcement, on the heels of a closed press briefing with White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Friday from which numerous major outlets were barred, is yet another escalation of Trump's increasingly heated battle with the journalists assigned to cover his administration. In recent weeks, the president has lambasted as "fake news" press outlets that have critically covered the Trump White House's shaky first month, and even declared on numerous occasions that journalists were the enemy of the American people.
The fate of this year's WHCA dinner, derided as "Nerd Prom" by political journalists who see the black-tie gala as a thirsty display of starfuckery and too much coziness between government officials and the people assigned to cover them, was already on the ropes before Trump announced his decision. Vanity Fair and The New Yorkertwo major publications which traditionally throw lavish afterparties for the creme de la creme of Washington's political and media eliteannounced last week that they would not be participating in the dinner; financial news titan Bloomberg later announced that its own famed post-gala soiree would be cancelled this year as well, due to a lack of interest.
The absence of a "headliner" from the White Housethe dinner traditionally features a comedy set by an A-list entertainer, as well as (attempted) humorous remarks from the president himselfmay add further interest in a competing event across town. Samantha Bee, host of TBS Full Frontal, is hosting alternative gala on the same night, titled "Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Jeff Mason, Reuters' White House correspondent and the president of the WHCA, issued a statement that the association "takes note" of Trump's announcement, but vowing that the dinner "has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic."
Trump's declaration, in addition to heightening tensions between his administration and the press that are reaching Nixonian levels, rebuffs the same banquet that has been cited as the incident kicking off his political career. It was at the 2011 WHCA, during the height of the Trump-stoked birther conspiracism that accused President Barack Obama of lying about his birthplace, that the real-estate mogul was roasted to a crisp by a duo of comedy sets by comedian Seth Meyers and the commander-in-chief himself.
Obviously, we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience, Obama said to Trump, who sat stonefaced at the Washington Post's table. For example, just recently, in an episode of Celebrity Apprentice, at the steakhouse, the mens cooking team did not impress the judges from Omaha Steaks. And there was a lot of blame to go around. But you, Mr. Trump, recognized that the real problem was a lack of leadership. And so ultimately, you didnt blame Lil Jon or Meat Loaf. You fired Gary Busey. And these are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night."
Trump, whose outer-borough insecurities helped propel him into the stratosphere of New York society, was humiliated. Six years later, the apparent hope is that this time, the "dishonest media" will be the one to leave the ballroom with egg on its face.
By Srijani Ganguly/Mail Today: A number of DJs have emerged from India in the past few years, but very few have created their own radio show with the aim to promote new talent. Sarthak Sardana a.k.a. Sartek, whose own career is skyrocketing, uses the means of his soundcloud page to provide a platform for undiscovered talent.
He explains, "Once a month I do a post on my Facebook page asking for new demos from producers all across India. Then I feature one each month on the show ('back to the Future'), so that the respective producer benefits from the radio play. I try to play tracks which sound unique and professionally produced so the producer gets noticed among my fans and other listeners."
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Apart from his monthly show, there's a lot on Sartek's plate. "My 'Jump Right After You' tour is set for February and March with back to back gigs! I'm touring every major city in the country, from college campuses and festivals to clubs. I'm really kicked about it," he says.
Also Read:Meet the DJ who got to close David Guetta's Mumbai concert
He is also working on a track with a "legendary Dutch DJ". Other than that, he adds, "I'm doing a special panel at ADE Mumbai to help upcoming producers from across the country. Also, I feel honoured that the team at TEDX asked me to come speak at their panel, it was a good experience."
Looking back, Sartek says that his overall experience has been pretty good. "2016 has been the best year career wise," he says, adding, "I released five tracks on A-class labels such as Armada, Showland and Revealed, and collaborated on two tracks with upcoming Indian producers meanwhile doing a mad bunch of shows, all throughout. Opening for Hardwell in Delhi and finally getting to know that I'll be working with Sony Music Worldwide's Discowax label was the highlight of the year!"
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Col. Fritz du Quesne, a fugitive from justice, is wanted by His Majestys government for trial on the following charges: Murder on the high seas; the sinking and burning of British ships; the burning of military stores, warehouses, coaling stations, conspiracy, and the falsification of Admiralty documents. He carried on hostile operations against the British government in various parts of the world under the following names: Fred, Fredericks, Capt. Claude Staughton, Col. Bezan, von Ricthofen, Piet Niacud, etc. His correct and full name is Fritz Joubert Marquis du Quesne. Prior to the war he was known as Capt. Fritz du Quesne, a big game hunter, author, explorer and lecturer.
-London Daily Mail, May 27, 1919
Frederick Fritz Joubert Duquesne was all of this and moreand worse.
So much for Iowa Nice.
Rowdy town hall forums are the new normal in the Hawkeye state. Contentious scenes of older, grey-haired Iowans lobbing hostile questions at Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst made national news this week. Grassroots anger, enthusiasm and organization has even taken some Democrats by surprise here, in a state that saw a 15-point margin shift from Barack Obama to Donald Trump in the general election.
The pressure had been building for weeks. Republicans took complete control of Iowas state government in the 2016 election, the first time in 20 years, and have quickly rammed through a far-right agenda. Already, legislative forums for state representatives and senators have seen turnouts in the hundreds of angry, sign-waving constituents.
So when the Congressional recess arrived, activists were ready.
Unlike in most other states, many Iowa Republican elected officials are still holding public meetings. Three of the states five federally-elected Republicans Grassley, Ernst and Congressman David Young hosted open town hall forums this week.
Each Republican approached their town hall differently. Grassley stuck to his typical demeanor of matter-of-fact answers and the occasional dry joke. Ernst acted like the protesters werent even there and tried to conduct her veterans forum like it was a normal event, angering the crowd further. Young shook hands with people as they arrived, said Trump should release his taxes, and generally portrayed a more moderate image.
But all receptions they faced were harsh and overwhelmingly anti-Trump.
Ernsts crowd chanted Your last term! as she entered the room and Investigate Trump! as she tried to explain her position on Russia. Her event was nominally billed as a veterans roundtable, but hundreds showed up for other issues as it was her only public event of the week.
Youre the man that talked about death panels, Chris Petersen, a well-known Iowa farmer, told Grassley in Iowa Falls. Youre going to create one big death panel in this country if people cant afford insurance!
Please explain to us, your Iowa constituency, your hypocrisy and willingness to ignore the Constitution, an attendee said to Grassley in Charles City.
And a woman in Urbandale asking about pipelines poured David Young a glass of water that came from an oil spill and encouraged him to drink it. When Young later lamented that his healthcare premiums were rising too, the crowd jeered and laughed.
It was a stark turn of events for the state that delivered Trump his biggest swing state victory last November. Over 300 came out for Ernsts event in Maquoketa, population: 6,000. Donald Trump won the county with 57%, a dramatic improvement over Mitt Romneys 41% in 2012. And yet the room had the passion of a Bernie Sanders rally, though with one difference many of the attendees were older, retired women.
What impressed Iowa politics watchers, however, is that the turnouts largely happened on their own. The state party and the major unions have been so consumed with the battle at the Statehouse that they didnt have time to actively drive their members to the events. A state progressive advocacy group pushed some Facebook events into the areas around the forums, but that was about it.
Instead, a ragtag collection of newly-formed online groups, working mostly on Facebook, took the lead. There wasnt much higher-up direction for it their activists simply saw what was happening elsewhere in the country and decided to replicate it here. And there certainly was no payment from some shadowy national Democratic group a point many attendees joked about. Several brought signs that read Iowa resident not paid.
Virginia Kelly, a retired 65-year-old educator, attended the Ernst forum in Maquoketa, 6 hours away from her home in Spirit Lake, Iowa. She first saw the event details on Iowas Indivisible Facebook group, the new network of grassroots volunteers that already has a chapter in each of the states 150 legislative districts. Describing herself as mildly to moderately active in politics before 2016, shes become much more involved since.
The Betsy DeVos thing is about as pathetic as political appointees get, Kelly said, noting that her friends have started getting calls from for-profit schools testing the waters in Iowa to see if parents would accept vouchers.
The crowd was a little raucous, she admitted, but put the blame on Ernsts light public schedule. Theres a fine line there because those people were not being given an opportunity to air their grievances with this senator. When you put yourself in that situation, you have to accept the fact that youre going to have controversy.
Ernst stayed at her event for only 45 minutes before heading out the door, with about half that time being spent on Department of Veterans Affairs issues. A crowd of nearly 100 followed her to a waiting car, shouting shame! as she left.
I think she was a little surprised and, frankly, quite intimidated by the size of the crowd, Kelly said.
Many who came to see Grassley were attending their first political town hall. Amanda Malaski, 35, drove a half hour to Grassleys Iowa Falls event, which she found out about from posts on Indivisible, Action Iowa and the Womens March Facebook pages. She now heads up her local Indivisible group.
Like a lot of people, I was caught by surprise by the Republican landslide, Malaski said. I had been somewhat politically involved before, but got complacent under Obama. My husband and I went to the Womens March and my take-away from that was dont let that energy go away. So I started looking for volunteer opportunities.
Many new faces filled Congressman Youngs forum in Urbandale as well. In the midst of the biggest week yet of town hall furor, Young did the opposite of his conservative colleagues: he announced a pop-up forum over the lunchtime hour in Polk County, home to Des Moines, a Democratic stronghold.
While some attendees were annoyed with the 24-hour notice, it actually benefited the protesters and Democrats. Central Iowa Democrats social media feeds were quickly flooded with people sharing the event information just minutes after it was announced.
Young handled his well, though he likely didnt change many minds the best he could probably hope for is that the liberal attendees decide that they wont volunteer against his campaign in 2018.
While Republicans are hoping this storm of voter outrage passes, a moment from Ernsts event showed why some are so hesitant to hold these forums: a verbal misstep caught on camera that could have lasting implications.
I am almost always aware of the issue before me, Ernst awkwardly hedged when a veteran continually pressed her on whether shed ever voted to reduce veterans benefits. The crowd exploded at the almost caveat.
But the newly-engaged Iowans who showed up this week vow that this is only the beginning.
This is the beginning easy steps, Malaski said of her work with Indivisible in a rural county. Theres definitely a growth in being an informed activist.
Their next goals: raising money, recruiting candidates and organizing for the 2018 elections.
Like many young men of the suburbs who grew up in the 90s without a strong cohort of friends, I spent large portions of my youth at the cafe in my local Barnes and Noble. Mine was on Old York Road in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, kitty-corner to a Saturn dealership and next to a Chilis. I remember a few things from those hours: the sense of accomplishment at naming all the writers on the mural, the dense chocolate texture of the brownie, the loneliness, and learning about handjobs. The last of those came from a thick paperback book called The Guide to Getting It On, by Paul Joannides, Psy D. which was my book of common prayer.
The book, which I gather now was then in its second edition, had on its cover a man and a woman kissing in the style that I can only describe hair salon art. You know, the kind of images that adorn the walls of the salons where your mother went and that smelled like cigarettes and burnt hair. The women in those pictures always seemed like down-to-party waitresses and the men were as handsome as they were dopey.
At 671 pages with chapters like Balls, Balls, Balls, Sunsets, Orgasms, and Hand Grenades, and Birth Control & Gnarly Sex Terms, the Guide was the secular and sexy version of the Talmud I studied on Saturdays. Well before my bar mitzvah and before I had ever seen a naked womanlet alone been invited to touch oneI was well-versed in the techniques of kissing, cunnilingus, the ideal angles of blowjobs, and the soapy pleasure of shower masturbation. Many were the sunny afternoons wiled away with brownies, iced tea, and Paul Joannidess book.
Its hard to describe the impact of the book, but it was deep and vast. Most saliently of course was the sex. Obviously when youre uninitiated, the mysteries of coitus seem profound and alluring and even more confusing than after one has it. The mechanics of masturbation, the parts of the vagina, an incipient interest in prostate massage, the idea one could like boys and girls, these were subjects and matters obscured by befuddlement. That they could be knowable gave rise to great epistemological hope.
But there was something else too. Joannidess factual yet casual tone, the idea that sex is something to enjoy, stripped away any weirdo sense of shame in my curiosity. Here is Joannides from the Intercourse: Horizontal Jogging chapter, under the subsection Battering Ram or Pleasure Wand? Mosh Pit or Symphony?: Some men use a penis as a battering ram, believe women enjoy being slammed during intercourse. Other men, perhaps a bit more sensitive or experienced, realize there are different thrusting rhythms that can make intercourse feel more symphonic than Screamo. Maybe she will like it slow at the start but strong at the end. An excellent way to find out what works best during intercourse is when the woman is on top.
The illustrations, by Daerick Grosse Sr., showed happy couples copulating. The All-American guys had their hats on backwards and often no pants on at all. They were muscled but not too much. The women had about the same BMI as the men and Grosse spent, one reflects, an inordinate amount of time imbuing each with a contemporary and mussed up hair style. (Grosse had drawn early X-men comics for Marvel.)
But more than any of that, Joannides wrote a lot about how couples should be able to tell each other what they want and what makes them happy. And this was the kernel of my attraction. During my peak Barnes & Noble years, my family life was disintegrating. My mother was embroiled in a bitter divorce with my father, and my father, who had figured out how to weaponize custody, was carrying on with a young woman not much older than me or my sister. In what dustbunny memories I have of them together, there was no talking, just yelling. So, the idea that couples could talk and please each other was extraordinarily encouraging.
Then the years passed. As has happened with so many things from that time, I had assumed the book had disappeared. The Barnes and Noble is now a CVS. Saturn is Toyota. But after a cursory search, I was gratified to find that the book is still around. In fact, the ninth editionGuide to Getting It On: Unzippedwas just released last week. The book isnt quite as thick as I remember. But according to Joannides, it depends on which edition youre talking about: For a few years, it was out of control. The 7th edition got up to 1,200 pages. The 8th is 1,162.
Joannides, 65, lives with his wife and daughter on a llama farm in a small Oregon town. The Guide to Getting It On is his lifes work. He estimates that at least one million copies have sold since the book first appeared in 1998, and its been translated into 15 languages. But it almost didnt appear at all. In the mid 90s, Joannides was living in Los Angeles and working as a research psychoanalyst. He wanted to create a series of science books for kids. But his first attempt, about the wonders of urethane, didnt go well. So he decided to skip to the second in the series: sex. Here the opposite problem proved nearly fatal. The problem, as Joannides saw it, is a book that parents would buy for teenagers is not a book that a teenager wouldnt want to read.
Joannides spent five years on the manuscript, researching and refining the tone. But when he tried to sell it, no publishers would touch it. All the editors said they loved it but that no one would ever buy a book about sex. The only publisher that did show interest was Barricade Books, best known for The Anarchist Cookbook. So Joannides hocked everything he owned and published the book himself. I put too much of my life into the book, he said, to let some morons from publishing houses ruin it. Through his own pressGoofy Foot Publishinghe remains the writer and publisher. For the latest edition, a woman from Germany offered to copy edit the text for free. She is listed as the Queen of Copy Editing.
Today, the book is taught in hundreds of colleges. Joannides has won the Professional Standard of Excellence Award by the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, and he sits on a number of stuffy sounding editorial boards.
As the times have evolved, so too has the book. At 35, Im among the last known males in America in my demographic not to have high definition hardcore porn at my fingertips. I am a relic who still thinks of a horn-nosed Muppet when I hear the word Gonzo and director of photography when I hear the word DP. The most pornography I ever consumed as a kid was a stash of rained-on Playboys someone had discarded in the bird sanctuary behind my house. The paper, thin to begin with but weathered to dissolution, disintegrated with every touch. Spreads could be seen only once. It was an early lesson in impermanence. But over the years, Joannides has seen pornographys bizarre aesthetics befuddle generations of already hopeless boys. I try to write from a point from someone who doesnt remember the world before hard core porn, says Joannides, who devotes a lot of space explaining that sex in real life is as close to sex in porn as romanesco is to a fire hydrant.
Another recent addition is the chapter on consent. No one wants to see himself as a rapist, he writes, but if you have pressured a woman to have sex when she didnt want to have sex, it could be rape. Joannides, who addresses this chapter almost entirely to straight males, always thought about consent but in the last four or five editions, began to express it explicitly. The two-headed monster of sex education is porn and abstinence, he complains, and neither address consent at all.
Acknowledging that perhaps books are a thing of the pastWith the competition now being free porn, kick-ass video games, and Netflix, Im not so sure books stand a chance!hes been teaching himself Adobe After Effects and creating a YouTube channel that will feature weekly sex ed videos with a talking llama named Bob. Other than that, hes constantly revising his book, preparing a 10th edition, updating his website, watching the elk move across his land, feeding his llamas, walking his dogs, and living by his own advice, namely, Enjoy the shit outta yourself.
Watching actress Marin Ireland in the one-woman show On the Exhale, you find it hard to breathe. For much of the short play, the emotion is so intense that (despite the title) you dont want to inhale or exhale.
In this play about the horrorand fascinationof guns, no weapon is ever seen on the stage. But guns, and the American enthrallment with them, has never been better displayed.
Writer Martin Zimmermans powerful show about a woman devastated by the most tragic gun violence hits every emotion of fear, tragedy, loss, and revenge. But it never becomes predictable and offers enough twists to keep you constantly riveted.
Irelands characteran unnamed professor of womens studiesopens the show standing at the edge of the stage and describing what it was like to be shot by a student in her class.
Shes smiling as she tells it, which doesnt immediately seem to make sense. Then she explains that the shooting was a dreambut her fear is real. She feels the anger of a male student who she has challenged.
This is the first time you entertain the possibility that it might not be someone else on the news next time, she says.
In jeans and a sweater, her long blonde hair pulled back to show off her fine-featured face, Ireland is sweetly self-effacing as she describes the steps she takes to protect herself. She locks her door during office hours and has a strategically placed mirror (something tasteful with a thrifty frame) to spot anyone coming around the corner. Shes slightly embarrassed by her precautions which even her therapist finds excessive.
But her main worry is Michael, her second-grade son. If something happens to her, there is nobody to take care of him. She is a single mother with nobody to fall back on, and nobody else means anything in her life. Her terror of abandoning Michael to violence is so vivid that you expect it to become real.
She does, too. And when the department chair comes to tell her that there is a shooter, she feels like her paranoia has been vindicated.
Instead, Zimmerman uses his lyrical, poetic rhythms to give a first devastating twist.
You always imagined it happening to you, Ireland says
So when you hear her say
Theres a shooter at the school
you think she must mean your school.
Not the school.
The elementary school.
And that is pretty much when Ireland stops smiling and the audience stops breathing.
Michael has been killed in a school shooting that brings to mind the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in which Adam Lanza shot 20 children and six staff. Zimmerman has said the play was inspired by the incident.
Irelands first emotions after the event are what youd expecttotal shock and resentment of anything still alive. She wants to know exactly what happened in that room.
Fixated on finding someone to blame, she finally focuses on the man who sold the killer his gun. Driving over to the store, she imagines raging at him about he profiting by murdering her son. But then she finds a man who looks not at all like the merchant of death but a placid grandpa.
Instead of hating guns, she becomes obsessed with them. Guns can kill, but they can also give power and control. Americans who love their guns will understand the sense of strength that Ireland suddenly gets. Instead of fighting against guns, she embraces them.
Rare is the play that can make us understand both sides of an argument. But what seems like a paean to gun control soon becomes something the NRA could appreciate, too. Ireland makes even the most liberal audience members feel the power and appeal of the weapon.
The assault rifle soon becomes Irelands dearest companion. One that she brings with her when she flirts with a pro-gun Senator and goes home to his apartment.
Chekhov would tell us that a gun shown in the first act has to be fired in the third act. But in this one-act show, Zimmerman goes in directions that you wouldnt expect.
The first time I saw Marin Ireland on Broadway, she was shooting down an ex-boyfriend with a searing, blood-drawing speech in the Neil LaBute play Reasons to Be Pretty. She got a Tony nomination for her unmitigated anger.
Now the shots shes taking arent just with words. And Ireland is surprisingly more restrained than in that 2009 LaBute show where her scorching emotion was on full display.
But she has chosen the right tone here. The story doesnt need to be screamed. Her character is trying to keep a grip on herself, to avoid being a victim. Though the language tries to be detached (Zimmerman has her say you rather than I throughout), Ireland is deeply engaged in every word, motion, and emotion.
Ireland is quietly emerging as one of our great character actresses. She current stars with Giovanni Ribisi on Amazons Sneaky Pete, and shes also been a terrorist on Homeland, Lena Dunhams classmate on Girls, and Chris Pines ex-wife in the movie Hell or High Water.
But in this play, she doesnt need anyone else. Alone on stage, Ireland is captivating and has all the power she needswith or without a gun.
On The Exhale is at the Black Box Theatre, 111 West 46th Street, NYC, until April 2. Book tickets here.
Arizona Poll Workers Face Violent Threats Ahead of Midterms
YOU ALL WILL BE EXECUTED
Election workers in the battleground state are finding it more and more difficult to do the job, according to one county information security officer.
As per the police, the deceased Narra Srinivas alias Srinu (30) was invited for a compromise by the tribal girl's family at night and then was hacked to death.
By Ashish Pandey: Tension prevailed in Kamalapur village of Mangapet mandal in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district of Telangana when two youths were hacked to death by the family of a girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted by one of the victims.
As per the police, the deceased Narra Srinivas alias Srinu (30) was invited for a compromise by the tribal girl's family at night after lodging a rape complaint against him in the morning on Saturday.
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Srinu along with his friend Jarsula Kalyan alias Kittu (22) reached for the compromise meeting, but both drunken youths with a past criminal history started threatening the girl's family.
Also read: Man jailed for 15 years for sexually assaulting toddler
"At around midnight, the woman's family members poured chili powder on both the youths and hacked them with axes in the house," said a police officer.
A total of eight members, who claimed to have committed the murders, surrendered before the police immediately.
The police said Srinu was already involved in some criminal cases and a rowdy-sheet was open against him.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased attacked the houses of a local politician Shyamlal alleging his role in the murder.
The family of one of the deceased claimed that the woman was in an affair with Srinu and the case was filed only to extract money from him.
The situation in the village is tense and a large number of police force has been deployed in the village and senior police officials are maintaining a close eye on the situation.
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By Press Trust of India: Jaipur, Feb 25 (PTI) Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman will inaugurate the 4thIndia? CLMV Business Conclave here on Monday.
The 4thIndia? CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam) Business Conclave will have deliberations on manufacturing, renewable energy, agriculture and skilling among others.
Aimed at identifying specific project opportunities and seek business partnerships in the region, the two-day programme will consist of business to business meetings and sectoral sessions.
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The conclave will focus on sectors such as Pharma, Healthcare, manfAgri Business, Food processing, Gems and Jewellery, Textiles, Leather, Renewable Energy and education.
It will be addressed by Pan Sorasak, Minister of Commerce,Cambodia; Dr Than Myint, Union Minister, Minister of Commerce,Myanmar;Cao Quoc Hung; Vice Minister of Industry andTrade,Vietnam.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is also expected to attend the conclave to be organised by CII and the ministry of commerce and industries. PTI SDA BAL
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With news every day of anger, protest and lawlessness, one often wonders if we ever will see civility in politics again. I have great news for you. Texas has faced this before, and we emerged stronger than ever.
In the early 1830s, tensions ran high in the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. The divisive question of whether Tejas should break from Coahuila was bad enough. A massive, for the time, influx of Americans into Mexico caused the Mexican government great anxiety. The laws under which the new colonists, these Texians, agreed to live werent being obeyed to the satisfaction of the Mexican authorities. The government sent in the military to restore order, which resulted in oppression of the Texian colonists. Some colonists demanded an immediate armed revolt.
Cooler heads organized several consultations or meetings of the colonists to petition the Mexican government for redress of their grievances. Such was a very American notion and not well received by the Mexican authorities.
Early on, the Texians actually embraced Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and his professed support for the federalist Mexican constitution of 1824.
That support would change to scorn as Santa Anna took over the government and declared himself dictator.
Chaos predominated among the colonists. Should they seek statehood for Tejas? Was an armed revolt necessary? Some wanted a political solution, others wanted to fight.
The conflict among the colonists was heated and bitter.
In late 1835 and early 1836 an armed conflict with the government appeared inevitable.
The leaders were more divided than ever, even as they met in convention at Washington on the Brazos.
They formed a government called the General Council with Henry Smith as president. The Council elected Sam Houston military commander but gave him no army.
The Council later appointed Frank Johnson and James Fannin co-commanders of the same army.
Dr. James Grant from San Antonio set out on his own accord to attack Matamoros, claiming he was the real military commander. Chaos, to say the least.
President Smith was so angry he ordered the Council dissolved. The Council responded by impeaching Smith, though Smith refused to leave Washington on the Brazos and kept acting as if he were president. This turmoil existed against a backdrop of a massive Mexican army marching north to squash this rebellion. Even as the Mexican army approached San Antonio, the delegates fought with each other. They seemed to have abandoned the shared desire for freedom that had made them neighbors.
But when the time came to load rifles and draw battle lines, the principles that unified them overcame political division.
The Texians remembered why they had left the relative safety of the United States to move to a foreign country. They were willing to fight, and die, for the freedom and opportunity presented by a free and independent Texas.
The delegates to that convention of 1836 declared, ... we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations. They went forward, together. On March 2, 1836, those 59 delegates bravely meeting at Washington made that formal declaration of independence from Mexico.
From 1836 until 1846, the Republic of Texas proudly existed as a separate nation.
Washington on the Brazos is, indeed, Where Texas Became Texas and it is, indeed, the place to come together, as Texans and as Americans, to honor our states independent spirit.
Remember: Despite fervent political discord to the point of chaos, Texans always have united around common goals. It was true then and it is true now.
As America tries to find its way during turbulent political times, we should remember our forebears in 1836.
Men and women who were willing to put their lives on the line for freedom. Men and women who were able to put aside their political differences for higher, more important ideals. They fought for their individual notions of freedom, but they fought together.
We must do no less, for we are Texans.
Justice Ken Wise sits on the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston. He is a fifth-generation Texan and native Houstonian. He writes, produces and hosts the Texas history podcast Wise About Texas. Judge Wise will speak at the Texas Independence Day Celebration at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site located midway between Navasota and Brenham.
We Americans seemingly never are satisfied, and perhaps that is good. We always are yearning, always seeking, always questioning. Sometimes -- too many times -- though, we take our asking too far -- and none of us benefit from that.
It appears that a lot of Americans are unhappy, especially with our government. Of course, that unhappiness was in large part the reason Donald Trump was elected president. Now, a month or so into his new administration, it is obvious that even more of us are unhappy.
Many of those who voted for President Trump are unhappy that he seems to be moving slowly on some of his promises such as repealing Obamacare, dealing with illegal immigration, draining what he terms the "swamp" in our nation's capital.
Other Americans, who voted for Hillary Clinton, someone else or, sadly, no one, are unhappy that the president seems to be moving too fast and in directions they don't like.
Apparently, the new president's "honeymoon" was over before the wedding night.
And then there is Congress. It seems little has changed inside the nation's Capitol. And, really, why should it? Voters re-elected virtually the same people they have been complaining about for years. How can we expect anything different?
Many of us complain that our elected representatives, particularly members of the House, refuse to meet with their constituents, the very people who elected them.
But let's step back for a minute.
Some House members have tried to hold traditional town halls, but they have ended badly. When the representatives have tried to talk, they frequently are shouted down by an angry audience, or at least by very vocal members of the audience who really aren't interested in the usual questions and answers. They out-shout everyone else and demand answers to their questions, demands often met with cheers and applause from people who have the same questions.
But, when the congressmen or congresswomen try to answer, they barely get a few words out of their mouth before they are subjected to boos and catcalls from the audience, drowning out their response. Some of our elected officials vainly have waited patiently for a chance to respond, a chance that oftentimes doesn't come as audience members continue to shout down the speaker on stage. Frustrated, the representative gives up and walks off the stage and out of the town hall. Who can blame him or her?
Some representatives are following advice from Republican strategists not have traditional town halls. Instead, those advisers recommend, representatives should hold town halls via telephone, perhaps believing audiences will be more civil when they can't see the representative.
And some, perhaps, will skip meetings with constituents back home all together.
That's a shame. We all have a role to play in governing our country. We elect people to represent us in Washington, but we shouldn't let them operate in a vacuum. It is up to all of us to let our representatives and our senators know our opinions on important issues. We should write letters and send emails, make phone calls to district and Washington congressional offices. We should participate in town halls and ask questions.
When we do any of these things, though, we should be civil and to the point. There is no room for name-calling, no place for disparaging comments. When we ask questions, we should allow our elected officials or their staff members the chance to answer without interruption.
We may not like the answer to our question, but at least we will have it. What's the point of asking if we don't give the speaker the opportunity to answer?
We should treat each other with respect, including those who are asking questions different from ours. Courtesy toward each other will go a long way.
The Editorial Board and numerous Eagle reporters have interviewed our own U.S. Rep. Bill Flores a number of times. We always have found him to be knowledgeable, polite and willing to answer our questions.
We don't always agree with Rep. Flores, but he always seems interested in exchanging ideas and is willing to listen to our thoughts and positions.
Flores' spokesman Andre Castro said Flores will be back in the district in mid-April and is expect to host town meetings throughout the district. Good for him. Have your questions ready. Keep them short and to the point -- and when Rep. Flores starts to answer, give the courtesy of allowing him to respond.
We will move this nation forward only if we dialogue. And dialogue requires questions and answers on both sides, issued with respect and politeness.
Shouting gets us nowhere.
By Press Trust of India: Maharajganj (UP), Feb 26 (PTI) The SP-Congress tie-up is an alliance between two youngsters which would change the course of politics both at the national and state levels, SP chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said today.
The SP chiefs retort at an election rally here came against the backdrop of BJP president Amit Shah calling the pre-poll alliance as one "between two corrupt families - one from Delhi and the other from Lucknow."
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"This is not an alliance between two families, it is an alliance between two youngsters, who would change the course of politics both at the national and state levels," Akhilesh asserted.
The UP CM also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to swear by Ganga Maiyya (river Ganga) and clarify whether the latters constituency Kashi (Varanasi) was getting electricity for 24 hours or not.
"Whenever truth has to be confirmed from any person, he or she is asked to swear by Ganga Maiyya.
"The amount of electricity supplied during Diwali is more than that given during Ramzan in Uttar Pradesh. Steady supply of electricity was ensured during Christmas as well," he said on Modis Diwali-Ramzan power supply remark.
The Prime Minister had in an election rally in the poll-bound state said recently, "Agar Ramzan mein bijli aati hai, to Diwali me bhi aani chahiye, bhedbhav nahi hona chahiye (If there is electricity during Ramzan, it must also be available during Diwali, there should be no discrimination)."
On the pre-poll alliance with Congress for the state Assembly polls, Akhilesh said, "Samajwadi people generally ride their cycles by pedaling them. And in enthusiasm, they also tend to ride the bicycles without using their hands. Now with the hand of Congress giving a support to the handle, can you tell what would be the speed of the cycle?"
Cycle is SPs party symbol, while hand is that of Congress. PTI NAV SMI SRY
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By Press Trust of India: Colombo, Feb 26 (PTI) Sri Lanka police today denied hunting down two of its nationals who provided shelter to US whistle blower and fugitive Edward Snowden during his stay in Hong Kong.
A release from the police spokesman Priyantha Jayakodi said the police categorically denied placing them under surveillance or initiating any other investigation against the duo, who are seeking asylum.
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Supun Thilina Kellapatha and former soldier Ajith Pushpakumara, who had hosted Snowden in 2013, had claimed they were "scared and nervous" about the alleged activities of Sri Lankan police agents in Hong Kong.
Their lawyers said they were targeted by agents from their home country.
The police statement said it was normal for asylum seekers to raise alarms in aid of their asylum claims.
The spokesperson stressed that no Sri Lankan police officer had travelled to Hong Kong other than an Assistant Superintendent, who had attended a cyber crime conference in Hong Kong late November. PTI CORR SUA SUA
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See who's on the ballot in Iowa's 2022 midterm election
From the races for governor and senator, all the way down to county offices and judicial retention, here's what's on Iowans' ballots this year.
By Arpan Rai: Despite facing opposition from students and teachers, St. Stephen's decided to go ahead with autonomy.
The decision was announced after the college governing body met on Saturday. Mail Today had first reported the move on Saturday. St. Stephen's principal John Varghese said, "We are on our way to attain autonomy and are in the process of applying for it as a constituent college of the University of Delhi."
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He quickly downplayed fears of a fee hike. "The issue of self-financing is not immediate," he told this reporter. "Students are agitated because they are not aware of the proceedings. We will ensure that autonomy does not have any adverse impact on the present set of students and they will be consulted."
WHAT NEXT?
The governing body meeting continued even as students protested on the campus demanding participation. Many say the 'principal is unwilling to participate in a democratic process'.
"We want a democratic discourse. We will continue to protest without disrupting academic proceedings against the hurried manner in which the decision has been taken despite our objections," said a protestor. "We also signed a petition urging the deferment of the governing body meeting until consensus is reached among students, faculty, and non-teaching staff," the protestor added.
"We are not going to meekly accept a decision that completely changes the very nature of the college without being given a say in it, especially when this crucial decision is taken only by a handful of people sitting at the top," he further said.
AN AUTONOMOUS DECISION, NOT ACCEPTABLE
DUTA president Nandita Narain said. "The move reeks of autonomy for management, and not for teachers. Not only will autonomy take away the protective umbrella of DU safeguarding professor's rights, but it will invite autocracy and privatisation, bringing the prestige and ranking of St. Stephen's down."
"Our biggest fear after today's meeting remains about the quality of courses and the ranking expected to be compromised. We are fully funded as of now, but the principal has not guaranteed in writing that the fees will not be hiked in future," Narain added.
She said the decision was opposed by four members of the governing body and had an approval from 10 members, out of whom eight do not have an academic background. "Out of two university representatives of the governing body, one called the meeting illegal saying he came to know of the decision through media reports," Narain said, adding that UGC guidelines cite consultation with stakeholders a mandatory protocol, which is not mentioned by the principal in his statement.
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Also read: St Stephen's College calls urgent meeting to discuss plan for autonomy. What's at stake?
Also read: 17 ad hoc professors of Delhi University college sacked without notice, were identified as 'surplus'
Also read: Sale of firecrackers banned in Delhi, NCR
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Day-long protests and hunger strikes have becoming common in Neduvasal, where farmers are determined not to let the oil extracting program ruin their lands.
By Pramod Madhav: The Centre's nod to go ahead with the hydrocarbon extraction programme in Neduvasal, Tamil Nadu has united the area's drought-hit farmers in protests.
The Economic Affairs Cabinet Committee's approval from earlier this month, awarding oil well drilling contracts to ONGC has become the talk of the town.
Neduvasal, a picturesque town falling in the Cauvery basin and surrounded by lush greenery, was geographically marked by ONGC as a hydrocarbon rich field. Totally, 44 fields were marked by ONGC of which Neduvasal in Tamil Nadu and Karaikal in Pondichery fall within or are close to the Cauvery basin.
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Previously, Tamil Nadu political parties opposed a methane extraction programme forced the state government to pass a resolution disallowing fracking for the extraction of shale gas. The resolution was passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 2015 and was accepted by the Centre in 2016.
Farmers and local politicians were unanimously opposed to fracking, which involves drilling several wells to inject water under high pressure in order to expand already-existing fissures. It was believed that the process would destroy the fertile, cultivable Cauvery basin.
The process also requires a vast amount of water, a requirement that did not sit well with the drought-facing farmers, who are facing a drought and crop failure. They questioned why the Centre was unable to bring water from neighouring states when it could do so for a fracking project.
ONGC has marked a 10 sq km area in the region for hydrocarbon extraction causing the farmers and villagers to unite once. They claim the Center is once again bringing the shale gas project but under a different name.
Day-long protests and hunger strikes around Neduvasal have become routine now, and the locals say they are determined not to let the hydrocarbon extraction project ruin their land.
Also read: Tamil Nadu: Palaniswami government releases Rs 2,247 crore drought package for farmers
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BRIDGEPORT A day after she was wounded and her friend was killed, the surviving victim of a brutal knife attack was not well enough to talk on Saturday.
Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez said detectives were hoping to get a statement from the woman, who was in stable condition at St. Vincents Medical Center something to help explain what led to 26-year-old Nidia Gonzalezs death and a manhunt for the slain womans boyfriend.
Oscar Hernandez, 39, wound up being captured late Friday morning in Pennsylvania, where police said he had been on the run with the couples 6-year-old daughter. Authorities said the girl was unhurt.
Charged with a number of offenses in Centre Hall. Pa., Hernandez will have a choice Monday of accepting or challenging extradition to Connecticut. Here, he is expected to face unspecified charges related to the death of his girlfriend, the stabbing of her friend and abduction of the young girl on Friday morning. The surviving womans name has not been released.
The capture of Hernandez, a once-deported felon with a history of domestic violence, came amid jousting between President Donald Trumps White House and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy over the role of states in enforcing federal immigration law.
Last week, Malloy advised Connecticut municipalities and law-enforcement agencies they were under no obligation to assist federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer responded to Malloys stance by saying the governor was turning a blind eye to immigration violations.
The idea that you can decide which laws to agree or not to agree with or to follow or not follow undermines our entire rule of law, Spicer said during a press briefing on Thursday.
ICE officials said Friday Hernandez, a citizen of El Salvador, was deported in the fall of 2013, after he had been convicted of assaulting a former girlfriend in Stamford, where he worked at a deli. He was back in the country illegally, and it was unclear how, or when, he had returned.
As Hernandez was being held Pennsylvania in connection with Gonzalezs death, the Malloy administration defended its position.
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.
In Centre Hall, Hernandez was charged Saturday with multiple violations connected to the chase, including endangering the welfare of a child, fleeing a police officer and following too closely.
Pennsylvania state troopers said Hernandez admitted he had engaged in reckless driving Friday afternoon, including driving too fast and that he struck a tractor-trailer after a high-speed chase, according to a criminal complaint filed in district court.
According to the troopers affidavit, they kept an eye out for Hernandezs gray 2017 Hyndai Sonata after receiving an Amber Alert that was triggered by a report from the Bridgeport Police Department. Troopers spotted him traveling north on Interstate 99, followed him for a while, and then pulled him over when he signaled as if to exit the highway.
(Hernandez) turned off the ignition but would not exit the vehicle, Trooper Jeffrey Ebeck said in the affidavit. He ultimately closed the driver door and fled northbound.
With his daughter in the back seat, Oscar Hernandez led troopers on a chase that at times climbed to 125 mph, according to Ebeck.
Finally, Hernandez hit a patch of slow traffic, and was unable to brake fast enough to avoid a tractor-trailer in front of him, causing a chain reaction crash with other vehicles, according to the affidavit.
HARTFORD - State election regulators are investigating 16 complaints of alleged voter fraud during last years balloting, including four allegations of voting twice.
Of the 120 election and campaign finance matters docketed to date by the SEEC concerning the 2016 election cycle, 16 matters contain allegations that an individual or individuals unlawfully voted in the November 2016 federal election in Connecticut, said Michael J. Brandi, Executive Director and General Counsel of State Elections Enforcement Commission.
At least 30 persons were aboard the tourist boat when the incident took place.
By India Today Web Desk: Nine people drowned after a boat capsized in the sea near Thiruchendur in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu on Sunday evening.
At least 30 persons were aboard the tourist boat when the incident took place.
While five persons have been rushed to the nearest hospital, rescue operations are underway.
The incident took place near Manapad, a popular spot near Thiruchendur at around 6 pm. So far seven tourists have been rescued.
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Sources said that the group had gone for sightseeing in the boat when the incident took place.
The victims reportedly hailed from Padukkapathu village. Sources said that a complaint has been registered with Kukasekarapattinam Police.
Also read:
Patna: 25 dead as boat capsizes in Ganga, FIR lodged against boat operator
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WOOD RIVER Darlene Sophia Boroff, 79, of Wood River died Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, at CHI St. Francis Health in Grand Island.
Funeral Services will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 27, 2017 at Grace Lutheran Church in Wood River. Interment will be in the Westlawn Memorial Park Cemetery. Pastor James Fandrey will be officiating. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Grace Lutheran Church in Wood River. Memorials are suggested to the family to be designated at a later date. Apfel Funeral Home is caring for the family.
Darlene was born on July 30, 1937 in Wood River to Frederick and Dorothy (Spellman) Eickhoff. She attended school at Wood River. She then moved to Omaha and completed her education at the Omaha School of Business.
After she graduated, she moved to Washington, D.C. and worked for the military as a personal secretary. She then transferred back to Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, where she also worked as a personal secretary in transportation.
Darlene married Jim Boroff, Sr. on Jan. 19, 1958, at Grace Lutheran Church in Wood River. They lived in Omaha for their first year of marriage, then moved back to Wood River, where they had six children: Stephanie, James, Jr., Rachel, David, Daniel and Miriam. The couple built their home outside of Wood River and still lived at this same home site at the time of Darlenes death.
Darlene was a stay-at-home mom until the youngest started school, when she started driving bus for the school system. Over the years of her work career, she worked at AOK Tool in Alda, was Grand Island treasurer and was the Grand Island manager at Wheelers for several years, then went on to work at other jobs in the Grand Island area until she worked at Principal Financial Group, from where she retired. After her retirement, she worked as a paraeducator at the Wood River Elementary School.
While her children were young, she designed and sewed clothes for the working women, especially focusing on the pregnant working women, since there wasnt a maternity line for business attire. She also did an in home business of BeeLine while her children were young.
Darlene was elected into the ESU 10 in Kearney for over 30 years, where she served different roles including secretary, vice president, and others. She was a member of VFW Womens Auxiliary, where she was president for over 10 years. She was a lifelong member through baptism and confirmation of Grace Lutheran Church in Wood River. She was very involved and served on many committees, including the LML. She was church secretary for many years, and sang on several occasions for the church.
Darlene loved dancing, and her children and grandchildren loved watching her and Jim dance together. Jim and Darlene won the Nebraska State Bicentennial Ballroom Waltz and took second in the Polka Competitions.
Darlene was a very talented artist and painter. She loved to sing and enjoyed sewing, and designed many of her own creations rather than using a pattern. In her younger years, she was a talented athlete and played softball through the years of her children growing up.
Her greatest joys were her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She stayed very involved through all of their schooling, activities, programs and performances, where she had many adopted kids. She believed strongly in cheering for all kids. She always remained positive and came through many trials and tribulations with grace, including surviving breast cancer and reoccurring skin cancer. She had many dreams for herself and for her children and considered her biggest accomplishment the raising of her children and being a strong presence in her family. She had a very strong faith in God and served him well through her 79 years.
Those left to cherish her memory include her husband, Jim of Wood River; six children and their spouses, Stephanie Medinger of Tomball, Texas, James Boroff, Jr. of Wood River, Rachel Kottwitz of Hastings, David Boroff of Grand Island, Daniel and Kathy Boroff of Grand Island, Miriam and Eddie Burchfield of Central City, Paula Hulme of Grand Island; 15 grandchildren and their spouses, Ericka Medinger, Jessica Medinger, Heather and Kevin Hunt, Nicole Kottwitz, Krystal and Eric Barnacle, Christopher Boroff, Josh Lewis, Tyler Lewis, Brandon and Jessie Boroff, Amber and Bob Holthaus, Shandell and Brent Hull, Crissa and Wade Obermier, Clint Burchfield, Adam and Abby Burchfield, Micah Burchfield; 21 great-grandchildren, Xavier, Drake, Ellie, Lokken, Rowyn, Destiny, Karlie, Blake, Marley, Colton, Caselynn, Wyatt, Harleigh, Tony, Aubri, Aidan, Olivia, Clara Mae, Amelia, Lexi, Caleb; two sisters and brothers-in-law, Elaine and Harold Plejdrup, Joan and Glenn Sebesta; brother and sister-in-law, Fred and Debra Eickhoff.
Darlene was preceded in death by her parents; maternal and paternal grandparents; two grandsons, Daniel Boroff II and David Boroff, Jr; and numerous unheld babies of her family.
WASHINGTON OPM. Other peoples money.
After inheriting a fortune, Donald Trump used OPM to build a huge real estate empire. And now he wants to run the country that way.
Unless Republicans stop him.
He wants to increase the national debt by at least $9 trillion over the next four years. The entire annual budget is $4 trillion.
He is about to send Congress a proposed budget that will call for a trillion dollars in infrastructure spending, billions more on the military, cutting taxes, hiring 15,000 more immigration and border agents, and raising the cost of consumer goods by imposing tariffs. And lets not forget Trumps wall, now estimated to cost $22 billion.
As for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act? We have no idea what will happen or what the cost will be.
Oh yeah. As a sop to conservatives, the administration wants to eliminate such goodies as public broadcasting, AmeriCorps, the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, the Legal Services Corporation, and possibly drug control grants. It also wants to axe efforts to promote American exports, develop Appalachia and clean up urban squalor. Such cuts would be symbolic; they dont even total 1 percent of federal spending.
Republicans applaud axing those programs but are growing nervous about the huge amount of new spending Trump proposes to finance with new debt.
We have no firm idea what Trumps business debts total or to whom they are owed because he wont release his tax records. From court filings and bankruptcy proceedings, we know his debts are most likely in the range of hundreds of millions of dollars. We do know that he sometimes has no problem not paying what he owes to contractors, employees and students at his now-defunct university.
Not so easy for a country to do.
The under-staffed administration, which still has about 94 percent of key personnel slots unfilled, has talked little about the budget or the process or even the traditional goal of balancing the budget. Trump did tell Fox News in January: A balanced budget is fine. But sometimes you have to fuel the well in order to really get the economy going. ... I want a balanced budget. Eventually. But I want to have a strong military.
Well, OK. But military spending has too often gone toward expensive weapons legislators want built in their home districts but that the Pentagon never asked for. There have been outlays for planes that crashed and missiles that fizzled. Now theres talk of sending troops to Syria, an immensely costly possibility.
As for the wall? Past efforts to construct barriers on our southern border have resulted in the loss to taxpayers of hundreds of millions of dollars.
No more wasted money, promised Trump the other day at the White House. How many times have we been assured that waste, fraud and abuse of federal funds absolutely, positively will no longer be tolerated?
Trump also said, The finances of our country are a mess, but were going to clean them up.
He went on to say that already, We have saved billions and billions of dollars.
What? He has said that the 30-year-old Air Force One fleet of two planes will not be replaced for the president who succeeds him. Hardly billions. He has imposed a hiring freeze. Hardly billions.
We do know that in his first four weeks in office, we paid $10 million for him and his entourage to fly three times to his Florida estate. (Despite Trumps taunts that former President Obama was always on vacation, taxpayers paid an average of $12 million a year for Obamas personal trips.)
Trump says the absolutely out of control federal budget will soon reflect the priorities of the American people. But there is no way he can make up for spending increases and tax cuts without cutting popular entitlement programs for the elderly, the disabled, and the poor, or by trimming the military or health and construction grants to states. Dont worry, he says. Everybody will be very impressed.
Its been an exhausting month, filled with distractions and outrages. But we must not forget this precept: Follow the money.
If it gets too bad? NASA says theres water and life on other planets.
By Andrew Malcolm
Special to McClatchy
While much of the news real or fake out of Washington in recent days has focused on domestic issues, President Donald Trump has been methodically touching base with a long stream of foreign leaders, both by phone and in person.
Its not unlike the approach of President George H.W. Bush, a one-time diplomat who constantly cultivated such personal relations, which enabled him ultimately to construct the broad international coalition that liberated Kuwait 26 years ago this week.
Trump has also dispatched the secretaries of Defense and State around the world, establishing personal connections with their counterparts. And this past weekend he sent Vice President Mike Pence to Europe for more talks.
Though overshadowed by media fixation on his loud news conference talk, Trumps brand of personal diplomacy may, in fact, be one of the quiet successes of this young administration. Hes already met with the king of Jordan and the prime ministers of Britain, Japan, Canada and Israel.
The day with Israels Benjamin Netanyahu was the most revealing of Trumps extroverted style, one which hes employed constantly throughout his successful real estate deal-making career.
The Trumps personally greeted the Netanyahus at the White House door. While the wives visited and toured separately, Trump met privately with the Israeli leader, then publicly for photos in the Oval Office, always coveted coverage for any visitor back home. In fact, Obama denied such PR opportunities to certain foreign leaders.
Israel and the United States both need each other and Trump wouldnt mind peeling off some of the Democrats Jewish support, as he did with blue-collar workers in November.
The Obama years were frosty ones for Netanyahu, who was cut out of the Iran nuclear deal, among other slights. Obama operatives actively worked against the prime ministers Likud party in the last Israeli elections, and the Chicagoan was caught on a live microphone complaining about often having to talk with Netanyahu.
During the lengthy Iran negotiations, in which Iran achieved pretty much everything it wanted, I asked a close Netanyahu aide in Tel Aviv if Israels deep concerns were taken seriously by the Obama team. He paused, then shrugged sadly, not wanting to provide a quote. In the end, they werent, and Netanyahu defiantly spoke to Congress in opposition. Obama withheld a White House visit in retaliation.
Although many think of Trump as a political rookie, he has long relations with many foreign leaders. He and Netanyahu became good friends in the mid-1980s when the future prime minister was ambassador to the United Nations.
Trump has lambasted the Iran deal as one of the worst in history and twice warned the mullahs against tests of ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel.
In the White House, Trump and Netanyahu shared a meal and an almost-jolly news conference, where the American delivered a cleverly concealed political gift to Netanyahu.
The issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank has been a thorny one. President George W. Bush wanted new housing contained within existing properties. Obama wanted all new building stopped as a gift to the Palestinians. Trump hasnt been firm either way.
Netanyahus fragile political coalition relies on militant ultra-right parties, who want more. Here was Trumps seemingly unsolicited gift of political cover, turning toward the Israeli at the 10:12 mark of their joint news conference:
As far as settlements, Id like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit. Well work something out.
Back home now, Netanyahu can say, Hey, our best friend would like us to wait.
Bibi and I have known each other a long time, Trump added. A smart man, great negotiator. And I think were going to make a (peace) deal. It might be a bigger and better deal than people in this room even understand.
A beaming Netanyahu replied: Lets try it.
In 2006 and again in 2011, two of the most impactful humanitarian efforts ever to be undertaken in our citys history took place at the Heartland Events Center, providing 3,000 area residents with free professional dental care.
A longtime Nebraska Mission of Mercy organizer and benefactor, Dr. Steven Anderson, will chair a third Grand Island clinic to be held from 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 7 and April 8 at the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center at Fonner Park.
The need is great. Anderson has noted that nearly 50 percent of people have never seen a dentist and live day to day and month to month with dental problems that cause excruciating pain. When people do not have dental insurance or cant afford to go to the dentist, it becomes worse.
Poor dental health can lead to a variety of health-related problems, some of them life-threatening. The health benefits provided through the free clinic contribute far more than just the cosmetic value of dental care. Treatment can improve self esteem, and that can lead to better quality of life and, in many cases, improve employability.
Anderson anticipates that $750,000 to $900,000 in dental work will be provided at no cost to the 1,500 patients expected during the two-day event. The dental work will include such procedures as extractions, fillings, cleanings, dentures and any other work typically done in a dentist office. Mission of Mercys goal is to raise $160,000 to cover expenses for the clinic.
Fulfillment of the mission can only happen with a full staff of 85 dentists and other staff members willing to donate their time. Volunteers will include students from the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry, Creighton School of Dentistry, Central Community College dental hygiene program and Mary Lanning School of Nursing. At present, another 30 dentists are needed to adequately cover the two-day schedule.
In total, 900 volunteers are needed to serve in a dozen areas, including help with patient registration, patient assistance, food service, sanitation, child care, interpreting, medical assessment, setup, takedown and parking.
Volunteers are encouraged to sign up for a full day, but those able to work at least one four-hour shift are welcomed. Breakfast and lunch will be provided for volunteers. All volunteers must be at least 16 years old.
The good people of Central Nebraska have always risen to the challenge when the call for help goes out. A few hours of time volunteered on April 7 or April 8 can make a big difference in the lives of many people. The rewards will linger long after in the smiles and peace of mind of those served.
To volunteer, visit the Nebraska Mission of Mercy website at nebraskamissionofmercy.com/ or call the Central District Health Department at (308) 385-5175
By Press Trust of India: with media
From Lalit K Jha
Washington, Feb 26 (PTI) Donald Trump today announced that he would skip the glitzy White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) annual dinner, to become the first US President to miss the gala in decades amidst his raging tiff with the media.
"I will not be attending the White House Correspondents Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!," Trump tweeted.
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The black-tie dinner, which raises money for journalism scholarships, takes place every spring and is usually attended by the president, journalists, celebrities and Washington insiders.
The last president to miss the dinner was Ronald Reagan, who sat out because he was he recovering from an assassination attempt in 1981, although he still delivered remarks by phone, CNN reported.
According to NPR, Richard Nixon was the last president to simply skip the event, doing so in 1972.
Trumps announcement came a day after the White House excluded several major broadcasters and newspapers like The New York Times, CNN and BBC from an off-camera press briefing.
He has frequently described negative news coverage as "fake" and accused the media of being the "opposition party" and on Friday delivered his most slashing broadside yet, telling the Conservative Political Action Conference that major news outlets were "the enemy of the people".
The WHCA dinner was held for the first time in Washington DC in 1920. This years dinner has been scheduled for April 29.
"The level of tension seemed incongruous with a black-tie event that is typically a jocular, if occasionally sharp-edged evening. The dinner, which has attracted A-list celebrities in recent years, features a presidential roast of reporters and a comic routine by a notable entertainer. Presidents are expected to be self-deprecating, which Mr. Trump is decidedly not," The New York Times said.
"The event may also evoke dark memories for Mr. Trump, who was brutally mocked at the 2011 dinner by President Barack Obama and the late-night host Seth Meyers, both of whom skewered the real estate developer for his seemingly far-fetched political aspirations and reality-show gaudiness. Cameras captured Mr. Trump in the audience, stone-faced, and the evening has since been cited as a prime motivator behind his presidential run," the influential American newspaper commented.
Reacting to Trumps decision, The Correspondents Association, in a measured statement, said that it "takes note" of it. Jeff Mason, its president, wrote that the dinner "has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic." PTI LKJ ARK AKJ NSA
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Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, February 25 2017
Local energy firm PT Energi Nusantara Merah Putih will team up with a Chinese engineering contractor to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal and a combined-cycle power plant (PLTGU) in Bantaeng, South Sulawesi, with total investment value of US$980 million.
Sinland Development, a subsidiary of project engineering giant China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), is expected to develop the facilities under an engineering, procurement and construction contract.
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The two Pakistani boys, who had crossed into Indian territory and who were supposed to have helped Uri attackers, are set to return home. This is being viewed as a good gesture by India after Pakistan returned Indian Army soldier Chandu Chavan last month.
By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: The two Pakistani teenager boys, thought to be terror guides of Uri attackers, are set to return their homes soon.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a closure report against the two Pakistani schoolboys in the trial court. The two boys were arrested after they crossed into Indian territory.
Uri Army base was attacked on September 18 last year.
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PAKISTANI BOYS TO RETURN HOME: THINGS TO KNOW Four heavily armed fidayeens had attacked the Army base leaving 20 jawans martyred and 18 others injured. The terrorists infiltrated into India from Pakistan and were sent by terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad. While heading to Indian territories, the terrorists were guided by the two school boys, who had run away from their homes. The boys have been identified as Faisal Husain Awan and Ahsan Khursheed. Both are residents of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Their villages are said to be only an hour's walk from the Line of Control (LoC). The boys were arrested on September 21, three days after the terrorists carried out the attack on the Uri Army base. The boys were arrested on the charges of facilitating the terror attack on the 12 Infantry Brigade's headquarters. According to the Indian Army, they confessed to guiding the terrorists while they were on the move. However, the NIA is said to have not found their role in the terror attack prompting it to filing the closure report against them and making their return possible. The decision to send the two Pakistani boys back home is also being seen as a reciprocal gesture by India to the return of Indian soldier Chandu Chavan last month after he inadvertently crossed the LoC. The two Pakistani boys were given given consular access some time back. The parents of the boys have been communicated that the boys will return home. The two boys will be handed over to Pakistan once the court formalities are over.
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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, February 26, 2017
The House of Representatives is working to ensure that everything is well-organized for the visit of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudia Arabia.
The Houses secretariat general said the legislative body had coordinated with the Saudi kingdoms protocol affairs office to find out all the things King Salman might need during his visit.
The secretariat general further said that the House had started to beautify the House complex for the king. King Salman will visit Indonesia from March 1 to March 9.
Damayanti, the secretariat generals deputy chairman for hearings, said physical preparations to welcome King Salman would take place over two weeks.
Meanwhile, other preparations have already been completed, she said as quoted by kompas.com at the House complex in Jakarta on Saturday.
(Read also: Tight security prepared for King Salmans visit to Bali)
To assist the king, the House will install a portable ramp in front of the Nusantara Building. Built in 1968, certain parts of the Nusantara Building are not friendly to the elderly and people with disabilities. King Salman is 81 years old.
The king walks slowly. Its more comfortable for him to walk with a ramp. Personnel from the kingdoms protocol affairs office have checked the ramp and its all correct, said Damayanti.
She further explained that King Salman also required clean toilets. King Salman will use a special toilet similar to the one used by the President. A room containing medical equipment has also been prepared, she added. (ebf)
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Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Sydney Sun, February 26, 2017
Indonesia and Australia have agreed that peaceful resolutions in line with international law is the best way to solving any disputes in the region.
The conclusion was made during a bilateral meeting between President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his counterpart Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Sunday, the final day of Jokowi's first state visit to Australia.
The two leaders, however, did not specifically discuss the possibility of wanting Canberra to take part in joint patrols in the South China Sea, which was much anticipated after Jokowi reportedly had hinted at prior to his arrival in Sydney.
We [Australia and Indonesia] have a vested interest in the peace and stability for our regions, seas and oceans, Turnbull said in a joint press statement following his bilateral meeting with Jokowi.
So, we both strongly encourage countries in our region to resolve disputes in accordance with the international law, which is the foundation for stability and prosperity, he added.
(Read also: Jokowi, Turnbull start day with relaxed morning walk around Royal Botanical Gardens)
During a recent interview with The Australian, Jokowi said he saw that joint Indonesia-Australia patrols in the South China Sea, potentially around Natuna Islands at the sea's southern edge, as very important as long as it did not raise regional tension. According to Jokowi, he would discuss the issue with Turnbull while visiting Australia.
Before Jokowi's controversial suggestion, which has sparked concern from various elements at home, the Indonesian governmenta non-claimant in the ongoing sovereignty disputes in the South China Seahas continually emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the disputed waters, especially between all claimant parties, urging restraint of any action that could raise tensions.
The meeting also marked the mending of military ties between the two countries after a recent hiccup in a joint-military training operation that resulted in Jakarta partially suspending defense cooperation.
President Widodo and I have agreed to the full restoration of defense cooperation, training exchanges and activities," Turnbull said.
Jokowi said the meeting "has clearly demonstrated our profound commitment to promoting bilateral cooperation".
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi confirmed the meeting never touched on the issue of joint Indonesia-Australia patrols in the disputed sea. (ebf)
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Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, February 26, 2017
Members of the House of Representatives assigned to revise the 2003 Terrorism Law are set to travel to the UK and the US to collect ideas for improving the law.
The deputy chairman of the Houses working committee in charge of the deliberation of the bill, Supiadin Aries Saputra, explained that members of the committee would learn about the UKs counterterrorism strategy, known as CONTEST.
In the US, the committee members are planned to visit the UN headquarters in New York to discuss the world bodys counterterrorism parameters. Supiadin said that as a UN member, Indonesia had to comply with the UN convention against terrorism.
We will travel to both countries, because we really need to gain input to comprehensively revise the existing law, Supiadin, a politician from the NasDem Party, told The Jakarta Post.
The UKs CONTEST will be our reference in composing strategies to counter terrorism, while from the UN, we will take cues on accommodating the rights of victims.
According to Supiadin, the working committee is still preparing the trips, which are expected to take place in March and/or April this year. Once approved by the Houses leadership, 15 members of the working committee and another 15 members from the previous special committee will spend around one week in each country.
Deliberations on the revision of the Terrorism Law, which started in the middle of last year, have not yet touched substantial issues. Lawmakers and relevant government officials have only reached an agreement on the definition of de-radicalization and vital objects of the state that are prone to terrorism.
The overseas travel is cited as an attempt to speed up the law revision process as well as to improve the quality of the law. (ebf)
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Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar, Bali Sun, February 26, 2017
The Bali Police have beefed up security ahead of the visit of King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia to Bali next month.
The police will implement extra security precautions for the kings entourage, which reportedly comprise 1,500 people, including 10 ministers and 25 princes.
We will implement maximum security measures. This will be a VVIP security operation that will be jointly conducted with the military, said Bali Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Hengky Widjaja.
We dont want to take any risks. We will secure all hotels where they will stay and routes and tourist sites the king may visit, Hengky said.
(Read also: 459 tons equipment brought along on Saudi Arabia's King's visit to Indonesia)
King Salman will reportedly take with him at least 100 security personnel from Saudi Arabia to secure his five-day visit to Bali.
Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika said authorities had made all necessary preparations to welcome the king. Everything is ready, he said.
The governor said it was not yet known where exactly King Salman would stay. He only wants to take a rest in Bali, Pastika said.
Pastika said the food provided for him would be halal. They have a special team for preparing the food. They have their own procedure for food security, he said.
King Salman is scheduled to arrive in Bali on March 4 and will leave on March 9. The Ngurah Rai International Airport will close flights to and from Bali for at least 45 minutes to prepare for the landing of King Salmans plane on the island.
Before going to Bali, King Salman will enjoy a state visit to Indonesia from March 1 to March 4, during which time he will meet President Joko Jokowi Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java. King Salman is also expected to visit the House of Representatives and Istiqlal Mosque in Central Jakarta. (ebf)
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Linkedin Severianus Endi (The Jakarta Post) Sambas Sun, February 26, 2017
A 6-meter whale shark weighing more than 1 ton got caught in the trawl of a fisherman in Selakau waters, Sambas regency, West Kalimantan, on Friday. Residents later cut the protected animal up and distributed the pieces.
Officers from Selakau Police and the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) questioned the fisherman, identified as Gustian, over the incident. He said the animal had accidentally become caught up in a trawl he had put out in waters around 20 kilometers off the shore. When he had discovered the shark in the net, Gustian claimed, it had already been dead.
Gustian, who had been out fishing with his son that day, said they had been unable to release the whale shark from the trawl, so he decided to pull it to the pier.
Playground: Children sits on the back of a whale shark caught in a trawl in Selakau waters, Sambas regency, West Kalimantan, on Friday. (Courtesy of Facebook/File)
Gustian said he was not aware that whale sharks were a protected species. He said he did not know who had ordered the local residents to cut the shark into pieces and take them home.
Pictures of the whale shark went viral on social media, showing local residents, including children, crowded around the carcass of the animal on Selakau Beach.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesias West Kalimantan program manager, Albert Tjiu, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday there had been no clear information on whether Selakau waters were the habitat of whale sharks. However, he said, a WWF researcher conducting a survey in the area had heard of a similar incident last year. (ebf)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Mon, February 27 2017
With geopolitical uncertainty taking root in most corners of the globe, it is up to the leaders in each region to set positive examples in tackling the complex issues of today. The bilateral forum is one of many platforms for setting the right tone in international cooperation. In anticipation of one such meeting between France and Indonesia on Tuesday, The Jakarta Posts Novan Iman Santosa got in touch with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to uncover the ideas behind his visit. The following are excerpts from the interview:
Q: How do you see relations between France and Indonesia?
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 27 2017
Depok, West Java, has lost 10 natural and man-made lakes as a result of aggressive property development in the city, according to historian JJ Rizal.Depok used to have 31 situ or lakes. Now, there are only 21 left, and 80 percent of them arent being looked after, Rizal said as quoted by tempo.co.
The current situation is contrary to how Depok used to be during the Dutch colonial era, when Cornelis Chastelein developed the then unnamed land as a center of farming and plantation, he said.
Rizal added that Chastelein left behind hundreds of hectares of city forest located in Pancoran Mas district in Depok. The forest was then established as the worlds first and largest nature conservation area. However, today there are only 7 hectares left.
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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 27 2017
Indonesia is hoping that the upcoming visit of Saudi Arabias King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud will pave the way for it to enjoy the lower price option offered by the energy-rich country for its crude oil.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministrys spokesman, Sujatmiko, said that the ministry would ask the Saudi delegates to put Indonesia on a list of nations that could enjoy the so-called preferential prices by importing a large volume of Saudi oil.
The energy and mineral resources minister will request that Indonesia be included among countries that can buy [Saudi] crude oil at a preferential price, he told reporters recently.
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Addressing a press conference in Lucknow just ahead of the crucial fifth phase election in Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav said that Samajwadis have worked for development without any discrimination.
By India Today Web Desk: A week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Uttar Pradesh's Samajwadi Party government of discriminating in providing power supply to villages on the grounds of religion, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has challenged him for a debate.
Addressing a press conference in Lucknow just ahead of the crucial fifth phase election in Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav said, "Samajwadis have worked for development without any discrimination and I am ready for a debate on it."
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PM Modi had said on last Sunday that "if a village gets power supply during Ramzan, it should get it on Diwali as well."
WHAT ELSE AKHILESH SAID: THINGS TO KNOW
"They say that there is no power supply in Gorakhpur. I ask them to touch an electric wire and show me that electricity does not flow through it," Akhilesh Yadav said.
Akhilesh Yadav exuded confidence of securing more than 300 seats in Uttar Pradesh. "I have said it before and I say it again that this alliance (SP and Congress) will cross 300 in the election," said Akhilesh Yadav.
"I made sure land for setting up of AIIMS was allocated in Gorakhpur. I want to ask when will that AIIMS be ready," Akhilesh said.
Responding to PM Modi's promise to waive off farmers' loans, Akhilesh said, "The farmers of the country are expecting that in the garb of UP, their loans will be waived off. Have you (Modi) said this (loan waiver promise) to get votes of the farmers of UP?"
"You said your Mann Ki Baat, but the people of Uttar Pradesh are waiting to see you do Kaam Ki Baat," Akhilesh Yadav said taking a dig at PM Modi's monthly radio programme.
Also read:
Uttar Pradesh election: Akhilesh Yadav's ambulances lose Samajwadi tag
Samajwadi Party on ventilator, Dimple Yadav's Mann ki Baat: Who is saying what in Uttar Pradesh
Akhilesh Yadav says alliance with Congress was due to family feud in Samajwadi Party
--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar Mon, February 27 2017
The Bali Police have beefed up security ahead of the visit of King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia to the island next month.
The police will implement extra security precautions for the kings entourage, which reportedly comprises 1,500 people, including 10 ministers and 25 princes.
We will implement maximum security measures. This will be a VVIP security operation that will be jointly conducted with the military, said Bali Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Hengky Widjaja.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Mon, February 27 2017
Last year, Taiwan announced its latest New Southbound Policy, with which it expects to forge closer cooperation with its long-standing partners. Recently, The Jakarta Posts Linda Yulisman talked to John Chen, the newly-appointed head of Taiwan External Trade Office (TETO), to discuss the issue. Here are excerpts from the interview.
Question: Taiwan has launched the Southbound Policy a few times since the 1990s. What is the difference between this new policy compared to the previous ones?
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Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Sydney Mon, February 27 2017
Indonesia and Australia have agreed to relax their trade barriers, particularly on sugar, cattle and pesticides, as President Joko Jokowi Widodo wrapped his two-day visit to down under on Sunday.
Jakarta will now lower its tariff on Australian sugar to 5 percent, which is the same rate set by other ASEAN members, and, in return, Canberra is set to eliminate tariffs on pesticides and herbicides from Indonesia.
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Linkedin Eileen Ng (Associated Press) Kuala Lumpur Sun, February 26, 2017
Malaysia's health minister said Sunday that the dose of nerve agent given to North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un's half brother was so high that it killed him "within 15-20 minutes."
Kim Jong Nam died Feb. 13 at Kuala Lumpur's airport in what Malaysian police say was a well-planned hit by two women who wiped a liquid on Kim's face. Police revealed Friday that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim, raising the stakes significantly in the case.
Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said the dose of VX given to Kim was so high that he showed symptoms within minutes. Kim fainted at the airport clinic and subsequently died in the ambulance while en route to a hospital, he said.
Hospital doctors suspected from the start that Kim had been given a form of toxic chemical agent due to the rapid symptoms, Subramaniam said.
"VX only requires 10 milligrams to be absorbed into the system to be lethal, so I presume that the amount of dose that went in is more than that," he told a news conference. "The doses were so high and it did it so fast and all over the body so it would have affected his heart, it would have affected his lungs, it would have affected everything."
Asked how long it took for Kim to die after he was attacked, Subramaniam said, "I would think it was about from the time of onset (of attack) ... within 15-20 minutes."
Experts say the nerve agent used to kill Kim was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory and is banned under an international treaty. But North Korea never signed the treaty, and it has spent decades developing a complex chemical weapons program.
Kim was not an obvious political threat to his estranged half brother, Kim Jong Un. But he may have been seen as a potential rival in North Korea's dynastic dictatorship, even though he had lived in exile for years. North Korea has denied any role in the attack.
(Read also: Malaysia to check airport for toxic chemical)
Earlier Sunday, Subramaniam said the state chemistry department's finding of the VX toxin confirmed the hospital's autopsy result that suggested a "chemical agent caused very serious paralysis" that led to death "in a very short period of time." The VX agent can lead to death very quickly in high doses, he said.
He said the final autopsy report would be submitted to police soon.
Subramaniam also said there have been no reports of anyone else being sickened by the toxin, but he said medical workers who attended to Kim would be under observation for possible delayed effects.
Tens of thousands of passengers have passed through the airport since the apparent assassination was carried out. No areas were cordoned off and protective measures were not taken.
Early Sunday, more than a dozen officers in protective gear swept the budget terminal where Kim was attacked and said they found no traces of VX.
Abdul Samah Mat, the police official leading the investigations, said the terminal is "free from any form of contamination of hazardous material" and declared it a "safe zone" after a two-hour sweep.
Malaysia hasn't directly accused the North Korean government of being behind the attack, but officials have said four North Korean men provided two women with poison to carry it out. The four men fled Malaysia on the same day as the killing, while the women one from Indonesia and the other Vietnamese were arrested.
Abdul Samah said the Indonesian woman, Siti Aisyah, vomited in a taxi on the way from the airport after the attack but was fine now. He said that more tests were needed to determine if the two arrested suspects were given antidotes so the nerve agent wouldn't kill them.
He also said a condominium on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur that was raided by police last week was rented by the four North Korean suspects who had left the country. He said police were still testing a seized substance for traces of any chemicals.
Police have also said they wanted to question Hyon Kwang Song, a second secretary at the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Abdul Samah said Saturday that authorities would give the diplomat reasonable time to come forward, but would seek an arrest warrant from the court if he failed to do so.
Lawyer Sankara Nair however, noted that diplomats have immunity privileges even in criminal cases.
On Saturday, representatives from the Indonesian and Vietnamese embassies met with the two arrested women, who both said they thought they were part of a prank show.
In grainy surveillance footage from the day of the attack, the women appear to smear something onto Kim's face before walking away in separate directions. Malaysian police said the attackers knew what they were doing and had been trained to go immediately to the bathroom and clean their hands.
An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, February 26, 2017 07:48 2079 a291276806121264c0bd211cde1dbe95 4 Destinations mining,FreeportIndonesia,tourism,Bukit-Jamur,Sawahlunto,Kaolin-Mining-Lake,Taman-Tebing-Breksi,tourist-destination,#tourism,destination,#destination Free
The ongoing dispute between the government and gold and copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia shows that mining plays an important role in the country's economy.
More often than not, mining is seen as a driver of economic development. However, when mining sites become depleted or their operation is no longer profitable, they are often simply abandoned.
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya told kompas.com in 2015 that when a former mining area is converted into a tourist destination, it may continue to generate income.
Here are four mining areas in Indonesia that have redeveloped their economy through tourism.
Sawahlunto, West Sumatra
Located 90 kilometers from Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, Sawahlunto was once a coal mining area. Alas, the coal ran out in 1988, leaving the city with various issues, such as a rise in poverty and crime rates.
From 2002 to 2005, 8,000 people left the city. Finally, Sawahlunto was converted into a Mining Tourism Cultural City. Buildings and mining facilities were transformed into tourist attractions, namely Museum Goedang Ransoem (Food Warehouse Museum), Museum Kereta Api (Train Museum) and Museum Lubang Tambang Mbah Suro (Mbah Suro Open-Pit Mining Museum).
In addition to museums, Sawahlunto boasts a culinary district and a village that produces tenun (traditional hand-woven textiles).
A post shared by Whiz Mother (@_adibluthfi) on Feb 1, 2017 at 5:02am PST
(Read also: Tana Toraja set to prosper as major tourist destination)
Kaolin Mining Lake, Bangka-Belitung Islands
Kaolin Mining Lake was previously a tin-mining area. However, the site was abandoned and filled up with beautiful turquoise water.
Located between Nibung village in South Bangka and the town of Tanjung Pandan in Belitung, Kaolin Mining Lake is a popular tourist attraction despite being said to contain radioactive metal.
Bangka is also home to the Indonesian Tin Museum, where visitors can learn about traditional mining methods. Established in 1958 and managed by PT Tambang Timah Persero, the museum is located in Pangkalpinang, the capital of Bangka.
A post shared by riandriany fakhri (@ria_fakhri) on Feb 21, 2017 at 8:17am PST
Bukit Jamur, East Java
The mushroom-shaped hills of Bukit Jamur in Gresik regency, East Java, are the result of chalk mining until 1992.
Around 40 hills vary in height from 2 to 7 meters. Do note that this iconic destination of Gresik is only open on Sundays.
A post shared by Untitled (@_autan) on Dec 26, 2016 at 2:10am PST
Taman Tebing Breksi, Yogyakarta
Situated in the Sambirejo subdistrict of Sleman regency, Yogyakarta, Taman Tebing Breksi was once a breccia rock mining quarry. In 2015, it was named a cultural heritage area, showcasing various pieces of stone-carving art.
Visitors can also enjoy panoramic views of the Ijo Temple and Ratu Boko Temple from the peak of Taman Tebing Breksi. (kes)
A post shared by Zee-inn (@zee_inn) on Feb 20, 2017 at 2:29am PST
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, February 26, 2017 07:39 2079 a291276806121264c0bd211cde1db2a0 1 News travel-ban,Donald-Trump,#DonaldTrump,travel,#travel Free
With everything coming out of the United States these days, it is hard to keep up without being completely overwhelmed with information.
If you have been wondering exactly what President Trumps travel ban is, here are some facts to keep you up to date.
What it is all about
In January, Trump signed an executive order that temporarily barred refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, including those currently en route to America and those with American green cards.
In airports, customs officials detained those affected by the order, causing a flood of protesters and lawyers to arrive and do their best to help.
A ruling by a federal judge in Seattle temporarily blocked the enforcement of the travel ban. Though Trumps administration attempted to appeal the ruling, a federal appeals court panel denied the request. This meant that previously banned refugees and citizens from the seven countries could continue to enter the United States as if the order had not occurred.
During this time, though, 746 people were detained in the 27-hour period before the judge blocked the order. How many were turned away or let into the country is still unknown.
(Read also: Trump's travel ban will spark radicalization)
Who is affected
At the start of the ban, citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen were banned from entering the country for 90 days. However, now, they are still able to enter, provided they have a valid visa.
Those who hold two passports are allowed to enter, provided at least one of those passports is from a non-banned country.
Refugees are still suspended from entering for 120 days, as the US Refugee Admissions Program has been put on hold. Syrian refugees are barred indefinitely. The 872 refugees who are considered in transit and on their way to the US will still be allowed to enter.
Initially, American green card holders were included in the ban. After days of confusion and mixed messages, Trumps legal counsel issued a memo to the state that green card holders will no longer be impacted.
Those with visas from Iran and the other countries were detained for questioning. The most notable of whom was Kjell Magne Bondevik, the former Prime Minister of Norway. While he was told that this had nothing to do with Trumps ban and was instead related to a 2015 law, Bondevik claims he had never had issues entering the US previously. Bondevik was held for an hour at Washington DC's Dulles International Airport on Jan. 30. Trumps team did not comment.
(Read also: Apple, Google, Uber join fight against Trump travel ban)
Is it a Muslim ban?
News outlets are calling the order a Muslim ban, though, in the order itself, no religions are explicitly mentioned. What it does mention is the fact that priority will be given to refugees who are a religious minority in their country of origin. Trump used Christians in Syria as an example in an interview.
The order also mentions 9/11, citing it as an occasion in which the American visa process failed. However, those behind 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia, which is not one of the countries that is a part of the ban.
According to The Washington Post, visas from these seven countries, about 90,000 in total, accounted for less than 1 percent of all U.S. visas given for permanent residences, as well as temporary travel, study abroad and other reasons in 2015 and Iran is likely to have the most affected travelers, based on past numbers.
The revised ban
It has been a month since Trump signed off on the initial travel ban, and his administration is scheduled to release a revised version in the coming week.
Two of the biggest differences from the original ban and the new ban are that the new ban will not apply to green card holders and that it will not impact those in the air, on their way to the US, according to CBS News.
It is very likely that the ban will apply to the original seven countries. The state of the refugee program is still unclear. (sul/kes)
The Election Commission has observed "a disturbing trend of inflammatory statements" made by political leaders "with underlying object of mixing religion with their election campaign".
By Sanjay Sharma: Taking a note of the religious overtones in the speeches made by several leading politicians in the run up to the intensely-fought Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, the Election Commission has written to all political parties to abstain from making remarks on religion and caste in election speeches.
The letter notes with "dismay" that despite several advisories the commission has observed "a disturbing trend of inflammatory statements being made often by political leaders with underlying object of mixing religion with their election campaign".
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HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW: In the letter directed to president, secretary, general secretary of all recognised national and state political parties, the Election Commission says that political leaders "need to ensure that nothing in their statements may be construed as mixing of religion and caste with their election campaigns". It asks politicians to refrain from making statements that can cause "mutual hatred, disharmony" or can "aggravate the differences between political parties and classes of citizens on the grounds of religion, caste, creed, community and language". The letter, signed by Senior Principal Secretary RK Srivastava, while referring to the model of conduct (MCC) that prohibits political leaders from making such statements, says that "sometimes such statements are being made from a place which is not in the state where MCC is in force". The Election Commission, however, says that in today's electronic age a statement made in any corner of the country gets circulated through various forms of media. "It undoubtedly has a pernicious effect of influencing the minds of voters of the poll-bound state," the EC notes. This, the commission says, disturbs the level-playing field and "often adversely affect (s) the peace, tranquillity and harmony of poll-bound states". The Election Commission also cites the Supreme Court's recent observation on mixing religion and caste with election campaign. On February 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a rally in Fatehpur, said: "If land is given for kabristan (cemetary), it should be given for shamshaan (cremation ground) too". The Prime Minister accused the Akhilesh Yadav government of indulging in discrimination. On Saturday, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati said, "If Muslims vote for Samajwadi Party then it will be a waste and it will ultimately benefit the BJP".
The Election Commission letter.
ALSO READ:
Modi at Fatehpur: If land is given for kabristan, shamshaan must get it too
Uttar Pradesh election: Crucial regions go to polls next, wooing Muslims top of agenda for all
Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls: Voters disillusioned as 'gadha politics' take precedence over actual political debate
ALSO WATCH
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Kindred book lovers: Picture yourself on holiday, and you probably envision blissfully cosying up with a good read or three.
But how would you feel about going one better than that, and staying in a charming apartment in the Scottish lowlands that has its very own bookshop downstairs for you to run?
(Airbnb/Screengrab)
Yeah, we thought that would grab your attention.
Airbnb Therules for The Open Book in Wigtown are that you play shopkeeper while staying there. And it means for 28 a night, you can holiday in a cute village near the sea. Dreamy.
Plus, you have a team of friendly volunteers ready to help you out with running the bookshop for the local community.
Set up by The Wigtown Festival Company, The Open Books aim is to celebrate books, independent bookshops and welcome people around the world to Scotlands National Book Town. (Just to give you an idea of how unique this place is, the town has 10 bookshops and only 1,000 residents.)
In the description of the pad on the Airbnb website, it says: Live your dream of having your very own bookshop by the sea in Scotland for a week or two.
And under the rather unusual house rules, youll spot the terms and conditions state: Residents are expected to contribute to the unique literary community of Scotlands National Book Town. You will be a part of Wigtowns history!
The hosts also write: We are a friendly community, many residents have had a busy time joining local families for dinner or gatherings at the pub, other residents spend the holiday in the cozy apartment upstairs and out exploring.
Guests are allowed to host readings, events and any activity biblio-related, and theyre also asked to blog regularly during the stay something that all the residents have done in the past.
Yep, this is officially the cutest holiday idea ever.
If youre worried your CV lacks any shopkeeping skills, dont worry, because you have free rein when it comes to how you run the place. A little stalk on Instagram gives an idea of what previous residents have got up to while there.
Though we imagine it would be pretty easy to get lost in having your own bookshop, youll want to make sure you enjoy the free bicycles that come with the place Galloway is one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland, with the sea and ancient woodlands nearby.
Plus, there are endless activities to do during your stay were talking crumbling castles, a whisky distillery and nature preserves.
And did we mention the books?
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By Press Trust of India: Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said the Congress will ditch the Samajwadi Party (SP), as it has a history of belittling its own senior leaders, like former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao.
Advising Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to go through the past track record of the Congress, Prasad said, "If the party could not be of its own senior leaders, then will it be of you (Yadav). Congress belittled its own senior leaders like former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, V P Singh and Narasimha Rao among others," he said.
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The Samajwadi Party's politics in Uttar Pradesh had always centered around opposing the Congress, but now they had joined hands to contest elections together, Prasad said.
"Will their pact make the state free from SP's misrule?" he asked.
Mocking Yadav's claims of having brought good governance to UP, Prasad said, "He brags about efforts to make the state's police as efficient as that of New York while his minister Gayatri Prajapati is accused of rape and the poor victim is forced to knock the doors of the Supreme Court just to get an FIR lodged."
The Union Minister, who holds the Electronics, Information Technology and Law and Justice portfolios, asked the Congress, the SP and BSP to clear their stand on triple talaq.
What's the harm in having a discussion on the issue, which is a complete immoral social practice, he asked.
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"I told them I was leaving because it was an insult walking into this country's most historic building every day under an administration that is working against and vilifying everything I stand for as an American and as a Muslim," Ms Ahmed said.
By Press Trust of India: Hijab-wearing Muslim ex-White House staffer of Bangladeshi-origin has said she quit her job after US President Donald Trump announced his controversial travel ban, lasting just eight days in the new administration. Rumana Ahmed was hired in 2011 to work at the White House and eventually the National Security Council (NSC).
"My job there was to promote and protect the best of what my country stands for. I am a hijab-wearing Muslim woman - I was the only hijabi in the West Wing - and the Obama administration always made me feel welcome and included," she wrote in an article published in The Atlantic.
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Ms Ahmed said that like most of her fellow American-Muslims, she spent much of 2016 watching with "consternation" as Mr Trump "vilified our community".
"Despite this - or because of it - I thought I should try to stay on the NSC staff during the Trump Administration, in order to give the new president and his aides a more nuanced view of Islam, and of America's Muslim citizens.
WAS SEEN AS A THREAT
"I lasted eight days. When Trump issued a ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries and all Syrian refugees, I knew I could no longer stay and work for an administration that saw me and people like me not as fellow citizens, but as a threat," she said.
Ms Ahmed said the evening before she left her job at the White House, she notified Mr Trump's senior National Security Council (NSC) communications adviser, Michael Anton, of her decision.
"His initial surprise, asking whether I was leaving government entirely, was followed by silence - almost in caution, not asking why. I told him anyway," she wrote.
"I told him I had to leave because it was an insult walking into this country's most historic building every day under an administration that is working against and vilifying everything I stand for as an American and as a Muslim," Ms Ahmed said.
She told Mr Anton that the administration was attacking the basic tenets of democracy. She said Mr Anton just looked at her and said nothing.
NATIVE OF BANGLADESH
Ms Ahmed, whose parents immigrated to the US from Bangladesh in 1978, said inspired by then president Barack Obama, she joined the White House in 2011, after graduating from the George Washington University.
"The days I spent in the Trump White House were strange, appalling and disturbing," she wrote.
Ms Ahmed's personal account comes amid a spike in incidents of intimidation and assault targeting hijab-wearing women across the US following Mr Trump's electoral triumph.
Also read
US President Donald Trump's revised travel ban: Millions targeted for possible deportation
US President Donald Trump's revised travel ban targets same countries
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Artisans break the mould in Britains pottery capital
UNITED KINGDOM: At the 18th-century Spode pottery works in Stoke-on-Trent, start-up artisans like 22-year-old Emma Price are moving into abandoned buildings and breathing new life into a once-mighty industry.
culture
By AFP
Sunday 26 February 2017, 11:00AM
Workers hand-paint crockery in the Emma Bridgewater factory, which employs around 185 people and manufactures 1.3million pieces of pottery each year in the centre of Stoke-on-Trent. Photo AFP
The 10-acre site in the heart of the Staffordshire city in central England whose name worldwide is synonymous with pottery has become a creative hub that is drawing in a new generation.
Its a real privilege to be on this site, said Price, wearing blue overalls flecked in plaster, as she worked on the mould for a bowl.
This offers me the opportunity to do my own thing and gives me the space to work in and do what Im passionate about, she said.
A lot of people now are starting to move away from the mass-produced work and want something thats more bespoke.
Iconic Stoke brands such as Wedgwood, Royal Doulton and Spode are renowned across the globe for their fine chinaware.
On a rich seam of clay in Englands West Midlands, Stoke became the world centre of pottery production by 1800.
Now fewer than 10,000 people still work in an industry that once employed 80,000 in Stoke, as factories closed and production shifted to Asia over the last 20 years.
But young artists are making the most of the latent factory space, skills and expertise that still exist in the 250,000-strong city, not to mention the coveted Made in Stoke-on-Trent backstamp.
At the Spode works, founded in 1767, a few dozen artisans have moved into the derelict buildings.
Cobwebbed storehouses on the site are stuffed with Spode moulds from the past, stacked on wooden shelves marked with names like Louis XV, Old Comport and Rose Tazza.
The cavernous China Hall, once bustling with people and machines, now stands like an empty cathedral, filled with light and silence.
Ceramic artist Jo Ayre, 34, works in a makeshift studio just off the China Hall, in a space formerly known as Scorpion Alley, so fierce was the reputation of the women who worked there.
Besides producing her own works, she runs adult learning classes, teaching groups of locals who want to know more about the craft that made their citys name.
Among those taking their first steps in learning how to manipulate the clay was 36-year-old barber Craig Urwin.
We are doing it in the old-fashioned way, by hand. Its fascinating, he said.
Weve probably got ancestors who did work here or in other factories.
Ayre, who hails from Stoke, trained at the Royal College of Art in London but moved back in 2015.
Theres so much space, people you can talk to who know a tremendous amount about ceramics, so it feels like theres endless possibilities here.
In 2011, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, stepped in to save Middleport Pottery, another historic site and the home of Burleigh chinaware.
As part of the regeneration project, artists have moved in there too, while the new visitor centre tells people about traditional pottery production.
Laura Cohen, Chief Executive of the British Ceramic Confederation trade association, said the industry was in good health in Stoke as sales and employment had surged since the depths of the recession in 2010.
It forced those companies that were surviving to look at their business models, to think about how they can become truly world-class, she said.
Steph Woodhouse, spokeswoman for the Emma Bridgewater factory, one of the more established brands, said: Weve seen a real return of artisan potters coming back to Stoke to utilise the skills and experience.
Bridgewater began producing ceramics on a tiny scale in Stoke in 1985, and bought the Victorian-era Meakin factory in 1996 as the business expanded.
The pottery now produces 32,000 hand-made, hand-decorated items per week and exports internationally.
Some 250 people work in the Bridgewater factory, from the men casting the clay to the women using traditional sponging techniques to press on the decoration.
John Buckley, 59, has been working in potteries since he was 16.
The minings gone, the steels gone, theres only this, really, he said of Stokes traditional industries.
Im surprised this is still going, and its coming back, and Im proud to be part of it.
Phuket Opinion: Anti-corruption claims adding insult to injury
For Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan to recently declare that there are no corrupt officials on the island must have come as quite an insult to those who have lived in Phuket for any length of time.
corruptioncrimepolicemilitaryimmigrationtourismopinion
By The Phuket News
Sunday 26 February 2017, 09:00AM
Ending corruption starts with refusing to accept it is a 'business as usual' practice. Photo: UNDP
Then for Gov Chockchai to appoint those very officials accused of being involved in corruption to investigate themselves just further insults the intelligence of Phuket residents.
However, that insult has been slightly lessened not with regards to Gov Chockchai mind you with the most recent announcement that National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) Secretary-General Sansern Poljeak ordering the NACC Phuket office to investigate alleged corruption on the island.
It may come as some surprise to Gov Chockchai, but certainly not for those who have been living on the island for any length of time, that yes Governor Chockchai, there is indeed corrupt officials under your watch.
Sadly the corruption has been there under many of the previous governors watches, as well.
To come right out and say it now, this writer has been involved in one aspect of corruption, and yes he did know it from the very off, and the very tourist police who gave this writer the option of either paying an 90-day overstay with or without a receipt to immigration officials B2,000 or B1,000 respectively knew full well about it, too.
Yes, Governor Chockchai, corruption is rampant on Phuket, or as a previous writer described it, rotten to the core.
Asking Phuket officials whether they have accepted payments or been involved in corruption is likely to be met with a single word answer, No.
But how about asking the average Joe, say like a Bangla Rd bar owner, whether he has ever made a payment to officials for their bar to stay open a wee bit longer than the law stipulates and you might well get a different reply.
Yes it is fantastic news that the NACC has now been asked to investigate those corruption allegations. However, for that to mean anything then the investigation must be transparent and involve all levels of power with the ranks.
Officials bank accounts should be checked, their assets should be checked, if it has to be then their families accounts and assets should also be checked. If this does not happen, then the investigation is just adding insult to injury.
Healthcare is among the fastest growing sectors of Indian economy today. It comprises hospitals, medical devices, clinical trials, outsourcing, telemedicine, medical tourism, health insurance and equipment. The factors that have contributed to the growth include government policies, tax benefits, health awareness, rising incomes, lifestyle diseases, medical tourism, and increasing access to insurance.
According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation, a trust set up by the commerce department, the overall healthcare market is worth around $ 100 billion and is expected to grow to $ 280 billion by 2020, a compound annual growth rate of 22.9 per cent.
Similarly, Indian medical tourism is expected to reach $ 6 billion by 2018, and the healthcare information technology market is estimated to grow 1.5 times by 2020, from the current $ 1 billion.
One of the inferences that can be drawn from the data mentioned is that this industry promises to give a big boost to employment opportunities in the coming years. And one of the important areas where these jobs are going to be created is healthcare management.
Several business houses have made big investments in this sector, and made it absolutely necessary for the healthcare delivery system to function in a professional, organised, and efficient manner. There is an urgent need for not only trained doctors and nurses, but also qualified healthcare and hospital managers to handle these challenges.
Besides operational and financial necessities, efficient management is also required to save more lives. Whether it is maintenance of general hygiene or biomedical waste, optimal utilisation of equipment, availability of life saving drugs and essential materials, efficient functioning of OPDs, emergency wards and operation theatres various measures help in saving lives besides, of course, availability of good doctors.
In fact, the role of hospital administration has undergone a major change over the past decade or so. Most modern hospitals and healthcare establishments today need managers equipped with multi-disciplinary skills such as hospitality management, understanding of medico-legal litigation, data management, environment conservation, human resource development, quality and risk management, marketing and product diversification and logistic emergency management.
Growth in science and technology and the increasing use of medical apps have made it necessary for healthcare managers to have considerable understanding of information technology as well. And in a more general way, a hospital manager is also required to act as an intermediary between clinical staff, departmental heads, and governing bodies to ensure overall smooth functioning of the organisation.
As far as job opportunities are concerned, hospital management professionals are required not only in hospitals and clinics, but also in healthcare NGOs, hospital consultancy companies, health insurance firms, and IT industry involved in developing software for hospitals and healthcare institutions.They can work as hospital superintendents, heads of departments, deans, directors and chief executive officers.
This is a profitable career option because, besides getting lucrative remuneration, it helps you to achieve the goal of service to mankind.
Many students nowadays are highly confused with what to do after graduation. Few lucky ones get a job after graduation, but majority have to get a post graduate degree to have a decent job. Healthcare management is one such field that has brilliant prospects in job environment. Currently the demand outweighs the supply and this is likely to be in the coming decade. First of the hirers are the traditional hospitals of various magnitude and size, then there are health programmes like national health mission, control programmes, etc.
The other opportunities are IT firms like Dell, ZS Associates and consulting agencies like Accenture, PwC, Delloite that hire such professionals. NGO working in health sector is another favoured destination. In fact, professionals have the luxury to choose from government to high level private players in India and abroad. In case of fresh graduates without any work experience, the industry would hire them as middle to upper middle level managers in hospitals or health programmes. But if one has some years of experience, they could start up higher enough and reach the zenith in a few years time.
Many healthcare management professionals do not wish to join any industry but start a venture of their own. Given the rigors of healthcare management trainings and practicals, this is emerging as one of the new and interesting option. It could be hospitals, consulting firms, management agencies or even healthcare IT firms.
However, there is catch in all of these. This is a specialised field and need professionals to impart the appropriate knowledge and skills. Not all the institutes and academies have the required capabilities to provide curriculum and training to create job ready candidates. One should select the right career with a couple of things in mind, the foremost being interest in that field. As the old saying goes, if you are doing what interests you, sky is the limit.
The writer is director, IIHMR, Delhi.
The Indian entrepreneurial spirit has risen remarkably as the country stands third amongst the fastest growing startup countries worldwide. Digitisation is playing a vital role in this scenario and has provided ample opportunities to develop online market. Several flagship programmes like Start Up India campaign aims to create all districts, blocks and panchayats around the country. Atal Innovation Mission including Self-Employment and Talent Utilisation serve as a platform for promotion of world-class innovation hubs, startup businesses and other self-employment activities, particularly in technology driven areas.
These are bringing together academicians, entrepreneurs and researchers to collaborate on concepts that could potentially drive economic growth and encourage more people to become entrepreneurs. With aggressive campaigns for cashless transactions, consumers across both urban and rural India are becoming aware about digitisation. Increase in Internet and digital penetration is certain to unfold opportunities. Not only e-commerce industry, but banking, finance, retail, logistics, rural education, consulting and many other fields will get benefited. Banks are developing simplified tools to maximise online transactions.
The interesting fact is that women entrepreneurs have started to become more prominent in the innovation economy. Several women-run startups such as LimeRoad, Kaaryah, Zivame, CashKaro, and media tech companies like YourStory and POPxo have become success inspirations. While mentors can act as catalysts and give a right direction, incubators come as great support to keep most of hurdles aside and let one focus on the project. However, the most important driver of entrepreneurial growth is mental fortitude, followed by risk taking capability. Innovative thinking and zeal to improve with trials and errors, start connecting unseen dots that eventually draw a picture.
Major challenge for any startup is raising funds or finding investors. However, the first thought should not be running after investors but to focus on developing a good product with right business plan. They not only keep looking for viable and scalable ideas with low risks but are also in search of right people who have properly done their ground work. If your preparation is adequate, possibilities are that investors can themselves find you.
The second major challenge is getting right set of people to work on your plan. Planning for human resources with needed skills, finance, administration and marketing should all fall into the right place. For startups in technology sector, the major challenge is technology itself. This is evolving in such a rapid pace that companies need to track all the updates and keep on improving the products. For attracting international markets, its viable to shift the focus from UK or US to Asian countries. Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysian can also be explored for new consumer market.
Conducive environment for entrepreneurs can become more effective if more educational institute, especially those offering technology and management education, start nurturing the thoughts within students that they should try becoming job creators rather than job seekers. Research driven innovations supported by workshops with investors can be effective in propelling industries to lead on the global stage.
The writer is chairman, JIMS, Rohini.
World's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal may set up a solar farm on land alloted to it for the proposed 6 MT Karnataka project in view of excess global steel capacity and delays in securing raw materials.
The company had entered into a pact with Karnataka government for setting up a 6 million tonnes (MT) steel plant with a captive 750 MW power plant at an estimated investment of $6.5 billion.
"In view of excess capacity of steel world-wide and uncertainty in iron ore availability locally, the company is also exploring the possibility of utilizing the land in Karnataka for the establishment of a solar farm for generating solar energy," the global steel giant has said in its latest report.
ArcelorMittal India has received possession certificates for 2,659 acres of private land following the acquisition of 1,827 acres and 832 acres in December 2011 and October 2012, respectively, it said.
A balance of 136.33 acres owned by the Karnataka government is being processed for allocation, it said.
Setting up of the solar park will contribute to the mitigation of Karnataka's power crisis and participation in the National Solar Energy mission of the government of India.
"In this regard, the company has sought the state government's permission to set up a solar farm of up to 600 MW.
"The state government is considering ArcelorMittal's proposal and the company is hopeful of receiving a favorable response to the proposal," it said.
The NRI billionaire Lakshmi Mittal-led company in June 2010 had signed an MoU with the Karnataka government to set up a 6 MTPA greenfield project at Kuditini in Bellary, Karnataka.
After failing for over a decade to set up plants at Odisha and Jharkhand, ArcelorMittal had signed the pact with Karnataka government for the plant but the same is yet to take off.
While the company is facing raw material security issues in Karnataka, the projects in Jharkhand and Odisha were marred by delays.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has approved 37 per cent hike in the minimum wages of the city's labour class, saying it is a "Holi gift" for them, that his government puts money into the pockets of poor people.
"This is a very big and historic decision. With this, we are directly putting money into the pocket of poor people," Kejriwal said, addressing a press conference in the capital on Saturday.
The approval, now, has to be cleared by Lt Governor Anil Baijal. Kejriwal said the approval would be put before the governor on Monday for clearance.
"We are sending this file to LG sir (Anil Baijal) and are very hopeful about its approval. I will personally go and meet him in this connection. If LG approves this proposal, then it will be a Holi gift to the labourers in Delhi," Kejriwal said.
The minimum wages was revised following the recommendation of a committee formed after former Lt Governor Najeeb Jung returned the file of a proposal to hike minimum wages by about 50 per cent in September 2016.
In an effort to remove discrepancies, a tripartite committee of five members each from the government, labour unions and industry associations was formed with the LG's approval. Several meetings were held and the final committee meeting was held on February 16.
Following the meeting recommendations, the Delhi Cabinet approved the recommendation of the new committee to revise minimum wages.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convener said the special committee constituted by the Delhi Labour Department recommended a hike in minimum wages by about 37 per cent.
"The minimum wages for unskilled labour in Delhi currently stands at Rs 9,724 per month, which has been increased to Rs 13,350," Kejriwal said, adding, "For semi-skilled and skilled persons, the minimum wage would be increased from Rs 10,764 to Rs 14,698 and from Rs 11,830 to Rs 16,182, respectively".
This is the second attempt by the AAP government within months to revise minimum wages after former LG Jung turned down the previous decision to revises wages on procedural grounds.
The AAP government had earlier proposed minimum monthly wages for unskilled workers to be increased from Rs 9,000 to Rs 14,052, for semi-skilled workers from Rs 10,582 to Rs 15,471, and for skilled workers from Rs 11,622 to Rs 17,033. "The revised minimum wage figures are Rs 600 to Rs 700 less than the last year's proposal," Kejriwal said.
The chief minister said if the government had stuck to the old recommendations of hiking minimum wages by about 50 per cent then it would have invited unnecessary litigation. "So we decided to go by the latest recommendations of the new committee after analysing the latest data," he added.
Labour Minister Gopal Rai said that the committee decided the minimum wages after assessing five points, recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Supreme Court, which are housing, clothing, food, education, electricity and fuel, taking into consideration their market prices.
(With inputs from agencies)
A powerful explosion took place on Sunday outside the house of two editors after militants allegedly planted a bomb here, police said.
There were no reports of any casualty, however, a car was damaged due to the explosion, which happened at 8 pm today, they said.
The editors work for a local Manipuri daily newspaper and a local cable television, police said.
The bomb was allegedly planted by suspected outlawed militant outfit and the reason behind is not yet known, they said.
Meanwhile members of the Press Council of India K Amarnath along with a team of All Manipur Working Journalists' Union visited the residences of the two editors and expressed their solidarity.
Amarnath on Sunday said that he strongly condemns the attack and PCI is against any form of undemocratic act.
[February 25, 2017] Distinctly Different. Distinctly BlackBerry. TCL Communication Launches All-new BlackBerry KEYone to the World at MWC 2017
BARCELONA, Feb. 25, 2017 /CNW/ -- Today, TCL Communication, a leading global smartphone manufacturer, unveiled a new BlackBerry smartphone to the world -- the BlackBerry KEYone. This launch represents the first BlackBerry smartphone released from TCL Communication under a new brand licensing agreement signed in December 2016 with BlackBerry Limited. Offering users all the great smartphone features you'd expect -- like great camera, display and design -- in a distinctly different experience, the KEYone pairs the best of BlackBerry Limited's software and security with TCL Communication's commitment to delivering high-quality, reliable smartphones to customers around the world. The BlackBerry KEYone will be available globally[i] beginning in April and will be priced at or under 599 EUR/ 499 GBP/$549 USD. "Impressively designed to be distinctly different, the BlackBerry KEYone reimagines how we communicate by offering unmatched productivity and the world's most secure Android smartphone experience," said Nicolas Zibell, CEO for TCL Communication. "We're humbled to play such an important role in the future of BlackBerry smartphones, which have been so iconic in our industry, and we're eager to prove to the BlackBerry community that their excitement around this new BlackBerry smartphone is something they can be proud of as well." "We want to congratulate TCL Communications on the launch of KEYone," said Alex Thurber, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mobility Solutions for BlackBerry. "We have worked closely with TCL to build security and the BlackBerry experience into every layer of KEYone, so the BlackBerry DNA remains very much in place. We couldn't be more excited to help bring it to market and introduce it to BlackBerry fans." DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT Tucked into an anodized aluminum frame and soft touch textured back, this new BlackBerry smartphone is built to offer the best in durability while still remaining easy on the eyes. Featuring a 4.5-inch display (1620x1080 resolution / 434 PPI 3:2 aspect ratio) with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 that offers greater impact and scratch resistance, the KEYone combines a touch display with a physical keyboard to give users more useable space for typing than a typical 5.5-inch all-touch smartphone. With BlackBerry KEYone, you can forget what you knew about keyboards. The device's Smart Keyboard responds to touch gestures mimicking the heritage of the BlackBerry trackpad making web browsing, reading emails and writing messages with flick typing a much smoother and intuitive experience. This Smart Keyboard can also be easily programmed to launch up to 52 customizable shortcuts, such as pressing "I" for your inbox or "M" to access maps; providing even greater ease of use. In addition, KEYone is the first smartphone to provide the security of a fingerprint sensor built directly into the keyboard spacebar, for added functionality and security. DISTINCTLY BLACKBERRY Beyond the iconic BlackBerry design that's been curated for the modern user, the BlackBerry KEYone comes with a number of features and security enhancements making this smartphone distinctly BlackBerry. Out of the box, the device runs Android 7.1 - giving users access to the entire Google Play store and apps - and will receive Google security patch updates. It comes loaded with BlackBerry Hub, bringing all your messages into one consolidated place; including emails, texts and messages from any social media account. Another benefit of BlackBerry Hub, is the ability to manage multiple email accounts without switching between apps, with support for Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook, Microsoft Exchange accounts, and many other IMAP and POP3 email providers. What really sets a BlackBerry smartphone apart from any other Android device are the enhanced security features built into every device right from the start. From a hardened operating system to BlackBerry Limited's proprietary technique for establishing a hardware root of trust adding security keys to the processor, the BlackBerry KEYone is intentionally designed to offer the most secure Android smartphone experience possible. This device comes pre-loaded with DTEK by BlackBerry, offering constant security monitoring and protection of your operating system and apps by letting you know when your privacy could be at risk and how you can take action to improve it. A quick glimpse lets you see the overall security rating for your device and provides simple access allowing you to easily improve your security status. This BlackBerry security application monitors your other apps, alerting you if one is accessing your camera to take a picture or video, turning your microphone on, sending a text message, or accessing your contacts or location. THE BLACKBERRY KEYONE EXPERIENCE Beyond the design and security features making the BlackBerry KEYone so distinct, these additional features truly reinvent mobile communications for the business and enterprise user. At the core of this new BlackBerry smartphone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 mobile platform with the Qualcomm Adreno 506 GPU. This means BlackBerry KEYone users will enjoy long battery life thanks to more efficient battery usage and fast LTE speeds for super-fast file sharing. It includes Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology, making it possible for the 3505 mAh battery on the KEYone -- the largest ever in a BlackBerry device, to receive up to 50 percent charge in roughly 36 minutes. And for when you only have a few moments to grab a fast charge, BlackBerry's Boost can turbo charge your battery to get you the most charge with the limited time you have. "We are proud to be working with TCL on the BlackBerry KEYone," said Enrico Salvatori, senior vice president and president, Qualcomm EMEA. "The Snapdragon 625 mobile platform with X9 LTE and the Adreno 506 GPU is purpose-built for users who demand superior performance and connectivity coupled with outstanding battery-life." The BlackBerry KEYone experience would not be complete though without a great camera. That's why it includes a 12MP rear camera with the industry leading Sony IMX378 camera sensor. With a large pixel size(1.55m) and Phase Detect Auto Focus, moments captured on the BlackBerry KEYone will be ultra crisp and clear. And for when you have to take a video conference on the go, it includes an 8MP front camera with fixed focus and 84-degree wide angle lens. For more information about the BlackBerry KEYone and to register for pre-order updates, please visit www.BlackBerryMobile.com. About TCL Communication TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited (TCL Communication) designs, manufactures and markets an expanding portfolio of mobile and internet products and services worldwide under three key brands -- TCL, Alcatel and BlackBerry. The company's portfolio of products are currently sold in over 160 countries throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, TCL Communication ranked as a top-10 global smartphone manufacturer by IDC. Headquartered in Hong Kong, TCL Communication operates nine R&D centers worldwide, employing more than 13,500 people across the globe. For more information, please visit www.tclcom.com. TCL is a registered trademark of TCL Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Alcatel is a trademark of Alcatel-Lucent used under license by TCL Communication. Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, used under license, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services. Qualcomm, Snapdragon and Adreno are trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries. Quick Charge is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm Snapdragon, Qualcomm Adreno and Qualcomm Quick Charge are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Media Contacts: Jason Gerdon - North America
Email: [email protected] Camille Gere - EMEA
Email: [email protected] Linna Yi - Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
[i] TCL Communication is the exclusive global manufacturer and distributor for all BlackBerry-branded smartphones with the exception of the following countries: India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/distinctly-different-distinctly-blackberry-tcl-communication-launches-all-new-blackberry-keyone-to-the-world-at-mwc-2017-300413415.html SOURCE TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited
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The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Saturday instituted an inquiry into the alleged manhandling of women protesters by the Delhi Police personnel during Wednesday's demonstration at the Ramjas College.
DCW chief Swati Maliwal asked the Delhi Police's Joint Commissioner, Central Range, to inform the Commission by March 4, how many male and female police personnel were deployed that day and the details of the officials seen manhandling women protesters.
Maliwal has also asked what action was taken against those officers seen on camera "beating and punching" the women protesters at Ramjas College.
The DCW has sought details (name and designations) of each and every officer responsible for every action taken by police to control the protest, including lathi charge.
"The Commission is of the view that these attacks on women protesters by policemen may also amount to molestation and need to be severely punished," DCW's notice to Delhi Police read.
The Commission had also asked about the steps to be taken by the police force to ensure that such incidents never occur in the future.
"A similar incident occurred in Delhi last year when peaceful women protesters during the protest over missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed were manhandled by Delhi Police. It is a matter of great shame that to date an FIR has not been registered against the police officer
"The erstwhile Delhi Police Commissioner, despite requests of the Commission, chose to turn a blind eye to the incident," it said.
On Wednesday, members of the right-wing ABVP student organisation and Left-oriented AISA clashed over invitation to controversial JNU student Umar Khalid to speak at a seminar at Ramjas College in the Delhi University's North Campus. Several women protesters were allegedly manhandled by the Delhi Police officers.
Endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles, which were tagged for the purpose of studying their migration pattern, have reappeared for mass nesting on the sandy Gahirmatha beach in Odisha.
The sighting of tagged turtles on February 22 night, the day mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles started this year, established the belief that these marine creatures prefer Odisha for laying eggs.
Forest Range Officer, Gahirmatha Forest Range, Subrat Patra, who was on duty at the beach and was a witness to this unique phenomenon said, ten female turtles with metallic tags fitted on their flippers were sighted on the beach during mass nesting.
The figure of the tagged turtles could have been higher since locating them amid millions of turtles in the darkness of the night was a Herculean task, he said.
The reappearance of tagged turtles in Gahirmatha provides evidence to the fact that the female turtles return to the same beach annually for laying their eggs, where they were born decades ago, Patra said.
There is every possibility of more tagged turtles turning up to lay eggs, he added.
The state forest department and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) over the years had tagged around 30,000 turtles with metallic labels to keep a tab on their pre and post-breeding migration, during arrival of these turtles for mass nesting.
The tagged turtles were spotted re-emerging at the nesting beaches of Gahirmatha, Devi river mouth and Rushikulya river mouth off Odisha coast.
Meanwhile, mass nesting of these delicate reptiles, which commenced a few days back on February 22 night, is in full swing.
Three of the 18 persons arrested from across Goa and Maharashtra in connection with the Army exam paper leak were picked up from a bar in North Goa's Anjuna village, police said on Sunday.
Some students were answering the illegally obtained question paper in the early hours on Sunday, police sources said. The trio was arrested by officials of the Crime Branch of Thane police, alongwith personnel attached to the Anjuna police station.
"The papers were being answered by the students in Sandhya Bar in Anjuna police jurisdiction. The raids were conducted in the early morning," a police source said.
Speaking to reporters late on Sunday, Director General of Police Muktesh Chander said the local police only provided logistical support to the Thane Crime Branch, which conducted the raids.
"Three persons were arrested. The students were allowed to go after we collected their details," Chander said.
The Thane Crime Branch has so far arrested 18 people across the two states in connection with the Army Recruitment Board exam paper leak for junior positions in the Indian Army.
Over 200 students have also been detained by the Maharashtra Police.
The raids followed a tip-off to the Thane police that the paper, for which exam was due to be held on Sunday morning, had been leaked. The raids were conducted in Nashik, Nagpur, Pune and Goa.
Congress leader Anand Sharma who hails from Himachal Pradesh on Saturday preferred to stay away from the ongoing controversy over grant of unemployment allowance to unemployed youth and said "the matter would be discussed within the party".
Sharma, the Deputy Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha, who was also the chairman of the manifesto committee for Assembly polls in Himachal in 2012, said the party had promised unemployment allowance in the manifesto and the matter would be discussed within the party.
The Transport minister G S Bali had been repeatedly demanding that the poll promise to give unemployment allowance be implemented and the HPCC chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukkhu has also supported him but the chief minister has clearly stated that granting unemployment allowance was not feasible.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday asked the United States to condemn the killing of Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla and take "strongest" action to prevent such attacks.
Meeting reporters after consoling family members of Kuchibhotla here, he said India had taken up the issue with the US at the highest level and stressed the need to take steps to provide security and assurance to Indians living there.
Voicing concern over series of incidents of alleged racial discrimination, Naidu said it was the responsibility of the US Government and the civil society to put an end to this.
Terming the Kansas shooting in which Kuchibhotla was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani was injured, shameful, he said this was a blot on US which claims to be the oldest democracy.
"American President and people should come out openly and condemn such actions and then take strongest action and send a message that this is not acceptable," Naidu said.
Stating that seven incidents of this nature occured, the Minister said that they are sending wrong message which was not good for US, its people and the world.
Naidu said that when small incidents occur in India, it was blown out of proportion and the country which claims to be the oldest democracy tell the world that this is what happening in India.
The Minister said the US should answer the questions raised by Srinivas' wife so eloquently even in this hour of grief.
He said the incident had caused anguish to Indians and brought sorrow to Telugus.
He said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj acted swiftly and directed the Indian embassy to make arrangements for bringing home the slain techie's body.
Naidu, who was accompanied by Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, said while the series of incidents caused concern among the Indian community in the US, there was no need for panic.
He said it was not proper to take decisions like dropping plans to travel to the US or returning to India.
"There is elected government and democratic system there. Elected public representatives there are voicing concern on such incidents," he added.
Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white man who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, 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.
Kuchibhotla of Hyderabad and his colleague Madasani from Warangal district in Telangana were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an MNC.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said there is an "alliance of subversion" on certain Indian campuses and that the ultra-Left and separatists are speaking the same language.
They must also allow others with different opinions to speak, he said while delivering a talk at London School of Economics on Saturday.
The minister said it was his personal belief that "free speech" in society needs to be debated, adding that "violence is however not the method".
The comment comes days after a violent clash outside Delhi University's Ramjas college between activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's students wing and other students groups on February 22 during a march against forced suspension of an event a day earlier.
"I personally believe that free speech in India, and in any society, has to be debated. If you believe you have free speech to assault the sovereignty of the country, then be ready to concede free speech to counter that," Jaitley said.
"Violence is not the method; no group can and should use violence there is an alliance of subversion which is taking place. The separatists and the ultra-Left are speaking the same language in certain university campuses. So, they must be willing to allow others with a different opinion to put a counter viewpoint," he said.
"I find this absolutely strange that an argument is being raised that I have free speech to advocate that India should be broken into pieces and those who oppose me are hindering that right to free speech. Well, they too have a right to free speech," Jaitley said.
Two alleged ISIS operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Sunday, officials said.
The duo named, Wasim and Nathin,was arrested from Rajkot and Bhavnagar, the officials added. Bomb making material and jihadi literature was recovered from the duo who are believed to be siblings.
According to reports, the duo was planning "lone wolf" attacks in Indian cities and were in touch with their handlers via social media sites.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested two people for joining and supporting ISIS last month while, last year, the Rajasthan ATS had arrested an alleged Islamic State operative in Sikar district.
The individual was involved in collecting and transferring funds for the terror organisation from Dubai.
BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday accused the SP and BSP of virtually destroying Uttar Pradesh and said this election would end the politics of appeasement, casteism and dynastic rule.
Exuding confidence that BJP would form the next government in the state, Shah said, "Once the poll results are announced, it will signal the end of politics of appeasement, casteism and dynastic rule in the entire state".
Shah also urged voters to give an overwhelming majority to the BJP, and strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He said as soon as the BJP forms the government, it would ban all the slaughterhouses in the state. "Instead of blood of cattle, there will be streams of milk and ghee flowing throughout the state," Shah said.
The BJP chief exuded confidence that the party would be form the government with two-thirds majority.
He said in the last 15 years of SP and BSP rule, development has taken a backseat.
"There is acute shortage of power, medicines, and the common citizens including women and traders are feeling very much unsafe," he said and added that farmers are yet to get their dues from the government.
Throwing an open challenge to Akhilesh Yadav, the BJP chief said, "Counting will begin at 8.00 AM on March 11and by noon the counting process will be completed, bringing to an end the rule of Akhilesh Yadav by 1 PM".
The BJP chief took a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying, "On one hand Modi government has released 104 satellites, and on the other Rahul is pushing the 'cycle', which has already become punctured".
The cycle is the symbol of the Samajwadi Party with which Congress has forged an alliance for the ongoing assembly elections in the state.
On a warm summer night I had put my baby daughter to sleep in the bedroom upstairs when a muffled sound like a firecracker made me look out of the window. I saw tracer bullets crisscrossing the night sky. A civil war had begun.
It was August 1987, and some military officers were staging a coup detat in the Philippines to topple the new government of President Corazon Aquino, who had deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
The dissident officers strategy was to attack downtown Manila, the capital, and cripple the financial district. Expatriates like me were particularly vulnerable, for our countries were believed to be supportive of Aquinos rise to power.
Our official walkie-talkie crackled with news of violence and advice to stay indoors. Several civilians had died in the initial fire-fight, and nobody expected the inexperienced new government to be able to end the insurgency anytime soon.
There was no television news; the station was reportedly under siege. No use calling the embassy for help, for it had lready announced that it could do little to assist anyone till morning. I called neighbors, who said insurgents had commandeered some peoples homes to better target key street corners. It was hazardous to stay put, but with the sound of gunfire from three sides, it was just as hazardous to leave.
My wife and I moved the baby to a central room and shuttered all the windows. We also packed two suitcases with essentials, in case there was an opportunity to get out. Then we did the most difficult thing of all: we waited.
Three hours later, as the guns rattled, the official word came that at dawn local civilians were to form a convoy of cars near the school and drive to a hotel in a safe area near the port, so that if the situation turned worse, we could be evacuated to a navy vessel.
As the sun rose, we rushed to our car with our suitcases and drove to the hotel. For a week we lived in a curious bubble: while violence raged elsewhere, we passed leisurely days in five-star comfort, at government expense, eating gourmet food in plush restaurants, our children entertained on the manicured hotel grounds by clowns and musicians.
No work, all play. We drank coffee and scotch, pored over newspapers for tidbits of news about the unfolding and then unraveling coup, chatted with colleagues, read books and just relaxed.
Our daughter took it all as an extended picnic and revelled in the endless company of familiar kids.
After seven days, the coup ended as a futile adventure, and we returned home. The house was the same as we had left it, with one exception. A bullet had penetrated a window on the first floor, traversed the length of the living room, and lodged itself neatly in a desk, on which stood a framed photograph of our baby, smiling without a concern in the world.
(The writer is a Washington-based international development advisor and had worked with the World Bank. He can be reached at [email protected])
Over the years, there has been a rapid spurt in the incidence of attacks on doctors and para-medical staff, and vandalising of hospitals destroying costly medical equipment.
The basic causes of public wrath have been essentially: first, negligence on the part of doctors and support staff to render proper treatment and secondly, anomalies in hospital bills involving over billing and false billing.
There have been widespread allegations that patients have to incur huge expenses even on items not necessary for treatment. This author while recuperating from kidney transplant surgery in a hospital on the E M Bypass in East Kolkata had to settle pay for feeding bottles for babies, bibs etc. Therefore, apparently people's wrath is rather legitimate.
Next comes the allegation about negligence in treatment. There are many genuine instances to support this allegation. But there also remains a pertinent question whether there is too much load on a physician.
In order to consider both these worrying issues the escalating cost of treating a patient in a private hospital and the attitude of a section of physicians, the Government of West Bengal had decided to discuss threadbare how the menace could be handled. However, many leading doctors keep close touch with many influential people, and they somehow manage to pull strings compelling common people to remain deprived of the best.
In India, charity as a rule doesn't begin from home. Even the venerated Professor Bidhan Chandra Roy had many friends who were legendary physicians known to be in the habit of toying with established rules and regulations. During the 34 years of Left Front rule in West Bengal, no doctor of repute could be removed from plum postings in Kolkata and the surrounding. Some of them also owned private hospitals and nursing homes that were beyond the reach of most patients.
In a new township like Salt Lake, there had been several examples of private hospitals being established on land purchased at subsided rates with a promise to render low cost medical care to common people. But in practice the promise had seldom been kept.
In a study done several years ago, it was revealed that a sizable section of the population could become paupers largely as a result of steep hike in the price of health care. This has emerged as a critical problem in the modern healthcare system, especially the allopathic system.
India was the biggest British colony and the advent of the Raj saw the growth of allopathy at the expense of Traditional and Alternative Medicine (TAM) much to the detriment of the common man.
Even in the post colonial phase, the health policy of India introduced by Jawaharlal Nehru and leading physicians like Dr. Roy all trained in Britain did repose firm faith on allopathy while setting aside the claims of Traditional and Alternative Medicine. But TAM had been sincerely pursued in many countries of Asia, Africa and South America.
Even in some states within India such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the practice of TAM is exemplary and many patients even today visit these states to cure chronic ailments like cancer, blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, skin diseases etc.
But physicians associated with the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the biggest organisation of allopaths has fought tooth and nail against the introduction of TAM.
How can the health care system be made affordable to common people? Physicians need to be more socially committed to prescribe medicine and tests keeping in mind the pecuniary ability of a patient. But this is seldom done by a modern medical practitioner who seems to be more concerned about his personal wealth instead of patients' health. Ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha, naturopathy and homeopathy AYUSH has since 2014 been placed under a separate Union Ministry. With its proper introduction and application, AYUSH may be able to allay problems of many sick patients. But fearing monetary loss, the allopaths have not allowed AYUSH to spread. This is, no doubt, an effective example of how modernity has harmed commoners.
India has 15 agro-climatic zones, 47,000 plant species and 15,000 medicinal plants that include 7,000 plants used in Ayurveda, 700 in Unani medicine, 600 in Siddha medicine and 30 in modern medicine. This makes India one among 12 mega bio diverse countries of the world.
The Indian systems of medicine have identified 1,500 medicinal plants of which 500 species are mostly used in preparation of drugs. Many consumers use traditional medicine for self care because of a wide perception that natural means safe. Because of limited quality control and or improper use by consumers, misuse of herbal preparations has been widely reported.
While traditional medicine has long been used, there is negligible documented evidence regarding its safety and effectiveness.
To tackle urgent and emergency cases, there is no substitute to allopathy. AYUSH can seldom render this service. But not all those who get admitted to hospitals and nursing homes are those needing critical care. Many of them are also not rich. Still, there is no referral system to goad patients suffering from chronic ailments to seek alternate cures. The problem lies in our profit-driven approach and this will impede our reaching the avowed goal of Health for All by 2020.
Our mindset needs to be cured in order to cure our body. AYUSH can be an effective substitute for many patients. The health care system must see a more effective distribution of resources.
The writer was on the sociology faculty of Presidency University.
There exists a highly unequal distribution of incomes and assets within countries and between countries. While billions of people enjoy longevity and good health, more than one billion people live in abject poverty, struggling for mere survival every day. The poorest of the poor face the daily life-and-death challenges of insufficient nutrition, lack of healthcare, unsafe shelter, lack of safe drinking water and sanitation. A grotesquely unequal distribution of income means millions of children run the risk of dying from easily treatable diseases. Economic inequality has always been a subject of discourse.
As far back as 1971, Jan Pen, a Dutch economist, came up with a graphical representation of income inequality within the British economy. To draw his famous graph, the heights of all adults was imagined as proportionate to their income and they were made to take part in an hour-long parade in the ascending order of their income. Pen then described what observers of average height would see. It would be a parade of dwarfs and at the very end some giants would appear. The first marchers, the owners of loss-making businesses, the jobless, the working poor will not be visible at all. Their heads are below the ground. By even halfway through the parade, the marchers are still quite short. It takes about 45 minutes before the marchers are as tall as the observer. In the final stage, the giants will dominate. With six minutes to go they are 12 feet tall; when the highest earners walk by, right at the end, each is more than two miles tall.
A Pens Parade graph is true in every economy. It can be useful in showing how incomes, and income distribution, change over time. Growth in output hardly guarantees growth in equality. Global inequality is worse than at any time since the 19th century. The latest annual report of Oxfam, entitled An Economy for the 99 per cent states that the bottom 50 per cent of the worlds population has just 0.2 per cent of the worlds wealth, and since 2015 the leading billionaires, six of whom are from the US, together have more wealth (net wealth of $426 billion) than what the bottom 50 per cent of the worlds population owns. There are 18 billionaires in sub-Saharan Africa living alongside the 358 million people living in extreme poverty. In India today 57 bilionaires control 70 per cent of its wealth. More precisely, the top one per cent has gained more income than the bottom 50 per cent put together. The 2016 list of Indian billionaires published by the US business magazine Forbes reveals that India has a total of 84 billionaires.
Contrary to popular belief, many of the super-rich are not self-made. Over half the worlds 62 richest billionaires were as wealthy as half of the worlds population. However, the number has dropped to eight this year (2017) because of the revelation that poverty in China and India is worse than previously imagined, making the bottom 50 per cent even worse off and widening the gap between rich and poor. Indeed, global inequality has reached levels not witnessed for over a century.
To summarize a countrys current status of economic developmet and to classify countries in their respective levels of such development, the World Bank and other international organisations heavily rely on a single measurement called the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. This indicator is not a comprehensive measure of economic development, because there are many other important indicators of well-being. In view of sustainable developments commitment to social inclusion and broad-based prosperity, it is imperative to take into account not just a countrys average levels of income, but the variation of incomes across households and individuals within a country.
On the face of it, the average income can be fine. But it is just fine because a few people are rich and the rest of the country is poor, then the state of affairs is not so fine after all. The popular measure of inequality of income within the country is the Gini coefficient (also known as Gini index), which ranges from zero to one. A score of zero means perfect equality: everyone earns the same. A score of one means that one person gets everything. Real societies are of course somewhere in between. Individual income inequality measured by the Gini coefficient has consistently risen. The Indian growth-inequality paradox is easy to pin down ~ the wealth that India creates is not evenly distributed. According to the International Monetary Fund, Indias Gini coeffieient rose to 0.51 by 2013 from 0.45 in 1990, mainly on account of rising inequality between urban and rural areas as well as within urban areas. As of November 2016, India is the second most unequal economy in the world. Far from trickling down, income and wealth are being sucked upwards at an alarming rate. The IMF has recently warned that India faces the social risk of growing inequality.
The data, that has emerged from a decade of empirical research on growth, reveal that at the global level income and wealth are increasingly concentrated among the small number of countries in the world, leaving the rest to deteriorate in deprivation. Concentrations of wealth and poverty have an ethnic and geographic dimension. Inequality must be reckoned in terms of the global North and the global South, and the reality of imperialism, multinational corporations, class, race, caste and patriarchy. The low-income countries are heavily concentrated in two regions: tropical Africa and South Asia, with a few other low-income countries scattered in other parts of the world. The 99 per cent is predominantly represented by hundreds of millions of the dispossessed suffering under varying conditions all over the world, but mainly concentrated in the global South.
To quote Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Laureate: The widening gap between rich and poor is at a tipping point. It can either take deeper root, jeopardizing our efforts to reduce poverty, or we can make concrete changes now to reverse it. The rapid rise of extreme inequality in incomes and assets has been the greatest threat to world peace, and to the survival fo the human species. In their book, The Spirit Level: We More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson demonstrate that countries with higher levels of income inequality experience higher rates of health and social problems compared to more equal countries.
Inequality has damaged our ability to live within the planets resources and succeed in the fight against climate change. It makes the struggle for equality between the sexes far harder. While money is power, the holders of huge capital influence the governments policies more than the voters can ever do. Inequality gives birth to a dominant political form that resembles a plutocracy rather than a democracy. The growing threat of left extremists and terrorism has its roots in economic deprivation and inequality in access to resources. Rising inequality is also a factor that promotes a divisive agenda of sectarianism, xenophobia and nationalism.
The captions contradiction in terms is unavoidable for it underlines the grim tragedy of South Sudan. It is an impossibility theorem of sorts, to summon the famous expression of Nobel Laureate Kenneth Arrow, who passed away on Tuesday at the ripe age of 95. The official declaration of famine, which was announced by the UN and the government on Monday, is eerily reminiscent of the denial policy of the British that led to the Bengal famine of 1942 as exposed to the world by this newspaper at that point of time. Once again, it is not an agricultural failure but the result of prolonged civil war and a crippling economic crisis that has devastated the war-torn East African nation. Above all, 75 years after the Bengal famine, a swathe of the world has to countenance the denial of food. And unmistakable must be the repetition of social history. The famine is almost an engineered humanitarian crisis, a hideous instance of mans inhumanity to man ~ not celluloid fiction but a point of fact. With one million lives at risk, President Salva Kiir Mayardits government has been ruthless in its reprisal as he counters the adversaries in the midst of the civil war by blocking food supplies. The United Nations has informed the world at the peak of the crisis; logically therefore it ought to intervene without dithering, as it did in the wake of political upheavals in Libya and Syria. Quite totally outrageous has been the governments blocking of food aid to some areas. Indeed, the contrived scarcity of food has emerged as a tool to rein in the rebellious.
The World Food Programmes assessment that there is only so much that humanitarian assistance can achieve in the absence of meaningful peace and security alone explains the disconnect between the declaration of famine and the blockade against food supplies. The extent of human suffering is underscored by the official classification of famine and it is time for the comity of nations to react to the heart-rending conditions.
The tormented country showcases fields that are fertile, and yet the country is plagued by famine. And between the two extremes, there is no food. The risk of death out of hunger is substantial, going by the report crafted jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the World Food Programme, and Unicef. The data collection has been remarkably incisive. On a parity of reasoning, the response of the world must match the enormity of the tragedy. The famine is man-made, and the quality of life has descended to what the WFP calls emergency level of hunger. That succinctly sums up the tragedy of the worlds tiniest nation ~ seemingly improbable but direly true.
Not many, even among economists, may have been able to grasp the impossibility theorem of Kenneth Arrow, who passed away on Tuesday at the ripe age of 95.
At 51, he was the youngest Nobel Laureate, having been conferred the award in 1972 in league with the British economist, Sir John Hicks. And the encomiums over the past three days are more than the customary obituary reference; they testify to his seminal contribution to economic theory, general equilibrium and welfare verily an Albert Einstein of Economics, as another Nobel Laureate, Alvin Roth, has described him.
And then the gem of a reference Ken was a giant in an astonishing way. The award of the National Medal of Science was the icing on the cake in 2007. It is no reflection on the several Nobel Prize winners in Economics to aver that Kenneth Arrow was one of the greatest economists of the 20th century. The value of his contribution may not be readily comprehensible to the uninitiated not merely because of the profundity of thought, but also on account of the overdose of mathematics.
Pioneering was his contribution to the theory of general equilibrium and welfare, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences being the mark of recognition. He had crafted the book, Social Choice and Individual Values in 1951, long before the concept of social choice theory became the subject of academic discourse.
Arrows Impossibility Theorem addresses issues of collective decision-making as opposed to one-person governance as manifest nearer home, nearly 50 years after it was formulated. The theorem states that a group of people cannot make decisions that are reflective of individual desires, other than in a dictatorship. Crucially, the theory argues that there is no ideal voting system, once again long before the periodic tryst with democracy was vitiated by the political class.
Beyond economics, Arrow was remarkably vocal on such issues as the Middle East and climate change. In 1988, he wrote an open letter to then Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, challenging the latters stance on an undivided land of Israel, couched in an appeal to end violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Thirty years later, the issue festers still.
He was a co-author of the Economists Statement on Climate Change, issued in 1997 and signed by more than 2,400 US economists, highlighting the hazards of global warming. All three issues the Middle East, identity politics, and climate change dominate the agenda of the new US administration. The thoughts of Kenneth Arrow are of abiding import.
The results of the Maharashtra civic polls send a clear message that the saffron space in the state and as a consequence in the country is increasing while the secular space is shrinking. It is good news for both the NDA allies the BJP and the Shiv Sena as their Hindutva model is gaining ground although the two parties had contested separately. Together, the BJP and the Sena have ensured a saffron sweep across the state.
Why should these civic body polls in one state create so much interest across the country? The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), established in 1882 is the richest civic body in Asia. Its annual budget of Rs 37,052 crore (2016-17) is larger than of the three big metro cities of Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. It is also more than that of some smaller states in the Northeast such as Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim. No wonder there is a fierce fight to capture it.
Along with the 10 cities, 25 zilla parishads and more than 280 panchayat samitis voted for their local representatives in two phases, on February 16 and February 21.
Broadly, the BMC results show that while the incumbent Sena has held its own, BJP has grown, and the opposition parties including the Congress and the NCP have continued to decline. The Maratha strongman and NCP chief Sharad Pawar lost his bastion in Pune. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena of Raj Thackeray is almost wiped out.
While the BJP sought votes on the slogan of transparency, the Sena wooed them showing off its two decades of performance. The poll results show that the BJP has established itself as number one party across Maharashtra with a universal appeal. It has won with a simple majority in cities like Pune, Nashik and Nagpur and bagged eight out of the 10 municipalities proving that it is no longer dependent on Shiv Sena. It had overtaken the Sena in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and the subsequent Assembly polls but its continuing rise in the state must be a red rag for the Sena, which considered itself as the big brother in Maharashtra. As a corollary, BJP chief minister Devendra Phadnavis has also emerged a clear winner and proved his leadership qualities.
Significantly the BJPs rise is remarkable since 2014 when Prime Minister Modi took over. It has been consistently making forays into hitherto unchartered territories like the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir or increasing its tally in places where it already has a presence. For instance recently it improved its performance in Odisha reducing the ruling BJDs numbers considerably in the Panchayat polls. In Chandigarh, the party swept the city municipal election by winning 20 out of 26 seats.
In the Gujarat local body polls the BJPs tally of 107 seats out of 123 reducing the Congress to 16 seats was impressive. The BJP has increased its seat share in the BMC by a whopping 250 per cent from 31 seats in 2012 to 82 seats now. The BJP is elated. The second thing which emerges is that the Sena has held its own, particulary in the BMC which is its bastion. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who was dismissed as a light weight, has established that he is the true inheritor of his father Balasaheb Thackerays legacy. Not long ago, Uddhav was being written off as a political novice, fighting for space with his cousin Raj Thackeray but the latter has withered away. This was indeed his defining moment as Uddhaav took a big risk. After ruling the civic body for over two decades, he parted company with the BJP but the big gamble has yielded rewards. The Senas performance, especially in Mumbai and Thane, was critical to the partys future. Uddhav had realised it was a now or never moment for him and his party. This win has confirmed the Senas continued relevance in the state. Uddhav has succeeded in transforming his party from a volatile right wing outfit to a more sober version, a process which has just started. However, whether Uddhav will decide to severe connection with the BJP altogether is doubtful, as they are partners at the Centre. After all, there are two more years to go before the 2019 polls.
The big losers are the Congress and its ally Nationalist Congress party. Both continue to be on the slide in a state which they had ruled for 15 years before they yielded power to the BJP-Sena combine in 2014. In the BMC, the Congress is down to 31 from 51, and the NCP to 9 from the 13 it had in 2012. Congress-NCP held power in three city corporations, Pune, Solapur and Amravati and the NCP held Pimpri-Chinchwad while Raj Thackerays Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had ruled Nasik for the last five years.
For the Congress since 2014, it has been a continuous slide except in Bihar in 2015 where its performance improved. The big blow in Maharashtra might have some adverse effect in the ongoing UP polls and bring down the morale of the party. The Congress has to do some serious thinking about its defeat.
Maharashtra, like many other states is facing factionalism and indiscipliine. The five leaders Sanjay Nirupam, Gurudas Kamat, Priya Dutt, Milind Deora and Narayan Rane have been fighting with each other and have already started the blame game. The results prove that the Congress party has failed to learn its lessons.
Finding similarities in the thinking of hard-boiled businessman Donald Trump and entrepreneur-philanthropist Bill Gates would not be easy, but in their own different ways they do make common cause in protecting American jobs.
The fixer in the White House seeks to use American muscle in all possible ways against those who steal jobs and have paralysed traditional industries such as steel and automobiles by imposing heavy taxes on products they seek to sell in US markets. Gates also wishes to use taxes as a corrective, his target is the new range of robots that are increasingly ejecting human beings from the shop-floor.
Clearly both are worried about growing unemployment and its range of negative side-effects. A scary situation: one that illuminated the path from Trump Tower to the West Wing. And which simultaneously left politician Hillary hapless by the wayside, since her winning the popular vote proved no passport to the Oval Office. The Microsoft-man has his own brand of logic.
The human worker would contribute to the exchequer income-tax, social-security tax, etc., so why should robots be exempt from such levies? It would require no artificial intelligence to fathom such reasoning. Something which would resonate across the world with those tasked with keeping governments out of the red.
Yet where Gates appears benign in comparison with ruthless Donald is that he desires that those displaced from the work-force are re-trained and redeployed in professions aimed at extending succour to the needy: helping the elderly in their daily chores, making life easier for working mums by taking care of children and so on. His scheme has twin objectives, filling a vacuum in support services, and simultaneously causing industry to take a re-look at automation.
Maybe Trump would accept that Gates had played an ace if informed that quite a few of the popular robots were produced outside the United States. It would be killing two birds with one stone.
Mumbai is upgrading declare blue, green road boards around Churchgate, with work starting on the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Mumbai Metro rail corridor for commuting to be less daily torture for millions.
When wisely used, upgrading becomes a word bubbling with progress, quality, evolution, a better life. Without wiser civilization upgrades, we might still be in caves using Stone Age accessories.
Mumbai upgrading in any way sounds gratifying, for I owe a great debt to this special city that is my home since 1991. Here in 1993, when I was writing on street children, a social worker mentioned to me this word Vipassana. My fledgling journalism career was taking off, and I was not particularly looking for any path or process to upgrade my life. Yet I promptly went to the Dhamma Thali Vipassana Center in Jaipur a young Raja in Rajasthan, amid Dhamma Thalis dancing peacocks, the king of birds, and monkeys in trees fitting reminders of this monkey-mind jumping from past to future, rarely still in reality of the present moment, this mind full of tricks.
Most fortunately, in some protection of destiny, I did not think of writing an article on Vipassana before or during my first 10-day course. It enabled experiencing the depths, instead of superficial analysis with the surface-level intellectual part of the mind. Judging Vipassana through mere words is like measuring the Indian Ocean with a teacup.
Instead, those days in Dhamma Thali became an inner revolution, an explosion of deep-rooted realizations beyond vocabularies, a subliminal connection to my real work in life. Later I did write about my experience for The Statesman, and then sub-editor Indrani Bagchi said the article got a phenomenal response. Not surprising, because this is time for the Vipassana inner revolution to upgrade lives across India and the world. Time-clock of Vipassana has struck, often said Sayagyi U Ba Khin (1899 1971), independent Burmas first Account General who greatly wished that Vipassana return to India, the country of its origin.
Vipassana (www.dhamma.org) or insight in ancient Pali language means to see reality as it is. This faculty of gaining insight impacts life like a person gaining sight after being blind from birth.
Reality changes from moment to moment. I experience the cup of life brimming with quiet happiness, but I know this too shall pass. and maybe when the dark clouds return, dangerous storms burst again through disturbed days, I know, yes, that too will change.
For change is the only constant, through the great Law of Cause and Effect. We reap the fruits of life from seeds of volition we sow each moment. Understanding the continuity of cause and effect is heart of the mind revolution called Vipassana. We understand, through direct experience, subtler realities of this mind-matter phenomenon called I , the upgrading in life and to share all benefits thereby gained, in an undying circle of infinite gratitude.
This feeling of gratitude empowers lifes upgrades, to share all benefits gained. Generous Mumbai has the worlds largest number of Vipassana practitioners, fellow explorers of experiential wisdom no blind faith and imprisoning dogma. Mumbai was also home to the late Principal Vipassana Teacher Sayagyi U Goenka (1924 2013) infinite gratitude to this Most Compassionate Being, for his ultimate sacrifice enabled gaining this self-dependent Vipassana journey of practical wisdom, this necessary inner revolution for the benefit of many.
For me, Vipassana is humanitys most beneficial revolution, Indias greatest gift to the world this universal self-dependent way to train, master the mind, free it from delusions, self-deceptions and lethal addictions to self-destructive thought patterns. Not that one takes a Vipassana course, or 100 Vipassana courses, and thats it. The key to inner change needs correct daily Vipassana practice, working very hard to train the mind to be master of this moment in life.
Carelessness can cost, just as any revolution faces setbacks to be overcome, mistakes to be corrected.
Mumbai understands better this revolution. Indias financial capital one of the wealthiest, busiest, most compassionate cities in the world has the largest number of Vipassana practitioners. From Mumbai are 60 per cent of participants in Dhamma Giri the worlds largest Vipassana centre that serves about 1,200 students monthly in Igatpuri, in fortnightly residential 10-day courses taught entirely free of cost. During the happy years I voluntarily served in Dhamma Giri from 1994, heaven was heading both ways on Panchavati Express: Mumbai to Dhamma Giri to Mumbai. With four Vipassana centres in Mumbai and 26 centres in Maharashtra state (out of 170 worldwide), Maharashtra justifies its name: The Great State that leads a global renaissance of practical wisdom. In South Mumbai, 1969, Sayagyi U Goenka came from Myanmar, via Kolkata, and conducted the first Vipassana course in India after millennia India changed.
In the past 24 years, I have seen Vipassana benefit people of all backgrounds, religions, from children to corporate chieftains, scientists to Tihar Jail inmates. A common feedback: I wish I had done this sooner. Yet the Vipassana upgrade needs basic humility to accept unpleasant truths. The ego I needs objectively acknowledging room for improvement, a little upgrade. The why-whats-wrong-with-me attitude generally makes us vulnerable to tricks the mind plays such as blaming others for our problems in life. Surely, maybe slowly, we free ourselves from recurring storms of delusions, aversion, anger, lust, self-destructive outputs of the ego.
With equanimity and without blind reactions, the inner enemies lose strength and fade away. Vipassana gradually liberates from conditioned habit patterns of the mind, poisonous thought process. Daily life gains efficiency, like a computer cleaned of lethal virus.
The crucial realization that is easy to forget: the cause of happiness or suffering is within, not outside. Vipassana enables experiencing the actual reality beyond the apparent reality of how I blindly react, not to external happenings, but to resultant biochemical flow of sensations within, pleasant or unpleasant. With equanimity to these sensations, instead of blind reaction with craving or aversion, life becomes a more balanced ship sailing through storms.
Not easy, because out of carelessness the ship sometimes crashes into rocks, gets battered in self-destructive storms of the mind. But the Vipassana training of equanimity, the compass of destiny, helps the ship to calmer waters, sail back on course. This battle goes on, fought across eons, fraught with failures, sometimes stumbling but recovering balance again to continue the journey, oftentimes alone, determined to continue across endless time, and serve for liberation of all beings.
(The writer is a senior, Mumbai-based journalist.)
The idea of visiting Bhutan originated from Baljit Singhs article Landlocked beauty in Frontline, 2012. The guiding GNH (Gross National Happiness) philosophy based on sustainable economic development, conservation of the environment, preservation of culture and good governance made me curious about the kingdom.
On the day of Holi, we, a two-family-group, boarded Kanchankanya Express. The train left Sealdah at 8:30 pm and next morning at 11:30 am we got off at Hasimara, the nearest railway station to enter Bhutan from West Bengal. We hired two auto-rickshaws to go to Jaigaon, the border town of India.
We reached Phuentsholing, the border town of Bhutan, a stark contrast to Jaigaon. While the former is pristine, the latter is bleak. To tour that country, an Indian requires Entry Permit from the Regional Migration Office, Phuentsholing. For that purpose one should carry ones EPIC (original and xerox) and passport-size photograph, in case of a child, birth certificate (original and xerox) and passport-size photograph. Our driver, Ambar, took us to the office. We found the staff very helpful. They were smartly dressed, men wearing gho and women kira. We fell in love with Bhutan at first sight.
After lunch we started for Thimpu, around a 6-7 hours drive from Phuentsholing. The quality road and the drivers skill combined made it a smooth ride. The majestic landscape comprising serpentine roads, streams, rich pine forests, lush green valleys and dazzling peaks mesmerised us. After the evening an air of mystery gripped us. Robert Frosts poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening flashed across my mind: The only other sounds the sweep/ of easy wind and downy flake.
We reached Thimpu at 8:30 pm, a picturesque city dotted with dzongs, monasteries and imposing buildings. The next morning at 9 oclock we went sightseeing around the city. We headed for Tashichho Dzong Fortress located on the west bank of the river Wang Chuu. Apart from the throne room and offices of His Majesty the king of Bhutan, as an administrative building it houses the Central Secretariat and the offices of the ministers of Home Affairs and Finance. The National Assembly is now located in a separate building called SAARC building. We found peach trees in full bloom, creating a riot of colours.
We visited Dechenphodrang, a monastic school, and Changangkha Lhakhang, an old fortress-like temple perched on a ridge. Another religious sight is National Memorial Choeten, a shrine built in memory of king Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuk called Father of Modern Bhutan. Elderly Bhutanese circumambulate the choeten and offer prayers. A visit to the shrine in the evening offers a feeling of peace and serenity.
Takin, the national animal of Bhutan, has a strange appearance with the head of a goat and the body of a cow. The Takin Preserve at Motithang is worth visiting.
To catch a glimpse of Bhutanese art and craft we visited National Institute for Zorig Chusum and its adjacent building Folk Heritage Museum. The Buddha Dordenma Project in Thimpu is going to be the 8th wonder of the world. A 169 ft bronze statue of Buddha has been erected here. The site offers a panoramic view of the capital.
The mountains we saw on the way to Punakha from Thimpu were lush and green. Dochula Pass gave us a serendipitous surprise. It is a popular location among tourists as it offers a panoramic view of the Himalayan mountain range. The view is splendid on clear winter days with snow-capped mountain peaks forming a majestic backdrop to the tranquillity of 108 stupas gracing the mountain pass. Here Druk Wangyal Lhakhang stands as a magnificent architectural work.
We were highly enthusiastic about Punakha Dzong. It is built at the confluence of Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu (rivers) which add to the beauty of the landscape. Puna Mochhu Bazam (bridge) is a part of the attraction of the monastic structure.
We were idyllically happy at Paro. The beauty of its valley is indescribable. We had an exhilarating experience on the bank of Paro river. We could not resist the temptation of dipping our feet into its limpid green water. The surrounding hills offered a sublime view.
Paro airport is one of the wonders of Bhutan. We got to the view point just when a plane was about to take off. It was an unforgettable moment. Next we visited National Museum, an educational institute which interprets history and culture of Bhutan.
A trip to Bhutan remains incomplete without trekking to Taktsang Monastery located on a high cliff towards the north of Paro town. It is associated with the life of Padmasambhava, who is known to have introduced Buddhism to Bhutan.
On our way back to Phuentsholing our driver got us a permit to visit Chhukha Hydro Power Plant. It is a life-time experience. We saw three turbines moving at 350 rpm installed in a forbidden-looking tunnel which goes through a mountain.
The Bhutanese love to live in harmony with nature. It is a clean country with extensive and intact forest cover, clean waterways, scenic landscape and benign people.
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Three of the 18 persons arrested from across Goa and Maharashtra in connection with the army exam paper leak were picked up from a bar in North Goa's Anjuna village, police said on Sunday.
Some students were answering the illegally obtained question paper in the early hours on Sunday, police sources said.
The trio was arrested by officials of the Crime Branch of Thane police, along with personnel attached to the Anjuna police station.
"The papers were being answered by the students in Sandhya Bar in Anjuna police jurisdiction. The raids were conducted in the early morning," a police source said.
Speaking to reporters late on Sunday, Director General of Police Muktesh Chander said the local police only provided logistical support to the Thane Crime Branch, which conducted the raids.
"Three persons were arrested. The students were allowed to go after we collected their details," Chander said.
The Thane Crime Branch has so far arrested 18 people across the two states in connection with the Army Recruitment Board exam paper leak for junior positions in the Indian Army.
Over 200 students have also been detained by the Maharashtra Police.
The raids followed a tip-off to the Thane police that the paper, for which exam was due to be held on Sunday morning, had been leaked. The raids were conducted in Nashik, Nagpur, Pune and Goa.
During the crucial elections into the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, black spots in politics are hogging lime light. In a major embarrassment to the ruling Samajwadi Party, a gang-rape case against its minister Gayatri Prajapati has picked up steam after the Supreme Court directed the police to file an FIR last week.
Prajapati, who is contesting Amethi constituency which goes to polls on February 27, has been accused of gang-raping a woman in Luknow last year.
It may be recalled that Prajapati was sacked by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, but later reinstated after pressure from party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The victim has accused the minister of raping her at his Lucknow residence. She has recorded her statement in a court and the minister is likely to be arrested soon. Manjil Saini, SSP, Lucknow said there had been sufficient evidence against Prajapati. The victim and the minister had spoken to each other on several occasions in the past, he said.
According to victim, the minister called her to his residence in the pretext of offering her some help and offered tea laced with some intoxicant. When she fainted, the minister and his accomplices allegedly raped her and took her pictures.
While ordering an FIR in the case, the apex court, on February 18, also directed the police to inquire and file an action taken report regarding the incidents in eight weeks.
Ayub accused of rape-murder
In yet another incident, a case of murder and sexual exploitation was lodged against Peace Party chief Dr Ayub. He is accused of raping a nursing student and killing her by administering lethal drugs. The victim died on Friday night.
Ayub is a sitting MLA from Khalilabad constituency and presently contesting poll from there. The family of the victim, in their complaint, accused Ayub of repeatedly raping the victim when she was studying nursing in a Lucknow college.
Two suspected Islamic State terrorists, who were allegedly planning to carry out serial blasts at some religious places in Gujarat in the next couple of days, were arrested by the state Anti-Terrorism Squad from Rajkot and Bhavnagar, the ATS said on Sunday.
The two, who are brothers, were in touch with IS operatives overseas through social media, police said, adding they have recovered bomb-making material from the two.
The two were allegedly planning to carry out blasts at religious places like Chotila.
"Acting on specific information, the Gujarat ATS team has nabbed two suspected terrorists having links with IS," Anti-Terrorism Squad's Deputy Superintendent of Police K.K.Patel said.
"They are siblings, identified as Waseem and Naeem Ramodiya. While Waseem was arrested from Rajkot, his brother was arrested from Bhavnagar," he said.
"The ATS formed two teams last night and nabbed them," he further said.
"They were ready with all material to make bombs and were planning to carry out blasts at religious places in the next two days," Patel said, claiming that a major terrorist attack has been averted with their arrest.
Gun powder, local made bombs with battery and masks to hide their identity were recovered from the two men, Patel said, adding the police also seized computers in which objectionable and prohibited content was found.
"They were in touch with IS operatives outside the country through Twitter and other social media networks," the officer said.
ATS Superintendent of Police Himanshu Shukla said, "It is true that Chotila Temple was on their target. But we cannot give further details at this stage keeping in mind further investigations."
Secuirty forces have been put on high alert in Mau district of Uttar Pradesh (UP), amidst possibility of an attack on PM's cavalcade. The ASP (additional superintendent of police, Mau) Ravindra Singh revealed the same while interacting with scribes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will address an election rally at Mau on Monday. Expressing apprehension, the ASP said that there was a possibility of attack on PMs caravan terror outfits active in eastern UP could execute it in connivance with their counterparts operating from Pakistan.
Security officials including SPG, Air Force and local police thronged Mau and took a comprehensive stock of the security situation there. The security forces have been put on extreme high alert.
The PM is expected to arrive Bhujaiti, a nondescript location, to address the election meeting around 1.30 pm in the afternoon. Mau will go to polls in the sixth phase and more than two lakh people are expected to attend the PM's rally.
Analysts at the Homeland Security Departments intelligence arm found insufficient evidence that citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries included in President Donald Trumps travel ban pose a terror threat to the United States.
A draft document obtained by The Associated Press concludes that citizenship is an unlikely indicator of terrorism threats to the United States and that few people from the countries Trump listed in his travel ban have carried out attacks or been involved in terrorism-related activities in the U.S. since Syrias civil war started in 2011.
Trump cited terrorism concerns as the primary reason he signed the sweeping temporary travel ban in late January, which also halted the U.S. refugee program. A federal judge in Washington state blocked the government from carrying out the order earlier this month. Trump said Friday a new edict would be announced soon. The administration has been working on a new version that could withstand legal challenges.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Gillian Christensen on Friday did not dispute the reports authenticity, but said it was not a final comprehensive review of the governments intelligence.
While DHS was asked to draft a comprehensive report on this issue, the document youre referencing was commentary from a single intelligence source versus an official, robust document with thorough interagency sourcing, 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 U.S. intelligence community and the State Department Country Reports on Terrorism 2015.
The three-page report challenges Trumps 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 the United States, just over half were U.S. citizens born in the United States. 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 organizations in Iran, Libya, Somalia and Sudan are regionally focused, while groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen do pose a threat to the U.S.
The seven countries were included in a law President Barack Obama signed in 2015 that updated visa requirements for foreigners who had traveled to those countries.
The report was prepared as part of an internal review Trump requested after his executive order was blocked by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It was drafted by staff of the Homeland Security Departments Intelligence and Analysis branch at the direction of its acting leader, David Glawe.
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 presidents political appointees and the civil servants tasked with carrying out Trumps ambitious and aggressive agenda. Trump has repeatedly complained about leaks meant to undercut his policies and suggested he does not trust holdovers from the Obama administration.
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 travelers detained at airports and panicked families searching for relatives.
But several courts quickly intervened and the 9th Circuit ultimately upheld a ruling blocking the ban and challenged the administrations claim that it was motivated by terrorism fears.
Trumps ban temporarily barred citizens from the seven countries from coming to the United States for three months. The order also temporarily shut down the U.S. refugee program for four months and indefinitely banned anyone from Syria.
A senior administration official told the 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 Friday, Trump reiterated his claims on terrorism.
We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country, Trump said.
He said he singled out the seven countries because they had already been deemed a security concern by the Obama administration.
(AP)
President Donald Trump, who has been criticizing the news media and is famously thin-skinned, says he wont be attending the White House Correspondents Association dinner sparing himself the dubious honor of being an in-the-house target of jokes.
The annual fundraiser for college scholarships and venue for reporting awards mixes politicians, journalists and celebrities and is typically attended by the president and first lady. Remarks by a comedian, often roasting the president, and a humorous address by the president himself, often roasting the press and political opponents, have highlighted the event, which C-SPAN has carried live.
In a tweet Saturday, Trump wrote: I will not be attending the White House Correspondents Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening! He gave no reason for not attending.
Trump has long had an adversarial relationship with news media. Since taking office, however, he has stepped up his criticism by accusing some prominent news outlets of publishing fake news and calling them the enemy of the American People!
Trump had been a regular at the WHCA dinner in recent years, befitting his celebrity status as a reality TV star and beauty pageant owner. He skipped the dinner in April 2016, which came amid the presidential campaign and was the last of the dinners in which President Barack Obama was the honored guest. That didnt mean Trump wasnt the butt of jokes. At one point Obama told guests that Trump has spent years meeting with leaders from around the world Miss Sweden, Miss Argentina, Miss Azerbaijan.
If he attended the dinner Trump would be a prime target of jokes, the camera showing his reaction to one-liners. In 2011, he was on hand and appeared humiliated as Obama lobbed joke after joke at his expense. At the time Trump was a proponent of the debunked claim that Obama wasnt born in the U.S.
In a statement following Trumps tweet, WHCA President Jeff Mason said: The WHCA takes note of President Donald Trumps announcement on Twitter that he does not plan to attend the dinner, which has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic.
I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017
(AP)
The White House on Friday defended chief of staff Reince Priebus against accusations he breached a government firewall when he asked FBI Director James Comey to publicly dispute media reports that Trump campaign advisers had been frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents.
President Donald Trumps spokesman, Sean Spicer, argued Priebus had little choice but to seek Comeys assistance in rebutting what Spicer said were inaccurate reports about contacts during last years presidential campaign. The FBI did not issue the statement requested by Priebus and has given no sign one is forthcoming.
I dont know what else we were supposed to do, Spicer said.
The Justice Department has policies in place to limit communications between the White House and the FBI about pending investigations. Trump officials on Friday not only confirmed contacts between Priebus and the FBI, but engaged in an extraordinary public airing of those private conversations.
Spicer said it was the FBI that first approached the White House about the veracity of a New York Times story asserting that Trump advisers had contacts with Russian intelligence officials during the presidential campaign. Spicer said Priebus then asked both FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe if they would condemn the story publicly, which they declined to do.
The chief of staff said, well, youve put us in a very difficult situation, Spicer said. Youve told us that a story that made some fairly significant accusations was not true. And now you want us to just sit out there.
The FBI would not comment on the matter or verify the White House account. The CIA also declined to comment.
The White House also enlisted the help of Republicans on Capitol Hill to talk to reporters about the New York Times story. Jack Langer, a spokesman for Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the chairman of the House intelligence committee, said the White House asked Nunes to speak with one reporter. He said the chairman told the journalist the same thing that he has said publicly many times before that he had asked but not received any information from intelligence officials that would warrant a committee investigation of any American citizens contacts with Russian intelligence officials.
Langer acknowledged that this could make it harder to convince people that the House investigation into the matter will be independent and free of political bias, but he said the White House did not tell Nunes what to tell the reporter, or give him talking points.
The ranking Democrat on the committee, California Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said if the White House indeed contrived to have intelligence officials contradict unfavorable news reports, it threatens the independence of the intelligence community.
Intelligence professionals are not there to serve as the presidents PR firm, Schiff said, adding, For its part, the intelligence community must resist improper efforts like these by the administration to politicize its role.
The Washington Post reported Friday that the chairman of the Senate intelligence committee also was enlisted by the White House. The newspaper quoted Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., saying he had conversations about Russia-related news reports with the White House and engaged with news organizations to dispute articles by The New York Times and CNN.
The ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, Mark Warner of Virginia, said Friday night that he had called CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Burr to express his grave concerns about what this means for the independence of the congressional investigation already underway.
Warner said he emphasized to the two that he would not accept any process that is undermined by political interference. He said if the Senate intelligence committee cannot conduct a proper probe, he will support whomever can do it.
Fridays revelations were the latest wrinkle in Trumps already complicated relationship with the FBI and other intelligence agencies. Hes accused intelligence officials of releasing classified information about him to the media, declaring in a tweet Friday morning that the FBI was totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi accused Priebus of an outrageous breach of the FBIs independence and called on the Justice Departments inspector general to look into all conversations Priebus and other White House officials have held with the FBI on ongoing investigations.
The rule of law depends on the FBIs complete independence, free from political pressure from the targets of its investigations, Pelosi 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 presidents duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective.
Ron Hosko, a retired FBI assistant director who oversaw criminal investigations, said the discussions between the FBI and the Trump White House were inadvisable.
It is a very slippery slope, Hosko said. Do I get in the position of where Im updating the White House on my priority criminal cases? The answer is no, I should not be doing that.
Other FBI veterans said the interactions between Priebus and the FBI were not unprecedented. Robert Anderson, a retired executive assistant director who served under Comey and oversaw counterintelligence investigations, said contacts between the bureau and White House are usually very-well documented in order to avoid the perception of inappropriate contacts.
CNN first reported that Priebus had asked the FBI for help, and a White House official confirmed the matter to The Associated Press Thursday night. On Friday morning, two other senior White House officials summoned reporters to a briefing to expand on the timeline of events.
The White House officials would only discuss the matter on the condition of anonymity. Two hours later, Trump panned news stories that rely on anonymous sources, telling a conservative conference that reporters shouldnt be allowed to use sources unless they use somebodys name.
Spicer later briefed some reporters on the record. The Associated Press declined to participate in that briefing because some major news organizations were not invited, but audio of the briefing was later circulated by reporters who attended.
Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign in an effort to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
On Feb. 14, The New York Times reported that intelligence agencies had collected phone records and call intercepts showing frequent communication between Trump advisers and Russian intelligence agents during the campaign. Trump has said he is not aware of such contacts.
The White House says Priebus was holding a previously scheduled meeting with McCabe the morning after the Times story was published. According to Spicer, McCabe told Priebus in very colorful terms that the report was inaccurate, prompting the chief of staff to ask if the FBI would make its view known publicly.
Spicer said McCabe told the White House the bureau did not want to be in the practice of rebutting news stories. A similar message was conveyed to Priebus later in the day by Comey, according to the White House spokesman.
The White House said McCabe and Comey instead gave Priebus the go-ahead to discredit the story publicly, something the FBI has not confirmed.
Priebus alluded to his contacts with the FBI over the weekend, telling Fox News that the top levels of the intelligence community had assured him that the allegations of campaign contacts with Russia were not only grossly overstated but also wrong.
During the campaign, Trump and other Republicans strongly criticized a meeting between 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.
Spicer said he was not aware of an FBI investigation into Trump campaign advisers contacts with Russia. Administration officials have acknowledged that the FBI interviewed ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn about his communications with Russias ambassador to the U.S. during the transition.
Flynn was fired after it was revealed that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about the content of those conversations.
(AP)
Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan spoke with Kol Berama Radios Chezi Zeigman on Sunday morning 1 Rosh Chodesh Adar, explaining that Everything is in place for a new yishuv for the expellees of Amona near Shvut Rachel, Shvut Rachell 3. Ben-Dahan explained All that is required is cabinet approval and ten things would move into place quickly.
However, he did not say the matter was going to be discussed at the first cabinet meeting following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahus return from state visits to a number of countries. Ben-Dahan tried signaling this was going to happen sooner than later but he would not state the cabinet will vote during its next session.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Ganz has spoken out against the State Comptrollers report on Operation Protective Edge, the IDFs counter terrorism operation in Gaza in the summer of 2014.
Ganz explains that one cannot win a war without accurate intelligence, praising former Chief of Intelligence Major-General Aviv Kochavi as the best head of intelligence in the IDF in the past forty years. He explained that despite the reports view of the military operation, intelligence was excellent during Protective Edge, albeit not perfect as is always the case.
He disagreed with those who opine taking Gaza would have led to too many casualties, stating We could have conquered Gaza, adding he would be willing to fight another war with the same intelligence they had during Protective Edge.
Ganz explained to Yediot Achronot the military was ordered to hurt Hamas badly as well as its tunnel infrastructure and this was accomplished. It was clear from his statements the IDF was not ordered to destroy the Gaza regime or conquer the area.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
United Airlines flight UA 954 made an unscheduled landing in Houston Sunday, 1 Rosh Chodosh Adar, after there was smell of smoke inside the cockpit plane. The flight landed without incident in George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Israels Ministry of Health announced it is working to significantly lowering the price of gluten free food items in line with recommendation of a government committee that probed the matter. The committee included representatives of the ministry as well as the Ministry of the Economy and Bituach Leumi.
The committee studied why gluten free products are so expensive and then approved steps towards lowering prices. The government plans to infuse up to NIS 9 million into factories producing gluten free items towards encouraging more items at a lower cost. There will also be a relaxing of import restrictions for gluten free items as well as a similar incentive to local industry willing to produce similar non-gluten items towards improved public health.
Health Minister Yaakov Litzman praised the move towards providing more and less expensive items for the many who are compelled to use gluten free items, a move that he believes will improve overall health.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Congress returns to Washington this week to confront dramatic decisions on health care and the Supreme Court that may help determine the course of Donald Trumps presidency.
First, the president will have his say, in his maiden speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. Majority Republicans in the House and Senate will be closely watching the prime-time address for guidance, marching orders or any specifics Trump might embrace on health care or taxes, areas where some of his preferences remain a mystery.
Congressional Republicans insist they are working closely with the new administration as they prepare to start taking votes on health legislation, with the moment finally upon them to make good on seven years of promises to repeal and replace former President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act. House Republicans hope to pass their legislation by early April and send it to the Senate, with action there also possible before Easter.
Republicans will be keeping our promise to the American people, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said as he sent lawmakers home for the Presidents Day recess armed with informational packets to defend planned GOP changes to the health law.
But land mines await.
The recess was dominated by raucous town halls where Republicans faced tough questions about their plans to replace the far-reaching law with a new system built around tax credits, health savings accounts and high risk pools. Important questions are unanswered, such as the overall cost and how many people will be covered. Theres also uncertainty about how to resolve divisions among states over Medicaid money.
The lack of clarity created anxiety among voters who peppered lawmakers from coast to coast with questions about what would become of their own health coverage and that of their friends and family. Its forced Republicans to offer assurances that they dont intend to take away the law and leave nothing in its place, even though some House conservatives favor doing just that.
What I have said is repeal and replace and more recently I have defined that as repairing the ACA moving forward, Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., insisted to an overflow crowd in his politically divided district this past week. I think we have a responsibility in Washington to try to make the system better.
It remains to be seen whether the release of detailed legislation in the coming days will calm, or heighten, voters concerns. Details on the size of tax credits to help people buy insurance, and how many fewer people will be covered than the 20 million who gained coverage under Obamas law, could create bigger pushback and even more complications.
With lawmakers set to return to the Capitol on Monday, it will become clearer whether the earful many got back home will affect their plans. GOP leaders are determined to move forward, reckoning that when confronted with the reality of voting on the partys repeal and replace plan, Republicans will have no choice but to vote yes.
Many Republicans say that how they will handle health legislation will set the stage for the next big battle, over taxes. And that fight, many believe, will be even trickier than health care. Already, it has opened major rifts between House and Senate Republicans.
Senators also will be weighing the nomination of federal appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch, Trumps pick for the Supreme Court. Hearings soon will get underway in the Senate Judiciary Committee; floor action is expected before Easter.
Despite Gorsuchs sterling credentials, Democrats are under pressure from their liberal supporters to oppose him, given voters disdain for Trump and the GOPs refusal last year to allow even a hearing for Obamas nominee for the high court vacancy, federal appeals Judge Merrick Garland.
Yet some Democrats are already predicting that one way or another, Gorsuch will be confirmed. Even if he doesnt pick up the 60 votes he needs, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., could use a procedural gambit to eliminate Democrats ability to filibuster Gorsuch, an outcome that Trump has endorsed.
Congress is awaiting a budget from the Trump administration, and the slow process of rounding out Trumps Cabinet will move forward as Republicans tee up more nominees over Democratic protests. The Senate has confirmed 14 Cabinet and Cabinet-level officials, fewer than other presidents at this point.
The most controversial nominees, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt have been confirmed. Next up: financier Wilbur Ross for commerce secretary, Rep. Ryan Zinke to lead the Interior Department, retired neurosurgeon and 2016 GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson to be housing secretary and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the energy department.
How Democrats vote will be telling, given the extreme pressures on them to oppose Trump at every turn. Its a dynamic to which those with potential presidential ambitions are particularly sensitive. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, among others, took heat for voting in favor of Carson in committee, while Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York as opposed nearly all the nominees.
(AP)
When Republicans say they want to lower taxes and get rid of loopholes to make up the lost revenue, theyre talking about eliminating some very popular tax breaks enjoyed by millions of people.
Thats why making big changes to tax laws is so hard and why it hasnt been done for 30 years.
Unless Congress simply cuts taxes for everyone, there will be winners and losers, and the losers wont go quietly. If Congress does cut taxes for everyone, lawmakers risk exploding an already large budget deficit.
Republican leaders in the House and Senate say they dont want a tax overhaul to add to the national debt. Thats what they mean when they say revenue neutral. The new system would raise the same amount of tax revenue as the old one, after taking into account some broader economic effects.
President Donald Trump has said he will make public a tax proposal in the coming weeks. Republicans in Congress are also working on plans, with the House GOP taking the lead.
Last year, House Republicans released a blueprint that would lower income tax rates and reduce the number of tax brackets. The gist of the plan is to lower tax rates for just about everyone, and make up the lost revenue by scaling back exemptions, deductions and credits.
A look at the biggest tax breaks enjoyed by individuals, along with The Associated Press assessment of how safe they are as Congress works to overhaul taxes. All estimates are from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, the official scorekeeper for Congress.
RETIREMENT SAVINGS
Contributions to pension plans are tax-exempt, including defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans, such as 401(k)s. This exemption saved taxpayers $180 billion in 2016, making it the biggest tax break for individuals.
RATING: Safe.
EMPLOYER-PROVIDED HEALTH INSURANCE
Nearly half of all those in the United States get their health insurance from an employer. The value of those insurance policies is exempt from taxation, saving taxpayers $155 billion in 2016.
Proposals to start taxing at least some health benefits are dividing House Republicans as they struggle to replace President Barack Obamas health law. Some see it as another version of Obamas Cadillac tax on high-cost health insurance, which has been delayed until 2020.
RATING: In danger.
CAPITAL GAINS AND DIVIDENDS
Investors pay reduced tax rates on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends, saving them $131 billion in 2016. The tax rate for investment income is 15 percent for most investors, though the very wealthy pay a top rate of 20 percent. The top tax rate on regular income is 39.6 percent.
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan raised taxes on investments and used the revenue to dramatically reduce tax rates for regular income. Today, few Republicans embrace the idea of increasing taxes on investments.
RATING: Safe, as long as Republicans are in charge.
EARNED INCOME CREDIT
Nearly 30 million families claimed the earned income tax credit in 2016, which targets low-income working families with children. They saved a total of $73 billion. Republicans like the credit because it rewards work. Democrats like it because it is one of the federal governments largest anti-poverty programs.
RATING: Safe, but there could be changes.
STATE AND LOCAL TAXES
More than 43 million families deducted their state and local income, sales and personal property taxes from their federal taxable income in 2016. The deductions reduced their federal tax bills by nearly $70 billion. More than 90 percent of taxpayers who itemize take advantage of this deduction. Nevertheless, the House Republican blueprint would repeal it to help pay for lower tax rates.
RATING: In danger.
MORTGAGE INTEREST
Nearly 34 million families claimed the mortgage interest deduction in 2016, reducing their tax bills by $65 billion. Some economists say the deduction is an inefficient way to promote home ownership. But it has strong support among home owners and every industry associated with buying and building homes. Recognizing the political peril of targeting this deduction, the House GOP blueprint would keep it.
RATING: Safe, but it could get a haircut for high-priced homes.
CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS
Nearly 36 million families claimed deductions for charitable contributions in 2016, reducing their tax bills by more than $57 billion. Most tax overhaul proposals, including the House GOP blueprint, would spare this deduction.
RATING: Safe.
CHILD TAX CREDIT
More than 35 million families claimed the $1,000-per-child in 2016. They saved more than $54 billion.
RATING: Safe. Some proposals would increase it.
SOCIAL SECURITY AND RAILROAD RETIREMENT
Most Social Security and railroad retirement benefits are not taxed, saving these people $40 billion in 2016. Individuals with a combined income below $25,000 do not have to pay taxes on Social Security. The income threshold for married couples is $32,000.
RATING: Safe.
PROPERTY TAXES
Nearly 35 million families deducted their taxes on their home or other real estate from their federal taxable income in 2016. They saved a total of $33 billion. This deduction makes it easier for school districts to raise money from property taxes. It is, however, targeted for elimination in the House GOP blueprint.
RATING: In danger.
(AP)
Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) says that blaming President Donald Trump for the rise in anti-Semitic incidents is devious and politically misleading. Hikind asserted that crimes against Jews are a direct result of the negative attitude towards Israelan attitude that has been embraced by too many members of the Democratic party and their leadership.
Where are the liberal leaders when Jewish cemeteries are desecrated and campuses are painted with swastikas and racial slurs? asked Hikind. How are the leaders of the Democrats communicating with and reigning in their followers when these crimes are committed? Its simple. Theyre not. Instead theyve found an easy answer: Blame Trump.
Should the President of the United States do more to stop these crimes? Absolutely. But to blame all of these anti-Semitic incidents on the Trump presidency is absurd. Anti-Semitic crimes were up 9% from 2014 to 2015. Does former President Obama fully own that?
Suggesting someone as openly anti-Israel as Keith Ellison for the key leadership role in the Democratic Party speaks volumes about what some party leaders consider acceptable. Praising someone as vile as Linda Sarsoura woman who spoke out in support of an Islamic Jihadist known for recruiting suicide bombersis a chilling statement on where the Democratic Party has gone.
Pointing to numerous incidents of swastikas, cemetery desecrations, hate mail and other examples of hate crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions throughout the United States and abroad, Hikindknown for his outspokenness against such crimessays that the majority of these incidents may be coming from the Left. It was only a week ago that a Texas preschool employeeby no means a Trump supporterwas caught Tweeting hateful messages about killing Jews.
Theres no question that incidents of anti-Semitism have tremendously increased, said Hikind. The real question is who are the people behind these crimes. We know for a fact that in Europe, its coming from the Left. We know for a fact that the Obama administration promoted an anti-Israel bias throughout the world. But anti-Israel sentiments have been used as the last half-centurys excuse to spew anti-Jewish rhetoric. Saying that youre anti-Israel yet support the Jewish people is just a tactic that Jew haters have adopted.
Assemblyman Hikind noted that rising incidents of anti-Semitism are a national issue. We cant count the number of swastikas anymoretheres too many, said Hikind, noting that the loathsome Nazi symbol has been scrawled recently on campuses and in communities from California to New York, from Oregon to Mississippi. But who are the people scrawling these swastikas? Who are the people desecrating cemeteries? At Northwestern University, it was anti-Trump students who were caught spray-painting a swastika and racial slurs. At the State University of New York, it was an anti-Trump message and swastika sprayed in a dorm. At the University of Vermont, a Trump campaign sign was found spray-painted with a swastika near the campus Hillel, and at the University of New Mexico, Nazi-themed graffiti was found denouncing the President.
These are not isolated incidents, Hikind continued. At universities, where anti-Israel rhetoric is regularly espoused by far-Left professors who embrace and promote the BDS movement, that is where you find the highest rate of anti-Semitic hate crimes. Drawing a parallel to those activities is more intellectually honest than blaming the rise of anti-Semitism on President Trump, who has condemned hate crimes against Jews and made it clear that the Obama administrations eight-year cold war against the State of Israel has finally come to an end.
(YWN Desk NYC)
Two Jewish brothers wearing a kippah were beaten and ones finger was sawed off, in a violent anti-Semitic attack in Bondy, a Paris surburb last week. The aggressors were reportedly of North African origin.
The two men, 29 and 17 years old, were hospitalized in a state of shock. A police complaint was filed by the two victims whose father is a local Jewish community leader. Police launched an investigation.
The two were driving near Bondy Tuesday night, when their car was forced off the road by another vehicle, whose occupants were shouting anti-Semitic slogans including, Dirty Jews, Youre going to die!
A group of men came out of a cafe nearby and surrounded their car. The men punched and kicked the brothers, threatening to kill them if they moved. Shockingly, one of the men used a metal hacksaw to saw off one of the brothers fingers.
Police are investigating. No arrests have been made at the time of this report.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
FAT CATS
Firms should publish a fair-pay plan to justify bosses salaries, City leaders say.
The Purposeful Company Task Force backed by executives, investment managers and the Bank of England argues wages should be less focused on short-term share performance.
The Task Force is a consortium of FTSE companies, investment houses, business schools, business consultancy firms and policy makers
SNAPCHAT JACKPOT
A Catholic school is to make tens of millions of pounds from the float of Snapchat.
The endowment fund of St Francis High School in Mountain View, California, invested in the messaging app after its 2011 launch. Parent firm Snap is expected to go public in days for 17.7bn.
PENSION PLOT
Hoover is said to be secretly plotting to ditch its 500m pension scheme.
The Italian-owned firm is reportedly speaking to regulators about dumping it into the Pension Protection Fund. Any of the 7,800 members still in work would see their retirement income cut by at least 10 per cent.
Uncooperative: Investors will consider demanding a change of management
BANK WOES
The Co-op Bank could be forced to change its management if it goes back to investors for cash, sources say.
Bosses put the loss-maker up for sale this month to turn it around. If this fails, they could seek more money from the US hedge funds that own 80 per cent but a shake-up of bosses might be demanded in return.
CRISIS WARNING
A bonfire of banking red tape could trigger a financial crisis, Bank of England deputy governor Dame Minouche Shafik says.
She warned it was an illusion to think the UK would be more successful as a giant tax haven.
Scores of Barclays customers were left unable to withdraw money after the bank's servers crashed on Saturday afternoon.
Customers found their cards were being declined in stores and in cash points around the country for approximately 90 minutes.
Some were even told the problem would not be rectified until Monday, but Barclays said the issue was fixed by 4.20pm the same day.
Barclay's customers could not pay by card or withdraw cash for around 90 minutes on Saturday afternoon
A simple and cheap fruit snack caused embarrassment for one customer who couldn't pay when her card was declined for just 17p
Several customers tweeted their frustration at the lack of working ATMs and at having their cards declined in stores
A status message on the bank's website said: 'We're sorry, you can't withdraw money from our cash machines right now we're working to fix this. If you'd like to make a withdrawal, you can use any other cash machine showing the LINK logo or visit one of our branches.'
On Saturday afternoon, the message that customers could not withdraw money from the bank's ATMs appeared on the website
The bank tweeted to say they were trying to get the problem fixed and later said it had been sorted out
About the same time, there were issues with their phone systems, and the message read: 'We're sorry, you won't be able to reach us right now we're working to fix a problem with this service.'
Customers also couldn't make payments in branch.
The website's status checker continued to tell customers the ATMs were down after the MailOnline was told everything was running as normal.
For one customer, her card being declined in France meant her shopping trip for her daughter's wedding went from a success to a failure in a few minutes.
Unable to pay, she had to leave empty handed.
Ash Sharma said: 'It's my Mrs birthday...I was buying a car for her, all paper work signed. card declined!embarrassed is an understatement!'
One woman tweeted that she had been declined for a 17p banana when she tried to pay by card and 'embarrassed' wasn't the word.
Another said he couldn't pay for his round in the pub during the Six Nations because his card would not work.
Fatos Berisha complained about the lack of information from the bank.
For some customers the problem meant they couldn't get their round in at the pub, but for others, key discounts with limited time offers were being missed when they couldn't pay
One woman was stuck in London Paddington because she couldn't withdraw money, and another said the problem would lead them to switch banks
He said: 'I get many useless texts from Barclays almost daily, but 0 info when their payment systems pack up & I can't use my card, not a peep!'
Several customers said the incident meant they would switch banks.
In a tweet, the bank said: 'We're still experiencing issues affecting Barclays Debit Card and ATM transactions. Our teams are working to get this restored.'
At the Ealing branch, in London, a sign told customers about the outage and apologised, explaining it was a national issue.
The UK help Twitter account retweeted one mother who wrote: 'Pretty embarrassing when u try 2 pay for ur shopping to be told card is declined get it sorted i have a child to feed'. [sic]
Some customers tweeted to say that they had been able to access their funds, with Barclay's admitting they weren't sure how many customers had been affected.
A Barclays spokesman said 'We're aware some customers may have had issues with some digital services today. We can confirm everything is now back up and running and customers can get money out of ATMs and card payments are going through.
'We apologise to any customers that were impacted.'
Schenectady
About 35 people with various anti-abortion groups protested outside of a Planned Parenthood in Schenectady Saturday as part of a 40-day campaign to dissuade pregnant women from having abortions.
The event was held in conjunction with others around the country as part of the 40 Days For Life movement. Event organizers, who spent much of the event Saturday in prayer and singing religious songs, maintain that unlike certain groups calling for Planned Parenthood to lose federal funding, they have no political ambitions.
"Primarily, we're here to pray for and support those faced with a wrenching decision," said Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. "So many times, people face this decision alone." He said the 40-day event is held this time each year to coordinate with Lent, observed by some Christian churches, that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends six weeks later on Easter Sunday.
"We're here to bring truth and hope for women and men" who use Planned Parenthood, said event organizer Viviane Strain. She called the group the "last defense" to try and direct women to nearby crisis pregnancy centers and helplines before they use Planned Parenthood's abortion services. "They have another choice, and the choice is life," she said.
Beth Lynch has taken part in similar gatherings since 1970, when abortion was made legal in New York. As president of the Schenectady County Right to Life group, Lynch said she thinks the rallies, even if sometimes small, have had an effect on many. She cited Abby Johnson, a Texas-based anti-abortion activist who took up the cause after working at a Planned Parenthood. The cause "has been well publicized ... and has brought people out of abortion."
Generally, Americans are still split on abortion as both a legal and moral issue, though support is at a two-decade high this year, according to Pew Research Center. About 60 percent of American adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 37 percent who say the opposite, Pew found. However, 44 percent of Americans say abortions are morally wrong, according to Pew.
Hoosick Falls
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is urging the Hoosick Falls Village Board to table a pending $1.04 million settlement between the village and two companies whose manufacturing facilities have been blamed for contaminating water supplies with a toxic chemical.
Gillibrand's extraordinary intervention in a local government matter comes as a growing number of current and former public officials, as well as many residents, believe the settlement could imperil the small community's ability to pursue unforeseen damages in the future.
The senator's concerns are outlined in a letter she wrote to Mayor David Borge that will be delivered to the village before a special meeting on Monday when the board is expected to consider the agreement.
"I have very serious concerns that the terms stipulated in this proposal are not in the best interests of the residents of the village of Hoosick Falls," Gillibrand wrote. "The potential future impacts on the families in Hoosick Falls and neighboring communities is still undetermined."
The reworked agreement would cover the village's costs incurred since 2014, when a man-made manufacturing chemical, PFOA, was found in the public water supply. Long-term exposure to PFOA has been linked to some forms of cancer and other serious diseases. Blood testing done by the state Health Department found that many village residents, including children, have elevated levels of the chemical in their bodies.
The settlement agreement is with Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, which runs a McCaffrey Street plant near the village's well field, and Honeywell International, which acquired a firm that ran the plant.
Borge has said the agreement will cover the costs of the small community's expenses for engineering, water sampling, and legal and public relations advice since the contamination was discovered in 2014. But a clause in the document that would prohibit the village from filing future claims related to the pollution of the existing water supply has been widely criticized.
The agreement was reworked over the past two months after it was first made public and nearly voted on by the board in December. The revisions include language stating the village will not be prohibited from bringing future claims related to new wells, alternative water sources, additions to the current water system that may be needed, contamination associated with pollutants other than PFOA or damages for diminished property values. It also added $195,000 to the prior $850,000 settlement proposal.
Judith Enck, who recently stepped down as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 2, last week wrote a letter to Borge characterizing the agreement as "an illustration of two experienced companies taking advantage of a small community."
Howard Freed, a former director of the state Health Department's Center for Environmental Health, said there is no reason for the village to give up its legal rights.
Freed testified before the state legislature last year at hearings examining why the state Health Department declined to warn residents to stop drinking the water for more than a year after the PFOA was discovered.
"Other similar communities have gotten much more compensation for similar damages done," Freed wrote in a letter to the mayor. "The agreement is, in my opinion, so very favorable to the polluters and so very unfavorable to the people of Hoosick Falls that, if signed, it may even hold Hoosick Falls up for ridicule as a national example of what not to do."
PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, was used in manufacturing there by at least five companies that owned and operated the McCafrey Street plant since 1956. But other manufacturing plants in the village, and dumping sites, are also being investigated.
Two Ohio attorneys who led groundbreaking court cases involving the toxic chemical PFOA said Hoosick Falls' officials may be misleading the public into thinking they reviewed or endorsed a proposed settlement between the village and two companies blamed for polluting the community's water supply.
Hoosick Falls Deputy Mayor Ric DiDonato on Saturday said he did not intend to mislead the public when he wrote in a Facebook post that the village's "legal team" spoke with the two Cincinnati lawyers, D. David Altman and Robert A. Bilott, "and many other legal experts to get their opinions on the development of this agreement throughout the process."
Altman and Bilott, known for their work in groundbreaking cases versus the DuPont corporation over PFOA contamination in the Ohio Valley, said they never reviewed or endorsed the settlement agreement.
"I was just sharing anecdotally what our legal team told us," DiDonato said in an email to the Times Union. "My comment was in no way indicative of Mr. Altman or Mr. Bilott supporting this agreement. Just that they had spoken with them among others. To imply otherwise would be incorrect. I firmly believe our attorneys spoke with a litany of experts throughout the process. They are good at what they do."
Rob Allen, a music teacher in the Hoosick Falls school district, posted a video on Sunday in which he analyzes the issues in the agreement. Allen is running unopposed for Hoosick Falls mayor in next month's election. Borge is not seeking re-election.
blyons@timesunion.com 518-454-5547 @brendan_lyonstu
Skull, likely human, found in Coxsackie
COXSACKIE A hiker found what is believed to be a human skull on Sunday along the path in the Vosburgh Swamp Wildlife Management Area, State Police said.
The skull will be turned over to the State Police forensics investigative unit on Monday for testing. The investigation is being conducted jointly by the Greene County Sheriff's Department and the New York State Police.
The wetland path, part of the state Department of Environmental Conservation network of protected areas, is at the end of Four Mile Point Road and runs along the Hudson River.
Wendy Liberatore
Man who fell into gorge yet to be found, ID'd
TROY The man who fell off the rocks into the raging waters of the Poestenkill Gorge has been yet to be found or identified, Troy Fire Chief Tom Garrett said.
Garrett said that Troy police, who have been searching for the man since Saturday, are asking the public to contact the department if they know of a person who recently went missing.
"We don't know his identity," said Garrett. "Right now, no missing people have been reported."
Meanwhile, the search continued during the daylight hours for the man eyewitnesses say they saw fall from the shale above the gorge.
"We've been rotating crews all day long," said Garrett. "The water is crazy turbulent and we still can't send divers down. We have been only able to go into pools of water."
On Sunday, teams searched the water's edge down to the Hudson River. He said it is possible that the man is stuck under a ledge and won't be found until divers can search the bottom of the gorge.
"We won't give up until he is found," Garrett said.
Wendy Liberatore
Flood warning along Hudson in Waterford
WATERFORD The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for Waterford on Sunday evening.
Meteorologist Christina Speciale said that there is a potential for rising waters to pool in and around the village at the Mohawk Wharf along the Hudson River. She said that it would not be a major event. At most, she said that water might reach 21.7 inches, which is .2 inches above the flood stage.
Speciale also said there is a chance of minor flooding in Troy.
The river is expected to fall below flood stage after 7 p.m.
The National Weather Service's flood warning for Fort Plain expired Sunday morning.
Staff report
WATERFORD The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for Waterford on Sunday evening.
Meteorologist Christina Speciale said that there is a potential for rising waters to pool in and around the village at the Mohawk Wharf along the Hudson River. She said that it would not be a major event. At most, she said that water might reach 21.7 inches, which is .2 inches above the flood stage.
In Virginia, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents waited outside a church shelter where unauthorized immigrants had gone to stay warm. In Texas and in Colorado, agents went into courthouses, looking for foreigners who had arrived for hearings on other matters.
At Kennedy International Airport in New York, passengers arriving after a five-hour flight from San Francisco were asked to show their documents before they were allowed to get off the plane.
The Trump administration's far-reaching plan to arrest and deport vast numbers of unauthorized immigrants has been introduced in dramatic fashion over the past month. And much of that task has fallen to thousands of ICE officers who are newly emboldened, newly empowered and already getting to work.
Gone are the Obama-era rules that required them to focus only on serious criminals. In Southern California, in one of the first major roundups in the Trump administration, officers detained 161 people with a wide range of felony and misdemeanor convictions, and 10 who had no criminal history at all.
"Before, we used to be told, 'You can't arrest those people,' and we'd be disciplined for being insubordinate if we did," said a 10-year veteran of the agency who took part in the operation. "Now those people are priorities again. And there are a lot of them here."
Interviews with 17 agents and officials across the country, including in Florida, Alabama, Texas, Arizona, Washington and California, demonstrated how quickly a new atmosphere in the agency had taken hold. Since they are forbidden to talk to the press, they requested anonymity out of concern for losing their jobs.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday the president wanted to "take the shackles off" of agents, an expression the officers themselves used time and again in interviews to describe their newfound freedom.
"Morale amongst our agents and officers has increased exponentially since the signing of the orders," the unions representing ICE and Border Patrol agents said in a joint statement after President Donald Trump issued the executive orders on immigration late last month.
Two memos released this past week by the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of ICE and the Border Patrol, provided more details about how it would carry out its plan, which includes Trump's signature campaign pledge a wall along the entire southern border as well as speedier deportations and greater reliance on local police officers.
But for those with ICE badges, perhaps the biggest change was the erasing of the Obama administration's hierarchy of priorities, which forced agents to concentrate on deporting gang members and other violent and serious criminals, and mostly leave everyone else alone.
A whirlwind of activity has overtaken ICE headquarters in Washington recently, with employees attending back-to-back meetings about how to quickly carry out Trump's plans. "Some people are like: 'This is great. Let's give them all the tools they need,'" said a senior staff member at headquarters, who joined under the George W. Bush administration. But, the official added, "other people are a little bit more hesitant and fearful about how quickly things are moving."
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Albany
The city's annual beg-a-thon is in high gear, and Mayor Sheehan is looking for help.
Listen up, suburbanites. Sheehan, arguing that Albany's fiscal health is of regional importance, hopes you'll also aid the campaign for $12.5 million in state money by calling Gov. Cuomo and leaders in the Legislature and telling them how much you care.
But before you grab your phone, let's pause to weigh how much sympathy the city really deserves. Is it a victim of circumstances? Or is Albany, which paid 123 employees more than $100,000 last year, to blame for its predicament?
More Information Contact columnist Chris Churchill at 518-454-5442 or email cchurchill@timesunion.com See More Collapse
To listen to Sheehan and some others, New York's capital is being victimized.
The city has too much tax-exempt land to support what its population requires, they say. The state's massive workforce requires services but doesn't pay for them. New York doesn't give the city a fair amount of annual state aid.
There's truth to each of those claims.
Albany does have a lot of tax-exempt land. Many state workers pay property taxes elsewhere. And the $129 in per-capita aid Albany receives is dwarfed by the $617 and $419 that Buffalo and Rochester get, respectively.
Yet there are flaws with the Albany-as-victim narrative, given that state government is also a tremendous benefit a boon no other New York city can claim.
"Albany without state government is Utica," says E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for Public Policy. "It's not even Schenectady or Troy. It's Utica."
If you've been to Utica, you know that's no compliment.
The crux of the argument is property values. You see, the per-capita value of the tax base in Albany $44,387 is higher than in most upstate cities, according to data compiled by the Empire Center.
In Buffalo, it's $25,382.
It's $22,900 in poor Utica.
What that means, essentially, is that a building is worth more and pays more taxes if it's in Albany rather than most cities upstate. The presence of state government explains why.
That Albany is the capital is therefore a gift to its coffers, not a detriment, and a reason the city doesn't need as much state aid as others.
A quick caveat: Upstate cities are generally in miserable shape. So noting that Albany's taxable value is high among upstate cities is like calling it the tallest leprechaun near a rainbow.
Not much of an honor, really.
Still, given its upstate context, Albany is fortunate and that's before we begin noting the $15 million it gets from the state each year for Empire State Plaza, the other economic benefits of state workers or the $78 million New York is bestowing on the city for a convention center.
McMahon said the most pressing problem is that Albany prepare to be shocked spends too much, particularly on employees and benefits. It also has a two-tier tax structure that is especially cruel to commercial properties, forcing development to suburbs like Colonie.
McMahon said nobody articulates those issues better than Sheehan. Yet she hasn't done enough to address them, he says, because like every other mayor hoping to be re-elected, she has avoided politically painful decisions.
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That's hard to argue. Sheehan calls the budget troubles "a crisis," but hasn't acted with the urgency a real crisis demands.
How is it that the city initiated a hiring freeze just this month and only after learning the $12.5 million wasn't in Cuomo's budget amendments? Why did Sheehan's budget include raises for staff?
And why-oh-why did Sheehan back the school district's plan for one of the most expensive high schools ever to be built nationally?
"A mayor has to be willing to break eggs and upset old friends," McMahon said. "In an overtaxed small city whose independent school district generates close to two-thirds of the tax burden, it's surprising when a mayor is not in conflict with a school board especially when the board seems to have an edifice complex."
On Friday, City Hall sent me a list I'll post it to my Facebook page of the mostly smaller ways the administration has managed to cut spending or generate revenue. It also said the number of city employees has dropped from 1,282 to 1,241 during Sheehan's tenure.
I hate to say it, but the police department might be a place for additional savings.
Only 10 cities nationally have more police employees per-capita, according to Governing magazine. And no upstate city spends more per-capita on police, according to the Empire Center. (Acting Police Chief Robert Sears told me per-capita statistics are a flawed measurement.)
The point here isn't that Albany shouldn't get the $12.5 million. At this stage, the resulting budget hole would induce too much pain too quickly.
But if you are looking to make calls on behalf of a perceived victim, I'd choose one that has been more willing to help itself.
cchurchill@timesunion.com 518-454-5442 @chris_churchill
ERC Community Warehouse sign Tuesday Feb. 14, 2017 in Melrose, NY. There are ethical questions surrounding the warehouse's nonprofit board and the money it has received from the Eastern Rensselaer County Solid Waste Management Authority. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union) less ERC Community Warehouse sign Tuesday Feb. 14, 2017 in Melrose, NY. There are ethical questions surrounding the warehouse's nonprofit board and the money it has received from the Eastern Rensselaer County Solid ... more Photo: John Carl D'Annibale Buy photo Photo: John Carl D'Annibale Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close The ethics surrounding a Rensselaer County thift store 1 / 17 Back to Gallery
Schaghticoke
In the center of Melrose's small commercial district sits the ERC Community Warehouse, a store that sells discounted items like jigsaw puzzles, dishes, and dining room tables without matching chairs.
A sign posted there says the store is a nonprofit that "operates primarily based on the donation of used goods." But it's also run by an elected official, Pittstown Councilman Matthew Curley, who heads an affiliated waste authority that's transferred public money into the store for years, records show.
Curley says the warehouse is an important part of the Eastern Rensselaer County Solid Waste Management Authority's mission to keep household items out of landfills and trash incinerators. The authority is a quasi-government entity that works for seven Rensselaer County municipalities to help negotiate trash-hauling contracts and organize events such as cleanup days.
The cozy relationship between the authority and the nonprofit warehouse was noted in a recent state report criticizing the authority's handling of its finances.
But there may be additional ethical questions surrounding the warehouse's operations. A review of gifts, loans, rental payments and salaries the authority has transferred to the warehouse shows an unusually close relationship between the public authority and the nonprofit store. In addition, the nonprofit's three-person board of trustees includes an out-of-state member who works for one of the authority's waste processors and also is the leader of a trade group that pays Curley to do outside work.
"All the member communities are positive and happy with the relationship with the authority," Curley said in a recent interview alongside two Rensselaer County town supervisors who are supportive of his work. "There's nothing negative there."
Still, the blurred line between Curley's duties underscores the sometimes murky dealings between state-regulated public authorities and the nonprofit organizations that often become extensions of their business operations. Such ethical dilemmas were laid bare on a much larger scale last year when then-SUNY Polytechnic Institute President Alain Kaloyeros was charged with fraud, bribery and bid-rigging in connection with his control of two nonprofits that were being used as economic development arms for the state university. Kaloyeros has pleaded not guilty.
The state Authorities Budget Office, which released an operational review of the Eastern Rensselaer waste authority in December, has noted that government-created not-for-profit corporations usually called local development corporations have more than doubled in New York state since 2000, creating increased "risk of waste and abuse of public funds."
Such nonprofits typically do not have to comply with Freedom of Information laws or hold open meetings, leaving most of their inner workings opaque.
The waste authority was created in 1989 by an act of the state Legislature to allow 13 Rensselaer County communities to build a waste reduction facility. But only a few years later, amid charges of irresponsible spending and little action, six municipalities broke away and the facility was never constructed.
The authority now is run by Curley, who has been its executive director since about 2009, and a bookkeeper who works from home. Curley's job, for which his base pay was listed as $48,962 in 2015, includes assisting the seven municipalities in selecting a trash hauler every few years and other related duties.
The ERC Community Warehouse was created in the mid-1990s by the authority as a separate, nonprofit entity.
Curley said he's been on the warehouse board since the beginning, and appears to have begun running the store solo in 2012, according to the warehouse's 990 tax records. He said he receives no salary for the warehouse job and tax records list no other compensation for him. But the authority has paid the warehouse rent for office space for the last two decades, a payment that is now $9,000 a year. Despite owning its building at 19 Church St. outright and being exempt from property taxes, Curley said the rent is needed to pay for things like snowplowing and utilities.
Other money moved from the authority's coffers to the warehouse in recent years has included $8,050 for storage rental at a prior location in Hoosick Falls and $21,534 for store employees after the warehouse opened in Melrose in 2012.
More Information Waste authority money for warehouse* $50,000 from Covanta, authority waste processor $64,350, rent for office and storage space $8,000, loan $21,534, store salaries Total: $143,884 *Money transfers were between 2010 and 2016. Source: Eastern Rensselaer County Solid Waste Management Authority audits filed with the New York state Authorities Budget Office
Curley said the move hurt the warehouse because it was closed for six months for renovations. Curley said that's also why the warehouse took out a short-term $8,000 loan from the authority. Typically, the warehouse is supposed to cover all its costs with the sale of its goods, Curley said. In 2015, gross receipts were $34,051 compared with $82,759 in 2011, according to tax records.
But the largest monetary transfer in recent years came from Covanta, a waste processor based in New Jersey, which earmarked two $25,000 payments for "community outreach funds" in a contract extension signed in 2013. The ABO criticized the authority because the contract was not publicly bid, but Covanta says New York state law allows one five-year extension on a previous 20-year contract.
The authority gave the $50,000 to the warehouse, which Curley said was needed for heating units for the new store.
The only two people on the warehouse board other than Curley work for waste companies that the authority has contracted with a fact that Curley said he believes does not pose a conflict of interest.
The board's secretary/treasurer Elona Cadman works at the Albany office of Energy Answers, the company that previously provided the authority's waste disposal until Covanta bought all the operations in 2007. The board's vice president, Margretta Morris, one of the co-founders of the warehouse and a former executive director of the authority, is Covanta's vice president of community affairs.
Covanta spokesman James Regan said Morris was not involved in the negotiation of the authority's 2013 contract, and the company had no problem with Morris' role on the warehouse board when Covanta purchased all the operating assets of Energy Answers, Morris' former employer.
A former Stephentown resident who now lives in Cape Cod, Morris is also chairwoman of the Federation of New York Solid Waste Associations which, along with a second trade group , has been paying Curley $6,000 a year through the authority to solicit sponsorships for industry events outside of his authority job.
Morris said she sits on other boards in Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania and there is nothing unethical about volunteering to serve on a board in an unpaid position. As for Curley doing outside work for the federation Morris runs, she said Curley ''consulted with his board and they agreed to allow him to handle the position," Morris wrote.
The state Authorities Budget Office said in its December report that the trade association's payment to Curley "creates conflicts of interest with his authority responsibilities." Curley said the authority board thought it would be good for him to know more about the industry, but admitted it was a bad idea that the solid waste associations paid him through the authority.
The state's report said there was no evidence in board minutes that such a discussion about Curley's outside job took place. "The key is public disclosure, it's transparency," Authorities Budget Office acting director Jeff Pearlman told the Times Union.
There also appears to be little oversight of Curley in his dual roles at the authority and warehouse.
Authority Chairwoman Jean Carlson, who is also the supervisor of Schaghticoke, said "there's nothing being done that's underhanded." But when asked questions about authority money transferred to the warehouse, Carlson referred any inquiries to Curley. "You're talking about things I don't deal with daily," she said.
While Cadman, of Energy Answers, is listed as the warehouse's treasurer/secretary on 990 tax forms, she said she didn't know anything about authority money that funds the warehouse. "I don't deal with the authority at all. Just how is the warehouse doing" Cadman said. "I guess I should probably find out more."
The state's review also said Curley used authority money 25 times like it was an "interest-free loan." Curley said those were for things like transporting warehouse donations and taking a potential donor to lunch, all of which he said he paid back.
Curley said questions raised about the authority hurt him personally. "I've been the president (of the warehouse) since 1996 and I've never taken a nickel," he said. "There's no money missing."
lstanforth@timesunion.com 518-454-5697
Just over a year ago, Andrew Tuzson and his wife, Angela, were living in Denver but getting ready to make a move to Nebraska.
The couple had had it with Denver's long commute time.
"With the three kids, we were really, really ready for a change of pace. We were really wanting to inject ourselves into a community that was really family-focused," Andrew Tuzson said.
They created lists and looked at opportunities. Lincoln remained at the top of those lists because of the family aspect and its booming economy, he said.
Tuzson grew up in western Nebraska, but had been gone for years, the past 12 in Colorado, where he and Angela, who's from Wichita, Kansas, started a business in their basement.
They decided to visit Lincoln, and while here, check out office space in the Haymarket. Even before they got in their car to head back to Colorado they had made up their minds, Andrew Tuzson said.
"Yeah, let's do this."
They haven't looked back.
The Tuzsons have been doing business in Lincoln since May 20 as Evol Empire Creative, a web-design, development and marketing agency. Evol Empire now has 23 employees, several recruited from Seattle and San Diego.
"You name it, we do a lot of importing if the talent doesn't already exist here in Lincoln," Andrew Tuzson said.
Nebraska economic development experts also have their sights set on attracting talent to the state.
With a low unemployment rate 3.4 percent in December, compared with 4.7 percent nationally and a 2.8 percent rate for Lancaster and Seward counties and a limited pool of workers that can be added to the labor force, state officials say it's critical to seek ways to not only retain the current workforce but attract new people.
Nebraskans 25 and older with bachelors degrees or more education left the state between 2011 and 2015 at a rate of 11,861 each year.
In the past decade, Nebraska governors and their agencies have preached a common theme -- Grow Nebraska with businesses and workers. A year ago, Gov. Pete Ricketts hired Courtney Dentlinger to lead the Department of Economic Development.
"We're a relatively unknown quantity outside of the borders of Nebraska," she said then. "So we need to tell our story and explain why Nebraska's a great place to do business."
The state is poised for significant economic growth, given its current job openings and opportunities and low cost of living, combined with high rankings in quality of life and doing business, the department said.
But a primary concern is whether businesses looking to relocate or expand will be able to find sufficient qualified workers to fill their positions.
Many of the people who are migrating here to work are helping tell Nebraska's story, and lure others here.
Beth McKeon, 37, managing director of NMotion and a serial entrepreneur, came to Lincoln a year ago from Lawrence, Kansas, after looking for a company in the Midwest that was supporting startups.
She heard about the job opening at NMotion.
"Literally, the whole thing from initial contact to moving to Nebraska took less than three weeks, and it was over the Christmas holidays," she said.
Lincoln was an ideal choice, McKeon said.
"NMotion, as an organization, has been very successful at recruiting from out of state. And I think that's a testament to both the strength of the program, but also what's happening here in Lincoln," she said.
NMotion, with four employees, provides education and resources for tech startups, with the primary product being a 90-day accelerator program. Funding comes from the University of Nebraska, the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development and private companies.
The state is working to recruit workers by developing a talent portal, NEworks, to increase qualified, diverse talent for job opportunities.
The Department of Economic Development calls it a one-stop shop to promote Nebraska as a great place to live, work and play, through job and training opportunities, and with the appeals of culture, quality of life and community engagement.
According to the department's grant application for the project, the talent portal will target 25- to 34-year-olds, the most-mobile age range, by showcasing the proximity and access to outdoor recreation and natural resources, as well as arts, music and film venues. The website will provide information on Nebraska communities, affordable housing, safety, health care, demographics, climate and comparable cost of living.
Nearly 57,000 job openings were advertised on the NEworks website in December, according to the Nebraska Department of Labor. That's more than three job ads for every two unemployed people.
In 2016, the Nebraska Department of Economic Development surveyed 263 businesses that import capital from outside the region. Nearly 50 percent had increasing employment needs and 80 percent reported recruitment problems.
The health care industry is one that has a high demand for workers, and not enough supply.
Lincoln's Bryan Health employs 4,500 people and has a 5 percent vacancy rate, said Jan Garvin, vice president for human resources. Patient demand continues to grow.
The demand for nurses can't only be met by the women and men graduating from nursing education programs in the state, she said. Those graduates have many options for nursing careers in addition to hospitals, Garvin said. Besides nurses, Bryan is competing for people to fill many other jobs at its hospitals.
One option for it and other health-related businesses is to tap into the growing number of immigrants coming to Nebraska, Garvin said. To address language and cultural barriers, Bryan has offered on-site English classes and other resources.
Nebraska also has a growing need for technology workers.
In 2015, the state had the third-fastest rate of growth in technology jobs in the country, according to Dice, a careers website for technology and engineering professionals.
"Wayne Gretzky said it best, right?" Andrew Tuzson said. "He doesn't go to where the puck is. He goes to where it's going to be. And the Silicon Prairie is where that puck is heading.
"What's happening here in Nebraska is turning heads across the country."
[February 26, 2017] DEADLINE ALERT: Brower Piven Alerts Shareholders Of Approaching Deadline In Class Action Lawsuit And Encourages Those With Losses In Excess Of $100,000 From Investment In The Southern Company To Contact The Firm
The securities litigation law firm of Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, announces that a class action lawsuit has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on behalf of purchasers of The Southern Company (NYSE: SO) ("SO" or the "Company") common stock during the period between April 25, 2012 and October 29, 2013, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Investors who wish to become proactively involved in the litigation have until March 24, 2017 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff. If you wish to choose counsel to represent you and the Class, you must apply to be appointed lead plaintiff and be selected by the Court. The lead plaintiff will direct the litigation and participate in important decisions including whether to accept a settlement for the Class in the action. The lead plaintiff will be selected from among applicants claiming the largest loss from investment in SO common stock during the Class Period. Members of the Class will be represented by the lead plaintiff and counsel chosen by the lead plaintiff. No class has yet been certified in the above action. The complaint accuses the defendants of violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by virtue of the defendants' failure to disclose during the Class Period adverse informatio about the progress of the plant being built in Kemper County, Mississippi ("Kemper Plant"), reassuring investors that the project would be completed by the critical May 2014 deadline, even after cost overruns and other delays began to materialize.
According to the complaint, following an October 2, 2013 announcement that the Company would not be able to meet its deadline and would be required to repay $133 million in federal tax credits, an October 30, 2013 press release disclosing an after-tax charge of $93 million, the value of Southern Company shares declined significantly. If you have suffered a loss in excess of $100,000 from investment in SO common stock purchased on or after April 25, 2012 and held through the revelation of negative information during and/or at the end of the Class Period and would like to learn more about this lawsuit and your ability to participate as a lead plaintiff, without cost or obligation to you, please visit our website at http://www.browerpiven.com/currentsecuritiescases.html. You may also request more information by contacting Brower Piven either by email at [email protected] or by telephone at (410) 415-6616. Brower Piven also encourages anyone with information regarding the Company's conduct during the period in question to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.
Attorneys at Brower Piven have extensive experience in litigating securities and other class action cases and have been advocating for the rights of shareholders since the 1980s. If you choose to retain counsel, you may retain Brower Piven without financial obligation or cost to you, or you may retain other counsel of your choice. You need take no action at this time to be a member of the class. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170226005059/en/
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Telecommunications in Lincoln may not have had a bigger year than 2016.
Not only did Allo Communications start its new internet, TV and phone service, Windstream introduced 1-gigabit internet service and Charter Communications bought out Time Warner Cable and introduced a new brand, Spectrum, to Lincoln.
Here's a look back at 2016 for the city's three major TV, internet and phone providers and a look ahead at what's in store this year.
Allo
After months of hiring employees and building its all-fiber network, Nelnet-owned Allo started service to a few thousand customers last summer.
Allo President Brad Moline declined to provide customer numbers but said he feels the company is about 90 days behind where it planned to be at this point.
Allo turned on service first in downtown and a swath of southeast Lincoln from roughly 40th to 98th streets and O to Van Dorn streets. It is building most of the rest of southeast Lincoln between 40th and 98th streets, as well as a small section of north Lincoln from 27th to 84th streets between O and Vine streets.
Despite being behind schedule, Moline said things are going well, and the company is "trying to get a big piece of construction done in 2017."
"We're feeling quite confident that by sometime this year ... we'll be ahead of the plan."
Moline also said that Allo now has 200 people working in Lincoln and plans to hire dozens more this year.
Windstream
Allo was the first company to announce it planned to make super-fast 1-gigabit internet service available in Lincoln, but Windstream actually was the first provider to make it available.
Windstream made the ultra-fast internet service available to about 2,300 of its customers in April and is up to about 7,000 customers now, said Brad Hedrick, Windstream's division vice president of operations.
Hedrick said Windstream also is in the process of rolling out more 1G internet service to customers in 28 older areas of the city, although he declined to say where or how many additional customers will get the service.
The 1G internet debut came almost exactly a year after Windstream debuted its Kinetic TV service to about 50,000 customers in Lincoln in April 2015. Hedrick said it has slightly expanded Kinetic availability since then, and "we definitely continue to grow that."
Charter
Charter closed its deal to buy Time Warner Cable in May and initially said Lincoln customers likely wouldn't see any changes until 2017.
But just before Thanksgiving, Charter announced the debut of its Spectrum brand of TV, internet and phone service in Lincoln.
Charter slightly increased internet speeds on low-end packages and also made some other changes, although it allowed existing Time Warner Cable customers to keep the packages they had.
Charter spokesman Wes Shirley said Lincoln customers have noticed the positive changes.
Obasi and Bernice Onuoha celebrated 50 years of endless love, Saturday, February 25, 2017, at Lincoln City Church, Lincoln. A host of relatives and friends attended. Obasi, from Abba, Nigeria, was studying electrical engineering at UNL when he met Bernice Jones Bowling, from Lockhart, Texas, through Rev. Donald Davis at Lincoln's Denton Chapel of God in Christ. They've been serving God together ever since, helping build a stronger community, making beautiful music together, playing spades and caring for a family of eight children, five sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, 19 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and seven grand-in-laws. Obasi and Bernice will continue the celebration by traveling to Abba, Nigeria, later this year, accompanied by some of their children.
Peace march, prayers to be held for Kuchibhotla in US tomorrow
The India Association of Kansas City (IAKC) will organize a peace march and prayer vigil on February 26 (local time 4 pm) for the victims of the Kansas shooting. The prayer vigil will be conducted by priests from different religions at the Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre. Friends of Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani will address the gathering. Apart from this, Lt Governor Jeff Colyer, US congressman Kevin Yoder, Olathe mayor Mike Copeland and others are also expected to attend the meeting. The IAKC is among many associations and unions that have condemned the Kansas shooting, in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla, a 32-year-old engineer from Hyderabad, lost his life.
On Saturday, more than 100 people gathered in the school auditorium to ask questions and speak with immigration lawyers.
Administrators said the fear makes it impossible for students to concentrate in class. They wanted to send a message to kids that they are safe going to school.
"It's called trauma, and when you talk about trauma and the expectation of learning, it just doesn't work. Kids are not focused on school work. Kids are not focused on school activities so they are therefore focused on something different and that prevents learning inside the classroom," said Luis Cordoba with Kansas City Public Schools.
Here's an important update on divisive American rhetoric helping to create a permanent underclass . . . Sadly, Democratic Party denizens were right about this one . . . The nasty tenor of the immigration debate has implications beyond policy . . . In much the same way that incredibly popularslogan was probably a step backward for women's rights as well . . . From what I'm told before tuning out any lady friend.Deets:##########You decide . . .
What do you get when you cast the rugged Clive Standen as a younger version of a character made famous by Liam Neeson in three movies? A new NBC TV series with little dialogue and a lot of action.
Standen, who also plays Rollo on Historys Vikings, stars as Bryan Mills in Taken, a prequel of sorts to the 2008 film by the same name featuring Neeson. I say of sorts because creator and executive producer Alexander Cary plays fast and loose with the timeline.
Neeson was in his mid-50s in 2008. Standen is now 35. By my math, that should put the series sometime in the late 80s or early 90s -- long before smartphones, which play a prominent role in the pilot premiering at 9 p.m. Monday, following The Voice.
Overlooking that, the first episode is a white-knuckle ride. It shows how Mills former Green Beret becomes a CIA operative on a team led by Jennifer Beals and includes Gaius Charles (Greys Anatomy, Friday Night Lights).
The episode, as noted, is light on conversation and heavy on gunplay and hand-to-hand fighting, which were staples (and guilty pleasures) of the Neeson movies. That works well for Standen, who played a man of action in Vikings. But here, he brandishes a gun instead of an ax. Grade: B
One other scripted show of note debuts this week:
National Treasure, 2 a.m. Wednesday, Hulu. The streaming service landed the rights to this four-part drama, which was a huge ratings success last fall in the United Kingdom.
The series stars Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid in the Harry Potter films) as Paul Finchley, half of famous TV comedy duo, who is accused of rape years after the fact. As the case progresses, more and more women step forward with accusations against Finchley.
Inspired by Operation Yewtree, a British police operation that began in 2012 and resulted in the prosecution of several British celebrities, National Treasure is an uncomfortable, but compelling watch. Coltranes character is an extremely likable sort who may or may not harbor dark secrets. As the case against him progresses, his life, marriage and celebrity begin to crumble around him. Grade: A
News and notes
* Lincoln's Mark Gross has one of the stars and a director for his comedy pilot. Deadline reported Adhir Kalyan from "Rules of Engagement" will play one of the two leads in "Brothered Up," the CBS multi-camera buddy cop from CBS TV Studios. Sitcom veteran James Burrows, co-creator of "Cheers," will direct and executive produce. CBS will announce in May which pilots it plans to order to series.
* Nebraska actress Marg Helgenberger has been cast as Navy admiral in the Fox pilot, Behind Enemy Lines, which is loosely based on the 2001 Owen Wilson/Gene Hackman movie.
* Fox has renewed three of its new shows for second seasons: Star, The Mick and Lethal Weapon. It also has renewed Empire and Lucifer.
* Quick hits -- Liberal political commentator Alan Colmes from the Fox News Channels Hannity & Colmes (1996-2008) died at age 66 after a brief illness Savannah Guthrie will return from maternity leave to NBCs Today on Friday NBC renewed soap opera Days of Our Lives for a 52nd season.
In fairness, it's important to offer a look at what the supporters of $800M in GO Bonds are doing to make their case to tax weary Kansas City voters.Accordingly . . .Take a look at the extra special deluxe mailer going out to locals by way of Dead Tree Media stuffing, direct snail mail routes and handed out in special not-so-secret tax meetings across the city.Right now, we want to take a cursory look at campaign literature . . .The front cover should look familiar . . .Inside, a three page pitch that leaves doggies as an after thought . . . Despite the fact that this is the only solid promise for the money.Back cover offers some paltry justifications with no guarantees.Look closely at the fine print and there's a promise of "a modest property tax increase" that's actually a lot bigger than what City Hall admits.Still, this blog is always about providing resources for further research and voters can learn more about the tax fromOr, just check the junk mail bin checked at local curbs starting tomorrow.You decide . . .
CHECK APT CRITICISM OF CALLOUS KANSAS CITY STAR WORD GAMES ON THEIR FRONT PAGE AMID OLATHE SHOOTING GUNFIRE NEWS!!!
"Really? No one is smart enough to avoid this headline, or was it on purpose? See the attached screen shot from the Star website."
Special thanks to our reader community tonight . . .Here's the word:Like it or not, design and social media dissemination concerns are another headache for Kansas City journalists and this front page flub shows us that even the largest daily newspaper in the metro still struggles to learn.Developing . . .
Peru reinforces its superfood credentials during Gulfood 2017 exhibition, which opens in Dubai today, with the launch of its Superfoods Peru brand.
The comprehensive global campaign celebrates Perus status as the worlds top producer of superfoods and highlights the quality, variety and benefits of the countrys food offering.
Gulfood 2017 runs till March 2 at Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre.
One of the most biodiverse nations on earth, Peru has a variety of agricultural produce that is synonymous with healthy living. Packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other essential nutrients, these superfoods include quinoa, golden berries, chia seeds, maca root, sacha inchi, purple corn, camu camu, lucuma, asparagus, and blueberries, among many others.
With todays consumers seeking healthier choices and new culinary experiences, we see strong export potential for Peruvian produce. The global Superfoods Peru promotion strategy is a response to this worldwide trend. Our government anticipates export volumes for superfoods will triple to $15 billion in the medium term as a result of the campaign. We also expect to see up to 15 per cent annual growth in cropland dedicated to superfoods, said Alvaro Silva-Santisteban F, director of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru, through its representation based in the UAE.
According to industry analysts Technavio, the global naturally healthy foods market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of more than 6 per cent from 2016-2020. The rising awareness of the benefits of health and wellness products has led to increased demand for naturally healthy foods among consumers.
The trend is reflected in Perus agricultural exports to the UAE, which in 2016 increased by 52 per cent over the previous year. Among the top agricultural exports were grapes, pomegranates, avocados, asparagus, jalapenos, blueberries, mangoes, organic bananas, quinoa, chia seeds, pulses and corn.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are among Perus top exports to the GCC and we predict these will increase further as more health-conscious consumers change the way they eat, shop and dine. Last year Peruvian businesses closed deals worth US$15 million as a result of their participation in Gulfood. We are optimistic that our status as the best leading culinary destination for five consecutive years, coupled by growing awareness of Peru as the worlds super pantry, will seal even more transactions at Gulfood this year, said Silva-Santisteban.
Perus geographical location and diversity of climates enables it to supply fresh produce year-round and support counter-cyclical import demand. Today, Peru is the worlds top producer of fishmeal, fish oil, fresh asparagus, quinoa and paprika; and the worlds second largest producer of avocados, artichokes, organic bananas and organic cacao. It produces the greatest varieties of corn, potatoes and chilies in hundreds of colours and flavours. Peru also ranks first in the world for biodiversity of fishes and it is among the top ten exporters of maca, mangoes and processed asparagus.
Peru has 82 out of the 111 climates in the world so we have excellent growing conditions. Our producers can grow almost anything and they enjoy high yields across a range of agricultural products. With their progressive use of technology and innovative production and processing methods, Perus producers are considered some of the strongest and most reliable trade partners in the world, added Silva-Santisteban.
Also contributing to the growth in Peruvian agricultural exports are emerging specialty and niche products. Supplied in fresh, dried, frozen or processed and semi-processed formats, they are perfectly suited to the foodservice, ingredient and manufacturing sectors.
Peruvian companies will present these products and more at the Peru Pavilion during Gulfood 2017 (in Saeed Halls, Trade Center Arena, Booth K4/L3). In addition to product showcases, a Dubai-based Peruvian chef will serve up delicious classic dishes such as ceviche, tiradito, causa and quinoa risotto. - TradeArabia News Service
France, which gave the world one of the most enduring symbols of World Expos the Eiffel Tower, has confirmed its commitment to Expo 2020 Dubai, joining a growing number of nations who have publicly announced their participation.
The UAE and France share a history of strong bilateral ties.
These close links were further strengthened today when Expo 2020 Dubai announced that France has officially confirmed its official participation in a letter from French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve addressed to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. This gave official confirmation to a previous indication from France that it would take part in Expo 2020, said an Expo 2020 statement.
The letter was delivered to Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee by Pascal Lamy, French delegate to the 2025 World Expo.
Sheikh Ahmed said: France, of course, has staged several Expos, including in 1889 when Gustave Eiffels famous tower was unveiled to the world. That lasting mark on humankind is a hallmark of World Expos and we are working hard here in the UAE to ensure that our first to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region can be similarly impactful.
Expo 2020 Dubai will be a festival for all, where everyone can learn, innovate, create progress and have fun by sharing ideas and working together, the statement said.
Through its main theme, Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, the event will provide a platform to encourage creativity, innovation and collaboration. This is underpinned by three interlinked subthemes: Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability.
Between its opening day on October 20, 2020, and its close on April 10, 2021, Expo 2020 Dubai is expected to be visited by millions of people. 70 per cent of all visitors are expected to come from outside the UAE - the largest proportion of international visitors in Expo history.
The Expo site covers a total of 4.38 sq km, including a 2 sq km gated area. It is located within the Dubai South District, adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport.
Known as a hotbed of creativity, France remains a leading country in global innovation, with 10 French entities ranked in the Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators.
The Expo is particularly close to the heart of the French people as the countrys capital, Paris, is home to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the intergovernmental organisation responsible for overseeing and regulating all international exhibitions. France has also bid to host the World Expo in 2025.
Pascal Lamy said: France is proud to have presented its candidature to the World Expo 2025 and has already made important steps to build a strong and coherent project, showing its will to revive its historical ties with the tradition of the World Expos.
In that perspective, working closely with the inspiring project of Expo 2020 Dubai will definitely help France succeeding in building and promoting its 2025 World Expo project.
The chosen theme for the French World Expo 2025 is Knowledge to share, planet to care, which will enable all the participants to show the state of their progresses in some fields of high interest for the youngest generations of the world, to the benefit of all.
The candidature has already received wide support from the French population, from the French private sector and public authorities, and already attracts a lot of interest from many quarters around the world.
In the context of the French candidature, I am convinced that many French people will be furthermore interested by coming to the UAE to visit Expo 2020 Dubai and extend their stay to enjoy the richness of the country.
France and the UAE have worked on several large projects in recent years, including the Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and Louvre Abu Dhabi, reflecting both countries focus on the importance of education and culture for our youth.
The UAE is also home to an estimated 35,000 French nationals and more than 700 subsidiaries of French companies.
Bilateral trade between France and the UAE reached $5 billion in 2016 and the UAE is Frances second-largest export destination in the Gulf, with exports mainly comprising food, aeronautics, consumer luxury goods, and electrical and mechanical equipment.
More than 265,000 French tourists visited the UAE last year and there is a wide variety of direct flights available between the UAE and a number of French cities, including Paris and Lyon.
In May 2013, France opened a new embassy in Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi. - TradeArabia News Service
Opec and Non-Opec countries are on target towards full conformity with their adjustments in oil production, according to the Joint Opec-Non-Opec Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC).
''Opec and Non-Opec producers achieved a conformity level of 86 per cent,'' Emirates official news agency Wam reported, citing the Joint Opec-Non-Opec Technical Committee (JTC).
The JTC, a technical sub-committee of the JMMC, held its inauguration at the Opec Secretariat in Vienna, where it discussed issues related to the conformity of production levels set during Opecs 171st Ministerial Conference Decision and voluntary adjustments in line with the Declaration of Co-operation.
The JTC reviewed presentations by the Opec Secretariat on current market developments and discussed various technical issues on reporting and conformity.
The JMMC expressed its satisfaction with the progress made towards full conformity in the production adjustments and noted that there is still room for improvement to reach 100 percent conformity. It also urged all parties to press on towards full and timely conformity.
The second meeting of the JTC is scheduled to take place in Vienna on March 2017, followed by the next JMMC meeting in Kuwait on March 25 and 26.
Germany-based Evonik, a global leader in specialty chemicals, has annouced the opening of its new coating additives laboratory at Tuzla (Istanbul) in Turkey.
The state-of-the-art laboratory, which also includes a customer service center, will support customers with the development of innovative surface coatings in Turkey and throughout the Middle East, said a statement rom the company.
According to Evonik, the application technology laboratory features top-of-the-line equipment for processing customer requests for a wide range of coatings and printing ink applications.
This allows the lab staff to effectively formulate, apply, and test a variety of coatings and printing inks in water-based, solvent-based, or radiation-curing formats.
The modern laboratory equipment also includes a spray booth and a climatic chamber, it stated.
Gaetano Blanda, the head of the Coating Additives business line, said the new laboratory strengthens the presence of Evonik in the region.
"It enhances our market proximity and enables us to provide our customers with technical service and product solutions for the development of new formulations even faster," noted Blanda.
The German group said the new laboratory and the adjacent customer service centre have created two new jobs and are staffed by five employees total.
From its Tuzla site east of Istanbul, Evonik Ticaret will manage the distribution for the Turkish domestic market and exports to adjacent growth markets with a staff of fifty employees, it added.- TradeArabia News Service
Ghassan Ahmed Al Sulaiman Furniture Trading Co Ltd, IKEA Saudi Arabia, a leading home furnishings retailer in the kingdom, has been ranked for the second consecutive year as number one retailer in Saudi Arabia by YouGov BrandIndex.
The 2016 annual BestBrand Rankings, which was launched across 24 countries globally including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, are compiled using the Buzz score from YouGovs daily flagship brand tracker, BrandIndex. BrandIndex is the measure of brand perception and continuously measures public perception of thousands of brands across the globe, said a statement.
Faisal Al Gain, country marketing manager of IKEA Saudi Arabia, said: We are very pleased that consumers have recognised all the buzz that we generated over the last year and we are truly proud to be ranked as number one Retailer in Saudi Arabia by YouGov BrandIndex. This recognition stands as a testament for our dedication to the highest standards of quality.
Very few brands have achieved the iconic status or the remarkably high level of customer loyalty that IKEA enjoys around the world as it is synonymous with inspirational designs, massive range, accessibility and affordability. With a promise of creating a better everyday life for the many people, everything IKEA does is driven by the needs and dreams of real people, and we know that all the products bought at IKEA have found happy homes, he added.
IKEA Saudi Arabia, quickly catapulted itself to leadership position after the first store opened in 1983. Over the last 30 years, customers in the kingdom vouched for the value, functionality, and eco-friendliness of IKEAs products. But the chief factor that drives popularity and loyalty is the omnipresence of the brand, where it is accessible and available to everyone, and at different touch points, the statement said.
In line with making itself more accessible and available to customers, IKEA Saudi Arabia has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan for the next few years to increase its footprint both locally and regionally. In fact, last September marked the launch of the e-commerce platform as part of the omni-channel experience, thus allowing IKEAs customers to shop online at any given time and anywhere in the kingdom. They are also working towards opening a new store in Al Salaam Mall later this year, in addition to plans to open the first Order and Collection Points (OCP) in the kingdom, at Kharj and Qaseem.
Saudi Arabias best brands for 2016 have combined technological innovation and campaigns for social responsibility to buoy public perception over the year, said Scott Booth, head of Data Products Mena at YouGov. Brands that not only adopt communications meaningful to citizens of the Kingdom, but also adopt and promote behaviors and products that improve the lives of Saudis are consistently winning public appeal. - TradeArabia News Service
ART Rotana Amwaj Islands, a luxurious property in Bahrain, recently scooped two awards at the 2016 World Luxury Hotel Awards ceremony held in Doha; Global Winner for Luxury Art Hotel and Country Winner for Luxury Design Hotel.
The hotel also bagged the Signum Virtutis, the Seal of Excellence from the 2016 Seven Stars Luxury Hospitality and Lifestyle Awards, in the Hotels & Resorts sector, for the second year consecutively, which was held in Spain.
Commenting on this achievement, general manager of ART Rotana Amwaj Islands Lilian Roger stated: The global recognition that the hotel has received is a result of hard work by an excellent team who have dedicated themselves to place ART Rotana at the forefront.
We are extremely honoured and proud that ART Rotana has been recognised within the international hospitality and tourism industry as the Global Luxury Art Hotel and Country Luxury Design hotel, as well as receiving the Seal of Excellence, he further added.
The World Luxury Hotel Awards is one of the most prestigious and celebrated award ceremonies in the world, held in recognition of the finest hotels with world class facilities and service excellence the industry has to offer.
The Seven Stars Luxury Hospitality and Lifestyle Awards is the international organization charged with custodianship of the Signum Virtutis - the Seal of Excellence, the highest, most exclusive award for the pinnacle in Luxury Hospitality & Lifestyle. The annual awards not only recognise, but also set apart the extraordinary achievements in the Hospitality and Lifestyle sectors by bestowing upon them the Signum Virtutis, which serves as a guarantee to the luxury consumer that the recipients are truly the best in the industry. - TradeArabia News Service
The Sun Siyam Group, supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Maldives, marked the opening of its office in Saudi Arabia recently with a fun and informative reception in the capital, Riyadh, entitled A Glimpse into the Sunny Side of Life!.
Held in the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel on February 13, dignitaries, tourism professionals and media were officially welcomed by Abdullah Hameed, ambassador of Maldives to Saudi Arabia.
The Maldives as a destination for everyone was the focus of the presentation by Evgenia Boyankova, Sun Siyams director of business development, who explained how the nation of islands offered something for everyone: Its a destination that caters to anyone who enjoys a wonderful location with great scenery, good food and luxurious villa living, whether they want to experience exciting sports, just want to relax amid the lush green foliage and endless beaches of the island.
Mamdouh AbdulRhaman AlMallouhi, sales manager - Riyadh for Saudi Airlines, highlighted the convenient flight connections between Saudi Arabia and the Maldives, as well as sharing future plans on launching direct flights from Jeddah to the Maldives. - TradeArabia News Service
The alarm spread quickly through South Omaha, into households, down the commercial corridor on 24th Street, sweeping across social media, pouring into the schools.
An immigration enforcement raid at Nebraska Beef's big meatpacking plant!
Undocumented workers on the production line; mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, families at risk.
False alarm.
"We were getting calls and emails," Sen. Tony Vargas said.
"The fear on that day (earlier this month) reminded me how tenuous things are now. People were reacting to fear that is palpable now."
Vargas says "it's OK to be afraid," because Latinos, in particular, face the possibility that family members or friends, or even themselves, might be caught up in the next sweep by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as the Trump administration beefs up the ICE force and pulls the strings tighter on undocumented immigrants.
Perhaps as many as half of the people who live in Vargas' richly tapestried legislative district are Latinos. Many of them -- Vargas said he wouldn't want to estimate how many -- crossed the Mexican border without documentation, often bringing their children with them.
Those children currently are protected from the threat of arrest and expulsion by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive action taken by former President Barack Obama, and they're anxiously awaiting a decision by President Donald Trump as to whether they will retain that protection.
Vargas has introduced a legislative resolution (LR26) to renew the Nebraska Legislature's support for those youths by declaring its opposition to any action to erase the DACA protection.
The resolution will receive a public hearing by the Judiciary Committee on March 22, and that will test the nonpartisan Legislature's continuing commitment to DACA youth under a new Republican administration.
"It is critical we stand by that no matter what administration exists," Vargas said. "It's important that we show we are still a nonpartisan body."
During the past two years, the Legislature has enacted bills to grant DACA youths the ability to get Nebraska driver's licenses and the professional and occupational licenses they may need to work in the state.
Those bills were enacted over the vetoes of Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts.
Vargas said he and his staff are trying to get the best information and answers for his constituents who are concerned or alarmed by the changing landscape for immigrants.
"We want to help pacify people's concerns," he said.
Vargas is working with organizations like Nebraska Appleseed, ACLU of Nebraska and the Heartland Workers Center in his district.
"We need to make sure people know they have rights no matter who they are," he said, "and we need to find out what we can do to help. That is why I was elected."
Vargas is the son of immigrants from Peru; he grew up in New York City and taught middle school in Brooklyn for two years. Last November, he was elected to the Legislature.
Looking back, he said, he "couldn't imagine what life would be like if my family had been torn apart. "
"This is a critical moment now," Vargas said.
"We need to make sure we are prepared. We need to try to make sure people's lives are kept intact because that's our job."
Vargas isn't the only state senator with a large Latino or immigrant population in his or her district.
Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete said she hears indirect reports of concern in her district southwest of Lincoln.
"Some people are scared to death to go out," she said. "There's a lot of fear among workers who are new immigrants."
A Smithfield Foods pork plant in Crete employs a largely Latino workforce.
Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg said he has not heard any reports about the mood in nearby Lexington, where a large Latino and Somalian workforce labors at the Tyson beef plant that employs 2,600 meatpacking workers.
The Somalians are predominantly Muslim, another immigrant population that might be feeling some stress at this time.
Sen. Dan Quick of Grand Island said he has heard nothing from his community first-hand, "but I'm going to guess there is fear."
Swift operates a meatpacking plant at Grand Island.
"Many of those people no doubt work in fear every day," Quick said, "and they can't fight back."
Ebke expressed empathy for the new immigrants.
"I don't want people ignoring laws," she said, "but I can't fault anybody that comes here for a better life. That's what all our families did."
Katarina Line, Voted Best Croatian DMC for 2016, Announces New Travel Trade Show Dates for 2017
(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - February 24th, 2017 - Katarina Line, voted the best Croatian DMC for 2016 and a premier small-ship cruise company, announced that it will be attending a series of upcoming Peninsula Trade Shows on the East Coast, and the Travel & Adventure Show in California. Company representatives will participate in round-table discussions and educational seminars as they continue to connect with and educate travel agents on how best to market and sell Croatia.
The company will attend the Peninsula Trade Shows in the following cities:
Monday, February 27 Atlanta, Georgia
Tuesday, February 28 Greenville, South Carolina
Wednesday, March 1 Charlotte, North Carolina
Thursday, March 2 Greensboro, North Carolina
Katarina Line will also be at the Travel & Adventure Show in San Diego, California, on March 4 5, at the San Diego Convention Center, booth #1115.
The company said it is excited to attend these shows, where its representatives can meet one-on-one with many of the United States top travel professions to discuss the benefits of partnering with Katarina Line. Representatives will also be happy to prearrange meetings with participants to explore the companys rich and varied portfolio of in-land tours and small ship cruises to some of Croatias most popular ports and attractions. Meetings can be scheduled at any time before, during and after the trade shows. Representatives can also visit agents office for a private presentation, as well as to meet and train their staff.
For more information, call toll-free 1-800-485-3121 or visit Katarina Line online.
About Katarina Line
Voted Best Croatian DMC for 2016 by leading travel professionals, Katarina Line is an award-winning DMC in Croatia and a premier small ship cruise company with weekly guaranteed departures from the end of April to mid-October, operating out of the major tourist centers of Opatija, Split and Dubrovnik. With a growing fleet of more than 50 ships in four different categories, the company serves more than 90,000 clients that include 26,000 cruise guests of all ages and budgets. Katarina Line itineraries give travelers the chance to explore the stunning natural environment and picturesque Mediterranean towns of Croatia while hopping from one island to another, offering guest the unique opportunity to experience the true Croatia.
Katarina Line enjoys an exceptional relationship with travel agents, which account for more than 95% of all its bookings worldwide. Katarina line is a member of many different travel associations, including USTOA, ASTA, NTA, ACTA, RDA, and ETOA. For more information, call toll-free 1-800-485-3121 or visit www.katarina-line.com.
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Hotelier Agnes Pierre-Louis receives Haiti's donation from (l-r) Vanessa Ledesma, Frank Comito and Karolin Troubetzkoy of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association.
CARIBBEAN HOTEL AND TOURISM ASSOCIATION HELPS HURRICANE-AFFECTED HAITI AND THE BAHAMAS
MIAMI (February 25, 2017) - The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) presented checks totaling $70,000 to hotel associations in Haiti and The Bahamas to assist residents in both countries with Hurricane Matthew relief efforts.
Recognizing the considerable hardship and damage which Haiti and part of the northern Bahamas faced in the aftermath of the hurricane, CHTA President Karolin Troubetzkoy called upon fellow hoteliers in the region to respond to the association's call for support.
CHTA developed a fundraising initiative through online auction channel CharityBuzz.com , with which CHTA previously collaborated on a relief and recovery project for Dominica. Regional hoteliers donated room nights for the auction to benefit residents in Haiti and The Bahamas, some of whom continue to struggle to put their lives back in order.
"Thanks to the generosity of our CHTA members, we are heartened to make these contributions to our sister organizations," said Troubetzkoy. "Our Caribbean countries and the industry responded when help was needed and I wish to thank those who answered the call."
In Haiti, Hurricane Matthew claimed almost 1,000 lives in the southwestern part of the country and devastated agricultural and fishing sectors, flora, natural attractions, schools and homes, leaving thousands of families homeless and unable to meet basic human needs. In The Bahamas, there was severe damage on Grand Bahama Island, North and Central Andros, and the Berry Islands.
The Bahamas Hotel & Tourism Association's (BHTA) President Carlton Russell receives CHTA's contribution from President Karolin Troubetzkoy.
Troubetzkoy presented a $25,000 check to The Bahamas Hotel & Tourism Association's President Carlton Russell at Caribbean Travel Marketplace at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort in January. A check for $45,000 was presented to Agnes Pierre-Louis, Treasurer of L'Association Touristique d'Haiti.
In consultation with CHTA, the Bahamas and Haiti Associations have identified areas where relief will be targeted, aimed at addressing long-term improvements to those affected.
About the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA)
The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) is the Caribbean's leading association representing tourism interests for national hotel and tourism associations. For more than 50 years, CHTA has been the backbone of the Caribbean hospitality industry. Working together with 1,000 hotel and allied members and 32 National Hotel Associations, CHTA is shaping the Caribbean's future and helping members to grow their businesses. Whether navigating new worlds like social media, sustainability, legislative issues, emerging technologies, data and intelligence or looking for avenues and ideas to better market and manage businesses, CHTA is helping members on matters that matter most.
For further information, visit www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com
ENDS
(TRAVPR.COM) INDIA - February 26th, 2017: Exhibitors from a record number of 60 countries showcased their destinations at OTM 2017 from February 21-23 at the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre. This was by far the largest number of countries participating in any trade show in the country.
1134 travel organisations from 60 Countries exhibited at OTM 2017 including 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.
Over 10,000 travel trade visitors attended the show in addition to more than 500 buyers from travel trade and corporate sectors who had qualified for special hosting privileges. International buyers from countries like Kuwait, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia and Thailand were also extended similar hosting hospitality.
Whos who from the global travel industry assembled at OTM 2017. The dignitaries present at the inaugural session included Sohan Singh Thandal, Minister of Tourism, Government of Punjab; I Gde Pitana, Deputy Tourism Minister for Overseas Promotion of Indonesia; H.E. Mohammed K Al Mheiri, Undersecretary- Ministry of Economy and Adviser to the Minister for Tourism; H.E. Dr Ahmed Al Banna, UAE Ambassador to India; H.E. Demetrios A Theophylactou, High Commissioner, Cyprus High Commission; Dimitrios Tryfonopoulos, Secretary General, Greek National Tourism Organisation; Datuk Seri Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, Director General, Tourism Malaysia; H.E. Erdal Sabri Ergen, Consul General, Consulate General of Turkey in Mumbai; Ismail A Hamid, Egyptian Tourism Counsellor, Egyptian Tourism Office; Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India.
The Tourism Minister of Greece, Elena Kountoura graced the show with her presence on second day. H.E. Panos Kalogeropoulos, Ambassador of Greece to India and the Tourism Minister took a tour of the show and interacted with various other participants. This was the first time that Greece Tourism participated at OTM 2017 with a large delegation including private sector operators.
The UAE Ministry of Economy organised a national Visit UAE pavilion for the second year in a row, featuring various tourism departments and agencies from the UAE. The delegation was led by H.E. Mohammed K Al Mheiri who informed that the UAE has broadened its presence to include the various government bodies responsible for tourism in all the emirates as well as private sector representatives involved in tourism.
Premium Partner Country of OTM 2017, Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has been participating at OTM for the last seven years with a large number of tour operators. Gulara Alkacr, Culture & Tourism Officer was extremely satisfied with the event turnout and expects many more tourists from India.
Besides showcasing their myriad tourism attractions, Indonesia Tourism presented an array of cultural offerings during the show. Representatives from Indonesias travel and tourism industry under the umbrella of The Ministry of Tourism, Republic of Indonesia discussed their India-specific tourism promotion plans during OTM 2017.
First-time participants at OTM like Bahrain, Cambodia, Cyprus, Greece, Ho Chi Minh City provided variety of experiences to the valued travel trade partners and Indian travellers.
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. OTM provides the right platform for national and international tourism boards and private operators to tap this market in the most comprehensive and cost-effective way.
A brand-new addition at OTM 2017 was the co-located BLTM- Business & Luxury Travel Mart, where qualified hosted buyers met the sellers by appointments.
Indian citizens whether travelling abroad or within the country are much coveted and one of the fastest growing markets 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, OTM 2017 has participants from 60 countries. These included NTOs from 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.
Participation from India was equally aggressive as their international counterparts. This included Tourism departments along with private operators from Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and private sector participation from Daman & Diu, Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana in a big way. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India had a strong presence at the show.
More than 100 corporate buyers from top companies like Canara HSBC, L'Oreal India Pvt Ltd, Capgemini, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, Khaitan & Co, Hdfc Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd, Mahindra Finance, Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd, Larsen & Toubro, Deloitte Shared Services India Llp, Wockhardt Ltd, Ambuja Cements Ltd, Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Ltd, Rajkumar Hirani Films, Ericsson India Pvt Ltd, etc had pre-scheduled over 2000 appointments for meeting sellers of their choice at the show. OTM is the only big travel trade show in the country to have the participation of corporate buyers on this scale.
The two Buyer-Seller Speed Networking sessions were a huge hit, designed to facilitate onsite meeting appointments with the buyers to visit the sellers. Visit UAE Lounge was made available for the speed networking sessions.
In another first, the MICE Club was launched at OTM, with an objective to facilitate networking and education opportunities among the community of buyers and sellers from Business Travel and MICE segments.
Globally, travel trade fairs are considered important annual opportunities for face-to-face meetings and networking among buyers and sellers. Traditionally, visitors at these fairs walk the show and meet the sellers of their interest. The advent of online technologies has not left this field untouched either. Increasingly, the buyers and sellers pre-schedule appointments online for meetings at the show.
OTM 2017 had deployed a state-of-the-art online meeting diary system provided by EventsAir based in Australia. It is an advanced system that facilitated matchmaking and appointments between the Buyers and Sellers, and received over 5000 meeting requests prior to the show.
OTM 2017 was supported by Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), Network of Indian MICE Agents (NIMA), IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI), Maharashtra Tour Operators Association (MTOA), Travel Agents Association of Pune (TAAP), Travel Agents Association of Nashik (TAAN), South Gujarat Association of Travel Agents (SATA), SKAL International, Enterprising Travel Agent's Association (ETAA), etc.
In addition to buying and selling opportunities on the show floor, exhibitors from various countries and states also made colourful cultural presentations. There was an equally interesting line up of workshops and presentations conducted on the sidelines of the mart.
Featuring destinations through films has been a traditionally successful strategy for many destinations. Mumbai being one of the biggest hubs of film production in the world, OTM partnered with The Film and TV Producers Guild of India and Globe Hoppers to organise Shoot-at-Site, an exclusive workshop on the opening day of OTM focused on promoting tourism through films shoots, facilitating ease-of-doing business, and making film-shooting friendly policies by the government. The workshop was attended by international and state tourism boards and leading film production companies, and was also supported by the Motion Pictures Association of America - India office, and Ernst & Young.
Destination Weddings is one of the fastest growing segments in tourism. A workshop on Destination Indian Weddings was curated with the help of Globe Hoppers. Some of the leading Wedding Planners from Mumbai and Delhi attended the session along with the tourism boards.
Travel Blogger Speed-Networking Session was conducted during the sidelines of OTM providing a chance to meet top 45 travel bloggers from the country and build on their prominent role in the travel marketing ecosystem.
Fairfest was the first mover in India in the space of travel marts. It was established in 1989. Its OTM is now Indias largest travel trade show on the basis of countries represented, as well as the number of sellers and buyers.
Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman & CEO, Fairfest Media Ltd (organiser of OTM), said, We are excited about the record number of 60 countries participating in OTM 2017, which is the largest ever in any trade show in India. We have seen growth and consolidation of our lead as the largest travel fair in every other parameter including area of exhibition halls rented, number of sellers and buyers. It also shows resilience of travel market despite slowdowns.
OTM 2018 will be held from January 23-25 at the Bombay Exhibition & Convention Centre.
For more information on OTM 2017, visit http://otm.co.in/
About Fairfest Media Ltd
OTM is organised by Fairfest Media Ltd, also the organisers of TTF and BLTM branded travel shows. It is Indias oldest and the largest travel trade show network for over 25 years, spanning 10 cities. Fairfest Media also publishes of the most widely distributed print and web editions of the B2B journal Travel News Digest (TND). It also organises Municipalika, an only of its kind annual event focused on urban solutions.
Like us on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/OTMIndia/
Follow us on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/otmindia
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The visit catches Norma Wilke by surprise.
I used to be smart, the 81-year-old Lincoln woman says of forgetting the appointment.
But then came a thief -- Alzheimers disease.
Its frustrating, Wilke said of her confusion. Im not angry. Mostly, I feel deprived. I remember that I cant remember.
Wolfe received the Alzheimers diagnosis five years ago -- back when it was in its early stages.
She continued to live independently until last month, when the former Hastings nursing home administrator agreed to move into a retirement home.
Her short-term memory fails her frequently. She forgets things that happened minutes earlier. Things she intends to write down. Conversations. Explanations. Reminders.
But she still enjoys the things that are most dear to her: grandchildren, family outings and writing letters to family and friends.
Daughter Kathryn Brockmeier checks in daily, directing her mother to write down everything -- now. Did she take her medicine? Shower? Did she talk to anyone on the telephone? What activity did she do with the Brentwood Estates community?
Wilke describes her situation matter-of-factly: I live in the now.
An estimated 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimers disease, the most common form of dementia. No one exactly knows what happens in the brain as the disease eats away the ability to remember, recognize, think clearly, and eventually communicate, move around and swallow. Complications from these losses typically lead to death -- on average eight to 10 years after diagnosis.
A 2014 survey of American adults found Alzheimers disease was the most-feared, life-threatening disease -- beating out cancer, heart attack, stroke and diabetes. Unlike the other four diseases which have options for treatment and even possible prevention -- Alzheimers has none of that.
Unable to know what causes the disease, treatments and even cures are but distant dreams, according to Dr. Steven Bonasera, associate professor of geriatrics and gerontology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Caregiving is the best thing we have right now, Bonasera said.
But it also comes at a great cost to the spouse, child or sibling providing that 24/7 care. Depression is common. Most caregivers neglect their own health and needs to care for the Alzheimers patient. Some drop out of the workforce to provide full-time care to a family member.
In Nebraska, 33,000 people are living with a form of dementia -- about 12 percent of the states senior population, according to the Alzheimers Association Nebraska Chapter. In addition, 81,000 individuals serve as voluntary caregivers with a total valued cost of care exceeding $1.1 billion dollars annually in Nebraska alone, the association said.
Experts predict that by 2025, 40,000 Nebraska seniors will be living with dementia. Alzheimers disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the state.
Alzheimers is going to be one of the most expensive diseases, Bonasera said.
In 2016, the U.S. spent $236 billion on Alzheimers and other dementias.
Within the next 50 years that cost is anticipated to top $1 trillion and could go as high as $50 trillion, as the number Alzheimers patients grows, Bonasera said referencing a Rand Corporation study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Longevity is the No. 1 risk for the disease. Whereas one in nine people age 65 and older have the disease; after age 85 that number soars to one in three people, according to Alzheimers Association statistics.
Not only does it (dementia) cost a lot of money but gives families a lot of problems, Bonasera said. The morbidity and the suffering it creates on families is very, very high.
In 2014 the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation created a grant program challenging doctors and researchers to design new programs to improve care and reduce costs associated with dementia.
They wanted to make sure they were spending money on interventions, technologies and approaches that really really work as opposed to what we think would work, Bonasera said of the Medicare/Medicaid Centers.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center and University of California, San Francisco received a $10 million three-year grant create a Dementia Care Ecosystem: Using Innovative Technologies to Personalize and Deliver Coordinated Dementia Care." It is one of six studies underway through the Medicare/Medicaid grant program.
The ecosystem study uses educational resources developed by UCSFs Memory and Aging Center over the past decade to train care team navigators -- specially trained clinicians to work directly with family caregivers of dementia patients.
The UNMC/UCSF study is now in its second year, and just recently closed its enrollment.
Norma Wilke read about the study in the newspaper, and told her daughter they should sign up.
She wanted to contribute to research, Brockmeier said of her mom.
But it is Brockmeier who has reaped the greatest benefits from the study which focuses on providing support and care to the caregivers, so they can better handle the challenges of Alzheimers.
The Dementia Care Ecosystem looks at four interventions designed to support family caregivers, keep patients healthy, and help them prepare together for advancing illness. The hope is these approaches will improve satisfaction with care, prevent emergency-related health care costs, and keep patients in their homes longer, UNMC and UCSF wrote in the study synopsis.
The areas of focus are:
* Caregiver -- Connecting families with resources, providing emotional support and offering coping tips to caregivers.
* Decision-making -- Addressing medical, financial and safety issues before they arise, including an advanced directive outlining end of life care.
* Medication -- Tracking medications and dosages to make sure drug interactions are not causing or worsening symptoms.
* Functional monitoring -- Debuting this month, this innovative Internet dashboard uses a smartwatch-style device and home sensors to collect continuous patient data, monitoring movements, sleep patterns and other behaviors. Using that data, healthcare providers adjust patient activities and services, aimed at keeping them in their homes longer and improving overall health.
Bonasera said 100 dementia patients in Nebraska will receive the monitoring devices. Wilke hopes to be one of those patients.
Key to the entire UNMC/UCSF study are care team navigators. Navigators are not formal healthcare providers, rather they are specially trained to address the wide ranging issues affecting caregivers from providing tips on how to deal with daily frustrations, to lining up family services to notifying doctors and nurses of immediate concerns. Care team navigators provide frontline care with 24/7 availability to patients and caregivers, Bonasera said.
They are able to manage a large number of people in an effective manner, he said, Thereby allowing doctors and nurses to focus on the patients who have the more complicated care needs.
Early data indicates care team navigators have had a significant impact on the health and well-being of caregivers, Bonasera said.
There is an increase in their own self reporting that they feel competent with their caregiving, he said. And (navigators) have helped identify and encourage treatment in cases of depression that otherwise might have gone undiagnosed and unmanaged.
That alone is monumental, Bonasera said.
If nothing else we did made a difference, that has us breaking even or doing better.
Care team navigators connect with caregivers regularly via telephone calls, personal visits, and soon the new Internet dashboard.
Brockmeier and her care team navigator, Sarah Wolnisty, talk monthly.
What I like about Sarah is that she is a good listener and is good at reflecting on what I have said," Brockmeier said. "She helps put it in perspective. I think shes as good as a therapist."
Wolnisty has offered Brockmeier tips for dealing with the frustrations of her mothers short-term memory loss -- from keeping the daily calendar/list or having Wilke repeat things three times, as a means of committing it to memory.
Wolnisty also has helped Brockmeier take a proactive approach to the struggles ahead. Wilke has completed legal paperwork for durable power of attorney and do not resuscitate order.
A lot of care for Alzheimers patients is reactive, rather than proactive, Bonasera said. Families deal with problems as they pop up. And that is the worst time to be thinking about putting in a feeding tube in Dad or putting Mom in a nursing home. People dont make good decisions in the urgency of the situation.
We wanted to work on decisions proactively and think about the care ahead. Then when the issues come up, in their minds they have already gone through the scenario."
This is where Brockmeier has been lucky -- her mother was proactive from the start.
It was Wilke who decided she was done driving after she got confused leaving the Gere Branch Library and couldnt remember how to get to her home several blocks away. The memory of her car stuck in the middle of the road, while irritated drivers honked and flailed their arms at her still gives her chills. Once she got home, Wilke called her daughter and announced she was getting rid of her car.
Wilke also decided it was time to stop cooking when following recipes became hard and she made something suspicious.
And it was Wilke who made it clear to her only daughter that as Alzheimers takes its toll, there will be no heroic lifesaving actions. She wants quality of life, as opposed to quantity at all costs.
Brockmeier credits the care team navigator for the pharmacist review of her mothers medications, and a change in her antidepressant prescription.
It was a good change, Brockmeier said.
Im perkier now, Wilke interjected.
But perhaps the biggest benefit of the study is that it has preserved the mother-daughter relationship.
As caregiver, Brockmeier often assumes the mother role -- reminding Wolfe of what to do and how to do it.
I get bossy at times," Brockmeier said. But I try real hard to maintain that mother-daughter relationship, as opposed to me taking care of her. I want her to feel she can contribute as a mom and a grandmother. I try really, really hard to let her still be my mom and still be grandma.
We like to walk down memory lane as mom and daughter, and hold on to the good memories. We had good times. We were best friends. And we still are."
Early study results indicate find the Dementia Care Ecosystem approach is a move in the right direction, Bonasera said.
We think it is possible to lower costs right now, with no new drugs or medication, just by giving caregivers the tools they will need to approach caring for someone with dementia, Bonasera said.
If we did nothing else but the care team navigator we could get close to 70 percent of what we are getting with everything else, he said referring to the four parts of the study. To have a human being ask 'How the hell are you doing?' -- that is phenomenal medicine for these families.
Early data also shows that on a whole, patients in the study are on lower amounts of medication than they were when the research study began one year ago -- resulting in fewer falls, emergency room visits and hospitalizations, Bonasera said.
We know that people who are functionally better, who walk better, who are stronger and who have reliable caregiving do much better than their more frail cohort. They have better mental health, less pain and increased longevity.
And by taking a proactive approach to dementia care, Bonasera said doctors can take some of the fear out of the most feared of diseases.
Ultimately we do not do a good job for families with Alzheimers," Bonasera said. "This is a good step forward. Things need to be changed and we need to figure out how to change it so people can get the best care. Our goal is to work with families so that when the diagnosis comes out, they can understand: Its not good news, but it is news we can manage.
The goal with good caregiving, is that if families have options and ways of dealing with problems, it doesnt necessarily mean we all get broken. This is a problem we can get our arms around and make life look not nearly as bleak."
Cindy Lange-Kubick Columnist Cindy Lange-Kubick has loved writing columns about life in her hometown since 1994. She had hoped to become a people person by now, nonetheless she would love to hear your tales of fascinating neighbors and interesting places. Follow Cindy Lange-Kubick Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
Suzanne Blue, executive director of Matt Talbot Kitchen, is happy to talk about Jim Love.
Jim Love, who spent 46 years in the funeral business.
Jim Love, who spent 23 years and counting serving hot meals to the homeless.
Jim Love, who she loves.
His heart is huge, she says.
Everybody says the same thing about the soft-spoken, kind man whose father was a funeral director before him and whose son will carry the title forward.
Hes just a wonderful man, says Monsignor James Dawson. I was a priest and he was a server at Mass at the Veterans Hospital; Ive known him since he was a little boy.
The funeral director officially retired from Butherus, Maser and Love last month and will be honored Sunday afternoon at an open house there.
To him it was not a career, but it was a calling, said fellow funeral director Joe Roberts. Hes devoted his entire life to his work.
The two met in the late '60s, when Roberts came to Lincoln to serve his funeral home apprenticeship and a young Jim Love had just gotten out of the Army and was heading off to San Francisco to attend mortuary college.
I started Jan. 1, 1971, and Ive been there ever since, Love said last week. I never had another job after that.
And he never longed for one.
Ive enjoyed every day of my job, and not very many people can say that.
He liked helping people when they needed it most. He liked the people he worked with. The family philosophy and bonds that formed with those who came to him in their darkest days.
It helped, he says, that he and his wife, Mary, started every day the same way: in prayer.
Just asking the Lord to help me with all that takes place.
Love grew up knowing death was a part of life. Watching his fathers ways.
Dad was very compassionate to families. We never pressured a family, we never believed in that.
Jim and Mary Love have two sons and a daughter, and John, their eldest, will carry on the funeral home tradition.
One thing Im totally proud of is John continuing on, says Jim Love. Third generation, that means a lot.
Jan Frayser knows Johns younger siblings Anne and Jason from their years at Pius X, where she is the director of guidance. She knows Mary and Jim, too.
He is the most genuine Christ-like person, I know.
Frayser knew Jim Love as a caring father, and later watched him in his role as the attending funeral director after the deaths of students, former students, young parents, and others.
I got to see firsthand Jims caring ways as he cared for these grieving families, she says. Every single death he dealt with was someone you believed he personally knew and was personally grieving for thats how much he cared.
The caring comes naturally, said fellow funeral director Roberts. He was always very concerned about people being treated the proper way; he was proud it was a family-oriented business.
Love isnt entirely retired. He helped with a recent funeral, and will continue to assist when hes needed.
And he and Mary will continue to help at Matt Talbot. Last year, they received the soup kitchen and outreach center's Compassion in Action award.
He will be a busy man in his retirement. Spending a day each week at Catholic Social Services, helping pack and cart groceries to cars for families.
Hes training for a volunteer stint at the Lincoln Childrens Zoo, too. Driving and conducting the train. So far, so good, he said.
I went out Monday and actually drove the train; theres more to it than you think.
Like remembering to blow the whistle. And calling out cheer to the children.
I just love it, says the grandfather of 13.
Hell continue going to daily Mass, sometimes slipping into the chapel at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, where the priest he assisted at the Veterans Hospital so long ago now lives.
Often, the funeral director stays to visit with Dawson.
Im 88 this year and many, many years ago I made arrangements so Butherus, Maser and Love will have my funeral, the retired priest says.
I hope Jimmy Love is still living to do my service.
Museum visitors will be able to explore the origins, animal and plant inhabitants, and current research on the Galapagos Islands through the traveling exhibition "Galapagos" Friday through Aug. 6 at the University of Nebraska State Museum-Morrill Hall.
Visitors will be able to "travel" to six of the volcanic islands; examine a variety of specimens, including a newly discovered butterfly species; and play with 10 touch-screen stations offering games and videos.
The Galapagos Islands, with their fascinating and sometimes bizarre diversity, helped Charles Darwin develop his theory of evolution by natural selection. Since then, other important biological discoveries have occurred in the Galapagos. The islands continue to be a research mecca for biologists and a unique travel destination for nature enthusiasts.
The exhibition was developed by the Zoological Museum of the University of Zurich.
Morrill Hall also will offer Galapagos-themed events in March to celebrate the opening. They include:
* Investigate: Second Saturday Science Lab, March 11, 10 a.m. to noon: Visitors will be able to learn about reptiles that live in the Galapagos' thermally challenging environment and see box turtles. Other activities include a bird beak game exploring finch evolution and an activity investigating how volcanoes form. For more information, visit http://www.museum.unl.edu/investigate.
* Science Cafe: "From Nebraska to the Galapagos," March 16, 6:30-8 p.m.: Judy Diamond, NU State Museum curator and former Charles Darwin Foundation board member, will lead a panel discussion on new discoveries in the Galapagos with fellow curators Robert Zink and Scott Gardner. The three also will give a gallery talk.
Science Cafe is a casual, educational and entertaining monthly series for adults 21 and older exploring a variety of science and natural history topics. More information and to purchase tickets, visit http://museum.unl.edu/sciencecafe.
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, February 26
After witnessing an increase in cotton yield as well as in price, agriculture experts are now predicting an increase in the area in the coming season.
In 2015, cotton crop got damaged due to the whitefly attack and witnessed a decline in area in 2016.
At that time, the farmers alleged that the state government had supplied duplicate pesticide to them.
Last year, farmers preferred to sow other crops over cotton due to the fear of whitefly.
Jaskaran Singh, Agriculture Development Officer, said, The increase in cotton price and better yield will boost the confidence of farmers. This year, we are expecting that the area under the cotton crop will increase. Things will be clearer in May when farmers start purchasing cotton seeds. This year, they preferred more desi cotton seeds over BT cotton. Suitable weather conditions and success in preventing the whitefly attack saved the crop and resulted in better yield.
In December 2016, the price of cotton yield was Rs 5,100-5,400 per quintal and in February this year, the price is Rs 6,050 per quintal. However, farmer leaders claimed that the latest development would benefit only private buyers, who had earlier purchased the entire yield from farmers at a lower price.
In the first week of February, 3,200 quintals of cotton arrived in Bathinda while last year, around 3,000 quintals of cotton reached the district.
In 2015-16, a number of farmers committed suicide due to the damaged cotton crop. At that time, farmers alleged that whitefly could not be controlled despite using the pesticide, Oberon, recommended by the government. They claimed that the pesticide was spurious.
After the mass destruction of the cotton crop and farmer suicides, the government raided various pesticides shops as well as godowns and found spurious pesticides, which were being sold to the farmers.
Thereafter, the state government suspended the then state Agriculture Director, Mangal Singh Sandhu, over the alleged scam of pesticides and registered a case against him.
Asaad Komi, the featured artist at the Midwest African Museum of Art, ended up in Lincoln by chance.
He and several others spoke at the museum, 1935 Q St., on Saturday afternoon to celebrate Black History Month.
Komi grew up in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan and fell in love with art as a child. He and his siblings would draw each night to stay busy and he became competitive with his older brother.
After high school, he applied to the only art school in Sudan and was offered one of just 50 spots.
"The screening was really hard," he said. "No one had ever shown me how to draw or how to use the tools. The first time I was ever taught was during art school."
After graduating, Komi found that expensive supplies and canvases were inaccessible, so he began drawing on sheepskin with pens. The aesthetic makes his art stand out.
"Art is about being unique," he said.
In 2000, he immigrated to America as a refugee and settled in Virginia. He hoped to get a job and save money to support family members before they joined him in America.
He left the U.S. for three years, however, to work with the U.S. Army and assist in translation for a battalion commander.
When he came back to America, his family had settled in Lincoln and his children were excelling in school, so he moved here from Virginia.
His daughter was offered a full-ride scholarship to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and plans to graduate in May. Komi's son, a high school senior, is following in his dad's footsteps.
Komi's own father was disappointed that he chose to pursue art, but Komi could not be more proud of his son.
"Whatever I do in art, I always show him and see his opinion," he said with a big smile. "He usually has a pretty raw opinion and it helps me with how I see my art."
Komi's art is featured alongside a variety of African art in the museum's Malaika Gallery.
The Midwestern African Museum of Art opened in October, so guests also celebrated the new museum's progress during the Black History reception on Saturday.
"In a nutshell, Africa has come to Lincoln," said Seth Mock, one of the museum founders. "You do not need a passport to travel to Africa for the first time, you can just get in your vehicle and you can come in the middle of a city that is Lincoln ... and that's where we are."
Mayor Chris Beutler met with founders when the museum was in its conceptual stages. Saturday, he spoke about the progress that has occurred in the last year and a half.
"It's incumbent upon all of us to learn about other cultures and what an extraordinary opportunity that has presented itself here to learn about Africa," he said.
Edgar Hicks spoke about his research into Liberia and Ethiopia, especially through his stamp collecting.
Coffee from Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan was sold to raise money for the museum, which runs as a non-profit.
Mock said the museum plans to expand to include a library and video room, where children can watch historical clips. The goal is not only to bring African culture to Lincoln, but to encourage people to share all cultures and become a hub for unity.
"Africa is not far away anymore," Mock said. "Your kids and your kids' kids need this another lady put it so well, she walked in here and said, 'This building brings assimilation to the city. This building brings unity to the city. This building stops the stereotypes in the city.'"
I am a retired government employee and getting Rs 500 per month as medical allowance in my pension. I am a diabetic and also suffering from Urothelial Carcinoma high grade (urinary bladder cancer). To date (for FY 2016-17), I have spend Rs 24,000 for the treatment of urinary bladder cancer and Rs 12,000 for the treatment of diabetes which include cost of medicine, test report etc. as an OPD patient. I have not taken any medical reimbursement against these expenses from the government. What rebate can I avail under Section 80DDB? Brij Bhushan Sharma
Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act, 1961, provides that an assessee who is a resident in India and has actually paid any amount during the previous year for his medical treatment of such disease as may be prescribed shall be allowed deduction from his total income of a sum so paid or Rs 40,000 whichever is less. Rule 11DD of the Income Tax Rules 1962 (The Rules) specifies malignant cancer as one of the diseases which is covered by the aforesaid section. Therefore, in case you are suffering from a cancer which is malignant, you are entitled to claim a deduction of the amount specified hereinabove. The deduction is allowable in case the assessee obtains the prescription of such medical treatment from an oncologist having a Doctorate of Medicine degree in oncology or an equivalent degree which is recognised by the Medical Council of India. In case, the assessee is receiving treatment in a government hospital, the prescription may be issued by any specialist working full time in that hospital and having a post-graduate degree in general or internal medicine or any equal degree which is recognised by the Medical Council of India. In case of a senior citizen, the maximum permissible deduction is Rs 60,000 and in case of very senior citizen, the maximum permissible deduction is Rs 80,000. The rules do not contain any permissible deduction under the aforesaid section for the treatment of diabetes.
A close friend of mine, who is settled in Canada and having the permanent resident status, informed me that he holds 96 shares in TCS. He now wants to gift these shares to me. These shares are part of those which were received by him under the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 2005-06. Most of these shares were sold when he was a resident. He files his income tax return in respect of his Indian income and had never made a mention of these shares (he had forgotten about theses over the years). Can I accept these shares as a gift? How do we show these in our returns? Krishan Dev Uppal
The Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or issue of security by a person resident outside India) Regulation, 2000, permits a person resident outside India holding shares of an Indian company to transfer of such shares to a person resident in India by way of gift. Therefore, it should be possible for your friend to gift the shares of Indian companies to you. However, according to Section 56 of the Act, where an individual receives in any previous year from any person/persons after the first day of October, 2009, any property other than immovable property without consideration, the aggregate fair market value of which exceeds Rs 50,000, the whole of the aggregate fair market value of such property shall be chargeable to tax under the head Income from other sources. Therefore, in case these shares are gifted to you and the fair market value of the shares gifted to you exceeds the aforesaid amount, such fair market value will be taxable in your hands as income from other source. You can accept the gift. The fair market value of the shares, if in excess of Rs 50,000 would appear in your tax return as income from other sources. However, there would be no requirement to make a disclosure in your friends income-tax return.
It would be advisable to prepare a gift deed recording the gift of such shares to you so that a copy thereof can be submitted to the company along with the transfer deed for the transfer of these shares in your name.
I am a Punjab Government Class-I officer. In 2015-16, my department has deducted compulsory NPS contribution of Rs 58,488 from my salary and besides, I have deposited Rs 1,50,000 in my PPF account. However, I only availed deduction of Rs 1,50,000 under Section 80C. How can I maximise my tax rebate in 2016-17? Ramandeep singh
You can claim a deduction of Rs 1,50,000 under Section 80C of the Act and an additional deduction of Rs 50,000 under Section 80CCD(IB) being the contribution made towards the National Pension Scheme. Both these amounts should be allowable as deduction from your total income for the financial year 2016-17.
Our Correspondent
Kharar, February 25
The Kharar police have arrested two students in connection with the murder of Nischal, a student of Chandigarh University (CU), Gharuan, who was allegedly beaten up by a group of students and ultimately died at the PGI on February 23.
ASI Sikander Singh of the Kharar police said Nischal was studying in an agricultural course at the university and was allegedly injured in an attack by a group of students a few days ago. He was referred to the PGI from the Kharar Civil Hospital, where he died.
He said the police arrested Rohit and Sanjay, both residents of Sirsa district in Haryana, today. They would be produced in a local court on Sunday. He said at that time, the Kharar police had registered a case under Sections 323, 308, 148 and 149 of the IPC against the accused.
After Nischals death, the police booked them under Section 302 of the IPC (on the charge of murder). He said the other accused would also be arrested soon.
Chandigarh: A 22-year-old girl reportedly committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan at her house in Sector 28. The victim was pursuing graduation. According to the police, the victim has been identified as Jyoti. She was alone at home when she took the extreme step. Police sources said Jyotis parents had gone to the temple when she committed suicide. On returning, the parents found her hanging from the ceiling fan. The police were informed and the victim was rushed to the Government Hospital, where doctors declared her brought dead. Sources said the victim was pursuing BA through distance learning. A police official said no suicide note was found from the spot. The reason behind the suicide is yet to be established, the official added. Jyotis father is a peon while her mother is a housewife. A probe has begun at the Sector 26 police station. TNS
Chandigarh: A man died after his scooter was hit by a Punjab Roadways bus near the Airport light point on Sunday morning. Sources said the victim has been identified as Harjit Singh of Sector 46. The police said the victim was aged around 65 years. Police sources said the accident took place near the Makhan Majra turn on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway. The bus was heading towards the Airport light point. The bus was entering the slip road when it hit the victim. The injured was rushed to the Government Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. The bus driver has been identified as Satish Kumar. The police have impounded the bus and a case against the accused has been registered at the Mauli Jagran police station. An investigation has been initiated. The bus driver was arrested and later released on bail. The victim was going to gurdwara when the incident took place. TNS
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 25
Boarders of Panjab University will have to shell out more money from the next semester as the authorities today approved a hike of two per cent for all hostels. The proposal which was tabled in the Syndicate for its final nod was approved unanimously by all members.
As per the new norms, from the next session, students of the respective departments will pay their hostel fee semester-wise. At present, the students are paying their hostel fee monthly or annually at the university. For all hostels, a development fund head was proposed, the fee of which may vary according to the facilities provided on the premises.
The development fund for a normal hostel will be Rs 750 per semester. For the international hostel, foreign students will have to pay Rs 2,500 per annum.
The students have to deposit the fee in two installments the first will be from July to December and the second from January to June. It was also decided that the semester of the research scholars would be counted from the day of their enrolment with the department.
Benefits from next semester
Syed Ali Ahmed
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 26
A 45.76 per cent turnout was recorded in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) elections on Sunday. The polling was slow in the first half of the day but picked up in the afternoon as voters turned up in groups at the polling stations.
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As per the Directorate of Gurdwara Elections, Delhi government, 45.76 per cent turnout was recorded. Polling was held for 46 seats of the DSGMC.
In the 2013 elections, 42.4 per cent polling was registered and the SAD (Badal) had got majority.
At 65.9 per cent, the highest polling today was recorded in Tri Nagar and the lowest was in Santgarh at 26.14 per cent.
In the first half of the day polling was slow in most of the wards. About 20 per cent polling was recorded till 1 pm. It picked up in Tilak Nagar, Tilak Vihar, Chokhandi and Santgarh in the afternoon.
Though voters were silent at most places, in Tilak Nagar and Tilak Vihar they openly disclosed their choice of having cast vote in favour of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal).
Tilak Nagar and Tilak Vihar are two wards where several victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots reside. A widow colony of the riot victims is located in Tilak Vihar.
Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) president Paramjit Singh Sarna is contesting the election from the Punjabi Bagh ward considered to be a very sensitive area against rival SAD (Badal) candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa.
Sarna claimed the tide was in his favour.
I will win at least 38 to 40 seats, Sirsa said, adding that the illegal betting market, called the satta bazaar, gave his party 38 seats but he was expecting the party to touch 42-seat mark.
Vishal Joshi
Tribune News Service
Kurukshetra, February 25
Nearly four months after its announcement, the Haryana Government today released Rs 50 lakh for martyr Mandeep Singhs family.
A cheque for Rs 25 lakh was issued in the name of the sepoys widow, Prerna, and Rs 12.5 lakh each in the name of his parents, Phool Singh and Nirmala.
Mandeep died during an anti-terror operation near the LoC in the Machil sector of Kupwara in Kashmir on October 28. His mutilated body was found along the LoC.
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Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced Rs 50 lakh and a job to the next of kin. The delay in awarding compensation to the family, living at Anteri village was blamed on the Army. Sources denied reports that there was an official assurance on allotting a fuel station or promoting Prerna, a Haryana Police constable, to DSP.
She and other members of the family tried to meet the Prime Minister on Friday to complain about the delay in compensation. She said she refused to accept the compensation in the absence of male members of the family.
I only want a martyr to be treated with respect, she said. The promise of a job for Mandeeps younger brother should be met soon.
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service
Jassia (Rohtak), February 26
All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) leader Yashpal Malik has asked community members to purchase items of daily needs and other household goods only from those shopkeepers who display posters stating that they support the Jat agitation.
Addressing the black day event here today, Malik reiterated the move to launch non-cooperation from March 1, asking the community members not to pay their electricity and water bills and loan instalments.
He asked community women to attend dharnas and male members to participate in the token protest in Delhi on March 2 and a major demonstration after Holi.
AIJASS general secretary Ashok Balhara indicated that the National Highway Nos. 1, 8 and 10 passing through the state would get blocked due to the large number of tractor-trailers moving towards Delhi for the protest. He also called for observing a black and dry Holi.
In a marked shift from the old stance, he said now they did not want to get the arrested Jat youths released or cases against them withdrawn, instead they wanted the arrest of accused belonging to other communities.
The protesters, many of whom wore black clothes, raised slogans in support of Jat unity and against the Khattar and Modi governments.
A considerable number of followers of controversial saint Rampal were also present in the gathering. They also raised slogans from the dais. An announcement was also made as regards Rs 10,000 contribution from 9 Jat Regiment of the Army in support of the agitation.
Meanwhile, Maliks remarks about the boycott of shopkeepers have evoked a sharp reaction from the trading community. Traders maintained that seeking support forcibly was unacceptable. Several leaders of traders have demanded a strict legal action against Malik.
Chandigarh, February 26
The Jats on Sunday observed Black Day across Haryana amid tight security arrangements, even as the agitation by the community passed off peacefully.
All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) leader Yashpal Malik, who is spearheading the protest, joined the protesters at Rohtak and Jind.
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He appealed to community members to purchase goods only from those shops which bear posters stating that the owners support Jat agitation.
He was addressing protesters at an event in Jassia village.
The Manohar Lal Khattar government is doing injustice with Jats, Malik said, adding that the community members would not hold talks with the governments proposed committee as it had no powers.
AIJASS general secretary Ashok Balhara said they dont want cases withdrawn or youths released but the accused persons from other communities should also be arrested.
The traffic on the Hisar-Rewari rail route was disrupted for some time as the protesters squatted on the tracks near Ramayan village in Hisar district, officials said.
The Haryana Roadways also suspended its service from Hisar to Chandigarh, Jind, Panipat, Bhiwani and Gurgaon due to the agitation, they said.
The Black Day was observed at Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Gurugram, Hisar, Jhajjar, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Bhiwani, Dadri, Rewari, Faridabad, Palwal, Ambala, Yamuna Nagar and Mahendragarh.
A large number of protesters, including women and children participated in dharnas with black ribbons, turbans, caps and armbands to show their resentment against the government towards their demands.
Besides seeking quota in education and government jobs under Other Backward Classes category, the demands of the Jats include release of those jailed during last years agitation, withdrawal of cases slapped during the protest and government jobs for the kin of those killed and injured while taking part in the stir.
Traffic was diverted at some areas in sensitive districts of the state, officials said.
No untoward incident was reported from any part of the day, they said.
Internet services were also suspended at some sensitive places, including Rohtak, Hisar and Sonipat.
Sonipat District Magistrate K Makarand Pandurang had issued orders to impose ban on internet services under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code for 24 hours with effect from 5 pm yesterday till 5 pm today.
The District Magistrate said the ban had been imposed to prevent people from misusing these services to spread rumours.
Police also set up Nakas on all roads leading to Rohtak town to prevent the entry of protesters and they have been asked to use the outer bypass of the town to reach the sit-in sites, officials said.
Paramilitary forces are also keeping a strict vigil, officials said.
As many as 30 people were killed and property worth crores of rupees was damaged at many places in Haryana during last years Jat stir which had turned violent.
Rohtak and some of its neighbouring districts, including Sonipat and Jhajjar, were the worst hit by the violence. TNS/PTI
Hisar, February 26
Even as the talks between the AIJASS and the government had remained unfruitful so far, the former is ready for dialogue but only with political leadership.
AIJASS chief Yashpal Malik today ruled out discussions with the committee of bureaucrats and police officials indicating that they were open to talks with the political leadership.
We have shown our strength by holding two huge rallies besides continuing the dharnas for nearly a month, he said.
The dharnas being held in state by the samiti entered its 29th day today and continue to draw huge gatherings.
A delegation of the samiti had met Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu in Hisar on Saturday urging him to hold a full-fledged session of discussion with the AIJASS leadership. Sources said though the minister was ready to hold talks to end the deadlock and was to meet the delegation in Jind today, sudden developments led to cancellation of the talks.
The discussion is off right now. But we are still ready for the talks, said Rambhagat Malik, spokesperson of the AIJASS. He added that the state government must understand that alarm bells were ringing for it. TNS
Credit Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward for presenting another option on how Lincoln and Omaha could address the financial problems of their police and fire pension funds.
Koltermans LB30 would require the states two largest cities to make a major change in the funds, switching new employees from a traditional defined-benefit plan to a cash-balance plan, which includes features similar to a 401(k) plan common in the private sector.
With potential for a logjam in the Legislature building on a daily basis, chances are becoming slim that the bill, which drew vigorous opposition from police and fire unions at a public hearing, will make much progress this session.
In any event, the bill might be premature. Both Lincoln and Omaha have made significant changes in their pension plans and funding. Both have made considerable progress toward financial health.
Still discussion of the option is valuable, and makes the point that the state can intervene if necessary.
The changes made last year by the Lincoln City Council improved its plan from being 63 percent funded to 79 percent funded. Omaha has gone from below 40 percent funded to about 50 percent funded.
Nonetheless, the old-style defined-benefit plans are becoming increasingly expensive. Next year in Lincoln the bill for the police and fire pension fund will be $8 million.
And the calculation that Lincolns pension fund is 79 percent funded assumes that it will earn a 7.5 percent return year after year. Last year the fund earned 7.3 percent, slightly lower than the target, according to the annual report from Cavanaugh Macdonald Consulting.
If investment earnings dip, the City Council would need to divert a larger amount to the pension fund.
Police and fire officials insist that the defined benefit plans are essential to recruiting and retaining good police officers and firefighters in the prime of their lives.
However, if the investment climate were to cool, theres little doubt that the need to fund the pension funds would leave less money available for salaries, whether that means hiring more officers and firefighters or providing active employees with adequate raises.
At the hearing on Koltermans bill, former Utah state Sen. Dan Liljenquist, now of Retirement Security Initiative, an advocacy organization, testified that after the stock market crash of 2008 so much money was diverted to pension funds that in some Utah cities police salaries dropped to the point that officers qualified for food stamps.
With the stock market soaring to unprecedented heights, theres no immediate crisis. If things change, taxpayers may appreciate that Kolterman provided another way to keep the pension funds from eating up too big a piece of local budgets.
Rajiv Mahajan
Nurpur, February 26
Two patients from Fatehpur reportedly lost their eyesight after a botched-up cataract surgery at a free multi-speciality camp held at the Civil Hospital here.
The camp was organised under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) by a team of doctors from a private hospital of Delhi from January 23 to February 5.
As many as 110 patients had undergone the surgery. Those who lost their eyesight have been identified as Neelma Devi of Takwal and Pyar Singh of Kut village.
Sources said health officials did not monitor the surgeries performed by Delhi doctors and everything went haywire.
The cataract surgery of the left eye of Neelma Devi was performed at the camp and she was discharged the same day. She was asked by the doctors to come for a follow-up after 15 days, but soon she lost her vision.
Monu, son of Pyar Singh, who also lost his eyesight, said after his fathers surgery on February 2, he complained of a blurry vision and gradually lost vision.
He said he had got examined his father at a private hospital, where doctors had advised him that he should be taken to the camp. Monu took him there and then to another camp at Gangath, but that too did not help. The families of the victims now want the government to intervene and act.
Surinder Sharma, chairman of the Block Development Committee, Fatehpur, has demanded a high-level probe into the surgery.
He said the Health Department must take responsibility of the patients during such camps. He sought action against negligent doctors and compensation for the victims.
Block Medical Officer Surinder Bhardwaj said he had stopped the payment of Delhi doctors for now and was waiting for the directions of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Kangra. He said the department had provided an operation theatre, a clinical laboratory, X-ray and ultrasound facility to the doctors performing the surgeries under the NRHM. Bhardwaj said investigations were under way. Meanwhile, a two doctors from Dharamsala rushed to the spot on Saturday and examined the patients who had lost their eyesight. Kangra CMO RS Rana could not be contacted. Dr RK Sood the TB control programme officer, Kangra, who had examined the victims along with an eye specialist yesterday, too did not respond to calls.
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 26
The Health Department has set 2023 deadline to make the state TB-free. Health experts face a daunting task as the number of Multiple Drug Resistant (MDR) TB cases are on the rise.
At least eight districts of the state, barring Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, Una and Chamba, fall under the high TB burden category. Dr RK Baria, state TB officer, said more than 180 new TB patients were reported from each of these districts in a year. Around 15,000 new tuberculosis patients were reported every year for the last five years.
As many as 400 patients with MDR TB were reported in 2016. The mortality rate among TB patients remains at 4 per cent with 562 TB patients succumbing to the disease last year.
Dr Baria attributed the rise in TB cases to increased detection of the disease. He said diagnosing machines were installed in eight high risk TB districts, adding four other districts would be covered soon.
We have involved the ASHA workers under the Revised National TB Control Programme in the state to make Himachal TB-free by 2023, Dr Baria said.
Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur said nearly two lakh TB patients were treated successfully under the programme, adding the detection and treatment success rates were higher than the national level in the state.
He said, We have 200 diagnostic microscopic centres while 15 more such centres will be opened to make Himachal TB-free by 2023.
Hamirpur was the first district covered under the TB control programme in 1995 followed by Kangra and Mandi in 1998 and the entire state in January, 2002.
The Union Health Ministry launched daily regimen TB treatment in these states to make India TB-free by 2025. Under the programme three medicine doses are given a day for six months.
Dr Devesh Gupta, Additional Deputy Director General, TB Control Division, said 1,000 TB patients were put on daily regimen treatment programme, adding that 40 per cent of patients were being treated at private hospitals.
Apart from Himachal Pradesh, four other states Kerala, Bihar, Sikkim and Maharashtra fall under the high TB category.
Shimla, February 26
The statement of Deputy Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma over grant of unemployment allowance has come handy to the BJP which described it as a conspiracy to wriggle out of poll promise to grant unemployment of Rs 1,000 per month. Sharma said yesterday that the promise to give unemployment allowance made in the election manifesto for Assembly poll in 2012 was not document of any individual but of the party and he would discuss the matter with the Chief Minister.
The Congress government failed to fulfill the promise to give unemployment allowance during past more than four years and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Transport Minister G S Bali and Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee had been making contradictory statements on the issue. Now Anand Sharma is talking of discussing the matter with the Chief Minister, which smacks of conspiracy, said Dr Rajiv Bindal, chief spokesman of the party.
The Congress party is aware that unemployment allowance would be a major issue in the elections, putting the party on the back foot in coming Assembly polls. Its leaders are blaming each other to find the mid path, he added.
Bindal said there were 12 lakh unemployed youth in the state in 2012, who played a crucial role in bringing Congress party to power and now the same army of unemployed youth had become threat for the party.
The BJP vice president Ganesh Dutt also lashed out the Congress government for backtracking on the issue and said that it was a cruel joke on unemployed youth.
He said it was strange that the CM had admitted that the party had promised unemployment allowance to youth in poll manifesto but at the same time said that it was not practical. He even said that the manifesto was prepared by the leaders who had no experience of running the government. The people will not spare the party for this betrayal, he added. TNS
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 26
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued bailable warrants against three members of the expert committee constituted by it to assess the carrying capacity of Shimla hills for their unjustified absence from the court despite its specific orders.
The NGT headed by Justice Swantanter Kumar, in its order on February 22, issued the bailable warrants of Rs 25,000 against the three officials while once again directing all the eight members to appear before it on February 28. The warrants have been issued against Chairman of the Committee RD Dhiman, Principal Secretary, (Environment, Science and Technology); Sanchita Jindal, Director, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, New Delhi; and Sandeep Sharma, Member, State Town Planner, State Town and Country Planning Department.
The warrants have been issued under the provisions of Section 19 (4) (a) of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 read with Order XVI Rule 10(3) and Section 151 of Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. The bailable warrants shall be executed through Superintendent of Police and Deputy Superintendent of Police of the concerned area and shall be executed on officers even if they are on leave.
As already noticed in our earlier orders the report from pages 116 to 192 submitted to the tribunal are not signed by any of the members of the committee, the order reads. It was pointed out by the court that some of the expert members from the statutory bodies had brought to the notice of the NGT that they had not read the report before it was filed. They also pointed out that the minutes of the last meeting of the expert committee held on August 9, 2016 were not even recorded and got signed from the members.
The members also told the court that they had raised certain objections, particularly in relation to construction in the green area and the possibility and preventive steps that should be taken for disaster management, particularly from the point of view of the sensitivity of Himalayan range and forests.
In fact, some of the members informed the NGT that they had prepared and submitted note with their views and recommendations which have not been mentioned or incorporated in the report that has been submitted to the tribunal.
The NGT expressed displeasure on the manner in which the proceedings of the committee had been conducted, deliberations recorded and objectives and conclusions drawn. Some of the questions raised by the tribunal it its orders have not even been touched upon in the report. The primary purpose of the report was to find carrying capacity of the hills, scope for additional construction, sewage system, water supply, solid waste and other incidental aspects of these issues, the court observed.
The NGT said before it passes any further directions, it must be pointed out that the HP government and this committee have already taken more than one-and-a-half years to submit the report which can hardly be relied upon for passing any appropriate directions and the final judgment.
Ishfaq Tantry
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, February 26
It is very unfortunate that there is high increase in the rape instances and ravenous maniacs are not even sparing girls of a very tender age, J&K High Court observed in a judgment early this month on February 1 while cancelling a bail to a rape accused from Kupwara.
The court observed that rape is a crime against ones mind, psyche and reputation and it leaves a permanent scar on the life of the victim.
In this particular instance, a group of youths had kidnapped a minor girl hailing from a village in Kupwara on May 2, 2016. Acting upon the complaint of the victims father, the police had subsequently recovered the minor girl. In her statement, too, the victim admitted her kidnapping by the accused as also commission of rape upon her. Medical examination had also revealed the offence upon her under Section 376 of the RPC.
In another incident on February 10, the J&K Police in north Kashmir arrested a young woman in Bomai Sopore for throwing hot cooking oil over the face of her 38-year-old sister-in-law, mother of three children. The complaint was registered by the womans husband against his own sister and subsequently an FIR under Section 498-A (husband/relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the RPC was registered in the matter and investigation taken up.
The argument between the two women had started over cleaning of spilled water on the floor.
Such instances throw light on the rising violence against women in the conflict-ridden Kashmir valley. The recent National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report (2016) also revealed that J&K has higher rate of crime against women than the all-India average.
As per the available data, the state has seen a steep rise in crimes against women over the past many years. Since 2013 to mid 2016, the police have registered more than 11,000 cases involving crimes against women along with the arrest of 13,579 accused in the same period.
The figures with the state Crime Department further reveals that cases of molestation, rape, kidnapping and abduction, eve-teasing, dowry death, cruelty at the hands of husband, suicide cases, cases under the Dowry Prohibition Act and immoral trafficking were being reported and registered across police stations in Kashmir.
Though a majority of crimes against the women are not reported in police stations, however, most of the reported crimes are related to domestic violence or desertion by husband.
Majority of the cases that come before courts in Kashmir are related to domestic violence involving physical violence by in-laws or husband under Section 488 of the RPC, wherein women seek maintenance after being deserted by the husband, Mir Urfi, a lawyer told the Tribune, who have handled a large number of such cases in Srinagar.
Urfi also attributed this phenomenon to the conflict situation of the region, where most of the time a majority of the residents unwittingly live under stressful conditions.
People are losing patience on the slightest of the provocations. This is one of the most common factors which I come across while handling cases related to crime against women, she added.
Moreover, the police term moral degradation, absence or lack of counselling at the societal level, or value-free environment, as the main reasons for the rise in crime incidents against women in Raesh Vaer (The valley of saints as Kashmir was known in earlier times).
However, a majority of the women do not come forward to report the incidents or register complaints and prefer remaining silent, a senior police officer said.
Sociologists on the other hand attribute the rising crime against the women to the prolonged armed conflict and modernisation.
The conflict has increased stress levels resulting in lack of tolerance and the modernity has also fragmented our society, a sociologist said.
Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, February 25
Amid growing concerns among the security establishment of a hot summer ahead, the controversial pellet guns in Kashmir are being fitted with deflectors to avoid casualties and injuries to vital organs, especially eyes.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Jammu and Kashmir Police faced huge criticism during last years unrest over the use of pellet guns, which resulted in eye injuries to over 1,100 youths, with many losing their sight. There was a demand for a blanket ban on the guns as even deaths were reported due to the pellets during the five-month unrest following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani.
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Inspector General, CRPF, Ravideep Singh Sahi said the force had begun installing deflectors on pellet guns and the technology would ensure that vital organs were not hit during any law and order problem. We have been always ensuring that vital organs are not targeted These deflectors will further ensure that only the lower part of the body is hit, Sahi told The Tribune.
In Kashmir, 47 CRPF battalions are deployed and are involved in both anti-militancy operations and restoring law and order. In central Kashmir districts alone, which include Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal, 23 battalions are deployed, which possess around 400 pellet guns. This means around 700-800 pellets guns have to be fitted with deflectors.
After the injuries during the 2016 unrest, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had set up a committee to review the use of pellet guns. The panel had advised that these be used only in pressing circumstances.
The forces had even experimented with Pawa (chilli-filled) guns, but these were not found effective for controlling the crowd.
Manas Dasgupta
Ahmedabad, February 26
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad has averted a possible terror strike with the arrest of two home-grown suspected Islamic State operatives from Chotila and Bhavnagar, both in the Saurashtra region.
The police believed the two, both brothers, were planning a major strike at Maa Chandi temple atop the hills in Chotila in Surendranagar district in a day or two.
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Waseem Ramodiya and Naeem Ramodiya, residents of Bhavnagar, are sons of Asif Ramodiya, a retired clerk of the Rajkot-based Saurashtra University. Asif claimed he was totally in the dark about his sons activities.
The police recovered 98-gm gunpowder, two facemasks, a battery used for making bombs and local-made bombs from their possession.
The police also found eight editions of magazine Dabik, believed to be an IS mouthpiece, and videos showing bomb-making techniques and carrying out lone wolf attacks, from their laptops and mobile phones.
ATS Deputy Superintendent of Police KK Patel said the two were under their surveillance for the past one-and-half years once it learnt they were in touch with the IS through the Internet, Twitter and Facebook accounts.
The famous Somnath and Dwarkadhish temples were also on their radar, the ATS claimed. The police also suspect the involvement of Waseems wife.
Sources say computer-savvy Waseem gave up studies in Master in Computer Applications to do something big for Islam.
The two were in touch through Skype with an IS handler, identified as Big Cat. The handler, in one of the recordings, was heard asking Waseem to collect at least 400-gm gunpowder for a major strike.
Chennai, February 26
The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions in the sector, has called a one-day strike on February 28 to protest the governments anti-people banking reforms as well as to demand compensation for employees for extra work done on account of demonetisation.
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United Forum of Bank Unions, comprising nine unions in the banking sector namely AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBEF, INBOC, NOBW and NOBO bank employees and officers in all public sector banks, including SBI, all old-generation private banks, foreign banks, Regional Rural Banks and Cooperative Banks will observe one-day strike on February 28," All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) general secretary C.H. Venkatachalam said in a statement here.
Most of the banks, including SBI, PNB and BoB, have already informed their customers that functioning of branches and offices will be impacted if the strike takes off.
The functioning of private lenders like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank is expected to be normal except delay in cheque clearances.
"The unions in the banking industry have been fighting for more than two decades against the reform measures of the government as these are against the interests of general public and labour force in the country," AIBEA said.
"Further, every effort is being made to outsource permanent jobs in the banking industry, too, which is fraught with risks," it added.
Venkatachalam said the strike call comes after all attempts to find a solution to the demands raised by the unions yielded no results.
The conciliation meeting before the Chief Labour Commissioner on February 21 failed to break the deadlock as the bank management body -- Indian Banks Association (IBA) -- did not agree to the union demands. Agencies
Shivani Bhakoo & Mahesh Sharma
Tribune News Service
Jaghera (Mandi Ahmedgarh), February 26
With the Punjab Police yet to find any credible lead into the double murder of a father and son at Naam Charcha Ghar (place of worship) in Ahmedgarhs Jaghera village last evening, the family and followers of Dera Sacha Sauda today refused to cremate the bodies of the two dera followers and blocked the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road for a few hours.
While the police stepped up security at the dera units across the state, the situation remained tense in the region over the killings.
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Police drawn from several districts were deployed at Jaghera and Ahmedgarh to maintain law and order amid possibility of more dera followers joining the protest.
Satpal Sharma, 72, and son Ramesh Kumar Sharma, 40, were gunned down inside the Naam Charcha Ghar on Saturday evening.
Sarwan Kumar, a member of the political wing of the dera, said the final call on cremation would be taken at the dera headquarters in Sirsa. We do not want to cremate them till the assailants are arrested, he said.
The police and civil administration tried all through the day to convince dera followers to cremate the dead. The protesters have demanded compensation and job for the victims family members.
The police have formed a Special Investigation Team, comprising Khanna SSP Satinder Pal Singh, SP (Detective) Satnam Singh and Payal DSP Varinderjit Thind.
A senior official said separate teams were working on establishing the identity of the killers but the priority was to maintain law and order.
In such a politically volatile time in Washington, it is a breath of fresh air to see two of our Nebraska Congressional Delegation moving forward to represent the interests of their districts and state regarding our extreme weather events and changing climate.
In early February, Rep. Don Bacon announced, I am proud to be joining the Climate Solutions Caucus to further my knowledge of potential impacts of climate change and find bi-partisan solutions. Rep. Bacon is the first congressman from the central plains states and the twelfth Republican to join this bipartisan congressional caucus of 24 members. His military background and leadership in addressing climate issues from the standpoint of national and international security will be invaluable in this bipartisan coalition effort.
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry in his Feb. 10 electronic newsletter to constituents spoke of his desire to address the issue of, environmental stewardship with some prairie perspective. He noted, For the 21st century, we must harmonize the environment and economic security. One idea he proposes is called Zero-Energy-Emissions-Credit, which would reward reduced emissions through a tax credit system. He has recently been named co-chair of the International Conservation Caucus, one of the largest bipartisan caucuses in Congress.
Representatives Bacon and Fortenberry deserve our thanks and continued support in their efforts to seek wise and courageous solutions built on underlying values of conservation and good stewardship, efforts that are truly in the spirit of the likes of earlier prominent Nebraska visionary leaders as J. Sterling Morton and George Norris.
Bruce and Barb Johnson, Lincoln
KV Prasad
U nited States continues to be one of the most preferred destination for Indians in general and students in particular. With the Indian middle class continuing to expand, the quest for quality education in institutions of repute in America remains unabated, what with nearly 1.65 lakh students studying in different universities. Amid the clamour and constant flow of Indian students to the US who are willing to spend a minor fortune to pursue their dream, one of the longest serving institutes that continues to fund the outflow of scholars is the United States-India Educational Foundation in India. It has awarded over 19,000 scholarships since its inception in 1950.
And the current Executive Director, Adam Grotsky, is like an American ambassador outside the State Department who in his own way contributes to the spread of Indian culture in the US.
Since he came to the helm some nine years ago, Adam never forgets to remind the selection panels that while drawing a shortlist of prospective scholars, please factor in the contribution of the candidate as a cultural ambassador while pursuing the scholarship. Scholarship or Fellowship is not just about academic experience or excellence, but those selected carry a piece of India and its rich culture is how he visualises it, and several scholars come back to share how this wonderful aspect added great value to scholarship during the period of stay in academic institutes of repute.
Born in Passaic, New Jersey, Grotskys first exposure to the Indian way of life came in 1988 when he arrived to spend a year on the University of Wisconsins College Year in India Programme. He learnt to play the tabla and developed a love for classical Indian music, which continues to this day. I also took back my daily interactions with my Guruji and his family as a wonderful window into Indian culture and Banarasi culture in particular, he muses
Three years later, he came back to be the Resident Director of the College Year in India Programme and over the next three years became proficient in Hindi while studying and conducting field-based research on the system of higher education in India. He went back and came on a holiday with his wife Olga to spend a month on holiday and finally in May 2008 to the USIEF. Otherwise, Grotskys primary work is in the field of international education and as the head of USIEF since then, he overseas the administration of the prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Scholarship programme, the Indo-US 21st Century Knowledge Initiative and EducationUSA, advising centres located throughout India. Adam, to his colleagues and acquaintances, is more at home in Varanasi and prefers to spend spare time in the city sitting at Ganga Ghat, experiencing the soothing feeling. And on one of the visits, sitting there eating Moongphali, he was gently reminded by the girl hawking it not to litter its shells stating that our PMs Swwach Bharat is at work.
The Belgium Embassy is gearing up to host a unique event here this fall - Dine with Royalty, in association with an entrepreneurial effort by eatwithIndia.
On Saturday, Ambassador Jan Luykx and his wife Raka Singh played host to several erstwhile royals and Ambassadors to taste the Kangra and Rampuri royal cuisines. The main event will be in a different setting in royal tents and 20 families presenting their cuisines over three days.
Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore was a special invitee and along with the diplomatic couple launched a range of special merchandise to mark the occasion.
Deepender Deswal
Tribune News Service
Ramayan (Hisar), February 26
A group of young protesters today defied the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS), spearheading the Jat agitation, and disrupted rail traffic near the protest site in Ramayan village on the Hisar-Jaipur rail section of Bikaner division.
Tension prevailed during the hour-long deadlock, which ended after local authorities and samiti activists prevailed upon the protesters to clear the tracks. Two trains Jaipur-Hisar passenger and Gorakhdham Express were delayed for two hours due to the blockade.
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The samiti distanced itself from the disruptive elements and alleged they could have been sent by the government to disrupt the peaceful agitation.
We urge the authorities to identify these youths, as most were wearing black masks, and take action against those who created a ruckus on the tracks, said samiti leader Rambhagat Malik.
The incident occurred when the manned crossing, located 100 metres from the dharna site, was closed for passage of a goods train from Hisar to Bhiwani at 1 pm. A group of protesters forcibly tried to open the boom barriers to reach the dharna site.
Sensing trouble, the railway employees alerted the driver, who halted the train 500 metres from the site. The protesters broke the boom barriers and blocked the tracks. The train was sent back to Hisar.
Deputy Commissioner Nikhil Gajraj and Superintendent of Police P Rajender Meena visited the spot and got the rail services resumed. Later, Inspector General of Police OP Singh reviewed the situation.
The DC said the railway and police authorities would take action against those who damaged railway property and disrupted rail services.
Samiti leaders Malik and Krishan Kirmana later approached the DC to clarify that the protesters were not their members.
Mumbai, February 26
Its a buddy tale. A retired Colonel of 25 Madras Regiment has come all the way from Canada to attend the wedding of his former Sahayaks son.
The friendship between the officer and the Sahayak is in contrast to some recent cases of the Sahayaks being misused or abused by the officers. For Col GS Ghuman (retd), all it took was a call from his former buddy as Sahayaks are known in the Army inviting him to attend his sons wedding.
Havildar Balagowda Raigowda Patil worked as the Colonels buddy for almost two decades, before the two retired from the Army around 10 years ago.
He (Patil) is family. How could I say no? I had to attend his sons wedding. So here I am, in India, Col Ghuman said. The feeling was reciprocated by Patil, who said, Saabs (Col Ghuman) mother treated me like her fourth son. Saab also never treated me as a junior but like a brother.
I was with him since the IPKF days in Sri Lanka. I never felt humiliated as a buddy, Patil, who retired in 2006, said. Col Ghuman retired the next year. Both were in 25 Madras, where Patils son, who got married recently, is posted as a jawan.
The wedding took place at Patils native place, around 50 km from Belgaum.
Col Ghuman also used this trip to reconnect with former jawans in his unit. PTI
GS Paul
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, February 26
The Hindu jatha en route to Katasraj and other temples in Pakistan had to cut short the pilgrimage due to recent series of bomb blasts within a span of 10 days in Lahore that left Pakistan on the edge.
They returned through the Attari-Wagah joint check post today.
Pt Benimadhav Goswami, who had to perform Rudri Abhishek prayers at Katasraj temple on behalf of AICC president Sonia Gandhi, too had to curtail the process midway.
I performed a part of the puja as the security squad at Pakistan did not permit us to perform the concluding part supposed to be conducted at 11 pm on February 24. We will get it done at Haridwar now, he said.
The jatha led by Kendriya Sanatan Dharam Sabha, comprising 210 devotees, left for Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah border on February 22.
The pilgrims paid obeisance at Katasraj temple on Mahashivratri. On February 26, the jatha was scheduled to pay obeisance at the samadhi of Luv located in Lahore, followed by other religious programmes scheduled at Sri Krishna Mandir, Lahore, and they were scheduled to return on February 28.
However, the pilgrims were made to vacate Katasraj at 10 pm on February 24 and shifted to a gurdwara.
Pt Ribhu Kant Goswami said the security arrangements at Pakistan were ample, yet it was unanimously decided to shorten the pilgrimage due to disturbing conditions in Pakistan.
Though the Pakistan authorities deputed around 1,500 to 1,600 personnel for our security, there was unrest due to recent terror attacks in Lahore. We all decided to return due to security concerns, he said.
As per the India-Pakistan protocol, 1974, a maximum of 200 Hindu devotees could be part of a jatha visiting Katasraj. However, this time the number of devotees was increased and the Pakistan authorities had granted visa to 234 devotees against 250 applications received.
Muktsar: A SAD activist is betting on partys Muktsar nominee Kanwarjit Singh Rozy Barkandi winning by more than 15,000 votes. And if the victory margin is less than that, he wont marry. Sounds strange, but this is what the activist claims in a video that has gone viral on the social media. In the video, he introduces himself as Raja Sarpanch from Barkandi village. His claim will be put to test on March 11.
Sir, I want to work with you again
Amritsar: An IG-rank official shared an interesting anecdote with the media during a recent press conference. He said he received a call from a head constable, who had worked with him when he was posted as the SHO at the Kotwali police station here. The head constable had called the IG to express his wish to work with him again. Why? Because he was frustrated with corrupt practices of low-rank officials, who did not allow him to work in an honest manner. Was the IG hinting at something? Make your guesses.
Work on roundabout hits roadblock
Gurdaspur: The area where Jahaz Chowk was six months ago has become an eyesore of sorts. In view of the traffic chaos the roundabout created, former DC Abhinav Trikha had last year decided to level it. The MIG fighter plane, which was the showpiece of the chowk, was moved to a nearby roundabout; it was perched on a 15-ft platform. The local MLA, in an attempt to beat the election code, hurriedly inaugurated the new chowk. That was all the Improvement Trust could do. Neither the debris of the old chowk has been lifted nor the road has been laid. A little rainfall means pedestrians have to move through slush and mud.
Punjab doctor wins laurels
Bathinda: Dr Kuldip Singh, a laparoscopic surgeon and Chief Trustee of the Indian Association of Gastroendo Surgeons, has done the region proud. He has been selected as a member of the US-based Safe Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Task Force. A meeting of the task force will held in Houston, Texas, from March 21-23. He is reportedly the only laparoscopic surgeon from India to be included in the 10-member task force for his experience in the field spanning over 25 years and popularising and practicing an innovative technique of performing safe laparoscopic gall bladder surgery by way of achieving critical view of safety.
Tribune News Service
Mandi Ahmedgarh, February 26
Followers of Dera Sacha Sauda briefly blocked roads to protest Saturdays murder of a premi (the name given to followers of the sect) and his son on Sunday, as security was heightened at several places.
This came after local leaders of the sect held a meeting.
Political wing of the sect is still consulting the sects headquarters in Sirsa to decide the next course of action, sources said. The sect has decided against cremating the bodies until police book some suspects.
Sat Pal Sharma (72) and his son Ramesh Kumar Sharma (40), who ran the sects canteen, were fatally shot at Naam Charcha Ghar in Jagera village on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road.
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 25
Vacationing over after the high-intensity February 4 Punjab election and with results just 13 days away, its back to the political arena for most of the top leaders of Congress, Akali-BJP coalition and Aam Aadmi Party. And though jittery, each is putting up a brave face.
AAP, a favourite in the satta market, is regrouping its cadres and leaders, beginning tomorrow, while Akalis, who moved lock, stock and barrel to Delhi for the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) polls are expected back here on Monday, a day after the elections.
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Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who returned from USA earlier this week, told The Tribune, Akali Dal workers and leaders did not rest like the maharajas (taking a dig at Capt Amarinder Singh). I went to USA for my fathers medical check-up, but since my arrival, we are holding fort for the DSGMC polls. After polling, I will be back in Chandigarh, meeting our party workers and leaders."
Seeming confident, leaders of the Congress that has been given an edge by Intelligence agencies are busy with their personal and social engagements. Capt Amarinder, who suffered a twisted tendon in the foot during the last days of campaigning, says he is recuperating well. I have been meeting all party leaders. After a successful launch of my biography, I am moving to Delhi on Sunday to participate in the wedding celebrations of my grandson, Nirvan, he said.
AAP leaders, including star campaigner Bhagwant Mann, Sanjay Singh, Durgesh Pathak and office-bearers, are meeting in Nakodar tomorrow. The idea, says chief ministerial aspirant and Sangrur MP Mann, is to make an assessment of the polls. I will also launch a programme Jazbe Nu Salaam to honour our volunteers who are watching over the strongrooms where the EVMs are kept.
Barely two or three days after the polls, almost all leaders and candidates went for a brief hiatus. While the Badal clan flew to the US, Capt Amarinder took a break in Himachal Pradesh. Mann joined his party supremo Arvind Kejriwal for a detoxification (gut detoxification) programme in Bengaluru, while AAPs Punjab convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich is back to the studios, shooting for the films he has signed for.
While the top leaders exude confidence of a win, many other candidates are taking the satta route, to recover the money they have spent on the election. In spite of a limit of Rs 28 lakh fixed by the Election Commission, the candidates in private admit to spending 10 to 15 times more. To recover this, many, cutting across party lines, have reportedly placed their bets on which party is winning or losing on March 11.
Deepika Padukone seems to have tired of being compared to Priyanka Chopra and says that she cant wrap her head with the comparisons with Priyanka. She expressed her views and said, I dont make anything of it because at a personal level I know her way too well for any sort of comparisons. It feels odd and it feels weird. Professionally, I think, we are both doing extremely well. But our worlds are also completely different. What she wants to achieve and is working towards is very different from what I am doing. Although it is in the creative space, her demands and requirements are completely different from mine. The other thing I find strange is the comparisons to her. I find them bizarre. Even if someone had to compare, I can understand comparison with an Anushka or a Sonam or a Sonakshi but I cant wrap my head with the comparisons with Priyanka.
She will soon resume her shoot of the much awaited Padmavati, but before that, she recently flew to LA to celebrate the success of her first Hollywood movie with her team. Deepika earlier this week at an event in Mumbai had stated that she would not attend the Oscars this year. However, the actress was spotted at the Pre-Awards Cocktail Party.
Ajay Banerjee in New Delhi
It took us long to understand that defence is big trade: you give something and take something in return for ever-evolving strategic needs. Thats why so many deals and so many arms manufacturers chasing the government for one contract or the other. For a layman, the Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released its five-year (2012-2016) assessment, saying India was the largest importer of major arms in 2012-16, accounting for 13% of the global total.
And in 2007-11, India purchased some $12.7 billion (about Rs 80,000 crore) in arms, 80% of that from Russia, said SIPRI. Uday Bhaskar, a retired commodore and leading strategic analyst, criticizes Indias weapons procurement policy. Fifty years after the debacle with China, the opaque Indian establishment does not produce high-quality clothing and personal inventory items like boots, let alone a suitable rifle for a one-million army, or tanks and aircraft, Bhaskar was quoted as saying.
But dream we must, the dream to be self-reliant in military equipment production. Foreign collaborations promising more local jobs in top-of-the-line defence firms are welcome for the make in India projects.
So what do we do? Organize shows, where our defence establishment gets face-to-face with the latest technology. Buying, or planning to buy something, this way might prompt some selling as well. Thats why the significance of Aero-India show the two-decade-old biennial show of military aviation in Bangalore, held recently. For foreigners, the slice in the Indian pie is the $100 billion spend New Delhi plans to incur on new weapons and equipment over the next decade.
The 11th edition of the five-day show (Feb 14-Feb 18) attracted 549 exhibitors, including global leaders with their planes, helicopters and the very latest in unmanned systems.
In these past two decades, Aero-India has been held in the backdrop of big-ticket purchases by India. This year was no different. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said: India needs some 300-400 fighter jets and some 800 helicopters for the Services (Army, IAF, the Navy and the Coast Guard).
Global supply chain
Behemoths such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Bell helicopters from the US or Dassault Aviation, Airbus and Rolls Royce from Europe already have a footprint in India. The Aero-India provides an opportunity to connect with local suppliers, talents and aspirations. The US-India Business Council conducted a seminar on opportunities to integrate India into the global supply chain to use this opportunity.
For a big-company to have a production line in India a big order is needed. Airbus has offered to set up its military copter making facility in India along with a centre of excellence to produce its Panther series of the copters. Xavier Hay, President Airbus Helicopters Division in India told the Tribune: It could mean millions of Euros in investment and skill creation for hi-tech jobs. Bell from US has, has procured over 50 cabins of its Bell 407 commercial-use copters from a Bangalore-based company, Dynamatic. It is offering a military copter for the Navy.
Some of the big-league players want to rush in head first: Lockheed Martin has offered to shift production of its F-16 fighter jet to India. Europeans Dassault and Saab have matched the offer with Rafale and Gripen fighter jets, respectively. Eric Trappier CEO of Dassault said: The existing order of 36 Rafale is not big enough to have transfer of technology. India should be ready to be part of the global supply market. Rolls-Royce wants to open its first Service Delivery Centre (SDC) in India to support over 750 military engines that power the aircraft of the Indian Armed Forces.
Desi platforms
This year at Aero-India the first indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&CS), called Netra was handed to the IAF. The AEW &CS is mounted on a Brazilian Embraer 145 jet. In the past decade or so the helicopters produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have been a success story. Backed by a tie-up for Turbomeca engine from France, some 200 of the advanced light helicopters have been produced. The Ministry of Defence wants 100 copters very year and the HALs future copters -- the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) and the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) could be the ideal platform to showcase make in India. Some 500 and 200 are needed of these two types.
In the fighter jet category, the Light Combat Aircraft, the Tejas, will get a new version with more a powerful engine and 43 modifications.
Indias growing abilities have attracted smaller countries. New Delhi is in talks with Vietnam for Akash surface-to-air missile defence system. Parrikar has set a target of $2 billion (around Rs 14,000 crore) as exports to friendly countries. As of now exports have been worth around Rs 1,900 crore.
Washington, February 26
The Kansas Governor and his counterpart in Missouri have strongly condemned the shooting incident that resulted in the tragic death of an Indian engineer this week.
This sort of senseless violence is never acceptable.
Law enforcement here in Kansas will continue to thoroughly investigate this crime, the Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said.
The friends and family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla are in our prayers. We hope for a speedy recovery for the other men who were shot, Brownback said.
The Missouri Governor Eric Greitens thanked his state law enforcement official for arresting the shooter who had fled the Kansas city after shooting the two Indian men.
It is alleged that, when the suspect went into the bar, he shouted get out of my country before firing his weapon.
We will learn the truth of what happened in the bar soon enough, but what we can say for certain is this: this hate has no place in our state, Greitens said.
This violence has no place in our state. And if you are a violent criminal who harms the innocent, you will find no quarter in our state. Come across our border, and we will find you and bring you to justice, he asserted.
After the shooting, the suspect fled across the Kansas border into Missouri.
It was Missouri police officers from the Clinton Police Department who arrested him. He was sent back to Kansas and will face the judgment of the court on Monday, he added.
We owe our thanks to Missouri law enforcement for their quick action. Though the suspect went quietly, there was no guarantee of that. Anything could have happened. Our police officers put their lives on the line on every call of this kind, Greitens said.
It was a concerned Missourian who is said to have alerted the police. The suspect had admitted the crime to her and asked her for a place to hide out. She took responsible and decisive action that led to the arrest, he said in a statement. PTI
Again, we read of state senators who want to replace our system of public power by inviting private electric suppliers into our state (" Private-power bill under fire ," Feb. 17). We all have benefited from the low costs of public power, especially the farmers who use huge amounts of electricity to irrigate at a time when the utilities struggle to meet the summer air conditioning load.
Americans for Electricity Choice would have you think we would all save if investor-owned utilities moved into Nebraska and have their shareholders determining our rates and their profits, along with who is on their Board of Directors, versus our public power board members, elected by the rate payers and responsible only to the rate payers.
Mexico City, February 26
Mexico's foreign minister has warned the United States that his country will impose tariffs on US products if President Donald Trump taxes Mexican imports to finance a border wall.
If Mexico is faced with this as a reality, not a rhetorical threat... the Mexican government will have to respond, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told Radio Formula on Friday.
The answer would not be to impose a general tax on all imports coming from the United States, because that would hurt the Mexican consumer... we would do it selectively. The neighboring countries face the biggest diplomatic rift in decades over Trump's insistence that Mexico pay for construction of a wall along their 2,000-mile (3,200 km) border.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's government has expressed strong opposition to any such move. Videgaray noted that if Trump places tariffs on Mexican goods, it would hit US households that buy all sorts of products from south of the border, including avocados, cars, phones and appliances.
The Mexican top diplomat said his country is open to discussion on "some aspects" of Trump's promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, Mexico and the United States, but that his country will not accept imposed tariffs. AFP
Washington, February 26
Indias envoy to the US Navtej Sarna has met Donald Trump at the Oval Office of the White House here for the first time since the Republican leaders inauguration as the US President.
Trump met all the new foreign ambassadors, including Sarna, yesterday and had individual photos with them.
This was the first meeting of the top Indian diplomat with Trump after he was sworn in as the US President on January 20.
A 1980-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Sarna arrived in the US a few days before the November 8 presidential elections.
Post-elections, Sarna and a few other foreign diplomats could not meet the then US President Barack Obama during the transition of power at the White House.
Before leaving office, Obama had issued an executive order formally credentialing all the new ambassadors, including Sarna, so as to facilitate them to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Trump.
Spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs from 2002 to 2008, Sarna has previously been Indias Ambassador to Israel and the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Since arriving in the US, Sarna has met scores of top American lawmakers, engaged the community across the country and interacted with think-tanks.
Yesterday, he hosted a reception for the National Governors Association that was attended by Governors from 25 states. PTI
Washington, February 26
Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera has strongly condemned the killing of an Indian engineer in Kansas, saying that racism and xenophobia have no place in the United States.
Racism and xenophobia have no place in America, and I have full confidence that the investigating agencies will determine whether this crime was motivated by prejudice, Bera said in a statement.
According to reports, the shooter who has been arrested, yelled get out of my country before opening fire on 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla and his Indian colleague Alok Madasani on Wednesday night.
Srinivas was killed while his friend was injured. 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 US state of Missouri.
As details emerge about the nature of this crime, it is disturbing for all Americans that a potential hate crime could happen here, the three-term Indian-American Congressman said.
As a nation of immigrants, it is not who we are to attack someone based on where they come from or what they look like.
This senseless attack on these young men is a tragedy and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, said the three-term Democratic Congressman from California, who is also Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans. PTI
Don Walton Political reporter/columnist Don Walton covers politics and the Legislature along with writing a weekly column. Follow Don Walton Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
Just four years ago.
In 2013, the Senate passed a bipartisan -- do you remember that word? -- immigration reform bill that provided a pathway for undocumented immigrants to earn their way to citizenship.
The bill included tough new border security measures along the Mexican border: More fencing and thousands of more border patrol agents.
That negotiated legislation, which passed on a 68-32 count, garnered 14 Republican votes.
People like McCain and Rubio and Graham and Flake and Corker and Hatch and Ayotte.
The pathway would be no easy road; the requirements could have taken 13 years to fulfill.
But Republicans buried the bill in the House where bipartisan legislation generally goes to die.
Now, the Senate too is hopelessly split by partisanship and party, and the White House no longer is open to immigration reform.
In view of today's sharp division and fiery rhetoric, it's startling to recall there was such an opportunity just four years ago.
* * *
Lincoln Catholic Bishop James Conley spoke up powerfully about illegal or undocumented immigrants in an op-ed published in the Catholic Southern Nebraska Register this weekend and posted on Facebook.
"Our immigration system is broken because overhauling it would require that political leaders on all sides put aside partisan posturing and incendiary rhetoric in order to reach meaningful and comprehensive agreements," the bishop wrote.
"Surely, our government, in wisdom and creativity and human decency, can find just means of addressing the crime of illegal immigration without severing marriages, sending children to foster care and returning people to situations of abject hopelessness," he wrote.
"Surely, if America is truly great, it can respond to these challenges with ingenuity and virtue and charity," Conley stated.
"I stand in solidarity with immigrant families living in fear of what might be coming for them.
"I stand in solidarity with American citizens looking for real security instead of political showmanship and rhetoric.
"I stand in solidarity with those politicians and law enforcement agents working to find fair and humane solutions to complex problems.
"I stand in solidarity with those living in poverty or danger seeking some promise of safety and opportunity for their children.
"As Catholics," he wrote, "we must continue to call for real, comprehensive, safe and just immigration reform.
"But we cannot accept the panacea of mass detention and deportation," Conley wrote.
* * *
Guessing the end game at the Legislature.
Or maybe not.
Who can tell how this ends?
Tax cuts -- property and/or income -- remain the explosive political issue.
Rural interests appear to be drawing a deep line in the sand this time, calling for an undivided focus on meaningful property tax reduction.
Hanging in the air, whispered in text messages but undeclared, is the possibility -- but not the certainty -- of political consequences if that does not happen.
Legislative seats are in play next year and so is the governorship and rural Nebraska dominates statewide Republican primary elections.
* * *
Sen. Ben Sasse's remarks to a Lincoln Chamber of Commerce coffee gathering last week were the latest reminder of how gifted this guy is.
In introducing him, Chamber executive vice president Bruce Bohrer described Sasse as "a walking think tank."
Sasse walked the crowd through a broad sweep of history, centered on the present and cast an eye on the future, all of that delivered seamlessly and with hardly a pause.
It was the kind of performance that challenges all of us to up our game.
* * *
Police officers did a professional job of keeping a lid on the demonstration that confronted Sen. Deb Fischer in Lincoln last week.
They respected the right of assembly, calmly and patiently talked protesters out of the Grand Manse building after they became disruptive and were blocking the hall, and did so with no threat or show of force.
No confrontation; no escalation; no injuries, no arrests; noisy, but no harm done: that's an A-plus in crowd control.
* * *
Jane Kleeb was featured on MSNBC during the election of a new Democratic national chairman in Atlanta on Saturday.
Kleeb, the new chair of Nebraska's Democratic Party, supported Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who lost in a narrow contest with Tom Perez.
"We are in the streets, energized and progressive," Kleeb said, and Ellison would have been the bridge to connect activists with the party apparatus.
Kleeb told MSNBC she is ready to work with Perez.
"Of course," she said. "But it's his responsibility to build a bridge, not mine."
* * *
Finishing up:
* A view from the west in this paragraph in the North Platte Bulletin about a town hall meeting with Sen. Mike Groene: "It turned out there was no need for law enforcement even though some Groene critics from eastern Nebraska were said to be in the audience."
* Baseball is in the air.
PEORIA, Ill. 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 Midland 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, although 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.
A city should perhaps think about spending on public transit rather than highways, he said.
Improving the atmosphere of downtown seems to be helping some midsize cities recoup from the loss of major businesses, urban experts say.
In Greenville, South Carolina, where the decline of the textile industry left a huge gap in the economy, leadership arranged to remove a four-lane bridge that obstructed the view of a scenic waterfall, and added trees and cafes and sidewalks. A downtown that was once dead is now beautiful and hugely successful, Murphy said. In addition to drawing tourists, the city has a booming advanced manufacturing industry, anchored by companies such as BMW.
But other places, such as Decatur, are struggling to find a new identity. The city has the second-highest unemployment rate in Illinois, and Moodys Analytics warns the lack of jobs could push the city back into recession.
Across the Midwest and Northeast in particular, a number of midsize cities are facing big challenges, Cortright said.
What do we do with the Peorias? he added. I dont think we know what the answer to that is.
Peoria has a growing health care industry and is home to other companies such as Maui Jim sunglasses and Bump Box, a monthly delivery of skincare and other products for pregnant women.
Ardis said the city just has to find more.
Were not just going to roll over and play dead, he said.
Theres a quote Warren Buffett penned in 2013 that has become one of Carla Mashinskis favorites. In an essay on women in leadership, the world-famous investor commented that weve seen what America can achieve using 50 percent of human capacity.
Just imagine, Buffett said, what can be achieved when we utilize 100 percent.
Its starting to catch the attention of people, Mashinski said of the bright economic possibilities that can follow having more female decision-makers in corporate America. Im excited right now because I sense that the tides are changing.
A three-decade oil and gas industry veteran, Mashinski currently serves as chief financial and administrative officer for Cameron LNG, a Houston-based liquified natural gas terminal. In August 2015 she joined what was at the time an all-male board of directors leading Tulsa-based energy company Unit Corp.
The position is the first board seat Mashinski has held.
The number of female voices influencing the United States largest publicly traded companies is increasing slowly but steadily, according to a new study that breaks down membership of the boards of directors for Russell 3000 companies in terms of gender.
Currently, women hold only about 15 percent of total board seats, corporate research firm Equilars study found. Among Oklahoma-based companies, 12.7 percent of directors are women.
Both figures are rising.
Women on the board
Since 2013, the beginning of the study period, annual increases nationally have been occurring at a rate of just less than 1 percentage point each year. In Oklahoma, the uptick has been slightly faster.
Part of that is a push from investors who are saying, We think this is important, said Dan Marcec, Equilars director of content. Your consumer base is very diverse, your employee base is very diverse. Why is the top level of our company not reflecting those constituents?
Despite recent gains, which Marcec also attributed to companies making greater efforts to diversify and overall increases in transparency, numbers show that gender parity seems to be a long way off.
If the current rate of growth remains the same boards wont become 50 percent male and 50 percent female until the year 2055 nearly four decades from now. And plenty of corporations boards, Marcec pointed out, still have no female members.
Kimberly Lubel, who has served on the board of WPX Energy since 2011 when the Tulsa-based company was formed, said the numbers are no surprise.
Typically, your favorite board member recruit is someone who has just retired from a C-suite (top executive position), she said.
The number of women who fall into that category, she said, is woefully small. According to a Forbes analysis last summer, only 21 Fortune 500 CEOs were female.
Its easy to say that its a board issue, said Lubel, who currently serves as president, CEO and chairwoman of fuel and convenience retailer CST Brands. But its really an overall how are women moving through their organizations to get to the C-suite.
If numbers are going to change, its important to get women into senior executive roles, where they can make connections that could lead to board seats, and to support women in building the skills necessary to best serve investors. Support from women who have come before them is a big part of it, Lubel said.
Thats really the key, Lubel said. I had folks who took me under their wing early on gave me opportunities, opened doors for me, and its now my job to do that for folks behind me. I think we need to own it as much as anybody else. We need to mentor folks but also make those connections for others to board opportunities.
Diverse hiring
Increasing diversity in boardrooms across America will also require a conscious effort from businesses to consider both strong female and minority candidates, said Kathleen Cooper, who has served on the Williams Cos. board since 2006 and chaired the body since July.
This may require considering board members whose expertise is nontraditional, such as women who have been successful in the law or government or in not-for-profit or consulting leadership, said Cooper, whose own experience includes currently serving as president of Cooper Strategies International LLC with prior stints as under secretary for economic affairs of the U.S. Department of Commerce and chief economist for Exxon Mobil Corp.
I applaud the effort to broaden the diversity of boards as long as these new candidates contribute to the business-oriented discussions that are the heart and soul of every boards purpose.
For the lions share of business decisions facing any company, there are no differential gender responses, Cooper said. But there are times when different life experiences would produce different advice to management.
It can be important for those diverse viewpoints to be heard, Cooper said. The Williams board has been diverse throughout my 10 years of service and has always allowed room for all points of view to be expressed before ultimate decisions were made. To me, that open discussion is a vital element in well-functioning boards.
The definition of diversity in board recruiting has also broadened in recent years, Mashinski said. Its not just gender and race, boards are now also thinking about age diversity, varying skillsets, geographic diversity, industry experience.
One of the things that she appreciated about Unit Corp. is that when during the recruiting process it was thinking about succession planning of the board, as well as the broader definition of diversity.
Mashinski said her seat at Unit Corp. came out of mentioning to some peers and friends that she was interested in board leadership, and that desire appeared to have gotten back to a recruiter. When she was contacted, she seized the opportunity and let them know the reasons why she was right for the job.
Her advice for women who want to serve in directors seats? Go after it.
My advice to women who are seeking to be on boards is first to let people know that theyre interested, Mashinski said. You cant just sit back and think about it. Youve got to be active by telling people what you want and your interests.
Second is building your skill set to be taken as a serious candidate for board positions. What I think would be a failure is boards selecting candidates just based on gender. They have to have the credentials and be able to represent the shareholders, the stakeholders. Women need to be prepared and seize the opportunity when it comes their way.
Experts dont anticipate Oklahomas man-made earthquake woes to materialize in the Tulsa County area.
They say the nature of this regions petroleum geology doesnt lend itself to the tremendous saltwater disposal volumes in the kind of deep wells connected to the unprecedented induced seismicity in central and western Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commissions 15,000-square-mile area of interest subject to quake mitigation disposal regulations reaches as close to Tulsa County as a far western strip of Creek County.
Tim Baker, director of the OCCs Oil and Gas Division, recently explained that the states deepest layer of sediment the Arbuckle formation is closer to the surface the farther east you go in the state. Relatedly, fewer oil- and gas-bearing zones lay above it, deterring a development boom similar to what took place in central and western Oklahoma.
A dozen deep disposal wells are located in Tulsa County with a relatively minuscule 2.5 million barrels of saltwater injection recorded from 2011 through 2015, according to a Tulsa World analysis of Corporation Commission data. Comparatively, companies reported injecting an astounding 4.2 billion barrels of saltwater into 723 deep wells in the OCCs area of interest from 2011 through 2016.
The 4.2 billion barrels is equivalent to 64 hours of water flowing over Niagara Falls or 88 brimming Lake Yaholas in Tulsa, according to a Tulsa World analysis.
Tulsa Countys 2.5 million barrels is equivalent to 1/20 of Lake Yaholas 2-billion-gallon capacity.
Volume data for 2016 isnt available yet for wells outside of the so-called area of interest because operators report monthly totals on an annual basis. Stricter regulations require well operators inside the area of interest to record daily values that they turn in weekly.
Baker noted that Tulsa Countys oil fields many of which have been producing since statehood are depleted.
By contrast, he said literally hundreds of new horizontal disposal wells were developed in a relatively brief time period in central and western Oklahoma, where fossil fuel deposits are nice and thick but contain high ratios of saltwater.
Operators filed applications for high-volume disposal wells to get rid of the vast amounts of saltwater, for example 20,000 to 60,000 barrels a day, he said.
Obviously that would raise our concerns considerably, but that kind of production just doesnt exist in Tulsa County, Baker said. I wont say its impossible, but so far theres been no evidence well see that in the Tulsa County area.
High-volume wells analysis
The Tulsa Worlds analysis of Corporation Commission data supports that statement. Tulsa County contains 21 active Arbuckle disposal wells, of which only 12 yielded volumes from 2011 through 2015.
A scientific study published in a June 2015 online edition of the journal Science scrutinizes high-volume injection and its correlation with induced seismicity.
The study highlights that disposal wells injecting at rates of at least 300,000 barrels a month are much more likely to be associated with earthquakes than lower-rate wells.
The most saltwater injected into one Arbuckle disposal well within Tulsa County in those five years was 320,000 barrels in a year, not even within the single-month limit established by the study.
In six years of Arbuckle disposal within the area of interest, 286 wells breached a monthly threshold of 300,000 barrels a total of 3,939 times.
There were 26 wells that injected monthly volumes in excess of 1 million barrels a total of 255 times.
Jeremy Boak, director of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, said he too is inclined to say Tulsa County isnt likely to experience induced seismicity within its borders given its dearth of deep-well disposal.
I think youd have to have a major new (oil and gas development) start up, Boak said.
Deep wells under scrutiny
Arbuckle disposal wells are under scrutiny because that formation is in hydraulic communication with Oklahomas fault-laced basement granite rock.
Pressure from the injected saltwater triggers faults that are critically stressed by natural tectonic forces to slip, causing earthquakes.
Oil and gas activities produce the saltwater, which is essentially ancient briny seawater that contains contaminants and comes to the surface with fossil fuel deposits.
Baker also addressed the question of whether companies could decide to start trucking saltwater from the area of interest to pump into Arbuckle disposal wells in the Tulsa County area to avoid quake-mitigation regulations.
Not likely, he said, because piping the saltwater to nearby disposal wells is the only feasible way to develop the energy deposits that have high yields of saltwater.
It would be very, very expensive to (truck the saltwater), Baker said.
Tulsa County and quakes
A 2015 Oklahoma Geological Survey fault map shows Tulsa County with only a few documented fault lines in the Sand Springs area.
However, many unknown faults in Oklahoma are discovered after earthquakes occur on them.
For example, aftershocks from the magnitude-5.8 quake near Pawnee in September revealed an unknown fault and helped to alter restrictions imposed afterward.
The largest earthquake recorded in Tulsa County is a magnitude-2.5 in October 2011, according to OGS data. Tulsa County has 19 temblors in recorded history, 10 of which were above 2.0.
The most recent one was a 1.7 in October, well below the threshold typically felt by humans.
Thirteen of them have been recorded since 2010, perhaps because a better seismic detection network now exists in the state.
Thats in stark contrast to the state as a whole, which recorded 2,358 quakes of at least magnitude-3.0 from 2010 through 2016, according to OGS data. There have been 35 statewide this year through Friday afternoon.
A Stanford University scientific study published in November noted that almost all recent magnitude-3.0 and greater earthquakes in Oklahoma have occurred where very large volumes of saltwater have been injected into the Arbuckle formation.
In a June 1991 letter to the city of Tulsa, philanthropist and community leader, Walt Helmerich III wrote: This contribution of $1,000,000 from The Helmerich Foundation is given to the city of Tulsa for the acquisition of park property only. Should any of this 67 acres be disposed of, the city will apply 100 percent of the proceeds to additional facilities or improvements on the remaining property.
While succinct, Mr. Helmerichs intentions are clear.
Additionally, conversations with Helmerichs sons, Jono and Hans, confirm their confidence that their father would have supported responsible commercial development like this to enhance the rest of the property. Mr. Helmerichs generosity and dedication to Tulsa lives on in this great legacy.
Our proposal ensures all proceeds from the purchase will go directly to park enhancements, just as Walt would have wanted. I will also seek matching funds from Tulsas philanthropic community an effort that the developers have joined by donating $100,000 to establish a park maintenance fund.
To begin, I want to be clear that there are not any villains here.
As a newly elected mayor, I inherited an incomplete project plan with two opposing sides that resulted in a lawsuit halting any progress.
Some have made those opposing this sale out to be anti-development tree huggers. In reality, I found them to be reasonable Tulsans who dont actually oppose development in Helmerich Park, but who are passionate about protecting our natural resources.
On the other side, some have attempted to position the developers as out-of-state opportunists. In reality, I found them to be businessmen with a broad range of development experience who are excited by the positive momentum we have in Tulsa.
Now, our reputation as a city that welcomes enterprise and investment is at stake. We cannot afford to become known as a city that enters into an agreement and then violates it.
I believe, as leaders, the mayor and City Council have a responsibility to find common ground when good people in our community are divided.
For the past two months I have worked with all parties on this issue, pushing them to identify a compromise. I believe we now have a plan worthy of Tulsa one that allows us to keep our word as a city, without sacrificing quality.
Candidly, in the original plan, the developers did not meet our citys expectations on how development should occur on our river. Conversely, the opposition presented an alternative concept of an example site plan that would overdevelop the entire park, placing buildings in the middle and effectively chopping the park into two separate areas.
With the River Development Overlay standards as a definitive guide, collaboration with the developers resulted in significant changes to the project. The landscape architects are the same as the Philbrook, the University of Tulsa, and the Crystal Bridges project. The plan calls for planting 150 trees along with retaining existing trees on site. Along with the backyard open-air restaurant with river vistas, the retail store features windows facing the trail bringing the outdoors inside.
Targeted development on the waterfront at 71st Street and Riverside Drive has repeatedly appeared in multiple planning processes. It is included in the Arkansas River Corridor Master Plan; in PlaniTulsa, the Citys comprehensive plan; in the underlying zoning; and in the 2016 Vision Tulsa plan passed overwhelmingly by voters. Most important, it is provided for in the River Development Overlay unanimously approved by the City Council last year.
Let me be clear. All of Helmerich Park is not for sale, and the tradition of waterfront beach volleyball will remain in the park. Approximately eight acres of the roughly 65-acre park will be transformed into a destination trailhead complete with a restaurant hosting live music in a large, open-air backyard designed to interact with the trail, and a retail store specializing in outdoor recreation equipment and adventure.
The clear majority of our river frontage will continue to be preserved in its natural state. It is a vision based on respecting fundamental ecological principles, enhancing the quality of urban living, and achieving a beneficial return to the city in the form of much-needed sales tax revenue.
With these compromises, the barren area at 71st Street and Riverside Drive becomes a real, usable park. We get a great outdoor restaurant and a national retailer that will become a destination, and activate the south Tulsa trail system by engaging with its users the first of its kind in our city.
I hope you will join me in supporting this proposal.
G.T. Bynum is mayor of Tulsa.
OKLAHOMA CITY Legislative leaders say Lt. Gov. Todd Lambs exit from Gov. Mary Fallins Cabinet over her tax increase proposal has no bearing on efforts to negotiate a budget, despite claims to the contrary.
Lamb resigned from Fallins Cabinet on Feb. 16, saying he could not support her proposal to apply the sales tax to 164 services in an effort to raise revenue during challenging budget years.
A growing number of Republican lawmakers have agreed with Lambs position. Fourteen lawmakers immediately came out in support of Lamb. A few days later, another 13 Republican lawmakers added their names to the list.
House Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, said Lambs position has given cover to a variety of Republicans who are now looking at Lamb as head of the party since he may be running for governor in 2018.
Inman is also interested in running for governor. His caucus does not like the proposal to tax services.
Lamb exacerbated the problem when he resigned from Fallins Cabinet, Inman said.
He gave them cover to not to work to solve the problem, Inman said.
But Senate Pro Tem Mike Schulz, R-Altus, disagreed.
I dont believe it has hamstrung the process at all, he said. I dont think it has had any bearing.
He said the members who are signing up to support Lambs position disliked the idea of expanding the sales tax prior to Lambs decision to leave the Cabinet.
House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, agreed with Schulz that the issue would have no impact on writing a budget.
I have the utmost respect for the governor and the lieutenant governor, McCall said. And at the end of the day, I do believe they both have the best interests of the state of Oklahoma in their hearts and in their minds. There is always going to be a diversity of opinion in which direction you should go in addressing the issues of the state.
Lamb said the state needs to do more agency streamlining and have a thorough examination of the incentives and credits it gives out in an effort to generate economic activity. He said expanding the sales tax to services would hurt small businesses and families.
Lawmakers for years have studied the credit and incentive issue and made little progress.
Last week, Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger declared a revenue failure for the current budget year, meaning agencies will have to take $34.6 million in cuts between March and June 30.
The announcement was made during a Board of Equalization meeting, where state leaders learned there would be $878 million less available in drafting a fiscal year 2018 budget, up from a previous estimate of $868 million.
Fallin has also suggested increasing the gasoline tax and the cigarette tax.
We have to do something, she said. And standing in the middle of the road and doing nothing is not an option. It is not working. Our budget is broken and we have got to fix it.
Fallin said many of state agencies have had lots of cuts since the economic downturn in 2009.
If our Legislature isnt willing to solve some of these problems, prioritize our services, invest in some of our services, there may just come a time at the end of session where I just veto the appropriations (bill) until we get a deal that works for the state of Oklahoma, Fallin said.
A legal defense fund has been formed for State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, who is charged with conspiring to evade campaign finance laws during her 2014 bid for office.
The special-function committee, the Joy Hofmeister Defense Fund, which was approved Thursday by the state Ethics Commission, is the first of its kind to focus on raising funds for an elected officials legal entanglements.
Special-function committees are often used to collect donations for conferences and events, such as the Oklahoma Speakers Ball.
Prior to 2015, officials were permitted to use campaign funds to pay legal bills, the Ethics Commission said. But a rule change now requires elected state officials to create a separate fund for legal fees, both criminal and civil.
The committee can accept contributions from individuals, partnerships, companies, corporations and labor unions, and the amount of contributions is unlimited. The committee is required to file quarterly reports.
Hofmeister was charged in November with two felonies: one for knowingly accepting campaign contributions that exceeded the maximum amounts set by law, and the other for accepting contributions from a corporation, which is illegal.
Hofmeister denies wrongdoing and has vowed to fight the charges in court. A hearing is set for Aug. 16-18 for Hofmeister and four co-defendants: Fount Holland, co-founder of political consulting firm A.H. Strategies, which managed Hofmeisters campaign; Lela Odom, then-director of the Oklahoma Education Association; Steven Crawford, former executive director of the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administrators; and Stephanie Milligan, who ran the day-to-day operations of Oklahoman for Public School Excellence, a nonprofit advocacy group formed to help Hofmeister get elected.
Attorney Gary Wood, who is representing Hofmeister, did not immediately return a call for comment.
OKLAHOMA CITY O, it is excellent to have a giants strength; but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant.
As Mike Hunter assumed his duties as Oklahomas newest attorney general last week, he said those words from William Shakespeares Measure for Measure were foremost in his thoughts.
There is considerable power and authority in the attorney generals office, Hunter said. I will always remind myself that the person who has this job always needs to have humility.
Hunter was appointed to the attorney generals post by Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday, filling the vacancy created when Scott Pruitt resigned to accept a presidential appointment as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
State officials are seeking comments from residents about a proposed path for Oklahoma 20 near Claremore that would realign the highway near some fairly new housing additions.
The alignment would cost an estimated $42 million and replace a section of the four-lane, undivided highway between Franklin Road and Oklahoma 66 in Claremore with a five-lane, divided roadway with curbs and a center turn lane, according to an Oklahoma Department of Transportation presentation.
The new route would create a spur going southeast from the current Oklahoma 20 path, including a bridge over BNSF Railway and Oklahoma 66, ODOT division 8 engineer Randle White said.
Officials held a public meeting Thursday in Claremore to receive input on the plan, which was initially approved in 2000 to address safety concerns and alleviate congestion on the highway and was envisioned as a four-lane, divided highway.
Since then, the route has also shifted slightly.
About 200 residents attended Thursdays meeting, and White said many of the attendees seemed frustrated by the highways potential impact on their homes.
The alignment routes the highway into the vicinity of approximately 135 homes that have been built since the plan was approved.
We have an alignment that was set 17 years ago. We recognize that theres change out there, he said.
Ruslan Ilyushenko has a home in one of the additions affected by the proposed route and said he was blindsided and frustrated by the project.
Though Ilyushenko acknowledged the highways present route is dangerous in some areas, especially at a sharp left turn leading into Claremore along Brady Street, he said that could be fixed another way.
Instead of ODOT constructing a new highway, Ilyushenko thinks it would be more cost-effective to improve the existing highway by widening it and adding traffic lights.
If you look at the map and where theyve proposed to realign the highway, it really doesnt make much economic sense. Maybe it made sense 20 years ago when whoever looked at it looked at it, he said.
White said that though the original alignment was proposed and approved 17 years ago, crews didnt get to the public comment phase until now because they explored multiple alternate routes at the request of the City of Claremore.
None of those alignments were viable, so officials are revisiting and trying to move forward with the original plan, White said.
With the new alignment, potential exists for a small number of residents to be relocated. Some residents may also be affected by highway noise.
And construction may affect some wetlands in the area, as well as habitats for the American burying beetle and northern long-eared bat. Both creatures are considered either endangered or threatened, according to the ODOT presentation.
Theres just no way to build something that doesnt have an impact on anybody. I wish we could, but at some point in time you have to move forward with safety improvements, White said.
Officials are seeking comment from those affected by the route through March 9.
Though the highway must stay within the confines of the data collection area, citizen comments along with the findings from the revisited environmental assessment study could shift the alignment some, White said.
So when Im talking about modifying the alignment, Im not talking about going back to the drawing board and starting all over, he said.
Once ODOT has received public comments, it will evaluate them and the environmental assessment and make changes as necessary, then move to the design stage.
Right-of-way and utility relocation will begin in 2018, with roadway construction set to begin in 2021.
OMAHA The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld the first-degree murder conviction and life sentence for an Omaha man who shot a teen to death during a 2014 robbery.
Prosecutors say Adrian Lester shot 18-year-old Tielor Williams five times in the face and neck in April 2014 Gallagher Park. Police say Williams was shot after refusing to empty his pockets following a dispute over a marijuana deal.
In his appeal, Lester says his trial court improperly struck a prospective juror, excluded testimony offered to impeach a witness and denied his motion for a new trial. Lester also argued that there was insufficient evidence presented at trial to support his conviction.
The Nebraska high court on Friday rejected all of Lester's arguments.
Usually when Reality TV participants subject themselves to the scrutiny of cameras, its with a clear outcome in mind: a cash prize, a shot at fame, or maybe finding the love of their life.
But what could possibly compel somebody to sign up for Bride & Prejudice?
Theres no prize at the end, and participants already have their chosen partner. More to the point, what on earth is in it for the parent or family member made to look like the villain of the story?
These are questions I put to Chris Jewell, 39, from Sydney, who appears in the Seven series with his partner Grant, 32. When they were approached by producers they had some hesitations, but there was an overriding cause that swayed them.
When Seven approached us and said Wed like to work with you on this, Grant and I had to seriously think about what would be the potential outcomes and what would it mean in terms of putting the story across for Marriage Equality, he explained.
Grant and I are big believers in Marriage Equality and weve both marched. When we were thinking about going on the programme it was scheduled to air in line with the proposed Plebiscite.
So we thought it would be a strong story for the Yes camp.
Weve seen other shows where gay relationships havent been handled with a lot of care, or been told right. So for us it was really important if this was out there during this important time, that it be a story that was genuine.
Weve had this ongoing argument about who was going to propose to who!
Chris (pictured, right) met US-born Grant (pictured left) 3 years ago and after juggling a long distance relationship, moved in together to qualify for partner visas. But with same sex marriage still lacking recognition, they planned on a wedding in the USA.
During filming the show operated under a working title, so that the weddings would come as a shock to family members. In the edited series, Chris proposal even looked like a surprise to Grant.
He explains how the element of surprise was maintained, despite both having discussed marital plans.
Weve had this ongoing argument about who was going to propose to who! he said.
On the side I was having a different conversation with the producers, about (how to propose).
So the producers told Grant we werent having a proposal because all the other couples had been proposed to. And Grant said What? He was dirty that he wasnt going to get his proposal!
But a flash mob beside Sydney Harbour, singing their song, did the trick, with cameras rolling.
I was having secret rehearsals with the choir and Grant kept asking Where are you going? Chris recalls.
So he didnt known about it and he was shocked. The second time we had to do it for the wide angle, he knew about it obviously.
The second time I was so emotional I couldnt remember what I said the first time even though I had been practicing for ages!
Weve never talked about their motivation to do it
But while Chris and Grant made for a picture perfect romance, no show is complete without its conflict -enter Chris parents Yvonne & Geoff from the Sunshine Coast. With his mothers background as a Jehovahs Witness and his father a former soldier, neither approved of their sons sexuality, let alone any prospect of a surprise wedding.
Chris said when he proposed their participation in the show, he didnt expect them to agree.
They said You know our views on this,' he recalls.
I said, We havent really talked about it but its your opportunity to put your views across.
Weve never talked about their motivation to do it, but I can only assume part of (it is) bearing witness to her faith, and gives her an opportunity to publicly state her beliefs.
But I couldnt quote her on it because weve never had that discussion.
Aside from multiple establishing shots arriving at his parents home, Chris told producers there would be no other second takes with family.
I was really specific with the producers particularly for the really tense moments. I said Do not interrupt. Youre not to prompt me or anything like that. This is a conversation Ive been meaning to have for 18 years. So you get what you get.
What producers got was the perfect rejection, which has spun its way into social media and been reported by press as the death of a parent-son relationship.
It was never pitched to my parents that they would be the villain of the piece
Chris knows his parents are taking a lot of heat, but is encouraged that they are not likely to be dabbling in social media. Whilst filming wrapped some time ago, participants are only seeing the finished product as it airs, and Chris has only had limited contact with his parents.
It was never pitched to my parents that they would be the villain of the piece, he admitted.
I think they thought their views were the majority, and it might be an eye opener for them, or maybe plant a seed that changes their mind over time.
But we havent really spoken a lot since filming wrapped. I have briefly been in contact with my dad after we did some media, but the response was he was proud of us for telling the truth and not sensationalising anything.
Im giving them some space. Theyre taking some time out. Once its all finished airing I think well probably all sit down and have another conversation.
Thankfully Grants parents were far more embracing of their future son-in-law, visiting the couple in Sydney and attending the wedding in the US. So does participating in a Reality TV wedding mean the network pays the airfares, and could it be an incentive for enduring such invasiveness?
Im not at liberty to talk about, he notes.
A lot of things came out of my back pocket but there were things where we shared the expenses.
Yet Chris maintains it has been a positive experience, hearing from other gay couples, and parents of gay men and women who indicate a shift in their outlook. Its been the most worthwhile outcome, in the midst of media attention.
Its up to everyone to influence that vote,
Will it be a positive outcome for his parents too? Chris looks beyond the current commotion.
Im not totally resigned to the fact that this will be a negative experience for them in the long run. Obviously right now they would be taking some heat, he explains.
And thats not the position (people should) approach this with. I understand people are angry and shocked, but if you approach people who have those views with hate and more intolerance, it will only strengthen their resolve or retreat into their position.
If you approach them with understanding about where they are coming from and educate them, it will more likely get a better result. Thats what Grant and I are trying to do.
Overall we had a really good experience and there are some positives to come out of this story. But I cant go into the details about it.
So even without a formal Plebiscite, theirs is still a good case for marriage equality after all?
Yes it is. And if you feel really strongly about it, get in contact with your local member because theres going to be a free vote and its up to everyone to influence that vote, he adds.
And it could happen really soon, so dont sit on your hands.
Bride and Prejudice airs 9pm tonight on Seven.
On Wednesday, Danish crime drama Dicte will be available at SBS On Demand.
The series stars Iben Hjejle as crime reporter Dicte Svendsen, who has returned to her hometown of Aarhus following a divorce.
The three part series, which debuted in 2013, is based on novels by Danish author Elsebeth Egholm.
All 30 episodes will be available on Wednesday.
Joining SBS On Demands top collection of Nordic Noir dramas is Dicte, a Danish crime series about a newly divorced journalist, Dicte Svendsen, played by Iben Hjejle (High Fidelity, Anna Pihl), who returns to her hometown to cover criminal cases.
Energetic, courageous and stubborn, Dicte has a different way of approaching cases. Her determination results in constant clashes with criminal investigator John Wagner (Lars Brygmann), a careworn and passionate man who thinks Dicte is a genuine pain in the butt.
Despite their animosity towards each other, Dicte and John manage to solve investigations together, all the while dealing with a variety of problems and challenges that affect their personal lives.
Wednesday, 1 March on SBS On Demand.
Heres how to celebrate Nebraskas 150th birthday Wednesday:
* 9-10:15 a.m.: The U.S. Postal Service will have a dedication ceremony in the Capitol rotunda to introduce the Nebraska statehood forever stamp a photo taken by Lincoln photographer Michael Forsberg of sandhill cranes in flight above the Platte River.
* 10:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.: Actor portrayals of Willa Cather, Chief Standing Bear and Buffalo Bill Cody, and music by Nebraska high school students, in the rotunda.
* 1:15-1:45 p.m.: Pony Express delivery, west side of Capitol.
* 2-3 p.m.: Official Statehood Day ceremony in the Capitols George W. Norris Legislative Chamber. The ceremony will feature "The Voice" finalist and Grand Island native Hannah Huston singing. Gov. Pete Ricketts is among the speakers. Lincoln's Everett Elementary chorus will also perform. (Note: seating at Capitol is limited; arrive early.)
* 6-8 p.m.: Legacy of Nebraska art exhibit grand opening at the Nebraska History Museum, 131 Centennial Mall North.
For more information, go to: ne150.org/statehoodday.
Nebraska has the fourth largest agricultural economy in the United States.
So when ag suffers, symptoms show up throughout the state -- even in Lincoln, where a more diverse industry and business center has kept the economy humming.
Lincolns economy continues to show positive growth, but it could be better, said University of Nebraska-Lincoln economist Eric Thompson, who heads up the Bureau of Business Research.
One measure of Lincoln's economic activity, the arena occupation tax, had 7 percent year-over-year increases for 2014 and 2015 and a 5 percent increase for 2016, when the city collected $16.65 million.
Lincoln and Omaha both are impacted by the farm economy, Thompson said. That said, Lincoln is a diverse economy and able to grow and succeed even when agriculture is struggling. But were more likely to have robust growth when ag is doing well.
Lincolns fast-growing industries include construction, finance and banking, as well as a sector called professional, scientific and technical services, which encompasses higher-paying jobs in, for example, computer programming, accounting and architecture, Thompson said.
Health care and insurance industries have been a little weaker, he noted.
In Nebraska, one in four jobs is linked to agriculture. That means farm woes are Nebraska woes.
Economic forecasters expect net farm income in 2017 to decline by 8.7 percent nationally from last year, to $62.3 billion, according to the U.S. Agriculture Departments National Agricultural Statistics Service. If the prediction holds true, it will be the fourth consecutive year of decline after net income hit an all-time high in 2013.
Several years of bin-busting harvests, competition abroad and a strong dollar have combined to push the price of row crops near or below break-even.
Cattle prices also have dipped, with the nations cattle inventory bolstered by cheap feed and pasture conditions. The USDA counted 93.6 million head of cattle and calves in the United States as of Jan. 1, a 2 percent increase over the year before.
Nebraska according to the January USDA Cattle on Feed monthly report has the second most cattle on feed at lots with at least 1,000 head capacity in the nation, behind Texas. The USDA's annual cattle inventory lists Nebraska as first in the nation for cattle on feed.
Under financial pressure, farmers and ranchers are cutting back on both household and capital spending. The Kansas City Federal Reserves index of farm household spending hit its lowest level in more than a decade, according to a November report.
That drop in the number of dollars leaving farmers' wallets has a multiplier effect: Fewer tractors and Ford F150s bought means less money for dealerships and salespeople and fewer tax dollars flowing into state coffers.
Gov. Pete Ricketts and state senators have proposed slashing government budgets, including $13.3 million from the University of Nebraska, a major Lincoln employer, as they strive to balance a $900 million shortfall.
Last month, Ricketts announced that a freeze on state hiring helped eliminate 300 government positions, reducing the number of state agency employees from 13,800 to 13,500 between October and January. The hiring freeze remains in effect for the foreseeable future.
Lower farm income hits Lincoln in other areas, too.
Insurance, legal services and other business services, there are a lot of businesses like that in Lincoln that have customers in agriculture. When agriculture is less profitable, growing less quickly, that affects a lot of Lincoln industries, and good-paying Lincoln industries, Thompson said.
Ag profits once found their way into real estate, he said, but those investments also may have slowed to a trickle.
Despite the difficult times, Thompson said, Nebraska agriculture still has a bright future thanks to abundant resources and processing.
Those are going to make us a great place to invest in agriculture. That hasnt changed, he said. The good times are going to be coming again in the future."
Trade is an increasingly vital piece of Nebraska's economic structure, nourishing the state with jobs, economic activity, export opportunities and global customers.
Nebraska benefits from an estimated $10 billion in annual exports, Gov. Pete Ricketts noted, including an estimated $6.6 billion that can be tied to agriculture.
Foreign companies have invested more than $4.4 billion in Nebraska since 2010.
Engagement with foreign markets is increasingly important to Lincoln, Chamber of Commerce President Wendy Birdsall said.
"You've got to be present to win," she said, looking back to her participation in a recent 10-day trade mission to China led by the governor.
"You've got to see and be seen and make a friend," Birdsall said.
"If we're not doing business in a global economy and planning to do more of it, we might as well pack our bags and go home."
At home, foreign-owned businesses are generating economic activity and creating jobs.
Kawaski in Lincoln is a prime example of a company that markets its product nationwide while providing jobs here.
Ricketts said he hopes to help encourage Kawasaki to expand its operations in Lincoln.
Birdsall pointed to Kawasaki, Tri-Con, Bosch, Morio Denke and Yasufuku as foreign companies that already do business here.
"Lincoln wouldn't be where it is today without those jobs and that foreign investment," she said.
"There are lots of opportunities to expand trade and sell our products overseas," Ricketts said. And both China and Japan are huge markets for Nebraska goods.
President Donald Trump's new trade policy -- some critics describe it as protectionist and less tied to a global economy -- presents some challenges for Nebraska.
Trump has disengaged from the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement and is vowing to renegotiate the terms of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Beef and pork, vital segments of Nebraska's economy, appeared to be the U.S. commodities most favored by the terms of TPP, a negotiated agreement that included Japan, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico, Australia and Malaysia, along with other nations across the Pacific Rim.
The Nebraska Farm Bureau estimated that TPP would increase Nebraska agricultural receipts by $378 million a year.
NAFTA includes the United States, Mexico and Canada.
"The Trump administration has a different strategy, favoring bilateral trade negotiations" rather than regional compacts, Ricketts said.
"It's up to the Trump administration to negotiate deals that are as good or better," the governor said. "Make that the benchmark."
Ricketts said he will use his contacts within the new administration to "make sure we do not endanger the trade" generated by NAFTA and negotiated by TPP, an agreement that had not yet been submitted to Congress for its approval.
"I'll pick up the phone and talk to them," the governor said.
Ricketts said his direct contacts include Vice President Mike Pence, White House chief-of-staff Reince Preibus and Todd Ricketts, deputy secretary of commerce, the governor's brother.
"We are expecting they have a plan to negotiate a better deal for our producers," Ricketts said.
Researchers and educators agree that cellphones have become fixtures in Canadian classrooms, but opinion remains divided on how best to address their presence.
All agree that the presence of smartphones can be problematic if students are allowed to devote more attention to their screens than their studies.
One research paper suggests the majority of schools are still treating cellphones as a scourge and banning the devices outright both in and out of class.
But that study and a growing number of boards say theyve had more success once deciding to stop fighting the technological tide and find ways to incorporate cellphones into schools.
Canadas largest school board reversed a four-year ban on cellphones and now lets teachers dictate what works best for their classrooms, while a board in Quebec has gone so far as to distribute tablets to all students in Grade 5 and up while maintaining a permissive smartphone policy.
Researchers say these approaches work best, but add its essential to have guidelines in place around the use of technology.
Thierry Karsenti, Canada Research Chair on Technologies in Education and professor at the University of Montreal, said students will find a way to bring phones into the classroom regardless of the rules.
Read more:Toronto school bans cellphones from class
A survey of more than 4,000 high school students found that 79.3 per cent of respondents owned a cellphone.
Participants indicated that the phones did not figure strongly in their formal education, with 88.4 per cent reporting that the devices were banned either in class or at school altogether.
Karsenti said the majority of schools hes studied persist in fruitless bans against smartphones, edicts that students will inevitably ignore.
Only 12.9 per cent of survey respondents said they had never sent texts in class, 55.7 per cent said they felt it was acceptable to send or read text during lessons, and 90.7 per cent said they had seen classmates doing just that. Another 64.2 per cent reported seeing their peers accessing Facebook on their phones while in class.
But Karsenti said schools with more flexible policies got better results, he said, adding the best ones set firm boundaries that helped educate students on when it may or may not be appropriate to use their cells.
Students responded, he said, by taking those lessons to heart.
They were becoming themselves more responsible in those schools where cells were allowed with specific rules because schools help them become more responsible, Karsenti said in a telephone interview. Otherwise whos going to help them become more responsible?
One school Karsenti studied allowed students to use their phones as they wished outside of class, but insisted they keep the devices in plain sight and face-down on their desks during class time.
Such an approach strikes the right balance, he said, since it still gives teachers the flexibility to tap into the technology for their lessons while limiting distractions among students.
Some organizations, like the Eastern Townships School Board in Quebec, have made technology an integral part of the classroom experience.
Spokeswoman Sharon Priest said the board began issuing iPads to students in 2013 with the full expectation that they would be used both at home and at school.
Today, all board students from Grade 5 and up have been issued either an iPad or a Chromebook. Priest said the technology that looms so large in most students home lives should be incorporated into the educational experience, adding the devices also help empower teachers.
They allowed us the creativity in the classroom to support . . . lifelong learning and different competencies, Priest said of the tablets, which can be used for everything from research to video streaming.
The board has a permissive policy around cellphones, she said, allowing teachers to dictate what works best for their classroom.
The same approach is now in effect at the Toronto District School Board, which banned cellphones for four years before reversing course in 2011.
Spokesman Ryan Bird said the board came to recognize that enforcing an outright ban was next to impossible, while also acknowledging that to curb technology use would be to place limits on educational opportunities as well.
I think it was more an acknowledgement that theres an important role for technology to play in the classroom, he said. And thats where we are now. In general the board encourages the use of technology in the classroom where appropriate.
Not all instructors are keen to embrace mobile technology in the classroom, however.
At a Halifax middle school, one teachers effort to promote healthy living among her students resulted in a school-wide experiment meant to help detach students from their screens and revive the art of conversation.
Sean MacDonald, principal at Herring Cove Junior High, said the schools previously flexible policies were tightened up for a week to bar cellphone use in class, during recess or at lunch.
He said the week-long experiment is meant to gauge impacts on students studies and social lives, adding the school is also soliciting feedback from parents on cellphone use at home.
MacDonald said early feedback suggests students too can be flexible on cellphone use, adding some who felt they couldnt live without their devices have noted some upsides to going without.
Many of our students have reported ... that theyre enjoying the opportunity to have more conversations with their friends as opposed to sitting down and everybody staring at their phones, he said. And teachers have definitely noticed less distractions in the classrooms.
MacDonald said the school will analyze feedback from the experiment and use it to adjust its permanent cellphone policies for the next academic year.
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LITTLE ROCK, ARK.With his party now holding all of the levers of power in Arkansas politics, a Republican state lawmaker is pushing to remove the names of the states most famous Democrats Bill and Hillary Clinton from Little Rocks airport.
Sen. Jason Rapert says pilots have complained to him about flying into Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport and that Arkansas shouldnt honour a former president who was impeached over his affair with a White House intern.
The bill is to prevent any further embarrassment by the airports name, Rapert said Friday. Other women have accused the ex-president and ex-governor of sexual harassment, and they shouldnt have to be reminded when they travel through Arkansas busiest hub, he said.
How would you feel if you had to walk through that airport? Rapert asked.
Bill Clinton has been dogged by rumours about his relationships with women for much of his political career. He has acknowledged sexual encounters during that time, but has denied accusations of mistreatment.
The sprawling airport complex east of downtown Little Rock had been called Adams Field, picking up the moniker to honour Arkansas National Guard Capt. George Geyer Adams in 1942. Adams was a longtime Little Rock councilman killed in the line of duty in 1937 and the actual air field is still named for him.
Political friends of the Clintons decided to strip his honour, Rapert said.
Bill Clinton, who was acquitted in his 1999 impeachment trial, served as Arkansas governor nearly 12 years and president for eight. Hillary Clinton was a U.S. senator from New York and a U.S. Secretary of State before running as the Democratic presidential nominee last year.
While Bill Clinton was president, he signed the bill naming Washington National Airport after former president Ronald Reagan, a Republican.
Raperts bill says Arkansas should not name any publicly funded airport after anyone who received a salary for holding a federal, state, county or municipal office. A state wildlife centre in Pine Bluff is named after former Gov. Mike Huckabee, but Rapert said the former Republican presidential candidate should still be honoured.
He did not explain the difference.
Little Rocks Airport Commission voted to rename the complex in 2012. At a hearing, members of the public acknowledged the Clintons werent perfect but said the couple had accomplishments that no other Arkansans had.
We recognize that the 42nd president of the United States is a singular honour for the city and the state, Mayor Mark Stodola, a Democrat, said Friday.
Im disappointed that the legislation was filed, he said, adding that it was a slap against Little Rock and that its airport commissioners were best equipped to choose whom to honour.
When the airport was renamed five years ago, Democrats controlled the Legislature and held the governors office. Republicans completed a takeover of Arkansas state government in 2014.
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Schools across Canada are grappling with the uncertainty of U.S. travel restrictions and how that affects upcoming student trips across the border.
A travel ban instituted by U.S. President Donald Trump on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries and Syrian refugees may be on hold as it works its way through the U.S. justice system, but Canadian schools remain concerned with how foreign-born students will be treated at the border.
Jim Cambridge, superintendent of the Sooke School District in British Columbia, said there are a number of trips planned for sports, music and educational purposes in the coming months that are being reconsidered.
Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump
While the refugee population among students in the Vancouver Island district is small, Cambridge said the board must make a decision based on safety and also ethical considerations.
The board is concerned some students may be stopped at the border, and if thats the case, they want to examine whether or not theyll support any trips to the States right now, he said.
The B.C. School Trustees Association is advising them on what student groups can expect at the border based on information from both U.S. and Canadian border agencies, he said.
One of the boards concerns is fairness to students who may not be allowed to cross the border, he said.
Even if specific trips may not involve students affected by the ban, Cambridge said the board will have to decide whether to take a stance on the ban anyway, recognizing there are students within the district who are being discriminated against due to new U.S. travel policies.
Thats what the board needs to wrestle with is the more ethical decision about whether some trips can go and some cant or whether they all cant or can, he said.
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The board meets Tuesday to discuss the issue, and Cambridge said some schools have begun looking at Canadian cities as a Plan B in the event trips are cancelled.
Sooke trustees have looked to neighbouring school boards and other areas of the country to help inform their decision.
The Greater Essex County School Board in southwestern Ontario decided earlier this month to cancel a handful of trips over concerns of safety and equity.
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board sent a letter to parents to confirm whether their children will participate in upcoming trips across the border to determine whether plans should go ahead.
Students in the Pembina Trails School Division in Winnipeg participate in many international trips, but superintendent Ted Fransen said a recent decision to cancel one, although rushed, was made easily.
The track team at Acadia Junior High School was required to submit a deposit on Jan. 30 to participate in a competition in Minnesota, days after Trump signed his executive order.
Unsure about how policy would affect students on the team, they chose to opt out of the race.
Since the ban has been blocked by the U.S. courts, Fransen said two other trips to the States have since gone ahead.
Trump has vowed to bring in a new travel ban order to replace the one that the American courts have suspended pending a legal challenge by Washington State and Minnesota. Its not clear when the new order would be issued.
The Pembina Trails school board isnt considering new rules around travel in light of the situation in the U.S., even if another ban is implemented.
Fransen said he knows principals, teachers and students within his diverse district all value inclusivity, and a board-wide rule isnt necessary.
I just cant imagine that we would get a request from a school principal to approve a trip to the U.S. where students in the group wouldnt be allowed to go, he said. That would be counter to our culture.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.The father of a Navy SEAL killed during an anti-terrorism raid in Yemen is demanding an investigation into its planning and criticized the Trump administration for its timing.
Bill Owens told The Miami Herald in a story published Sunday that he refused to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump when both came to Dover Air Force Base to receive the casket carrying his son, Chief Special Warfare Officer William Ryan Owens.
I want an investigation, said Owens, a retired Fort Lauderdale police detective and veteran. The government owes my son an investigation.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told ABCs This Week on Sunday she believes the president would support an investigation.
I cant imagine what this father is going through, she said. His son is a true American hero, and we should forever been in his sons debt.
The younger Owens, a 36-year-old married father of three, was the lone U.S. fatality in the Jan. 27 raid on a suspected Al Qaeda compound.
Approximately 16 civilians and 14 militants died in the raid, which the Pentagon said was aimed at capturing information on potential Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. and its allies.
Read more:
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The elder Owens, a retired Fort Lauderdale police detective and veteran, told the Herald he refused to meet with the president because the family had requested a private ceremony.
Im sorry, I dont want to see him, Owens recalled telling the chaplain who informed him that Trump was on his way from Washington. I told them I dont want to meet the president.
He said he was also troubled by the attack Trump levelled at Khizr and Ghazala Kahn, an American Muslim family whose Army officer son died in Iraq in 2004. The couple had criticized him at the Democratic National Convention last summer. He also questioned why the president approved the raid a week after taking office.
I told them I didnt want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldnt let me talk to him, Owens told the Herald. Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasnt even barely a week into his administration? Why? For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen everything was missiles and drones because there was not a target worth one American life. Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display?
Sanders defended the raid in her interview with This Week host George Stephanopoulos. The White House says the raid was planned during the Obama administration, but the former presidents aides have said he hadnt given the go-ahead because it would have been an escalation of U.S. involvement in the war-torn and destitute Arab country.
The mission has a lot of different critics, but it did yield a substantial amount of very important intel and resources that helped save American lives and other lives, Sanders said.
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BERLINAuthorities say a man who drove into a group of pedestrians in the German city of Heidelberg, fatally injuring one man, is being held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
Prosecutors and police said in a statement Sunday that theyre examining whether the suspect, a 35-year-old German student who lives in the city, can be held criminally responsible. They say there is no evidence of terrorism or extremism, and his motive remains a mystery.
Three people were injured in Saturdays crash, and one later died. The suspect got out of his rented car with a kitchen knife, and was shot in the stomach by police shortly afterward.
The suspect has been hospitalized but authorities say his life isnt in danger. They say he didnt respond in their initial questioning.
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A Canadian man whose family is trapped in a militant-controlled area in the Libyan city of Benghazi has travelled to Turkey in effort to assemble an aid shipment for civilians in the conflict-ridden neighbourhood.
Ali Hamza, of Mississauga, Ont., says hes made the journey with his wife and four children in a desperate attempt to help his 76-year-old mother and five siblings who are among families he says are going without sufficient food, water and medical supplies in the area of Ganfouda.
Libya has been beset by violence and chaos since the ouster and death of longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi in a 2011 civil war. The Benghazi neighbourhood of Ganfouda in particular has been besieged for months by Libyan army troops that answer to a powerful military commander.
Hamza has been calling on the Canadian government to speak out on what he calls a deteriorating situation, asking Ottawa to make a strong call for basic necessities to be allowed into Ganfouda and for the safe evacuation of besieged families through a neutral party, in accordance with international law.
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He also wants to see Canada express that it cares about the well-being and whereabouts of civilians who were promised safe passage and left Ganfouda in January. He alleges some of those people were mistreated and detained.
Global Affairs Canada says Canada supports free and unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance and for civilians who wish to leave to do so in safety.
Spokesman Austin Jean says Canada is deeply concerned with the ongoing armed conflict in Libya and its humanitarian impact on civilians, including in the district of Ganfouda.
But Hamza says Canada can say and do more.
I found nothing happening. I said I have to make a move, said the 50-year-old. I made this journey to Turkey to make myself available with my family to take an action that saves lives.
Hamza said hes heard of civilians in Ganfouda having to resort to eating leaves and drinking rainwater as supplies run out.
Hes borrowed money and put the family SUV up for sale in order to have enough funds to provide 30 families with food, water and basic medication for at least 10 days.
Hes already met with a Turkish NGO known as the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation to discuss getting aid to Ganfouda and said they were trying to work with him.
They said maybe we can cover your needs, Hamza recounted. I said please, please, please contact Canada, tell them that a Canadian family is with you and maybe a co-ordinated effort will ease the permission to bring the aid (into Libya).
Hamza is also seeking a meeting with the head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, who recently publicly expressed his concern about Ganfouda.
Deeply worried by reports of families trapped in line of fire with no food and water in Ganfouda, Martin Kobler said in a tweet on Wednesday, adding that he called for safe passage to be allowed to civilians who wished to leave.
Despite a UN-brokered peace deal reached a year ago, Libya remains divided between east and west, with no effective government and rival factions and militias each side with backing from different foreign countries.
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By Michael Gerson and Raj Shah
We have entered the era of "America first" with only a vague understanding of its meaning. President Donald Trump's inaugural address signaled an ambitious nationalist reimagining of the post-World War II international order. Trump's foreign policy team, in contrast, seems to spring from that order. The resulting uncertainty is global and dangerous. Vacuums of leadership are not generally filled by the good guys.
The administration's policy shift is most evident so far in the areas of trade and refugees - Trump prefers less of both. Given a narrowed conception of national interest and the president's discomfort with the idea of "nation building," foreign assistance would seem a natural next target. Persistent rumors that the administration is mulling major cuts at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have heightened this speculation.
Although Trump hasn't spoken much on this topic, some of his comments have reflected an inclination to pull back. "It is necessary that we invest in our infrastructure, stop sending foreign aid to countries that hate us and use that money to rebuild our tunnels, roads, bridges and schools," he said when he announced his candidacy. And in a March 2016 interview with The Washington Post editorial board, he said: "I watched as we built schools in Iraq and they'd be blown up. And we'd build another one, and it would get blown up. . . . And yet we can't build a school in Brooklyn. We have no money for education, because we can't build in our own country. And at what point do you say, hey, we have to take care of ourselves."
Yet Trump, as elsewhere, has added notes of ambiguity. In August he told the Miami Herald that Congress should increase funding to fight the Zika virus abroad. In September, he underlined the importance of ensuring clean water for everyone in the world. In October, he stated that "we're going to lead the way" on AIDS relief.
In this case, Trump's better angels would do more to serve the country than his budget-cutters. Putting foreign assistance on the chopping block would be a serious mistake, by any definition of the national interest.
Let's begin by getting the facts straight. Surveys have shown that many Americans assume the country spends upwards of 20 percent of the federal budget on foreign aid. In reality, nonmilitary foreign assistance - including all of America's work on international development and global health - represents less than 1 percent of the federal budget. Slashing this tiny category of discretionary spending for the sake of budget control would be a form of deception - a sideshow to avoid truly important (and unpopular) budgetary choices.
For less than 1 percent of the federal budget, the United States led a global coalition to fight HIV/AIDS when the disease threatened to devastate and destabilize much of the African continent. Battling another of the world's most lethal killers, malaria, U.S.-led global programs have saved more than 6 million lives, mainly children under 5 years old. America also led a global effort to support agriculture when the food, fuel and financial crisis of 2008 pushed nearly 100 million people back into a state of chronic hunger and extreme poverty. As of 2015, that effort had directly benefited nearly 19 million rural households and reached more than 12 million children with nutrition programs. And America led a global partnership to bring power to half a billion people in Africa who have too often lived, worked, studied and given birth in the dark.
This established impact runs up against a durable stereotype: that foreign assistance is routinely bundled in large bills and thrown down rat holes of waste and corruption. The charge is not entirely without historical root. During the Cold War, foreign assistance had some remarkable successes, including the Marshall Plan and the Green Revolution, but also notable failures such as aid to Vietnam and to dictators in Central America. In Africa, assistance sometimes went to strongmen such as Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, mainly because of a strategic chess game against the Soviet Union, not because he was spurring development.
But over the past two decades and past two presidential administrations, health and development spending has evolved into a rigorous, innovative and professional enterprise dedicated to measured outcomes. Aid and development practitioners know how to set smart targets, engage private-sector partners, adapt to changing circumstances and make sure taxpayers get the most value for their investments. And they have evidence that what they are doing works.
Most U.S. foreign assistance no longer even goes to foreign governments. It is given to U.S. companies and nonprofits in the form of contracts and grants; these organizations then implement projects in other countries, employing a combination of American and foreign staff members and often partnering with institutions of civil society.
But why does this emphasis on rigor and outcomes matter to U.S. foreign policy? How does foreign assistance serve definable American interests?
Many of our most dangerous global challenges - such as terrorism, the drug trade and pandemic diseases - gather strength in countries, or regions within countries, that are poorly governed, often corrupt, and marked by high levels of poverty, hunger and disease. These places are incubators of risks to the United States. Consider Ebola, which took root in the weak health systems of West Africa and threatened our nation and the world with death and panic. Or the poverty and conflict in the Northern Triangle of Central America, which led to tens of thousands of child migrants trying to make their way to the United States on the tops of trains. Or the collapse of sovereignty in Syria, which helped produce the Islamic State and a radiating, destabilizing flood of refugees into Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and beyond. Or the weak governments of South America, which are often unable to halt the flow of drugs that enter our country.
These are all very real consequences of poverty, instability and poor governance. But gains in hope, health and stability reduce these threats and better protect Americans. A forward-leaning Ebola response, employing America's full epidemiological and humanitarian capacity, helped save lives in Africa and prevented the outbreak from spreading around the globe. In the Northern Triangle, our partnerships have helped reduce gang violence and stem the flow of unaccompanied minors to the United States. The Syrian crisis continues apace, but our massive humanitarian support for those displaced and in dire need reduces the pressure of refugee migrations to many nations, including our own.
One of the best examples of the strategic role of aid has been in Colombia, where criminal gangs, violent conflict and the world's largest production of cocaine threatened to destabilize the region and the world for decades. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the United States had a large security budget in Colombia and a small budget for development assistance. Then the Colombians embraced a greater focus on long-term development, which they integrated into their stabilization plans when territory was taken back from rebels. U.S. development assistance was increased, then integrated and properly sequenced with defense activities. As soon as landmines were cleared and local officials could safely return to liberated towns, USAID poured in assistance, which was crucial to consolidate gains.Those long-term investments are now paying off, supporting peace negotiations and helping to reintegrate former rebels and displaced civilians, in addition to improving business opportunities for U.S. firms. U.S. foreign assistance in Colombia gave stability and peace a fighting chance, and helped remedy a serious security problem for the United States and its allies.
This type of foreign assistance is essential to preventing the kind of uncontainable strategic threats that might eventually require military intervention. (We are not talking here about humanitarian assistance, which should be driven entirely by the nature and scale of the need, or about direct military aid.) Defense SecretaryJim Mattismade a compelling case for conflict prevention when he was head of U.S. Central Command: "If you don't fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition." A small investment in foreign assistance today saves big on defense later.
- - -
An "America first"approach to foreign assistance, rather than a trumpet of retreat, could mean deploying foreign aid even more rigorously to help keep America safe.
How do we create an aid system that uses big data to identify areas of weak governance that may produce global threats? One that systematically employs the full spectrum of assistance? One that uses information on measured outcomes to adjust policies and practices in real time? And one that ultimately builds local capacity to confront problems?
There are specific actions the new administration can take to deliver on this vision. It should designate a "coordinator for development" who is empowered to ensure results from U.S. foreign assistance programs. This coordinator could be the new USAID administrator or the secretary of state himself - but it must be someone who sits at the principals table at the National Security Council and has the clear backing of the White House. He or she would need to review existing efforts and determine how they match rising threats. To avoid being just another layer of bureaucracy, such an official should be authorized to move budget resources between the State Department, USAID and the Defense Department as necessary to effectively prevent conflicts. Under these circumstances, aid should be categorized in the budget as national security spending, not "non-defense discretionary" spending. And the Trump national security team should make sure American leadership on these issues remains the bipartisan priority it has been for decades, starting with proposing and defending a strong budget commitment to these efforts right now.
The next few months could mark a turning point for foreign assistance, and it matters greatly what kind. We could see the erosion of support for a cost-effective instrument of foreign policy and national influence - and we would see the consequences of such negligence later, probably in the form of military commitments - or we could see a reform that makes foreign assistance a reflection of American ideals and a rigorous instrument of American interests. The latter is a worthy and necessary goal for a great nation.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post
Michael Gerson and Raj Shah are senior fellows with Results for America and the authors of the "Moneyball for Government" chapter "Foreign Assistance and the Revolution of Rigor." Gerson, an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, served as an assistant to President George W. Bush for policy and planning. Shah served as USAID administrator under President Barack Obama. They wrote this piece for The Washington Post.
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The Dominican Republics tumultuous history of occupation by other nations ended in 1844 when it declared its independence from Haiti. That date is still celebrated in the Dominican Republic and around the world, and on Monday, the nation is marking the 173rd anniversary of its independence.
The island nation was occupied at varying times by France and Spain as well as Haiti. In 1492, Christopher Columbus arrived in the Dominican Republic, settling in Santo Domingo, the nations capital.
The Dominican Republic gained independence after Juan Pablo Duarte organized a war against the Haitian occupation. Duarte is still honored each Independence Day, as are the other founding fathers: Ramon Matias Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sanchez.
In the Dominican Republic, citizens honor the day in a traditional tribute to Duarte, Mella and Sanchez at the Puerta del Conde in Santo Domingo. There is also a speech made each year by the president of the Dominican Republic, and it is common to see flags hanging from balconies or being worn in a show of honor. The blue, red and white flag was designed by Maria Trinidad Sanchez, symbolizing Gods blessings, liberators blood and freedom.
Dominicans also celebrate Independence Day through a variety of different traditional dishes including mangu and bacalao. Mangu is a plantain mash topped with red pickled onions, usually served for breakfast along with a fried egg, fried cheese and fried sausage. Bacalao is a Dominican flaked codfish stew complete with tomatoes, olives and chiles. Recipes for these dishes can be found here.
The celebrations arent just confined to the Dominican Republiccities across the United States planned activities for the day, as well. Boston planned a Dominican flag raising and a gala dinner to commemorate Independence Day, along with other festivities around the city. In Tampa, Florida, there's a three-day concert planned.
Women pose with a soldier during a parade to mark the Dominican Republic's 168th anniversary of independence from Haitian Rule in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Feb. 27, 2012. Photo: Getty Images
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A White Property spokesperson pushed back on calls for a particular prosecutor to investigate Russia's alleged interference in the presidential election, suggesting such talk is premature.
"I don't believe we're there however," said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House's deputy principal press secretary, told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" Sunday. "Commonly, you go by means of a congressional oversight review. We're doing that. Let's not go to the incredibly finish of the extreme. Let's let this play out the way it really should.
Stephanopoulos asked Huckabee Sanders about a prime Republican's get in touch with for an independent investigation of Russia's alleged meddling in the election.
When Bill Maher on his show "True Time" pressed GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of California on no matter whether President Trump's appointee as attorney general, Jeff Sessions, ought to investigate reports that members of President Trump's campaign had speak to with Russian officials, Issa agreed an independent prosecutor is needed.
Issa told Maher, "You can not have somebody -- a pal of mine, Jeff Sessions -- who was on the campaign and who is an appointee ... You happen to be going to need to have to use the special prosecutor's statute and workplace."
Attorney General Sessions oversees the FBI and the Justice Division which -- separate from any congressional committee testimonials -- is investigating Russia's alleged meddling in the election and reported contacts involving members of the Trump campaign and Russian officials
Huckabee Sanders stated on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that Congress really should comprehensive its review very first, which she mentioned she is confident will show that Trump associates had not involvement in Russia's actions.
"What ever critique that Congress desires to do, I think that is the 1st step," she said. "There are two committees that are at present doing that. We're extremely confident that, what ever review, they are all going to come to the very same conclusion -- that we had no involvement in this."
Huckabee Sanders also recommended that a Russia probe is not one thing "that the American persons care about."
"At some point, we get to a spot where we've got to move on and commence focusing on the factors that the American men and women care about, and I do not consider this is it," she mentioned.
Stephanopoulos also asked Huckabee Sanders why the president decided not to attend this year's White Home Correspondents' Dinner.
On Saturday, Trump tweeted that he will not be attending the annual dinner of White Residence journalists which presidents traditionally attend.
I will not be attending the White Property Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please want every person properly and have a wonderful evening!
"One particular of the items we say in the South is if a Girl Scout egged your property, would you get cookies from her? I think that this is a quite equivalent scenario," Huckabee Sanders mentioned.
Huckabee Sanders stated, "This wasn't a president that was elected to invest his time with reporters and celebrities. This is a president who campaigned on speaking straight to Americans, and that is what he's going to invest his time doing."
A day prior to his tweet, Trump doubled down on his attacks on the media at the Conservative Political Action Conference. He repeated his assertions that "fake" news is the "enemy of the people today," specifically hitting the press for utilizing unnamed sources.
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Democrats elected former Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Saturday in a fierce contest where Perez narrowly defeated Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota by a 235-200 vote margin.
After winning the chairmanship, Perez became the first Latino leader to lead the party. He has been chosen to bear the responsibility of rebuilding and uniting the still-divided party. Perez, a veteran during the Obama administration, was considered a favorite among the DNC members. He earned 235 votes from the 447 DNC members and won against Ellison in a second round of voting.
"Team Tom means team, and as a team, we will work together," Perez said at the 2017 Winter DNC Meeting in Atlanta.
Perez selected Ellison as the deputy chairman. "We dont have the luxury to walk out of this room divided," Ellison pleaded to his supporters.
Perez has taken over the seat from Interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile who became the chairman after the resignation of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz last summer.
"While it will be bittersweet for me to leave this job and this tremendous organization, I'm confident that the future of the Democratic Party will be in good hands with Tom Perez. And I want to congratulate all of the candidates for a race well run," Brazile said in a statement, according to NBC News.
Perez, born to immigrants from the Dominican Republic, became a lawyer and was the former assistant attorney general for the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division and worked in various positions between 1988 and 1999. In 2009, he was appointed as leader of the Justice Departments Civil Rights team.
Perez worked in the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, presided over the Montgomery County Council in Maryland and served as the states secretary of labor, licensing and regulation. Former President Barack Obama nominated him as labor secretary in July 2013.
After Perez's victory, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders offered his congratulations to the newly elected chair.
President Donald Trump responded to the DNC's election in a lighter tone.
Former President Barack Obama also congratulated Perez. "I'm proud of all the candidates who ran, and who make this great party what it is," Obama said.
"Over the past eight years, our party continued its track record of delivering on that promise: growing the economy, creating new jobs, keeping our people safe with a tough, smart foreign policy, and expanding the rights of our founding to every American including the right to quality, affordable health insurance. That's a legacy the Democratic Party will always carry forward. I know that Tom Perez will unite us under that banner of opportunity, and lay the groundwork for a new generation of Democratic leadership for this big, bold, inclusive, dynamic America we love so much," Obama said in a statement, according to NBC News.
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MOUNT PLEASANT The lineup of muscular machines outside a new business on the frontage road says it as plain as day: Theres a new place here to get construction equipment.
Early this month Sun Prairie-based Brooks Tractor opened a gleaming new John Deere construction equipment dealership at 1609 Southeast Frontage Road.
Its the sixth location for Brooks Tractor, a family-owned company started in 1945 by Lewis P. Brooks and originally named Brooks Implement Co. But this one is the companys second-largest dealership, said Matt Sullivan, sales manager for this store and the Milwaukee branch.
The new, 35,000-square-foot dealership sits on 10 acres, compared with 3 acres for the companys Milwaukee store, he said. This dealership will carry $9 million to $10 million worth of inventory and at least 30 tractors.
This one will be the main hub for southeastern Wisconsin, Sullivan said.
Sullivan said the most prevalent type of work performed with Brooks Tractor equipment is site work for construction projects, both above and below ground. That is followed, in order, by: road building; municipal work, such as water department backhoe work and snow removal; and pipeline contractor work.
In new construction and forestry equipment, Brooks main brand is Deere, but also Hitachi. The dealership will also carry other brands of used machinery.
The price of a new tractor the general term for this type of equipment can range in price from about $60,000 for a skid steer loader to about $700,000 for the most popular large excavator.
The dealerships main territory for new equipment sales will be Racine, Kenosha, Walworth and Rock counties, Sullivan said. Although Brooks may not sell new Deere equipment into northern Illinois, it will be able to sell or rent used tractors there.
Theres a lot of rental activity in our industry, Brooks President Lew Brooks, son of the founder, said previously. For example, when a contractor is overloaded with work and doesnt want to buy more equipment to meet its needs, it will rent.
And Sullivan said the great majority of sales start as rentals.
A growing segment of Brooks business is providing construction machinery that is partially GPS-controlled. The equipment can take control of the hydraulics for a grader, raising and lowering the blade to achieve the preprogrammed result, Sullivan explained. The same can be done with excavators.
Large repair shop
Sullivan is proud of the dealerships large repair shop with five bays, 20-by-20-foot overhead doors and two 15-ton overhead cranes.
This shop, we can say confidently, is the most state-of-the-art of any Deere facility in the country, he said.
Rob Bryant, Brooks Tractor parts manager for the entire company a Burlington resident who is now based at the Mount Pleasant location said service work includes cylinder rebuilding, track work and engine and transmission repair. The dealership has two trucks for field repairs and a clean room for rebuilding engines and transmissions in a dirt-free environment.
As we grow, itll be mostly service guys (hired), Sullivan said.
At the rear of the dealerships property is a large area intentionally left unpaved. There, Brooks employees will be able to demonstrate equipment or let potential customers try the machines themselves.
Another learning environment is a classroom that will seat about two dozen people. We do a lot of training for customers, Sullivan explained.
Like the entire dealership, the parts warehouse is very large, Bryant said. It gives us a better opportunity to buy in volume, he said.
Brooks Tractor is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information call 262-898-6700.
Note: The address given for Brooks Tractor in the original story was incorrect. The error has been corrected.
A new book about Karen Gunderson not only gives readers a more in-depth look at the celebrated artists work, but great insight into her life from its beginnings here in Racine to its many successes in New York City and around the world.
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Frank, Karen Gunderson: The Dark World of Light takes readers on a journey of discovery with the artist as she made her way from performing in musicals on Park High Schools stage to having her innovative artwork exhibited in galleries and museums from New York to Santa Fe and from Spain to Bulgaria.
Included are stories about the many people who influenced the artist and her work, including the strong, active and capable women she descended from on both sides of her family here in Wisconsin, and her Lutheran minister uncle, Leroy Andersen, who was to have a profound influence on his nieces life.
Born in Racine in 1943 to Deloris and Wilbur Gunderson, Karen has fond memories of growing up here and, in a recent phone interview from her New York City home, she said those early years laid the foundation for her optimistic outlook.
The former Park cheerleader said she loves her hometown and remembers feeling the support of everyone from friends at school to others in the community, and such support gave kids here the confidence to achieve what they set out to do, she said.
We thought we could accomplish anything, Gunderson said of her classmates at Park High. We were really in it together and we felt like we were part of the community.
Serious, too
Such feelings remain with her today, as Gunderson said she doesnt often think about the negative side of things.
I just think about what I want to accomplish and go forward, she said. I have a positive feeling about the world, and I know I got that in Racine.
In the book, Gunderson also talks about her years studying at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (where she began to realize her passion for visual art) and the University of Iowa, and the teachers and fellow artists she worked with there.
There are also chapters about her life and work in New York, since moving there in 1973, including the story of how she met her husband, art dealer Julian Weissman, while playing pool at a bar called Magoos.
And while you can get a feeling for Gundersons sense of humor and what Frank calls her sense of fun and play from the book, much of what readers will find is a detailed understanding of her evolution as an artist from her cloud paintings to her discovery of the depths of black paint and her serious beliefs about the importance of art.
Gunderson said she and Frank sat and talked for over two and half years, in making this book. We went through everything, she said. We talked about where I came from and how I did this, or that.
Accessible art
The artist said she was especially appreciative of Franks curiosity about how she achieved things in her artwork.
Typically, people want to know why you do something, but she wanted to know how, Gunderson said. And I gave her all the details.
Describing Frank as a brilliant writer, Gunderson said she also likes the fact that the author did not use art speak in telling her story. The book is written in a way that everyone can understand, she said something the artist said she aspires to do with her own work.
It has always been important to me that my art not be exclusive, she said. I like inclusivity and I want to have work people can relate to.
For those whove never had the opportunity to see an exhibition of Gundersons artwork, this 252-page, beautifully crafted book with more than 100 illustrations, many of them full-page images of her paintings is the next best thing.
Its 12-by-12-inch format allows readers to feel almost as if they are in a gallery. And one section of the book features select works of art, each one photographed from multiple perspectives, to give the viewer the experience of looking at a Gunderson painting.
As Frank explains: What appear to be patches and intervals of glowing silver in her moons, brambles and royal portraits are solely black pigments in concert with light.
Feeling honored
Gundersons connection with Frank came through the books publisher, New Yorks Abbeville Press, and its owner Robert Abrams. Abrams had purchased Gundersons painting of Denmarks King Christian years ago, and has had it hanging in his home ever since, Gunderson said.
When he approached Weissman with the idea of doing a book about Gundersons work, she said she felt honored that they would do a book about her.
I am so thrilled with this book, she said.
Gunderson and her husband are in the process of moving from their home in the financial district of Manhattan to a new home in scenic, upstate New York. The artist said she is looking forward to her new studio space there, looking out over the Hudson River. And, in the midst of packing and moving what theyve accumulated in the last 35 years, she is still working.
She often does commissions of her water paintings, which she said are some of her most successful pieces, and she loves doing them.
Gunderson continues to learn with each work she does, she said, and she wants to do a new series of water paintings in which viewers will be able to see things under the water, as they view the work from different angles.
The artist said she is also excited about the idea of doing more work with lenticular prints, like the one shown on the cover sleeve of the book. Lenticular printing uses lenticular lenses to create three-dimensional effects and the one on the cover sleeve depicts one of Gundersons moon paintings, with such effects.
Thats very exciting for me, she said. Its like a whole new world.
For more about the artist and her work, go to www.karengunderson.com.
It wasnt just Emma returning to WWEs Monday Night Raw, but also her reappearance at the D Casino Hotel Las Vegas that had everybody talking! After a first visit consisting of flair, food, and fun, Emma decided she wanted to tackle more of the excitement that surrounds the celebrity hot spot (Pictured: WWE Emma at the D Casino Hotel Las Vegas Photo credit: Tony Cordell).
Photo credit: Tony Cordell.
She actually stayed in one of the Ds VIP suites for a few days. Other WWE stars caught wind of the buzz surrounding the Ds famous Andiamo Italian Steakhouse; one of those stars being the iconic Sasha Banks! What are the chances of Emma and Sasha dining at the same restaurant on the same night in Vegas? Normally, we wouldnt bet on those odds, but the D Casino has great luck with celebrity encounters! The two ladies of WWE posed for photos with fans, including the Ds owner, Derek Stevens, and his wife, Nicole.
Photo credit: Tony Cordell.
Instead of extending a hug as a thank you for a great dinner, Sasha decided to put her famous move, the Bank Statement on her host, Richard Wilk!
Photo credit: Tony Cordell.
When a UFC champ, a WWE superstar, and an A-list actor walk into a bar, you know memorable moments lie ahead. Emma was joined by UFC Bantamweight Champion, Cody No Love Garbrandt and legendary Seinfeld actor, John O Hurley, for drinks at the Ds party spot: the world famous LONGBAR. Later that evening, Emma and John OHurley crossed paths yet again inside the propertys top-rated italian steakhouse, Andiamo. The Dancing with the Stars winner twirled Emma around the restaurant like no one was watching (but really, everyone was watching).
Photo credit: Tony Cordell.
Emma, the sexy star of the WWE Raw Womens division, decided she was ready to debut some new moves and thought UFCs newest champ, Cody Garbrandt would be up for the task. This quickly became a fierce photo op for fans that gathered to watch. The duo put their best fists forward but were quickly stopped when D Executive, Richard Wilk, broke up the fight! It was all in good fun, but the commotion in the casino was on another level!
Photo credit: Tony Cordell.
What better way to end your weekend at the D Casino Hotel than with Owner, Derek Stevens, and his wife, Nicole! Emma, Sasha, Cody, and John OHurley all made it a point to meet up with the Ds friendly power couple at the LONGBAR. They shared some laughs as they snapped photos in commemoration of the epic WWE, UFC, and Dancing with the Stars week at the D.
Photo credit: Tony Cordell.
If youre looking to spot celebrities, enjoy drinks with touches of flair, and experience some of the excitement Vegas has to offer, youre in luck.
Warrenn Buffett's letter came as the US grapples with a sharp controversy over President Trump's crackdown on the estimated 11 million undocumented people living in the country AFP/Steve Pope
"Americans have combined human ingenuity, a market system, a tide of talented and ambitious immigrants, and the rule of law to deliver abundance beyond any dreams of our forefathers," he wrote in the letter to shareholders of his massive Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate.
The annual missive from the 86-year-old investor - the world's third-wealthiest person, according to Forbes magazine - is pored over for clues to the thinking of the "Oracle of Omaha," who lives and works in the Nebraska city.
Buffett steered clear of any mention of Republican President Donald Trump, who took office on January 20. He had supported Democrat Hillary Clinton in her bid to win the White House.
The letter came as the country grapples with a sharp controversy over Trump's anti-immigrant policies and his crackdown on the estimated 11 million undocumented people living in the country.
The letter accompanied Berkshire Hathaway's release of 2016 fourth-quarter and full-year earnings.
The company reported net profit of $6.3 billion in the October-December period, a gain of nearly 15 percent from a year ago.
For all of 2016, net profit came in at $24.1 billion, slightly lower than the prior year.
Berkshire, which has stakes in Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola and a number of other companies, and recently invested in Apple, has benefited from the Wall Street rally after Trump's election.
Berkshire gained $27.5 billion in net worth during 2016, Buffett said.
A line-up of Japanese businesses have successfully invested in the province, said Vice Chairwoman of the provincial Peoples Committee Nguyen Hoa Hiep at the meeting.
She noted that most of the capital is poured into the support industry, electricity, mechanics and machines.
For her part, Sakai citys deputy mayor Emiko Hazama, who led the Japanese delegation, stressed that Sakai has a well developed mechanic industry, adding that a several Sakai firms have operated in Dong Nai province and recorded strong results.
After the meeting, the Japanese companies made a fact-finding tour of local industrial zones like Loteco and Long Duc.
Dong Nai province is home to 32 industrial parks. To date, 44 countries and territories have invested in the province with 1,253 foreign investment projects worth US$25.67 billion.
Japan is the third largest investor in the province with total registered capital of nearly US$4 billion.
With more than 840,000 people, Sakai is the second largest city in Osaka prefecture and has collaborated with Vietnamese partners in economic, trade and investment cooperation programmes in past years.
MOUNT PLEASANT Two men were arrested early Sunday morning, after a fight inside Los Cantaritos Restaurant/Tavern, 2405 Racine St., resulted in one of the men breaking a beer bottle over the others head, according to a Mount Pleasant Police Department news release.
This incident follows one three weeks earlier when a man was taken into custody after he reportedly got into a fight and punched a police officer outside the bar.
Were going to continue to work with the owner to try to keep this situation under control, said Tim Zarzecki, Mount Pleasants police chief and interim village administrator.
According to Mount Pleasant Police, at 1:37 a.m. Sunday several Mount Pleasant squads were patrolling the Racine and Mead streets area of the village, near closing time in the area for taverns which have had a high concentration of calls for service. Officers were alerted to a fight inside of Los Cantaritos. Sabino Garcia, 23, of Racine, was bleeding profusely from a laceration to his head.
Another male subject, Xavier Hernandez, 26, also of Racine, was taken into custody.
A witness said Garcia did not like Hernandez dancing with a particular female patron. Garcia then punched Hernandez in the head. Hernandez retaliated by breaking a beer bottle over Garcias head, causing a laceration and profuse bleeding and swelling. Hernandez was not injured.
Garcia was taken by a South Shore Fire Department rescue squad to Ascension All Saints Hospital where he was treated for the laceration. Both subjects were detained at the Racine County Jail and face charges for disorderly conduct.
Tavern needs to do more
Zarzecki said that continued incidents at the tavern, owned by Roberto Jaimes, are draining police resources.
We definitely need them to do more and well be discussing that this week with our village attorney and possibly our Finance/Legal/License committee, Zarzecki said. Its a work in progress with both the bar owner and the village.
Zarzecki added that officers are meeting regularly with Jaimes to discuss managing his large crowds. The Mount Pleasant Village Board put Los Cantaritos on notice last June, but that appears to only have worked temporarily.
Were continuing to get complaints from citizens, Zarzecki said. Things had calmed down for a while, but right now theyre back to where they were before or even worse.
Added Zarzecki, It is their job and under their control to manage their crowd sufficiently so it does not drain the police resources every Friday and Saturday night.
illustration photo
Huong, an office worker in Hoang Mai district in Hanoi, said she reserves a budget of VND2-3 million for buying new clothes every month. But she does not want products bearing Vietnamese brands, but preferably orders Zara and Mango products from overseas shops online.
Huong said that the foreign high-street products are now affordable for office workers like her.
As incomes have improved, consumers are now buying more high-street fashion products rather than Chinese or Vietnamese clothing.
Manufacturers and distributors often launch sale promotion campaigns with big discount rates. I can buy many products at the prices just equal to or even cheaper than Vietnams export products, she explained.
Why dont you choose foreign brands if they have diverse design, good materials and reasonable prices? she said.
Oanh, an account executive in Hanoi, said she looks for Zara, H&M, Mango and Uniqlo products regularly, which allows her to buy high-quality products at reasonable prices.
Sometimes she can buy products at just VND1 million or lower in sales campaigns.
I never buy Vietnamese goods during sale promotion campaigns because I am not sure about the actual value of the goods, she said. Meanwhile, no need to worry about this when you buy products from these brands. And the prices are very good.
Huong and Oanh order the products online and pay fees to have the products shipped to Vietnam. There are many shipping agents in Hanoi, who are in charge of receiving products, carrying to Vietnam and delivering to clients.
Thuy Linh, one of the agents, commented that Vietnamese clients mostly order clothes and footwear, and 80 percent of ordered products bear high-street brands such as Zara, Mango, and Forever 21, while the remaining 20 percent are luxury brands.
Linh said she is always busy so Vietnamese tend to favor foreign high-street brands. A T-shirt with Zara or Mango brand can be bought at VND180,000 only, including fees, which is cheaper than Chinese products.
Understanding the Vietnamese taste and realizing the rapid increase of middle-income earners in Vietnam, a lot of high-street brands have been conquering the local market. Zara, the fashion brand from Spain, has been present in Vietnam since mid-2016. Mango, which targets customers aged 18-40, has been present in Vietnam since 2004 through a franchise contract signed with Maison JSC.
In the latest news, H&M has begun employing workers to prepare for its landing in Vietnam. The Swedish brands first shop would be in Hanoi, cover an area of 2,000 square meters and employ 100 workers. The recruitment will also be implemented in HCMC.
The Omnipotent Owl Why Are We Drawn to This Ancient Symbol of Wisdom?
Like a great sage, an owl sits stock-still, seeing everything, but saying nothing. When she takes action, it is swift and precise. These bold characteristics have earned the owl both respect and fear among humans; yet any great big eyes set into a fluffy body is sure to have broad
Russia has released anti-Kremlin activist Ildar Dadin from a Siberian prison, freeing the first person jailed under new rules that made some forms of nonviolent protest a criminal offence, his lawyer told Reuters Sunday.
Dadins release had been expected after the Supreme Court had overturned his conviction Wednesday.
No protests without permission
He was originally sentenced in December 2015 to three years in jail, later reduced on appeal to two and a half years, for staging a series of peaceful, one-man protests against Kremlin rule.
Conducting protests without official permission was previously punishable by a fine. But rules adopted after mass protests in Moscow that followed President Vladimir Putins 2012 election made it a criminal offense, punishable with jail term, to stage the protests more than twice in 180 days.
Dadin alleged that he was subjected to physical torture by prison staff while in a penal colony in northwest Russia, an allegation that officials denied. He became a cause celebre among Kremlin opponents who say their right to dissent is steadily being crushed.
Release delayed
Lawyer Ksenya Kostromina said Dadins release had been delayed until Sunday because it took several days for the Siberian jail to receive his documents from the court because of a combination of bureaucracy, a public holiday and the weekend.
The lawyer said she had been informed of Dadins release in a phone call from his wife, Anastasia Zotova, and had not seen him yet.
According to pictures of him, he looks good, Kostromina added.
Russian Constitutional Court on February 10 ordered a review of Dadins conviction, arguing that the law criminalizing certain types of protests had to be applied more proportionately. That was followed by the Supreme Court decision last week.
Australia and Indonesia said Sunday that full military ties between the two countries had been restored, after Indonesias military suspended cooperation in January because of insulting teaching material found at an Australian base.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made the announcement alongside Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who arrived in Australia Saturday for his first visit as president.
President Widodo and I have agreed to full restoration of defense cooperation, training exchanges and activities, Turnbull said at a news conference in Sydney.
Ties suspended in January
Widodos visit to Australia comes less than two months after military ties were suspended, an event that sparked a minor diplomatic spat and led to an apology from Australias army chief in February. Military cooperation between the two countries has ranged from joint training and counter-terrorism cooperation to border protection.
The insulting material suggested that Indonesias Papua province should be independent and mocked the nations state ideology.
Indonesia and Australia have a history of patchy ties, but both leaders were keen Sunday to emphasize their commitment to a strong relationship.
That robust relationship can be established when both countries have respect for each others territorial integrity, noninterference into the domestic affairs of each other and the ability to develop a mutually beneficial partnership, Widodo said.
Trade also discussed
While the primary focus of the visit was on security and economic issues, including the finalization of a bilateral free trade deal by the end of the year, talks touched on tourism, cybersecurity and social links.
Widodo met Australian business leaders Saturday, telling them that investor confidence in Indonesia was strong and reassuring them that Indonesia was a stable country in which to do business.
Following one-on-one talks, Turnbull said tariffs would be cut for Australian sugar and Indonesian pesticides and herbicides. He also praised changes to the export rules for live Australian cattle.
Widodo told The Australian newspaper this week he would like to see joint patrols with Australia in the South China Sea if they did not further inflame tensions with China.
China, which claims almost the entire sea region, irked Indonesia last year by saying the two countries had overlapping claims to waters close to them, an area Indonesia calls the Natuna Sea.
The leaders stopped short of announcing joint patrols Sunday, but stressed the importance of resolving disputes peacefully and in accordance to international law.
As maritime nations and trading nations, Australia and Indonesia are natural partners with common interests, Turnbull said.
Collaboration on counter-terrorism, especially the return of foreign fighters from the Syrian and Iraq conflict zone, would continue, Turnbull said.
British anti-EU campaigner Nigel Farage posted a picture of him having "dinner with The Donald" on Twitter, the latest meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and the critic of Prime Minister Theresa May.
Farage, who helped secure victory for the Brexit campaign at a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union in June, is keen to cement ties with Trump after stepping down as leader of his anti-EU UK Independence Party last year.
Finding common ground with some of Trump's criticism of the political establishment, Farage met the president in November and has offered his services as Britain's ambassador to the United States - something that has been rejected by May's government.
Entitled "Dinner with The Donald", Farage posted a picture of himself smiling at a camera, with Trump and four other people around a table in a photo which gave the location as the Trump International Hotel.
May also wants to bolster ties with the United States to strengthen her hand before launching divorce talks with the European Union, and at a visit in January, she secured a promise from Trump for a trade deal after Brexit.
She sent her two most senior aides to the United States in December and foreign minister Boris Johnson a month later to boost ties after the U.S. leader irritated officials by suggesting Farage was a good choice for ambassador.
Farage has since become a political analyst on Fox News and Fox Business Network and has a show on a London-based radio station.
German officials have released data that shows refugees and asylum seekers suffered nearly 10 attacks a day there in 2016, the interior ministry said.
Citing police statistics, officials said more than 3,500 anti-migrant attacks were carried out last year, resulting in 560 people injured, including 43 children.
The numbers were published as a response to parliamentary questions by Ulla Jelpke, a member of the left-wing party Die Linke.
The German government said it strongly condemns the violence.
People who have fled their homeland and are seeking protection in Germany have the right to expect that they will be accommodated safely, said a letter issued by the interior ministry.
Everyone in our society and politics has the common responsibility to position themselves clearly against the quiet support of, or even the quiet tolerance of, such attacks by a minority of our society, it added.
Rising xenophobia has emerged as a key concern in German as the influx of migrants in the last two years has been accompanied by anger and attacks on asylum seekers in many eastern states such as Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
In 2015, Germany recorded 1,408 violent acts carried out by right-wing supporters last year, a rise of more than 42 percent, and 75 arson attacks on refugee shelters, up from five a year earlier.
Germany's acceptance of more than 1 million refugees in 2015 boosted popular support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is now represented in all of the eastern federal states, and mounted criticism and resentment for Chancellor Angela Merkels open-door policy towards refugees.
At least 10 police officers and the wife of a police commander were killed in an ambush by Islamic State militants in northern Zawzjan province, a provincial official said.
Mohammad Reza Ghafori, spokesman for the Zawzjan provincial governor, said Saturday that the police officers were ambushed Friday as they were coming out of a mosque. The wife of the police commander heard about her husband being shot and rushed to the scene, where she was also killed.
IS-linked militants have been active in Afghanistans eastern regions, but have recently begun operating in the north of the country as well.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said in a statement that around 38 militants, including 23 IS fighters, were killed in separate operations conducted by Afghan security forces in the eastern and southern regions of the country over the past two days.
Eight other militants were wounded and six arrested in the operations, which were conducted in districts across the Nangarhar and Helmand provinces, the statement added.
In another report from eastern Laghman province, two students were killed when a mortar struck a schools classroom, a news release from the education ministry said. The statement added that five other students were wounded inside the classroom in Mihterlam, the provinces capital.
There were unconfirmed reports the mortar was fired by Afghan security forces and missed its target and hit the school. The report could not immediately be verified by provincial or government officials.
In a separate report form northern Faryab province at least one police officer was killed when a remotely controlled bomb went off inside a bazaar, said Karim Yuresh, the spokesman for the provincial police chief.
He said that 16 others including 15 innocent civilians and a policeman were wounded in the blast.
The blast took place inside a market where innocent civilians were busy with their daily businesses, said Yuresh. He added that the intended target were the two policemen in the market.
No group has claimed responsibility for the Faryab attackn, but Taliban insurgents usually use roadside bombs and suicide attacks to target Afghan security forces as well as government officials across the country.
Kyrgyzstans state security service said it detained opposition politician Omurbek Tekebayev on Sunday on charges of corruption and fraud, a move that may eliminate him as a contender for presidency in the upcoming election.
Tekebayev, 58, leads the Ata Meken (Fatherland) partys parliamentary faction and is one of the most outspoken critics of President Almazbek Atambayev, whose term ends this year.
The ex-Soviet Central Asian nation will hold a presidential election November 19.
Supporters are holding demonstrations to protest the arrest, which occurred shortly after Tekebayev arrived in Bishkek airport early Sunday on a flight from Vienna.
In a separate statement, the prosecutor generals office said it suspected Tekebayev of taking a $1 million bribe from a Russian investor in 2010.
Tekebayev, who was then a senior member of provisional government, promised the investor he would be able to take over a local telecommunications company, prosecutors said.
Kanybek Imanaliyev, a member of parliament who belongs to Tekebayevs Ata Meken faction, said he denied any wrongdoing.
He considers his detention ... unwarranted and illegal and a continuation of political repressions, Imanaliyev said. We planned to hold a party congress within a month and nominate him as candidate (for presidency).
Atambayev cannot run for re-election under the Kyrgyz constitution, but his allies in parliament successfully pushed through a referendum on a package of amendments significantly boosting the powers of the prime minister.
This has prompted speculation Atambayev may either become a powerful Cabinet head although Atambayev denies having such plans or install a loyal figure as prime minister in order to retain power in the mostly Muslim nation of 6 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A proposal by U.S. Republican state governors to overhaul Medicaid, the federal program that provides insurance to more than 70 million low-income Americans, triggered tensions at a national gathering of state leaders in Washington on Saturday.
The National Governors Association (NGA) was in the second day of its annual winter meeting, with policy discussions so far focusing on health care reform, education and cybersecurity.
In addition to their talks on domestic issues, a number of state executives spoke to VOA about immigration controversies that have gained widespread attention nationwide in recent weeks.
Governors from both major political parties said they want to see immigrants and refugees newly arrived in America succeed in making new lives for themselves; they also stressed that everyone should be treated with compassion and in a reasonable manner as laws are enforced.
Medicaid proposal
The Republican governors Medicaid proposal, a draft of which was obtained by The Associated Press, urges Congress to change Medicaid from an open-ended federal entitlement to a program designed by each state to stay within financial limits. Medicaid provides insurance to more than 70 million low-income Americans, and states had the option of making it available to more people under former president Barack Obamas health care overhaul.
The Republicans say their plan would give states more flexibility to administer health coverage for poorer residents while also protecting them from absorbing the costs of repealing the Affordable Care Act, signed into law by Obama.
Democratic governors accused their Republican counterparts Saturday of being dishonest about the effects of their plan, which they said would take away peoples health care coverage to finance tax cuts for the wealthy.
They want to spend less money on peoples health care so they can do tax cuts for the rich. Theyve tried to put this camouflage on it that somehow theyre giving governors flexibility. Weve got plenty of flexibility, the Democratic governor of Washington state, Jay Inslee, told the AP. This is not what we are asking for.
Republican Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky, however, said, The kind of conversation thats being had now sobering, shocking, surprising as it might be to some is the conversation that we must have, because the piper has to get paid at some point.
People are looking at reality, and thats good, Bevin added.
Republicans in control
With Republicans controlling the White House and both houses of Congress, major changes to Obamas signature health care law appear inevitable. However, public-opinion surveys indicate a broad majority of Americans oppose repealing the health care law unless lawmakers can come up with an acceptable substitute.
The governors met Saturday with recently confirmed Health Secretary Tom Price. As a congressman, Price was a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act and led efforts to repeal the law and replace it with alternative legislation.
Several governors said they were told the Trump administration wanted to partner with states to reform health care, but there were no specifics. Price told the governors the administration would release its plan soon, The Washington Post reported.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump met at the White House with two of the Republican governors, Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Rick Scott of Florida, to discuss the health care law. They discussed how best to solve the problems of the law, with special emphasis on states role in health care, according to a statement released by Trumps press secretary.
Details from draft proposal
U.S. media outlets reported details Friday of potential replacements for the health care law, frequently referred to as Obamacare. The details were obtained from draft legislation circulating among lobbyists and congressional staff.
One proposal would cap the amount of money the federal government gives to states for Medicaid. Another idea said to be under discussion would allow those who had become eligible for Medicaid when the program was expanded under Obama to keep their benefits, while additional enrollees would be excluded.
Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010 when they had majority control of both houses of Congress, as well as the White House. Republicans have opposed the law since its passage, and they tried more than 50 times unsuccessfully to repeal it during the Obama administration.
The Republican Party argues that prices are too high for Affordable Care Act insurance coverage, and that individual states should have more control than the federal government over the issue.
The health care law has enabled 20 million previously uninsured Americans to obtain coverage, but it has been plagued by difficulties, including rising premiums and some large private insurers decisions to leave the system.
Immigration
The annual governors meeting comes on the heels of the presidents recent orders to get tougher on the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., in part by cutting off billions of dollars in federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Washington states Inslee, who backed a successful legal challenge against Trumps earlier ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, ordered state workers and agencies Thursday not to assist the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
This executive order makes clear that 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, importantly, our community safety, Inslee announced before flying to the nations capital, according to the Seattle Times.
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, who heads the NGA, said immigrants and refugees are safe in Virginia. ... We want people to come, we want you to start a business and raise your family and have a great quality of life.
In Virginia, were going to protect all the basic and fundamental civil liberties and civil rights, McAuliffe told VOAs Persian service.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown told VOA her state is inclusive, and added: We want to make sure Oregon is a place where everyone can thrive; that includes our immigrant and refugee populations.
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson told VOAs Somali service his state has a large number of immigrants from Vietnam as well as Mexico and Central America.
Immigrants and refugees are what make up the United States of America, Hutchinson told VOA. It just has to be done in a legal process. What you see is not just in the United States, but really globally, a tightening of immigration enforcement.
Europe has a border policy theyre struggling with. ... The United States is in the same position, Hutchinson added. Lets start by enforcing the laws. Obviously we need to do it in a compassionate and reasonable way, but we have to protect our borders and enforce the law.
Asked about Trumps immigration travel ban, Kentucky Governor Bevin told VOAs Somali service that state issues vary throughout the nation and that immigration policy is less significant in Kentucky. He said he wants to focus on economic development job creation in his state.
Infrastructure on agenda
On Sunday, the governors will discuss child hunger and infrastructure efforts.
Everyone likes planning infrastructure development, Bevin told VOA. The time has come for us to address this. We have spent an inordinate amount of money globally, building and rebuilding infrastructure in places where we, frankly, were not exactly welcomed or appreciated.
I think theres a lot of folks who think, Lets deploy those dollars in our own nation, the Kentucky governor said.
The governors will attend a ball at the White House Sunday night hosted by President Trump and first lady Melania Trump, and on Monday, all the state executives will meet with both the president and congressional leaders.
On Tuesday evening, Trump will speak to both houses of Congress, laying out his vision for the coming year. Such an address, the equivalent of the State of the Union address, traditionally is delivered by a new president shortly after his inauguration.
VOAs Persian and Somali services contributed to this report. Some information for this article came from AP.
RACINE A city panel on Friday approved former mayor Gary Beckers request to move less than a block from his current home.
City Attorney Scott Letteney confirmed that Beckers appeal was granted by the Sex Offender Residency Appeal Board at its monthly meeting Friday. Becker, Racines mayor from 2003 to 2009, was caught in an undercover online sex sting in January 2009 when he went to a mall in an to attempt to meet with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
Appeal Board member Jessica Diaz said that Becker, 59, had to apply for an exemption to move into the new residence, even though he wasnt moving far at all. The city has specific zones where registered sex offenders can live, and Diaz said the new home, 2807 Lasalle St., is right on the line ... probably like one step over.
That requires he apply to the board to get an exemption so hes able to live there, Diaz said.
Diaz and fellow board member Dave Younk unanimously approved the request, Diaz said. The citys sex offender residency map, which is posted on its website, shows that the home is located on the edge of a large living possibility section on the north side.
Racines code of ordinances stipulates that sex offenders may not live within 1,000 feet of a public school, day care center, house of worship, library, park, playground or swimming pool. Beckers new residence is about four blocks from both St. Pauls Lutheran Church, 3011 Erie St., and Roosevelt Elementary School, 915 Romayne Ave., but Diaz said those are outside the minimum distance.
Becker served a three-year prison sentence after he was convicted of second degree sexual assault of a child and child enticement with sexual contact. He began his five-year extended supervision term Feb. 26, 2013.
In January 2014, Becker spent 11 days in jail on an alleged unspecified probation violation.
Malaysian health authorities say Kim Jong Nam suffered a very painful death and was dead within 20 minutes of being attacked at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was killed February 13 at the Kuala Lumpur airport by VX nerve agent, police said.
He died in the ambulance. He fainted in the clinic, Health Minister S. Subramanian told reporters. From the time of the onset [of the attack] he died within 15 to 20 minutes.
Police said he "felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind."
A CCTV footage shows two women shoving something into Kims face.
Police have both females in custody as well as a North Korean man suspect of being behind the attack.
Seven other North Koreans have also being identified as suspects and are wanted for questioning.
Experts say VX is one of the deadliest chemical weapons created by man, and that just 10 milligrams of the nerve agent or a single drop is enough to kill in minutes.
The absorption level was so rapid that within a few minutes the guy has symptoms, Subramanian said.
According to the official, the nerve agent stops proper operation of an enzyme that works as the bodys off switch for muscles and glands.
If the switch does not work, then muscles and glands and regularly being stimulated, which can lead to inability to sustain breathing.
The muscle goes into a state of permanent contraction," Subramanian said.
In Kim Jong Nam case, the dose was so high that the heart and lungs would have been promptly affected.
On Sunday, officials said the Kuala Lumpur International Airport was free of toxic substances, following a terminal-wide sweep for toxic chemicals.
One of the women arrested, an Indonesian national, said she thought she was taking part in a television prank show.
The other woman allegedly told a senior diplomat that she was paid about $90 to kill the exiled North Korean man, adding that she thought she was carrying baby oil.
Both insisted they were tricked, but authorities believe they knew what they were doing.
Kim Jong Nam was the older estranged brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.Kim Jong Nam was once considered the heir apparent to lead North Korea, but he fell out of favor with their father, the late dictator Kim Jong Il, after a failed 2001 attempt to enter Japan on a forged passport to visit Disneyland.
Since then, Kim Jong Nam had lived in virtual exile, primarily in the Chinese territory of Macau.
New book controversy
A new book by a Japanese journalist with the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper paints a grim picture of North Korea's future.
The book quotes Kim Jong Nam saying the North Korean regime is in danger of collapsing and that Kim Jong Un is nothing more than a figurehead.
Author Yoji Gomi said some of Kim Jong Nam's statements may reflect some jealousy, but that he believed they are also insightful.
Gomi said he met the elder son by chance at the airport in Beijing and has remained in contact with him. He said the book is based on several interviews in person and about 150 pieces of email.
The Associated Press quotes analysts as saying that Kim Jong Nam spent so much time outside his native land that his opinion carries little weight.
After the death of Kim Jong Il in December, North Korea's powerful military and its political leaders hastened to proclaim Kim Jong Un, the youngest of three sons, as his successor in 2011.
Since taking power, Kim Jong Un has executed or expelled numerous high-level government officials.They included his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, executed by an anti-aircraft gun.Jang Song Thaek was once considered the second most powerful man in North Korea.
The Pentagon wants to expand the military's ability to battle al-Qaida-linked militants in Somalia, potentially putting U.S. forces closer to the fight against a stubborn extremist group that has plotted attacks against America, senior U.S. officials said.
The recommendations sent to the White House would allow U.S special operations forces to increase assistance to the Somali National Army in the struggle against al-Shabab militants in the fragile Horn of Africa nation, the officials said. They said the proposal would give the military greater flexibility to launch airstrikes against extremists that appear to be a threat.
Beefing up the military effort in Somalia fits with President Donald Trump's broader request for a Pentagon plan to accelerate the U.S.-led battle against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and defeat other extremist groups, including al-Qaida and its affiliates.
Young Americans a concern
U.S. concerns about al-Shabab escalated in recent years as young Americans from Somali communities traveled to training camps in Somalia, raising fears they might return to the United States and conduct terror attacks.
Somalia was one of the seven predominantly Muslim countries included in Trump's travel ban last month. The executive order has since been suspended by federal courts.
Somalia is our most perplexing challenge, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the head of U.S. Africa Command, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Fresh perspective
The United States is trying to take a look at Somalia from a fresh perspective in the way ahead, he said, describing the need to weaken the decade-old al-Shabab insurgency so that the African nation's military forces can defeat it.
Waldhauser declined to provide details of the new options that have been proposed.
But other officials said elements include giving U.S. special operations forces greater ability to accompany local troops on military operations against al-Shabab and easing restrictions on when the U.S. can conduct airstrikes against the group. The officials weren't authorized to publicly discuss the confidential review and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Currently there are about 50 U.S. commandos rotating in and out of Somalia to advise and assist the local troops. The new authorities could result in a small increase in the number of U.S. forces in Somalia, officials said.
Mattis approved plan
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has approved the recommendations and sent the plan to the White House earlier this month, they added. But no final decisions have been made, and the proposal could prove politically sensitive because of the disastrous downing of two U.S. helicopters over Mogadishu in 1993 that killed 18 American troops.
The White House declined to comment, deferring questions to the Defense Department.
Some of the U.S. officials with knowledge of the new military proposal said it is aimed at improving the U.S. advisory mission because the African Union is planning to pull out its 20,000 peacekeeping forces in Somalia in 2020. Observers say Somali troops are unprepared to fight the extremist threat on their own.
U.S. forces won't be on front lines
Currently, U.S. forces can transport and accompany local troops. But they must keep their distance from front lines and can only engage the enemy if they come under attack or if Somali forces are in danger of being defeated. The new proposal would give U.S. forces the ability to move along with Somali troops into the fight if needed.
While the American military right now can conduct airstrikes in self-defense or to protect Somali troops if they come under attack and request help, the new authorities would be broader.
Officials said that under the new recommendations, the military would be able to launch airstrikes against militants on a more pre-emptive basis. For example, the U.S. could target al-Shabab fighters gathering for an attack rather than waiting until friendly forces were under fire.
Suicide bombers remain a problem
Al-Shabab has been ousted from most Somali cities and towns, but its suicide bombers continue to kill across large parts of the south and center of the country. That includes Mogadishu, the capital.
Somalia's new president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, inaugurated Wednesday, warned that it will take another two decades to fix his country. Mohamed, who also holds U.S. citizenship, won election earlier this month as Somalia tries to restore effective governance.
Waldhauser said the U.S. sees an opportunity to work with Mohamed to train the Somalia national security forces to a level that they can take on al-Shabab on their own.
Pope Francis has quietly reduced sanctions against a handful of pedophile priests, applying his vision of a merciful church even to its worst offenders in ways that survivors of abuse and the popes own advisers question.
One case has come back to haunt him: An Italian priest who received the popes clemency was later convicted by an Italian criminal court for his sex crimes against children as young as 12. The Rev. Mauro Inzoli is now facing a second church trial after new evidence emerged against him, The Associated Press has learned.
The Inzoli case is one of several in which Francis overruled the advice of the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and reduced a sentence that called for the priest to be defrocked, two canon lawyers and a church official told AP. Instead, the priests were sentenced to penalties including a lifetime of penance and prayer and removal from public ministry.
In some cases, the priests or their high-ranking friends appealed to Francis for clemency by citing the popes own words about mercy in their petitions, the church official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the proceedings are confidential.
With all this emphasis on mercy ... he is creating the environment for such initiatives, the church official said, adding that clemency petitions were rarely granted by Pope Benedict XVI, who launched a tough crackdown during his 2005-2013 papacy and defrocked some 800 priests who raped and molested children.
Harsher penalty
At the same time, Francis also ordered three longtime staffers at the congregation dismissed, two of whom worked for the discipline section that handles sex abuse cases, the lawyers and church official said.
One is the head of the section and will be replaced before leaving March 31. Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said the others too will be replaced and that staffing in the office, which has a yearslong backlog of cases, would be strengthened after Francis recently approved hiring more officials.
The speed with which cases are handled is a serious matter and the Holy Father continues to encourage improvements in this area, Burke told AP.
He also dispelled rumors that sex-abuse cases would no longer be handled by the congregation, saying the strengthened office would handle all cases submitted.
Burke said Francis emphasis on mercy applied to even those who are guilty of heinous crimes. He said priests who abuse are permanently removed from ministry, but are not necessarily dismissed from the clerical state, the church term for laicization or defrocking.
The Holy Father understands that many victims and survivors can find any sign of mercy in this area difficult, Burke said. But he knows that the Gospel message of mercy is ultimately a source of powerful healing and of grace.
John Paul II criticized
St. John Paul II was long criticized for failing to respond to the abuse crisis, but ultimately he said in 2002 that there is no place in the priesthood or religious life for anyone who would harm the young. Francis has repeatedly proclaimed zero tolerance for abusive priests and in December wrote to the worlds bishops committing to take all necessary measures to protect them.
But he also recently said he believed sex abusers suffer from a disease, a medical term used by defense lawyers to seek mitigating factors in canonical sentences.
Marie Collins, an Irish abuse survivor and founding member of Francis sex-abuse advisory commission, expressed dismay that the congregations recommended penalties were being weakened and said abusers are never so sick that they dont know what theyre doing.
All who abuse have made a conscious decision to do so, Collins told AP. Even those who are pedophiles, experts will tell you, are still responsible for their actions. They can resist their inclinations.
Is zero tolerance zero?
Victim advocates have long questioned Francis commitment to continuing Benedicts tough line, given he had no experience dealing with abusive priests or their victims in his native Argentina. While Francis counts Bostons Cardinal Sean OMalley as his top adviser on abuse, he has also surrounded himself with cardinal advisers who botched handling abuse cases in their archdioceses.
They are not having zero tolerance, said Rocio Figueroa, a former Vatican official and ex-member of the Peru-based Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a conservative Catholic lay society rocked by sex scandals. The Vatican recently handed down sanctions against the groups founder after determining that he sexually, psychologically and physically abused his recruits. His victims, however, are enraged that it took the Vatican six years to decide that the founder should be isolated, but not expelled, from the community.
The church official stressed that to his knowledge, none of Francis reduced sentences had put children at risk.
Many canon lawyers and church authorities argue that defrocking pedophiles can put society at greater risk because the church no longer exerts any control over them. They argue that keeping the men in restricted ministry, away from children, at least enables superiors to exert some degree of supervision.
But Collins said the church must also take into account the message that reduced canonical sentences sends to both survivors and abusers.
While mercy is important, justice for all parties is equally important, Collins said in an email. If there is seen to be any weakness about proper penalties, then it might well send the wrong message to those who would abuse."
Thousands of Russians are marching in Moscow to mark the two year anniversary of the death of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was gunned down outside the Kremlin.
Marchers carried Russian flags and signs with quotes from Nemstov, including "Russia will be free."
Nemstov was a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of the opposition blame the government for the killing..
The Kremlin has denied involvement in Nemtsov's murder.
Five suspects, all of them Chechens, went on trial over the killing in October.
President Putin labeled the killing "a provocation" and vowed the government would do everything to ensure those responsible are "properly punished."
Some information from AP was used in this report.
U.S. President Donald Trump is mocking the opposition Democrats' election of former Labor Secretary Tom Perez as head of their national committee as the party tries to regroup from its devastating upset loss to Trump in November.
In comments on his Twitter account, the Republican Trump said he "could not be happier" for Perez, "or for the Republican party."
Trump claimed the race for the Democratic chairmanship "was, of course, totally rigged."
He compared Saturday's party contest to the race last year for the Democratic presidential nominating contest, in which former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ultimately prevailed over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the favorite of the more progressive wing of the Democratic party, before losing the presidential contest to Trump.
Trump said Sunday "Clinton demanded Perez" while "Bernie's guy, like Bernie himself, never had a chance."
Perez, with the support of former President Barack Obama whom he served under, won the intraparty Democratic contest over Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota on the second ballot, by a 235-200 margin.
Perez, the first Latino to hold the post, won in a contest widely seen as a proxy fight between Clinton and Sanders.
Immediately after the vote count, Perez moved to make Ellison the deputy party chairman, and DNC members ratified his choice.
"We are all in this together," Perez said, calling on Democrats to fight what he called "the worst president in the history of the United States."
A party in crisis
Earlier Saturday, Perez told the 474 DNC members that the party is "suffering from a crisis of confidence, a crisis of relevance." He also sought to define the tasks ahead as Democratic stalwarts push to regain the party's stature in the aftermath of Clinton's defeat.
"We need to make house calls, we need to listen to people. We need to get back to basics," he said.
Perez, considered the establishment pick and a political moderate, is the son of Dominican immigrants. Ellison, a progressive, was the first Muslim elected to Congress.
Ellison, endorsed by Sanders and his outspoken followers, said the Democrats are in this mess because we lost not one election, but a thousand elections at all levels of government, from local councils to the White House in November.
Grassroots movement
The new DNC chairman will oversee a party financially drained by the 2016 election, but one that has been energized this year by grassroots protests against President Trump and his policies. Notable among the protests was the nationwide Women's March on Washington on January 21, the day after Trump's inauguration, that produced one of the largest turnouts ever seen in the United States.
Perez will also face the challenge of restoring party fortunes after heavy losses in the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections that produced the Republicans' current majority in both houses of Congress. He must also coordinate the development of potential candidates to challenge a Trump re-election bid in 2020.
Public opinion polls indicate approval ratings for U.S. President Donald Trump are at a record low for a newly inaugurated commander in chief, a reflection on his performance during his first month in office as well as the continuing sharp political divide among American voters.
In the latest survey, NBC News and The Wall Street Journal said Sunday that just 44 percent of Americans approve of his performance, with 48 percent saying they disapprove. About a third of those polled said that Trump's White House performance showed he is not up to the job.
Two other polls in recent days showed similar results, with Gallup saying Trump averaged a 42 percent approval rating during his first four weeks in office, while the Quinnipiac University poll said he had a 38 percent favorable rating and 55 percent negative.
Trump did not immediately respond to the latest poll, but said on his Twitter account in early February that "any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election" that showed him losing to Democrat Hillary Clinton before his stunning upset victory on November 8.
Attacks on media
Trump's first five weeks in office have been uneven, marked by repeated attacks on mainstream U.S. news outlets for its reporting on his administration, a choice to fill a Supreme Court vacancy praised by Republicans and a legal setback when courts blocked his attempt to halt travel to the United States from seven majority Muslim countries.
NBC noted it took Trump just a month to be assessed negatively by American voters, while it was nearly three years into the first term of former President Barack Obama before his approval ratings dropped below 50 percent and into the fourth year of the first term of former President George W. Bush before his favorable ranking dipped below half of the American electorate.
Low score
The news network said Trump is the only president in the history of modern polling to begin his first term with a net negative approval rating, with most presidents early on in their White House tenures winning wide support, with net favorability ratings of 30 points or more.
Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup poll, said in a recent assessment of the new president's standing, "Donald Trump has skipped the traditional honeymoon period usually accorded presidents when they first take office. Americans, including those from the opposing party, typically have given a president a relatively high job approval rating until he settles into the job and makes moves that change their opinions. Not so with Trump."
Despite his negative overall approval rating in the NBC-Wall Street Journal poll, Trump's support among fellow Republicans remains robust, with an 85 to 8 percent positive assessment. Democrats rate him almost exactly the opposite, with a 84-9 negative rating. Independents broke 44-34 toward disapproval.
U.S. President Donald Trump says he expects the fight to repeal and replace Obamacare to come up when he meets with the nation's governors Monday in Washington
More than 40 state leaders are in Washington for the annual National Governors Association.
Trump drank a toast to those he calls the "great, great governors of the United States" at a White House dinner Sunday night, even if some of the governors disagree with some of his policies.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of the association and a Democrat, toasted Trump, calling for the president and governors to work together on issues like jobs, education and health care.
Before McAuliffe spoke, Trump noted he'd be meeting with the governors on Monday and "perhaps health care will come up."
Immigration policy also a concern
The president's recent orders to get tougher on the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants include threats to cut off billions of dollars in federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Trump's plans include deputizing local law enforcement officers to act as immigration agents.
In interviews with VOA, some of the governors said they want to see immigrants and refugees newly arrived in America succeed in making new lives for themselves. They also stressed that everyone should be treated with compassion and in a reasonable manner as laws are enforced.
McAuliffe has said he considers the new measures "immoral and illegal."
Speaking to VOA's Persian News Network, he said immigrants and refugees are "safe in Virginia...we want people to come, we want you to start a business and raise your family and have a great quality of life. In Virginia, we're going to protect all the basic and fundamental civil liberties and civil rights."
Democratic Governor Kate Brown of Oregon told VOA her state is "inclusive," and added: We want to make sure Oregon is a place where everyone can thrive; that includes our immigrant and refugee populations."
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, said his state has a large number of immigrants from Vietnam as well as Mexico and Central America.
"Immigrants and refugees are what make up the United States of America," Hutchinson told VOA's Somali service. It just has to be done in a legal process. What you see is not just in the United States, but really globally, a tightening of immigration enforcement.
"Europe has a border policy they're struggling with...the United States is in the same position," Hutchinson added. "Let's start by enforcing the laws. Obviously we need to do it in a compassionate and reasonable way, but we have to protect our borders and enforce the law."
Medicaid proposal
Saturday's discussions at the NGA winter meeting were highlighted by tensions over a proposal by Republican governors to overhaul Medicaid, the federal program that provides insurance to more than 70 million low-income Americans.
The Republican governors' Medicaid proposal, a draft of which was obtained by the Associated Press, urges Congress to change Medicaid from an open-ended federal entitlement to a program designed by each state to stay within financial limits.
The Republicans say their plan would give states more flexibility to administer health coverage for poorer residents, while also protecting them from absorbing the costs of repealing the Affordable Care Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama.
Democratic governors accused their Republican counterparts Saturday of being dishonest about the effects of their plan, which they said would take away people's health care coverage to finance tax cuts for the wealthy.
Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010 when they had majority control of both houses of Congress and controlled the White House. Republicans have opposed the law since its passage, and tried more than 50 times unsuccessfully to repeal it during the Obama administration.
The Republican Party argues that prices are too high for Affordable Care Act insurance coverage, and individual states should have more control than the federal government over the issue.
The governors met Saturday with recently confirmed Health Secretary Tom Price. As a congressman, Price was a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act and led efforts to repeal the law and replace it with alternative legislation. Price told the governors the administration will release its plan soon.
Trump will speak Tuesday to both houses of Congress, laying out his vision for the coming year. Such a speech, the equivalent of the State of the Union address, traditionally is delivered by a new president shortly after his inauguration.
VOA's Persian and Somali services contributed to this report.
As President Donald Trump prepared for his first address to the U.S. Congress, the White House on Sunday sought to fend off the latest calls for an independent probe of Russian efforts to impact last years U.S. election and any ties between Moscow and the presidents inner circle.
We are extremely confident that, whatever review, they are all going to come to the same conclusion: that we had no involvement in this [Russian electoral meddling], said White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders on ABCs This Week program.
Earlier, Republican Congressman Darrell Issa of California joined Democrats in calling for a special prosecutor insulated from Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a close Trump confidant.
Sessions was on the campaign and was an appointee, Issa said on HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher. You're going to have to use the special prosecutor's statue and office to not just recuse [Sessions], you can't give it to your deputy [either].
We need to investigate their [Russian] activities and we need to do it because they are bad people, the lawmaker added.
The White House said Americans have more pressing concerns.
At some point we get to a place where weve got to move on and start focusing on the things that the American people care about, Sanders said. And I dont think this is it. Weve talked about it time and time and time again. Asked and answered.
Democrats arent letting go.
The attorney general must recuse himself, said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, on This Week. Lets have the investigation and find out the truth.
Several Republican-led congressional committees are already probing Russian activities, along with the Department of Justice.
However investigations unfold, Trump has not hid his anger about a controversy that refuses to die or the news medias coverage of it.
"Russia talk is FAKE NEWS put out by the Dems, and played up by the media, in order to mask the big election defeat and the illegal leaks!" the president wrote Sunday on Twitter.
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.
Earlier this month, National Security Advisor 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 Trumps inauguration.
RACINE Fifty inmates could be added to the Racine Youthful Offender Correctional Facility under Gov. Scott Walkers proposed state budget.
Officials say the proposed change comes as the Department of Corrections tries to better manage its inmate population among state correctional facilities. The Racine facility, 1501 Albert St., has its population limit controlled by state law.
The proposed change would give the department more flexibility, Corrections spokesman Tristan Cook said.
The safety and security of inmates and staff at the facility are foremost in any decision to change the facilitys population, he said.
The change also would save the state about $300,000 in each year of the two-year budget, according to budget documents. Adding beds in Racine means the department can reduce the amount of money it spends contracting beds out to non-state facilities, officials said.
RYOCF
The medium-security Racine facility has 450 offenders between the ages of 15 and 24 who have been sentenced to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections through adult courts, according to its annual report.
The proposed change is not expected to cause overcrowding, according to state Sen. Van Wanggaard, who said the state wants to take the load off other facilities.
They started looking at efficiencies for space and staffing, said Wanggaard, R-Racine, who chairs the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. The decision was to add 50 beds here.
We havent had any issues with RYOCF. They have been a good community partner. Its actually worked really well.
Opened in 1998, the prison is the first Wisconsin correctional facility to be located within the borders of a major city. The facility offers a number of treatment and education programs, including vocational programs in which inmates can obtain college credit.
Walkers budget is in the hands of the state Legislature, which will begin deliberations later this spring after analysis from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
In the course of an official trip to the Middle East, during which he was received by the Turkish President and the King of Saudi Arabia, Senator John McCain secretly (and illegally) went to Syria. There he met with both the Kurdish and US military leaders.
The timing of the meeting coincides with the opening of the new peace talks in Geneva.
John McCain had come to Syria in May 2013, to meet with leaders of the armed groups, who would later become the leaders of what now is known as the Islamic Emirate.
In February 2011, he had co-chaired in Cairo the meeting for launching wars in Libya and Syria. Then he had gone to Libya and took the decision to set up an Islamist support base at Ersal.
Mem Foxs author portrait.
One of Australias most popular childrens book authors, Mem Fox, has gone on record to share a terrifying experience that she underwent at LAX earlier this month. Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Fox recounted how after landing at Los Angeles from Australia en route to a literary conference in Milwaukee, she was detained for over two hours and aggressively interrogated by the airports border-control agents, who claimed she was traveling with an incorrect visa. I have never in my life been spoken to with such insolence, treated with such disdain, with so many insults and with so much gratuitous impoliteness, Fox said. I felt like I had been physically assaulted which is why, when I got to my hotel room, I completely collapsed and sobbed like a baby, and Im 70 years old. Fox, who likened her experience at the airport to being a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, blames President Donald Trump for creating an environment that encourages this type of behavior. This is what happens when extremists take power, she explained. I am old and white, innocent and educated, and I speak English fluently. Imagine what happened to the others in the room, including an old Iranian woman in her 80s, in a wheelchair. The way I was treated would have made any decent American shocked to the core, because thats not America as a whole, it really isnt.
After returning to Australia she was eventually allowed to enter the U.S. to attend the conference Fox lodged a complaint with both the Australian Embassy in Washington and the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, where she promptly received an emailed apology from U.S. officials. She says she couldnt imagine returning to the States anytime soon due to her ordeal.
As part of its Lyceum Series, the Baylor University School of Music will present a Music Education Convocation with Bradley Kent, state director of music for the University Interscholastic League, at 6:15 p.m. Monday at Meadows Recital Hall in the Glennis McCrary Music Building.
Kent oversees a system that provides educational competition for 750,000 student participants in Texas.
For more information, visit www.baylor.edu/music.
Rapoport applications
Rapoport Academy Public School is accepting applications for the 2017-18 school year.
The free public charter school serves more than 850 pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade students.
Rapoport is a science, technology, engineering and math and early college high school district offering college preparatory curriculum.
Students start college classes in ninth grade at no cost to families for tuition, books or fees.
For more information on the application process or to register for an information session, call 218-9367 or 754-8000, ext. 3021, or visit rapoportacademy.org.
Walk Across Texas
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in McLennan County will have a kickoff event for its annual free Walk Across Texas program at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Cameron Park Redwood Shelter, 2300 Cameron Park Drive.
The public can register and walk their first mile at the event.
For eight weeks from March 6 to May 1, teams of up to eight people, school classes or individuals can virtually walk 832 miles across Texas.
For more information, visit http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu.
Youth theater camp
The Waco Childrens Theatre is accepting applications for its 26th annual Summer Performing Arts Camp.
The camp, for children in kindergarten through 12th grade, will be held June 5-25 at the Lee Lockwood Library and Museum, 2801 W. Waco Drive.
All areas of the performing arts are taught.
A performance-only camp for teenagers will be held from June 4 to July 2.
Space is limited and fills up quickly.
For applications or more information, email bshivahs@yahoo.com or call Linda Haskett at 776-0707.
Waco Community Band
The Waco Community Band will present a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at McLennan Community Colleges Ball Performing Arts Center.
For more information, call 299-8283.
Submit items for Briefly in printed or typed form to Briefly, P.O. Box 2588, Waco 76702-2588; fax to 757-0302; or email to goingson@wacotrib.com at least one week before an event.
Federal investigators will meet with Baylor University faculty, staff and students next week as the U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights continues to determine if the school has violated Title IX .
Representatives from the Office for Civil Rights will hold open office hours from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday on the second floor of the Bill Daniel Student Center, according to a campuswide email circulating last week.
The federal investigation opened in October was sparked by a complaint filed by former Baylor Title IX Coordinator Patty Crawford.
Crawford resigned in October, saying she never had the authority, resources or independence to do her job. The school has disputed her claims.
The next step in the process provides an opportunity for interested students, faculty and staff to meet directly with OCR representatives to share their experiences and perspective regarding Baylors efforts to prevent and address sex- and gender-based harassment and violence, the email states. We encourage interested community members to take advantage of this opportunity.
Visits with representatives are one-on-one sessions on a voluntary and confidential basis with no appointment required. The Office for Civil Rights will not share personally identifiable information with the university or general public, and no other university employees or media are invited, according to the email.
Title IX investigations by the Office for Civil Rights may include reviewing documentary evidence submitted by both parties, conducting interviews with the complainant, recipients personnel, and other witnesses, and/or site visits, according to the Department of Education website.
Investigators also will visit Cornell University next week, USA Today reported. The school in Ithaca, New York, is under six Title IX investigations, the most of any university, according to USA Today.
Baylor is under one of 310 active investigations at 227 colleges and universities.
Interim President David Garland has pledged full cooperation with the investigation, which could last years. Some Title IX investigations are dropped for insufficient evidence, and others end when institutions promise to adjust certain policies.
Institutions are subject to fines if a Title IX violation is found, but the Office for Civil Rights has never taken the step of pulling all federal funding because of a violation.
Just before Christmas, Juan Ceda found himself in an immigrant lockup 230 miles away from his Waco home, his pregnant wife and their two toddler boys.
He was in pain from two broken wrists and suffering from an anxiety disorder. He was confused about why, after living 18 of his 19 years in Waco, he was in danger of being sent to Mexico, essentially a foreign country to him.
Then came another piece of confusing news: Some lady he didnt know back in Waco was raising bond money to free him.
I was really in shock because I didnt know anybody, Juan Ceda said. I couldnt get it through my head why she wanted to help. I was like, Wait, whats going on?
The woman was Hope Mustakim, a Waco immigrant advocate who had lived through a similar struggle to free her husband from immigration limbo in the same detention facility in Pearsall.
Mustakim, a leader of the Waco Immigration Alliance, was contacted through the Cedas church and quickly set up a crowdfunding web page to help raise the bail money of $4,000.
Last Friday, she and Juan Cedas wife, Ana Ceda, a U.S. citizen, spent a long day driving down to Pearsall to retrieve Juan Ceda.
I saw the urgency, that shes pregnant with two toddlers, a 1- and 3-year-old, said Mustakim, a Baylor social work graduate student and mother of two children that same age. So theres a bit of empathy there. I would just be dying from the stress of it all. We saw that it was possible and something we could do within our own means.
Mustakim, whose own husband was released from a yearlong immigration detention in 2012, is hoping to recover part of the bail money as the seed for a fund that will help other immigrant families. She said that effort is motivated by the vows of the new Trump administration to crack down on unauthorized immigrants and deport 2 or 3 million people.
Those policies could complicate Juan Cedas future. But his attorney, Antonio Almazan of San Antonio, said Juan Ceda has some factors weighing in his favor, including a long residence in the U.S. and his wife and childrens status as citizens. In any case, it could be years before the case is settled, Almazan said.
Juan Cedas troubles actually started a month before Trump took office.
He said Immigration and Customs Enforcement picked him up Dec. 19, during a scheduled visit to his probation officer. The probation is part of a deferred adjudication deal he made last November, when he pleaded guilty to a Class A misdemeanor domestic violence charge dating back to 2015, county court records show.
Under President Barack Obamas administration, ICE prioritized its enforcement efforts on felons and recent border-crossers. A secondary priority was those with significant misdemeanors such as domestic violence, drug dealing or drunken driving, according to ICE materials.
But, it appears that ICE did not place an immigration detainer on Juan Ceda when he was arrested, as it normally would do with high-priority candidates for removal.
Waco is the only home Juan Ceda can remember. His Mexican parents brought him to this country on a tourist visa when he was 1 year old, then overstayed the visa. He grew up here, attending University High School and working jobs in restaurants and construction sites starting when he was 13.
Juan Ceda said he realized when he was about 16 that he couldnt get a Social Security card or a drivers license because his family lacked legal status.
Juan Ceda never applied for the Obama-era protection for children of unauthorized immigrants, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, saying it was too expensive to apply. He has been trying instead to get a green card showing legal permanent residency, based on his wifes citizenship.
But that effort has been derailed for now because of an incident stemming from the time before the two married.
December 2015 charge
On Dec. 7, 2015, Juan Ceda was arrested on a charge of domestic violence assault against Ana Ceda, whom he hit in an early-morning argument at her apartment. Ana Ceda called the police but later decided not to testify against him.
After a couple of days, talking to his mom and everything, I decided to drop the charges, she said. Ive been with him a long time. I knew how he acts. I guess I kept telling myself hell change. And he has changed.
She said he hasnt hurt her since that episode, and he has taken good care of their 3-year-old from a previous marriage as well as their 1-year-old.
Hes a great dad, she said. He does everything with the kids and plays outside with them.
About a month after his Nov. 17 deferred adjudication order, Juan Ceda fell about 16 feet from stilts he was wearing at a construction job, where he was taping and bedding drywall. He showed up to his Dec. 19 probation meeting with newly splinted wrists and his mother at his side. He said ICE agents were waiting to carry him away, first to the Jack Harwell Detention Center, then to Austin and finally to Pearsall, south of San Antonio.
Juan Ceda said he received some medical attention for his wrists during his detention but didnt have access to painkillers and started having anxiety attacks.
Ana Ceda said she cried for the first week her husband was gone.
What was I going to do? she said. Im a stay-at-home mom. I was so far along with my pregnancy, nobody was going to hire me. Now I was going to have to take care of my kids by myself.
Juan Cedas mother came to help out, and the two raised money by cooking plates of food for family and friends.
Soon after Juan Cedas detention, Ana Ceda met Hope Mustakim and learned about her story.
Similar story
Mustakims husband, Nazry Mustakim, had come to the U.S. from Singapore when he was a boy and had a green card. In 2005, he was arrested on a felony drug charge and later got 10 years probation for the offense.
In 2011, newly married to Hope and working at Mission Waco, Nazry Mustakim was shocked to find himself detained and sent to the Pearsall center for eventual removal to Singapore.
Hope Mustakim waged an all-out campaign to free her husband with petitions and letter-writing campaigns to a North Texas judge who was reviewing the original case. The judge dropped the case on the grounds of missing evidence and also said she was persuaded that Nazry Mustakim had turned his life around.
Today, he runs the Urban Edibles food truck at Mission Waco, while Hope Mustakim is taking a break from her masters of social work degree to focus on her kids and the needs of Wacos immigrant community.
After hearing Trumps rhetoric around immigration, Mustakim said she couldnt sit idly by. As a leader for the Waco Immigration Alliance, she has participated in protests and know your rights events, but working with the Cedas has been the most meaningful action, she said.
She drove to Pearsall with Ana Ceda twice to see Juan Ceda, finally freeing him on Feb. 17.
Whenever I was driving down with Ana the first time, thats when everything came together: our experience, my experience learning about immigration policy, then to be there when the babies saw their dad and being with her as she drove away, Mustakim said. I know the feeling, leaving your husband and getting farther and farther away.
She said she also is convinced Juan Ceda is turning his life around as her own husband did.
In detention, Juan Ceda got therapy and was diagnosed with anxiety and bipolar disorders, which he is now controlling with medications.
Juan Ceda said hes ready to go back to work, and hes confident he can beat the immigration charges against him and get a green card and, ultimately, citizenship. He said he longs to be able to work legally and to travel the world, after having met fellow detainees from all over the world.
Theres doors I want to be able to open, he said.
Like many men in the military, Bill H. Barkley Sr. wanted to be a pilot. And, like so many men who are ruled out for one reason or another, his aspirations were dashed when he was disqualified for poor eyesight and restricted to ground duty.
Still, he accepted things and went on to serve in World War II. Now 93 and residing in Hamilton, Barkley recalled spending most of his enlistment stateside before deploying to the Pacific Theater in early 1945.
The military was something Barkley didnt think about as a boy in Hamilton. He grew up during the Great Depression, when money was scarce. In those days, everybody was poor, but some were just poorer than others, Barkley said.
He graduated from Hamilton High School in 1941 at age 17 and worked over the summer before enrolling in what was then a two-year-school, John Tarleton Agriculture College in Stephenville, now Tarleton State University. Even though it was a Reserve Officers Training Corps college and he was in the ROTC band he didnt think about joining the service. The military was never really a consideration, he said.
Of course, that was before the U.S. was thrust into World War II.
Three months after he started college, Pearl Harbor was attacked. By the spring of 1942, American men were volunteering for all branches of the U.S. military. Barkley remained in school and worked two jobs that summer and returned to college in September.
In November, he enlisted in the reserves rather than waiting to be drafted because he wanted to fly. He knew if he received a draft notice, he wouldnt have a say as to what assignment he would be given. And he knew it was just a matter of time before his number would come up.
Barkley switched to the Air Corps Reserve and received his orders in March 1943 to report to Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls. What followed was months of training aacross the U.S. He was in San Antonio when problems with his depth perception were discovered. As a result, he couldnt qualify as a bombardier, navigator or gunner. Instead, he was assigned to the 59th Air Depot Group in the Signal Corps.
Married upon enlistment
When he entered the military, Barkley had beendating his high school sweetheart, Claudine Fergusson, for several years. Facing an unknown future, they married in June 1943 in Wichita, Kansas. She followed him as he was sent from base to base, job to job. For a time, he administered tests for pilots that screened out candidates who didnt fit the bill.
Finally to the South Pacific
Eventually, Barkley got orders for overseas duty in October 1944. He left Seattle on a troop ship, and by 2 a.m. that night, they ran into a terrible storm that left everyone deathly seasick. The men, bunked five high, couldnt get out of bed for days, he said.
They arrived in Pearl Harbor, staying onboard while their sister ship was repaired. Though it had been almost three years since the attack, the damage was still horrible, Barkley said. They went to Eniwetok and joined a convoy headed for Guam, arriving April 10, 1945 the day President Franklin Roosevelt died. He served with the 892nd Signal Corps with the 55th Air Depot Group.
Guam had been secured nine months before, but there still were Japanese soldiers hiding in caves. The U.S. troops were warned not to go out at night, because the enemy would sneak in to search for food, Barkley said.
With the Japanese surrender in August 1945, U.S. enlisted men started going home. Barkley served until February 1946 because he hadnt accumulated enough points to return. When he finally made it back to the States, he received an honorable discharge as a sergeant, having served a total of three years.
He attended the University of Texas at Austin while working for Sears and Roebuck, among other jobs. After graduation, he entered banking, working 16 years at Midland National Bank. He started as a teller and rose to the position of executive vice president.
In 1970, he moved to Hamilton to work for Hamilton National Bank, where he stayed for 21 years, serving as president, and later, chairman of the board.
Barkley and Claudia were married 67 years and raised three sons. She passed away in 2010. Among their many grandchildren was the first Barkley granddaughter in five generations. Bill also has several great-grandchildren.
Although he didnt generally care for the military life he felt like he hadnt contributed much he did face danger on the trip over and while on Guam, where anything couldve happened at any moment.
But hed go back, if given another chance. If I was 18, Id do it again, Barkley said. I regret that I didnt get to fly.
Voices of Valor, featuring stories about Central Texas veterans, publishes every Sunday in the Waco Trib. To suggest a story about a Central Texas veteran, email voicesofvalor@wacotrib.com. Voices of Valor is proudly sponsored by Johnson Roofing.
Immigration is once again at the forefront of American politics. Following President Trumps controversial travel ban, highly publicized immigration raids and the Day Without Immigrants protests in response, policymakers from both sides of the aisle are turning increasing attention to the need for real immigration reform.
Its important, however, before diving into the political rhetoric to have an accurate understanding of the vital role that immigrants play in our economy. New American Economy, a major bipartisan group of business leaders, celebrated a Day of Impact for Immigration Reform on Tuesday. This is a good time to explore the issue in detail.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the immigrant population was 42.4 million in 2014, accounting for 13.3 percent of the U.S. population. The immigrant stock in the United States, first-generation immigrants and their U.S.-born children, numbers around 81 million over a quarter of the U.S. population. Given immigration and birth-rate trends, the Pew Research Center estimates that 93 percent of growth in the working-age population through 2050 will consist of immigrants and their children. This could grow to comprise close to 40 percent of the entire U.S. population. So while many try to frame the immigration debate as an us-and-them issue, its important to realize this is really an us issue; the United States has always been and will remain a nation of immigrants.
Texas, more so than most states, has strong ties to immigration. Since the 1960s, more than 60 percent of immigrants settled in just seven states California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Texas. Our state continues to receive a large portion of immigrants entering the United States; from 2010 to 2014, the immigrant population in Texas grew by 8.7 percent, outpacing the growth rate in the nation. About one in six Texans is now foreign-born.
Nearly 4.5 million Texans were born outside the United States, about 16.7 percent of our state population. Texas has the second largest immigrant population in the United States, behind California. The immigrant community in Texas makes a large contribution to the state economy. In 2014, immigrant-led households earned $118.7 billion and contributed more than one in every six dollars paid into local and state tax revenues. After taxes, these families held a collective $89.6 billion of net income available for additional spending in the state economy.
About 75.2 percent of the foreign-born population in Texas are of working age (ages 25 to 64), and immigrants made up 21.7 percent of the states workforce. The immigrant population provides a significant portion of the labor for numerous industries. For example, in Texas, immigrants make up about 60 percent of painters and maids/housekeeping cleaners; around 50 percent of grounds maintenance workers, construction laborers and carpenters; and close to 40 percent of cooks, janitors/building cleaners, and welding, soldering and brazing workers. In agriculture, an $11.2 billion industry in Texas, more than 40 percent of hired farm workers were foreign-born in 2014. A 2015 study estimated that more than 50 percent of laborers on U.S. dairy farms were immigrants.
While many immigrants are employed in labor-intensive industries, thats not the whole story. Immigrants comprise 24.5 percent of workers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, though theyre only 16.7 percent of the entire state population. In fact, about 37 percent of software developers in Texas are foreign-born. Currently, there is a large, unfilled demand for STEM workers in our state. In 2014, there were 11.3 STEM job openings for every one unemployed STEM worker in Texas.
International students made up about one-third of the students seeking a STEM masters degree and close to half of those students seeking a Ph.D-level STEM degree at Texas universities the same year. While these international students often wish to find employment in the United States, the current immigration system makes it difficult for companies to sponsor them. Greater availability of qualified STEM workers in the state can fuel further growth and development in rapidly expanding and emerging industries. A study by the Partnership for a New American Economy and the conservative American Enterprise Institute found that for every 100 foreign-born STEM workers with advanced degrees hired in a state, 262 additional jobs are created for native-born workers within seven years.
Immigrants make up a substantial portion of the health-care industry, a sector that is critical to long-term growth and faces chronic shortages in skilled personnel. In 2014, there were 5.6 health-care job listings for every one unemployed health-care worker in Texas. In 2016, more than a quarter of all physicians in Texas graduated from a foreign medical school. Moreover, close to 20 percent of all nurses and health aides in our state in 2014 were foreign-born.
Immigrants provide notable employment opportunities for others through starting their own businesses. According to a 2015 study performed by the Kauffman Foundation, immigrants are almost twice as likely to start a new business as those who are native-born. About 28.9 percent of entrepreneurs in Texas are foreign-born. These firms generated $7.9 billion in income in 2014. At least 420,000 people in Texas are employed at firms owned by immigrants.
Through the years, foreign-born workers have filled important gaps in our states workforce. Immigrants account for large segments of many industries and can help meet future labor needs. Our outdated immigration system, however, causes many problems for U.S. firms trying to confront those needs. We need significant reform, but it needs to be focused on approaches that, while protecting our security, permit us to leverage this vital and indispensable resource to promote long-term prosperity. After all, immigrants are part of what made America great in the first place, and one need only look at our native-born demographics to realize that it will be this way for generations to come.
Nationally known economist Ray Perryman is president and chief executive officer of the Waco-based Perryman Group. He was selected as the 2012 Texan of the Year by the Texas Legislative Conference and received the 2013 Baylor University Distinguished Service Medal.
With Betsy DeVos as the U.S. secretary of education and several education bills in the Texas Legislature, the debate about charter schools is in the spotlight. As someone who has been researching schools for more than 20 years, I can tell you that regardless of which side of the debate you may fall, pitting charter schools against public schools does not lead to better education for anyone.
Research shows that most charter schools are not any more effective academically than public schools, and that there are many excellent public schools that provide numerous educational choices. Furthermore, there are parents and students who love their charter schools, those who love their public schools and there are both charter and public schools where few parents would want to send their children.
It is unjustified to think that one type of school is better than another based on whether it is public, private or parochial without considering what makes a school effective. It is the people involved and the resources available that matter. Schools that are effective have visionary leadership, good teachers and parental involvement. These qualities have nothing to do with whether a school is offered as a public or private option. Privatizing a school, offering choice or moving money around from one school to the next will not necessarily make a school effective.
Charter schools have been positioned against public schools based on the idea that school choice will lead to a better education. To most Americans, choice is a cherished value, but offering school choice through charter schools is not a cure for educating all children.
For instance, if your child is gifted or has autism, behavioral problems or a health challenge, then you need a unique school that can provide an education. The other side of choice is that the school may be able to choose which students it will accept and educate, and that may not be your child. In fact, the evidence shows that charter schools are more segregated and serve more advantaged students than public schools do.
Many families experience violence, substance abuse and unemployment, and it is unrealistic to think that charter schools are more effective than public schools when faced with such social challenges. How can the choice of a charter school improve the education of your child when you are a single mother with a child who has attempted suicide, or a family with two working parents who are facing cancer, or your child is addicted to substances? These are the human conditions that all schools encounter. School choice alone will not make a difference and competition is not the answer.
There are some who believe that charter schools provide a better and safer education than public schools do. Some proponents advocate for more religious instruction and would like to see funds from public schools shifted directly into the hands of parents and private and parochial schools.
Shifting more public funds to charter schools, however, will not improve education in our society. If charter schools do as they choose without being held to the same accountability standards that mandate that public schools accept and educate every child, then many children will not receive an adequate education within a charter school.
There is already some evidence of this happening. For example, statistics show that charter schools serve fewer children with disabilities than public schools do. This creates a two-tier system where charter schools cherry-pick their students, and all other students default back to public schools.
Both ideology and money drive the school choice and charter school movement. But the facts are that all kinds of schools can be funded and structured in ways that allow them to be safe and effective. If school choice prevails in Texas or nationally without appropriate accountability safeguards, it will only increase educational disparities that already exist. Instead, lawmakers, parents and educators need to make sure that safe, equitable and effective schools are in every community. These are the only school choices that need to be made.
Cynthia Franklin is the Stiernberg/Spencer Family Professor in Mental Health and associate dean for doctoral education in the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research examines the practice and effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy with children and adolescents.
We, the members of Lake Shore Baptist Church, knew it was coming, knew the Baptist General Convention of Texas was going to exclude us for including others. It was a price we were willing to pay for what we thought was the just and loving thing to do.
History is the story of the human struggle to be free. America was born from such a struggle. But freedom in America has always been an ideal in need of realization. So women pursued rights, as did blacks. In more recent years it has been gays and lesbians.
Responding positively to those who struggle for freedom is to enlarge the circle to include the excluded. For years Lake Shore has welcomed gays into our community, including leadership roles. Our recent decision stamping this in our bylaws is our way of publicly affirming our gay members and welcoming them to every dimension of our communal life, including the sacrament of marriage.
In her book Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin describes Abraham Lincoln as possessing extraordinary empathy, the gift or curse [because of the pain involved] of putting himself in the place of another, to experience what they were feeling, to understand their motives and desires. This capacity to feel with the other is the foundation of movements for justice throughout time and place. In this time and place it should give rise to justice for gays and lesbians.
Sexuality is a fundamental dimension of who we are. It is a given. I cannot imagine any heterosexual recalling the time and place when he or she decided to be attracted to the opposite sex. For heterosexuals, it is a discovery, not a decision. Surely the same is true for gays and lesbians.
We heterosexuals should try to put ourselves in their place. What would it be like to have the essence of our sexuality described as immoral? What would it be like to try to live our lives without sexual intimacy, as some would have us do?
To be sure, some sexual proclivities are immoral. There are sexual desires that if expressed violate the other rape, for example. But as one leading Christian philosopher, Robert Adams, has noted: homosexual practice is not essentially violative of persons. The fundamental question we should ask of any human activity is: Does it violate the dignity of the other? Look and see and think.
Another leading Christian philosopher, Nick Wolterstorff, whom many of us at Baylor have met with frequently, admired tremendously and been strongly influenced by, recently went public in support of gay marriage. It was, he says, through relatives, students and former students who were gay, as well as people in committed, same-sex relationships that caused me to reconsider the traditional views I had grown up with. He adds, Ive listened to these people. To their agony. To their feelings of exclusion and oppression. To their longings. To their expressions of love. To their commitments. To their faith. So listening changed me. Surely that is the key. Listening to human stories.
Baptist minister and author Will Campbell, in a presentation at Baylor years ago, said a time would come when we Baptists would apologize for how we treated homosexuals as we now apologize for how we once treated blacks. But that time has not fully come and, till that day does come, churches such as Lake Shore in Waco, First Baptist in Austin and Wilshire Baptist in Dallas will bear the exclusion for what seems to us a matter of love and justice.
Robert Baird is emeritus professor of philosophy at Baylor University.
Australia wanted the United Nations to play a bigger role in the reconstruction of Iraq after the 2003 invasion but was rebuffed by the Bush administration, a declassified report reveals.
The 572-page report written by a senior scholar at the Directorate of Army Research and Analysis and obtained under freedom of information laws says the then Howard government even discussed limiting Australia's military contribution to the post-invasion phase to positions under the UN.
The revelation is significant because the United States' poor post-invasion planning is widely blamed for the downward spiral Iraq plunged into which is still being felt today in the country's sectarian fracturing and the success of the Islamic State terror group.
"Australia also had a preference for the United Nations to have a large role in the rehabilitation of post-war Iraq," the report by Dr Albert Palazzo states.
Labor hopes to neuter the Fair Work Commission's planned cut to penalty rates, by introducing legislation which would prevent its decision from taking effect.
The Opposition will give notice to introduce the bill on Monday, with the legislation seeking to stop the commission's draft decision from coming into force, as well as ensuring penalty rates could not be cut in the future, if it results in a cut in take home pay.
The government holds a one seat majority in the lower house, meaning the legislation would likely fail, unless Labor can lure coalition MPs to cross the floor, along with support from the crossbench.
But the legislation forms part of Labor's planned attack on the government over the issue, as data reveals workers in coalition electorates will be among the hardest hit by the changes to Sunday penalty rates, with employees in some of the most marginal seats in the nation also bearing the brunt.
Coalition ministers hope their blistering attack on Tony Abbott has finally silenced him ahead of Federal Parliament's return but the former prime minister's most loyal confidante says he's not going anywhere, declaring Malcolm Turnbull's government is "on life support".
While the Prime Minister and his team will seek to shift the attention back to energy security and their budget savings bill, Labor will exploit the latest round of leadership tensions while also pressuring the government over the Fair Work Commission's penalty rate cuts.
While government MPs want to regroup after last week's damaging public display following a speech by Mr Abbott in which he said the Coalition had become "Labor lite" and was "drifting to defeat", Peta Credlin has weighed in with a damning assessment of her own.
While conceding Mr Abbott could have handled his intervention better, Ms Credlin his controversial former chief of staff says he has a right to speak out on policy as a "custodian" of the party's right-wing base, amid fears they are fleeing to One Nation and its ilk.
It's hard to know how many lives Carly Ryan has saved, how many childhoods she has kept intact.
At 14, she fell in love with a lie.
Carly Ryan thought she was chatting to an 18-year-old called Brandon. Credit:SA Police
Gary Francis Newman, a 50-year-old predator, spent more than a year wooing the South Australian teen, posing as "Brandon Kane", an 18-year-old musician who loved all the things Carly loved and just wanted to make her happy.
Chatting online, and over the phone, "Brandon" sent his "father", to meet Carly and her family.
Malcolm Turnbull needs a solution to his Tony Abbott problem and fast. That problem is not retaining the votes of party room colleagues but those of conservative voters.
While MPs and ministers believe Abbott was the main casualty of last week's explosive attack, many also feel the situation should not be allowed to fester, nor can Turnbull afford to simply limp forward until the next Abbott landmine.
If Turnbull had ever been tempted to elevate his nemesis to cabinet to keep him close and busy, as Julia Gillard did with Kevin Rudd, Abbott has now made that option unthinkable.
At ministerial level, Abbott's declared intent to continue speaking up for core conservative values is viewed with a surprising degree of equanimity. A common theme is a determination to ignore him and to "just get on with governing".
About 1000 people have gathered in Fremantle at a rally to protest the clearing of land for the government's Roe 8 highway project, calling for a Royal Commission into its planning and execution.
"We deserve better from our state governments," former broadcaster and TV presenter Peter Holland told the crowd at Kings Square.
Protesters in Fremantle. Credit:Eileen Glynn
"We deserve more honesty and less secrecy.
"We deserve what is best in the long term for our society and environment not what is best for powerful vested interests.
President Donald Trump's initial address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night may be the most anticipated in memory. Not, as Trump would claim, because he's so compelling. Rather it's because, when it comes to substance, we don't know who he is.
For Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, a first February speech to Congress was a chance to add definition to well-articulated policy architecture. Trump, by contrast, has conveyed little sense of a governing structure, preferring to recycle the insults and cliches that defined his campaign.
On issues ranging from health care, taxes and the budget to China, NATO and foreign interventions, in five weeks he has created more confusion than clarity. Whether that reflects a lack of knowledge or lack of interest, Tuesday offers an opportunity for a reset.
In broad strokes -- he's not presenting a budget, so it's reasonable to leave out the fine detail -- he can spell out priorities and preferences. Is he willing to delay his announcement of a huge infrastructure project until next year, as many Republican congressional leaders wish? How will he slash spending without touching big entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, as he promised voters in the fall?
Cairo: Hedi Hammami feels like a marked man in Tunisia. The former Guantanamo Bay detainee is incensed at his government's decision to extend the state of emergency this month as it means more police harassment for him.
"I would rather go back to Guantanamo than live here in my own country like this," he told Fairfax Media. "I am tired of this suffering."
Hammami was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and then transferred to Guantanamo Bay for participating in al-Qaeda training camps. He spent eight years in detention in the military base in Cuba, suffering trauma from prolonged periods of enforced darkness and solitary confinement before he was released by US authorities and sent to Georgia in March 2010.
After Tunisia's "Jasmine revolution", he petitioned the country's new government to return to his homeland in 2012.
A town in Morang that says NO to protests
Banda, strikes, protests, chakka jam? No. Thats not a solution, say locals of Kosiharaicha in Morang district.
Amendment bill will be endorsed at any cost: NC
Nepali Congress has said the constitution amendment bill would be passed at any cost.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff
Feb. 25, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY
By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 25, 2017 | 12:34 AM | PADUCAH, KY
State arts leaders gathered Feb. 24 for Arts Day in Kentucky, an annual celebration of the Commonwealths arts community and the vital roles it plays in the states livelihood. The day is also an opportunity for arts leaders to thank members of the Kentucky General Assembly for their continued support of arts funding through the Kentucky Arts Council.
The arts council presented the Yeiser Art Center with a check for $3,777 and the Market House Theatre with a check for $13,604 for Kentucky Arts Partnership (KAP) grants awarded by the arts council in July 2016. The funding is part of $1.3 million the arts council awarded to 93 nonprofit arts organizations across the state for the 2017 fiscal year.
Kentucky has excellent arts organizations in every region of the Commonwealth that provide year-round arts experiences in their communities, said Lydia Bailey Brown, arts council executive director. The state arts agency is proud to partner with Yeiser Art Center and Market House Theatre to ensure the arts are made available to enrich the lives of all Kentuckians.
KAP grants provide operating support on a competitive basis to arts and cultural organizations and community arts programs to ensure participation in the arts is available to the people of Kentucky.
For more information about Arts Day in Kentucky, visit the Kentucky Arts Councils website.
Astros take World Series title over Phillies in six games
Bird flu in poultry farm in Pokhara alarms officials
The H5N1 influenza virus has been detected in a poultry farm in Pokhara-18, Kaski, raising alarm bells of a possible outbreak.
Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world
Deck cleared for Sials appointment as Saarc gen secy
Amjad Hussain B Sial of Pakistan is set to be appointed the new general secretary of Saarc, after India finally lifted its objection to his nomination.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/02/2017 (2080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Befitting its edgy origins as a punk rock-ish CD, American Idiot is a musical that should come with a content advisory.
Warning: American Idiot is a musical recommended for Green Day fans who can recite the lyrics of every single song on the 2004 album of the same name. All others may be lost at sea.
Also, theres some swearing.
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Michael Cox has an especially lovely voice as Johnny.
The album was an attempt to portray the jittery, jingoistic post-9/11 years of the Bush administration, centred especially on the waging of a bogus war in Iraq.
For the year 2017, director Simon Miron has retooled the premise so that it takes place in the year 2020 after horrors President Donald Trump has won a second term.
That background doesnt really get explored in a meaningful way, as Miron concentrates on a trio of young friends preparing to cut loose from the constricting small-town environs of Jingletown. That plan is quickly jettisoned when one of their number, Will (Toby Hughes) discovers his girlfriend Heather (Katie German) is pregnant. That leaves Johnny (Michael Cox) and Tunny (Colleen Furlan) to go to the big city themselves.
Johnny finds himself effectively torn between two loves. Whatsername (Stephanie Sy) is a beautiful city girl. St. Jimmy (Brittany Hunter) is a human personification of Johnnys growing heroin addiction. (If you dont know this going in, you may think St. Jimmy is merely a contemporary iteration of the classic vamp character, an amoral sophisticate leading our hero to ruin. Certainly, Hunter is directed to play her with those broad melodramatic strokes.)
Tunny, exhausted by the cynicism and apathy around her, joins the army. Will, meanwhile, loses Heather to a rock star and is left to stew in his own small-town juices, augmented by pot and alcohol.
A co-production of Winnipeg Studio Theatre and White Rabbit Productions, American Idiot is a gutsy choice of musical, but its not entirely successful. Familiarity with the source material is pretty much essential. If you come to it fresh, its difficult to interpret what narrative there is, since rock music lyrics arent any more decipherable on the musical theatre stage than they are in concerts. (During the Friday evening show, this issue was exacerbated by performers mikes fading in and out as well as good old-fashioned feedback whine, a disservice to the tight four-piece house band led by music director Paul DeGurse.)
Tone is a bit of a problem too. Raging against the machine may be all part of the punk ethos, but an excess of defiant, fist-pumping pique over an intermission-free 90 minutes starts to feel a little joyless after a while.
The performers do what they can on an impressive, video screen-adorned, industrial-grunge set designed by Jamie Plummer. Michael Cox has an especially lovely voice as Johnny, presumably the proxy of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, and shows his strength in the more plaintive songs, such as Boulevard of Broken Dreams. If youre accustomed to hearing Hughes sing in the context of the musical improv he does with Outside Joke, he here demonstrates a strong, resonant voice not seen enough in straightforward musical theatre. Colleen Furlan, taking a role originally performed by a man, has pipes to break your heart, but, alas, no song to deliver on that promise.
randall.king@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @FreepKing
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One district one product: Eastern districts execute scheme
Eight districts in the eastern region have focused on One District One Product programme under the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Project.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/02/2017 (2079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The incidents of asylum seekers coming across the Canadian border in Emerson including another half-dozen Friday night is getting so frequent, local leaders are having difficulty keeping track of hard numbers.
Thats not necessarily bad news, says Greg Janzen, reeve of the Municipality of Emerson-Franklin.
Janzen estimated Saturday up to 60 refugee claimants crossed into Manitoba last week, accelerating a trend that began about eight weeks ago.
While the groups were larger at first, and only arriving on weekends, the border jumpers are coming at a faster rate, in smaller groups and on any given day of the week.
RCMP now only report the number of asylum seekers from the previous week every month, so figures have yet to be confirmed. But along with the 35 claimants over last weekend, there were nine on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, five Wednesday night, seven to 10 Friday morning and the half-dozen Friday night.
Weve almost had somebody every day, Janzen said.
The good news, however, is the municipality is no longer being overtaxed by responding to late-night calls unless its an emergency or having to provide temporary shelter when larger groups of claimants arrive.
I believe the border security (Canada Border Services Agency) got more help, more resources, and theyre working on a more permanent solution, he said. Realistically, these bigger numbers have only been happening for 21/2 weeks now.
For everyone to step up this quick the (provincial) Conservative government, the (federal) Liberal government is phenomenal to get this much reaction that quick.
They dont have enough staff yet, but there is more coming.
The RCMP, meanwhile, have also bolstered security along the border.
Theyve been very good, Janzen said, of the increased RCMP and CBSA presence.
Theyve been in Emerson with unmarked vehicles. Theyre not trying to run their sirens. They dont want to scare the residents. Theyve been very conscientious and doing a great job.
At a news conference Thursday at Welcome Place, Premier Brian Pallister pledged $110,000 in additional funding to the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council for support services to refugee claimants, including paralegal services and transportation to Winnipeg from the U.S. border. The province also announced it will provide $70,000 to the Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations to hire a refugee response co-ordinator for a one-year period and supply 14 new emergency housing units.
This is a national issue, not solely one that we are facing here in Manitoba, Pallister said. We must remember also that there is a need for a national and co-ordinated approach.
Pallister said the province is seeking improved information-sharing from Ottawa and assurances services are effectively managed.
randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @randyturner15
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/02/2017 (2079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
KOBOKARA, Madagascar Tiny wooden houses are scattered across the harsh, grey sand of Kobokara hamlet in southern Madagascar. A woman squats in one of them, looking out her low door. Her small stick house is bare, but for a blanket, a mosquito net and a homemade straw mat.
Her words settle in a sigh: I have nothing left.
It is the lament of a parched land, where women cry for thirsty children and farmers hope is spent.
ROBYN DIXON / LOS ANGELES TIMES In the brutally dry village of Kobokara, southern Madagascar, people have been surviving on sour cactus after the worst drought in 35 years.
In Madagascar, the island nation off the southeastern coast of Africa, a grim cycle has set in. Rains arrive late and leave early in the African country most exposed to climate change, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization saus. Droughts, earthquakes, epidemics, floods, cyclones and extreme temperatures have wrought severe damage on agriculture in recent decades.
The worst drought in 35 years pushed families to the brink in the last year, with the harvest 95 per cent lower than in 2015.
Fringes of prickly pear cactus run through Kobokara, yet to bear fruit. Usually it is only cattle fodder.
Its been one year that we have been eating the leaves of the cactus, said the woman in the stick house, Tonelie. Like many here, she has only one name.
Nearly 850,000 people in Madagascar desperately need food aid. But the UNs humanitarian appeal for the country is only 29 per cent funded because of emergencies elsewhere. Even the most desperate families are given only half of what they need to survive.
Each year, farmers in southern Madagascar sow their seeds in November for the rainy season, but in recent years the skies have only spluttered sulkily for a few weeks, before drying up and searing the immature crops.
Some rain finally arrived late last year, but many families had no seeds left to plant and no money to buy them.
With repeated crop failures, people have to sell firewood to survive, taking small sharp axes and hacking efficiently at the trees that are the lungs of their dying country, thereby deepening the crisis.
Tonelie, 42, has six of her eight children still living at home and no husband. She has land to farm, but it is bare.
Eight months ago, she made the long, regretful walk to market to sell her last cow. Many people in this harsh land have sold their last goat or even their last chicken.
Then, week by week, they have sold everything else: clothes, spoons, tin plates, cups, pots, plastic sheets. Even their mattresses.
They cling finally to their plastic water cans, receptacles of the last drops of hope.
Tonelie even had to sell hers.
I am so unhappy. Im just waiting out the rest of my life, until I die Veza, an old farmer who has lost everything
Painfully thin, she speaks with quiet resignation. She rises each morning with empty pockets and has the hours of daylight to somehow come up with something so she and her children can live another day. She works someone elses land to earn the equivalent of about 30 cents a day.
Tonelie took her children out of school because there was no money, so they must help in the grinding job of survival.
In Kobokara, people dig holes in the sandy ground for water, but five months ago, the water dried up. Once a week, water sellers from a village to the east drive their ox carts about 14.5 kilometres along the deep sandy track, and Tonelie takes out the crumpled, sweaty banknotes that will decide her week.
If I have (enough) money, I buy two cans. If not, I buy only one can, said Tonelie, referring to the plastic 19-litre cans used to store water. (She has to borrow the cans.) In a bad week, that leaves the equivalent of just over one soda can of water apiece per day.
My biggest problem is food, she said. The 30 cents she earns as a farm labourer buys water, But its not enough to buy food.
Her family survives on prickly pear cactus and occasional handouts from an uncle in a nearby village.
Across the south, small children endure constant, pitiless thirst. Mothers go without so their children can drink a little more.
The biggest issue in the south is water. They dont have rain. They dont have access to water, even in good years, said Elke Wisch, UNICEFs country director for Madagascar.
In the neighbouring village of Ikopoky, Jocelyn Rasoanakambana, 29, puts her six children to sleep without water on the days she has no money.
I can borrow a bit of money to buy water, she said recently. But when its day after day after day, even my relatives dont want to give. When we have no money, we go to bed without drinking any water.
Last Thursday was one of the worst days. I had no money to buy water, so my children were crying. I felt so helpless, thinking about what is happening to us. Sometimes when I see my children crying, theres a tear in my eye, too.
In her village, three children in one family died recently, and the parents moved away.
Humanitarian agencies such as the World Food Program, UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services and USAID have tried to help, providing cash grants, food, seeds, water and health projects. But their efforts havent been enough.
ROBYN DIXON / LOS ANGELES TIMES Parents spend what little they have on food and water, leaving no money for school costs. World Food Program meals keep children in class and address malnutrition.
World Food Program rations had to be cut in half because the agencys fundraising target from donors fell short, and some villages were never reached by humanitarian agencies.
Families are ashamed about not being able to provide for their kids. Theyre embarrassed, said Joshua Poole of Catholic Relief Services.
If a child passes away, they wait until night to bury them, when no one else is around.
From Tonelies house in Kobokara, its a short walk past a rare shady tree to the small house of an old farmer named Veza. He plucks a red flower from the prickly pear cactus and bites into it with crooked yellow teeth. He planted last year, but the crop died. This year, he had no money and no seeds, and there was not enough rain.
He senses his life is coming to an end, gradually whittled back to nothing.
Vezas modest wealth was the work of a lifetime: three goats and four cattle, in a culture where money and pride are counted in herds of cows and bulls. But one of the cattle died. Four years ago, after bad rains and a failed harvest, he took the bitter decision to sell the other three.
I didnt have any choice. I felt terrible because I didnt have cattle. I had nothing. A year later his wife, calling him weak, walked out and never came back.
Then, two of his three goats died. With dwindling hope in recent months, he sold the last goat and all his plates and pots.
I am so unhappy. Im just waiting out the rest of my life, until I die, Veza said.
Underlying the crisis is entrenched, grinding poverty, corruption and bad governance.
We are talking about a country with a large majority of the population being extremely poor, said Wisch.
There is a small group of the population which is extremely rich.
Around 90 per cent of Madagascars 23 million people live on less than US$2 a day, and 80 per cent survive on less than US$1, UNICEF says. As a result of chronic malnutrition, nearly half of the children suffer stunting, the fourth-highest rate in the world.
ROBYN DIXON / LOS ANGELES TIMES Nearly 850,000 people are in desperate need of food in Madagascar, where children endure constant thirst and mothers often go without water.
Where you have chronic poverty and theres a shock, people fall straight into crisis because they dont have any reserves. They dont have any food, said Jean-Luc Siblot of the World Food Program. In Madagascar, three years of poor rains and crop failures have led to a catastrophic situation.
The UNs ambitious Sustainable Development Goals which include urgent action on climate change and the elimination of all hunger and poverty by 2030 are supposed to see the world humanitarian community move beyond crisis mode. The aims include boosting peoples resilience, improving education, strengthening agriculture and reversing land degradation and deforestation.
But long-term goals take a back seat in times of crisis a withering drought caused by the 2015-16 El Nino and humanitarian emergencies in Nigeria and South Sudan triggered by war.
Lets be clear. To overcome a poverty situation such as this one, a development program by a number of international organizations will not solve the problem. It is the government and good governance that will at some point change the situation or make the situation a little better, said Siblot.
There needs to be reforms at all levels, said Wisch, of UNICEF. There needs to be a focus on bringing down the levels of corruption.
Many farmers, defeated by drought, have left to work in the wetter, less impoverished north of the country, as rickshaw cyclists or illegal miners in protected forests. They include Tonelies former partner, the father of her eight children, who sent her US$3 last year. She doubts she will ever see him again.
When it finally rained in Berohambato village in December, Kazy Liarihee felt a stirring of hope. Her husband hurried out early in the morning to plant the few seeds of cassava, maize and sweet potato they have left. Even if the rain does last, the family with nine children will endure months of hunger before the harvest.
Its very hot, she said. There was no rain last year, and we had no crop. The wind blows all the time, and we eat only red cactus.
Los Angeles Times
Seventy-five years ago, Hannah Semba was forced from her home for simply looking like the enemy.
The attack by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor had nothing to do with her she was an American citizen. She and her family had lived quietly in Mount Vernon, Wash., for years.
But none of that seemed to matter. After the Dec. 7, 1941, attack that killed more than 2,400, fearful Americans didnt know whether they could trust their Japanese and Japanese-American neighbors. Many believed they needed to be removed from the West Coast, where most of the population was concentrated, as a matter of national security.
The result was that on Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, forcibly relocating some 120,000 people of Japanese descent most of whom were U.S. citizens to internment camps.
Hannah Semba (then Hannah Hayano) was about 16 when the Army came for her family.
Bringing only what the seven of them could carry, the Hayanos were loaded onto an open-bed Army truck and driven through the center of town on the way out.
Everyone could see them. Some called out, Good riddance!
Even today, at 90, Semba remembers the shame of that ride.
You can imagine the embarrassment and the ugly feeling we had within ourselves, she said.
The Hayanos were sent by train to the Tule Lake camp in northern California, one of 10 scattered throughout the United States.
Today, Semba lives in Minneapolis. She was among the hundreds of survivors to resettle in Minnesota after the war. In 1940, just 51 people of Japanese descent lived in the state, according to the census. Ten years later, the population had soared to 1,049.
Local survivors and the Twin Cities Japanese American Citizens League will be marking the 75th anniversary of incarceration with a series of events this year, including one this weekend at the Minnesota History Center.
Camp life
Each of the internment camps was isolated, its living conditions bleak. Families cramped together into often shoddy, tar-papered barracks with little privacy. Hung sheets served as room dividers. People ate in large mess halls and bathed in communal restrooms. Relationships deteriorated in the close quarters.
Some had to walk a half-block or more from the barracks to the bathroom. For a simple drink of water, internees had to go all the way to the mess hall; there was no water in the barracks.
The normal functions of community life continued, but almost always under a handicap, said a 1983 report by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, which examined the impact of the camps. Doctors were in short supply, schools which taught typing had no typewriters and worked from hand-me-down school books; there were not enough jobs.
Through it all, the Japanese internees lived behind fences and barbed wire, surrounded by armed guards in watchtowers.
At the Minidoka Relocation Center in south-central Idaho, where 6-year-old Sally (Ohno) Sudo and her family of 12 were incarcerated, temperatures stretched from the triple digits during the summer to below zero in the winter.
It was miserable, Sudo said: Imagine being in a building thats covered with black tar paper and no insulation.
Ashamed of my own ethnicity
As World War II ended, the camps were gradually emptied and shuttered; some families chose to go back home, while other resettled elsewhere.
Tule Lake was the last internment camp to close, in March 1946.
Today, more than 70 years later, survivors still vividly remember the shame and pain of being imprisoned and stripped of their rights as citizens.
You carried this guilt of: What did I do to deserve this? Semba said. Youre in a state of confusion Why are we here? Im an American citizen.
No Japanese or Japanese-American person living in the U.S. was ever convicted of espionage or sabotage during World War II.
In 1980, Congress established the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to examine Executive Order 9066 and its impact. Its report, titled Personal Justice Denied, concluded that the incarceration was a grave injustice motivated by race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership.
The United States formally apologized in 1988 for what President Ronald Reagan called a sad chapter in American history when he signed the Civil Liberties Act. The legislation also paid out $20,000 in compensation to internment camp survivors.
Still, the experience left some, like Sudo, feeling as though there was something wrong with being Japanese.
It made me ashamed of my own ethnicity, she said last week. I carried that feeling all the way through school that there was something different about me, that I didnt seem to fit in or belong, that if the government was doing this to us, there must be something wrong with us.
But the ordeal was particularly devastating for people of her parents generation, she said. As immigrants, they had already rebuilt their lives once in the U.S., only to see it all taken away. Now, they had to do it all over again.
People lost their businesses, they lost their homes, they lost their personal property because they had to leave it all behind, Sudo said. Theyre living here as legal immigrants and working hard, supporting their families, earning a living and then you lose all of that.
Her father had immigrated to the United States in 1899 at the age of 18. He was 63 when he left Minidoka.
After the war, he really lived in a state of depression. I dont think he ever recovered from it, Sudo said.
From Minidoka to Minnesota
Many Japanese, believing there was nothing they could do, had resigned themselves to living at the camps until they were released. But there were a few ways to get out, even though as one University of Minnesota professor describes it while the camps were in operation, they never were truly free.
Many of those deemed loyal to America were eventually allowed to leave the internment camps if they were able to get a job elsewhere or to join the Army or attend college inland. In short, they were considered good minorities. The bad ones stayed behind, locked up indefinitely.
But living outside the camp just meant that they had the freedom to obey, freedom to assimilate, said Yuichiro Onishi, who teaches Asian-American and African-American studies at the University of Minnesota.
One of Sudos older brothers, Joe Ohno, ended up in Minnesota in 1943, training and working at the Military Intelligence Service Language School.
The school was established after military officials started to realize that there was a need for Japanese translators in World War IIs Pacific theater. They decided to train the Nisei, the American-born children of Japanese immigrants, for those roles.
The 4th Army Intelligence School opened in San Francisco in 1941. But after Executive Order 9066, the school moved to Camp Savage, just southwest of Minneapolis. It outgrew that facility within a few years and moved again to Fort Snelling.
Eventually, more 6,000 Japanese-Americans were trained at the school. They went on to break codes, serve as translators and interrogate prisoners of war. Their work was kept secret from most Americans until the 1970s, but their efforts have been credited with shortening the Pacific war by about two years.
Once Sudos brother Joe was in Minnesota, he helped get three other siblings out of the camp: Amy started doing secretarial work at Fort Snelling; Tom found employment with a Minneapolis family; and Fred studied at the Dunwoody Institute. With four of the 10 siblings living in Minnesota by the time the war was over, it made sense for the rest of the family to head here after leaving Minidoka.
After the dry deserts of Idaho, Sudo couldnt get over how green Minneapolis was. The home where they lived in south Minneapolis had trees lining the block.
It just felt like the whole city seemed like a park, she said.
Meanwhile, Semba had also found her way to the North Star State. Her older sister had started school at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. Figuring shed at least know someone nearby, Semba enrolled at Macalester College in St. Paul. Beginning in the fall of 1944, she studied there for a year before transferring to the University of Minnesota. She graduated in 1948.
Their parents joined them in Minnesota after the war and both Sudo and Semba still live here today.
Could it happen again?
After the war, Semba and her husband rarely talked to their children about their experiences. It was too painful.
But she has started speaking about them more openly now, worried about what will happen if she doesnt.
The story has to be told, she said. Can it happen again? Yes. In some ways its happening now.
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, 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.
But what would repealing Obamacare mean in practice?
It would mean allowing insurers to deny coverage for pre-existing 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 said, 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 whats 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.
Now that the Trump administration has reversed the Department of Education policy on transgender bathroom use, the Supreme Court will probably dismiss the case its hearing on the matter rather than issue a decision. But even if that happens and it isnt 100 percent certain the result may be better for transgender-rights advocates than judgment on the merits would have been.
In the long run, the movement would be better off with a decision that reads federal anti-discrimination law as protecting against transgender bias than with a decision that makes protection depend upon the whims of the administration charged with implementing the law.
The background to the current situation involves more than just the question of whether Gavin Grimm, a transgender student, may use the mens room at his Gloucester County, Virginia, high school. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held in favor of Grimm and against the high school because of an interpretation of a federal regulation issued by the Obama Department of Education.
Everyone agrees that Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. The Department of Educations own regulations apply that law by allowing separate bathrooms on the basis of sex provided they are comparable ... to facilities provided for students of the other sex.
The Obama administration issued an interpretation of its own regulation and said that the regulation should be read to require students to have access to the bathroom corresponding to their gender identification.
The Fourth Circuit engaged in a two-step analysis. First it asked whether the regulation was ambiguous, and it said yes. Then it held that, under a Supreme Court decision called Auer v. Robbins, it would defer to the departments interpretation of the statute so long as it was reasonable.
What lawyers call Auer deference is a kissing cousin of the more famous doctrine of Chevron deference, which says that the courts will defer to an agencys reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous federal statute. Chevron deference has been in the news lately because Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has sharply criticized it. The Auer approach applies the deference principle to regulations, not statutes.
As long as the Obama administrations interpretation of the regulation was in place, Grimm could win his case at the Supreme Court so long as the justices simply held that the regulation was ambiguous and the Obama administrations interpretation reasonable. A 4-4 split would still have been a win, because it wouldve affirmed the decision below.
Now that the Trump administration has retracted this interpretation of the regulation, the justices could dismiss the case and send it back to the Fourth Circuit to reconsider in the light of the new interpretation. Supreme Court nerds have an acronym for this kind of dismissal. Its called a DIG, short for the writ of certiorari having been dismissed as improvidently granted.
On reconsideration, the Fourth Circuit would be hard-pressed not to reverse its judgment and rule for the school. After all, the court has already said the regulation is ambiguous. And it can certainly be argued that the Trump administrations interpretation is just as reasonable as that of the Obama administration, even if you think (as I do) that it is the wrong call.
All this sounds like a loss for the transgender rights movement but it might not be the worst outcome of all the possible options. The justices still have discretion to decide whether to decide. If they keep the case, they could in theory reverse the Fourth Circuit by saying that the regulation isnt ambiguous, but plainly demands the interpretation urged by the school board. That would require both Anthony Kennedy and a confirmed Neil Gorsuch taking that position, so it isnt highly likely. But it would mark a major defeat for the transgender rights movement.
If, on the other hand, the case goes back to the Fourth Circuit and the school board wins, Grimms lawyers might well decide not to go back to the Supreme Court. That would mean there would be no Supreme Court precedent on transgender issues at all for the moment. And that would be better than a bad precedent.
It would also leave room for the Supreme Court in the future to rule on the meaning of Title IX itself, rather than the meaning of the Department of Education regulation implementing it.
Ultimately, it would be best if the Supreme Court were to rule that discrimination against transgender people is prohibited by federal law and that this requires, among other things, giving transgender people access to facilities corresponding to their gender identity.
Such a ruling may be sometime in coming. But as the Trump reversal shows, it would be much more robust than a ruling that depends upon deference to administrative agencies controlled by a political executive branch. Equality for transgender people is coming. And it would be best if it arrived with a strong statement of equality, not a weak statement of judicial deference to federal agencies.
The ideal result for the transgender movement would of course be for the court to keep the case and rule that the regulation is not ambiguous and that it in fact requires nondiscrimination against transgender students in bathroom use. That would in effect render the Trump administrations position unlawful. But that possibility seems highly remote.
No lower court has yet ruled on whether the Trump administrations approach is reasonable, and the Supreme Court doesnt like to be the first court to weigh in on a question of law.
Highway 151 can be a dangerous road to navigate if youre distracted.
And thats especially true for birds of prey soaring overhead, who can be so focused on the animals theyre hunting that they dont notice the traffic whizzing down the freeway.
One red-tailed hawk learned that lesson the hard way on Jan. 7, when he flew into a car driving 70 mph about a mile south of Columbus.
Most of the time, that would be a deadly mistake. But in this particular instance, the red-tailed hawk which suffered a broken clavicle and eye trauma will live to fly another day, thanks to Sharon Yildiz of McFarland.
A dog obedience trainer, animal lover and good Samaritan, Yildiz was on her way to a house-warming/Serbian Christmas party hosted by her friend Vesna Kovach of Columbus when she saw the hawk collide with one of the cars in front of her and tumble to the ground.
There was tons of traffic, Yildiz said. The hawk just careened through the air and landed by the roadside and flapped a few times, and then it rolled over onto its back.
Yildiz thought the bird was dead. But, animal lover and good Samaritan that she is, she decided to stop and see if there was anything she could do. And being an obedience trainer, she happened to have an empty dog crate in the back of her car perfect for transporting an injured hawk in.
Yildiz carefully snuck around the bird and threw a blanket over it, so she wouldnt scare it, if it was still alive. Then she put the hawk in the dog crate, merged back into traffic and turned around on the Highway 73 ramp to head back toward Madison.
Yildiz knew exactly where to go. Her house is half a mile away from the Dane County Humane Society Wildlife Center, which shes a big supporter of. She regularly donates supplies to the organization and her backyard is often used as a release site for the centers rehabilitated birds, squirrels and other wildlife.
Yildiz called while en route, to make sure the center was open and to alert the staff that she was bringing in a hawk that was either injured or dead. It wasnt moving or making a sound inside its crate, so she wasnt sure.
When I got to the center, someone else was arriving at the same time with an injured Canada goose, so we walked in together, Yildiz said.
Wildlife center staff examined Yildizs hawk, set its broken bone and bandaged it up and then they crossed their fingers and hoped for the best.
They said the collar bone would heal up, but if the eye damage didnt heal, they would not be able to release it because hawks rely on their eyes to hunt, Yildiz said.
Fortunately the eye trauma healed, as did the broken clavicle.
Bones heal real quick in birds, the younger ones even quicker, said John Kraak, of the Wildlife Center, who helped care for the bird during its recovery.
On Wednesday afternoon, Kraak and one of his co-workers drove the healed hawk back up to Columbus, where it was released in Rotary Park. Kraak said they always try to release wildlife in the same area that it was found.
Hawks can live 20 to 25 years, Kraak said, but its not uncommon for their lives to be cut short by traffic collisions like the one Yildiz witnessed.
They will be so focused on their prey, they wont even notice cars, Kraak said. Theyll just glide across the road and hit passing cars.
Egyptian court acquits Mubarak's closest aides
A Cairo court acquitted one of deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's closest aides in a retrial in a corruption case, state news agency MENA reported on Saturday.
Zion Lutheran Schools spring session of SonBEAMS early childhood program will begin on Thursday, March 2 from 8 to 9:15 a.m. The session runs for six weeks with a spring break on March 23.
SonBEAMS is a free program for young children along with their caregiver. Each meeting will have a Bible lesson, exercise time, craft activities, music and social time (free play).
The SonBEAMS class meets in the gym at Zion School, 822 Western Ave., Columbus. Call the Zion office at 920-623-5180 for more information.
China News on Women
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Export cash incentive scheme fails to meet desired objectives
In December, 40 tonnes of yellow lentils worth over Rs10 million being smuggled from India were intercepted by the police in Parsa.
Taxi (illustration)
By: Alexis Bell WorldWideWeirdNews.com
Police in Sweden, are scrambling to find a taxi driver who raped two women, after picking them from a restaurant late one night, according to a press release by the police.
Jarfalla police said that the two young women were raped on Friday night.
The women told police that hailed the taxi outside the restaurant. They told the driver their destination, but instead of driving them home, the suspect took the women to a deserted area.
The driver then stopped the car, and violently raped the two women. In addition to being raped, the two women suffered injuries to their private parts.
The driver them fled from the scene. Police used dogs to track down the suspect, but so far, no arrests have been made. In the past two weeks, two other women have been sexually assaulted in the city.
Police urged anyone with information about the rapes to call them.
Kelly Godfrey
By: William Martin WorldWideWeirdNews.com
A woman who became extremely angry when her boyfriend asked her to leave his home, threw sex toys in front of his young children, according to police in South Carolina.
Spartanburg police said that they have arrested 30-year-old Kelly Godfrey, after being accused of striking her boyfriend in the face.
Godfrey has been charged with one count of domestic violence.
According to the police investigation, Godfrey came to the home of her boyfriend located at 617 Beacon Light Road. When the boyfriend asked Godfrey about his missing wallet, she became mad.
Shen then grabbed adult toys and threw them in the apartment.
A neighbor asked her to calm down and stop throwing the sex toys as the boyfriendas two young children, aged 5 and 8, were in the home.
Godfrey did not calm down and she charged at her boyfriend.
She struck him in the face and pushed him towards a wall. The boyfriend was able to break free and run out of the home.
Demand for Consulate Generals Office: Government team studies Vizag port
A Nepal government team has conducted a study to determine if there is need for setting up a consulate generals office at Visakhapatnam port in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Govt initiates process of building industrial area
The government has initiated the process of establishing an industrial area in Shaktikhor, Chitwan, to facilitate the countrys manufacturing sector, whose contribution to the economic output has been declining of late.
LOWNDES COUNTY, Ga. (WTXL)--The senior airman from Moody Air Force Base who was killed in a car wreck is now identified.
Georgia State Patrol troopers say 22-year-old Sara Elizabeth Toy died at the scene.
She was in the backseat of the Mazda. The crash happened Saturday at 1:30 a.m. Troopers say 29-year old Joshua Ryan Stephenson, of California, was driving when he ran off Coleman Road. The car hit a tree with the driver's side door, overturned, and landed in a ditch on its roof.
Twenty-six-year-old Abbott Joshua Dale, of Illinois,was in the front passenger seat. Dale and Stephenson were airlifted to Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville for their severe injuries. They are also airmen at Moody Air Force Base. Troopers suspect alcohol to be a factor in the crash. They are investigating.
Moody Air Force Base says Toy, of New Kent, Virginia, began her career in the air force on August 13, 2013, arriving at Moody on February 14, 2014.
She was assigned to the 74th Aircraft Maintenance Unit as a weapons team chief.
"It is a great loss to us all when we lose a member of our Air Force family. Each and every member of Team Moody shares in the sorrow felt by her loved ones, but we must not forget the valuable contributions Airman Toy made to Moody Air Force Base," said Col. Thomas Kunkel, 23d Wing Commander. "My condolences go out to her family and friends. We, as a base, will continually be by the side of our two injured Airman. The 23d Wing will work with the Airmen's family, friends, co-workers and others affected by this accident to provide the support and assistance needed."
David Hubbard describes shoulder pain to Dr. Jacob Christensen, doctor of osteopathic medicine, during an appointment at Central Washington Family Medicine in Yakima, Wash., Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. The Central Washington Family Medicine residency program has been around since 1993, training dozens of primary care doctors who have gone on to practice in the Yakima area. But the Valleys primary care shortage is still acute, often resulting in long wait times for people trying to find a provider. (SHAWN GUST/Yakima Herald-Republic)
YAKIMA, Wash. Volunteers are needed for Citizenship Day on Saturday in Yakima. La Casa Hogar annually partners with One America and Yakima V
Health Minister Thapa announces organ donation
Health Minister Gagan Thapa has expressed his commitment to donate his organs.
Benjamin Netanyahu has described his visit to Australia, a first for an Israeli prime minister, as "wonderful."
Netanyahu and his wife Sara concluded their five-day trip to Sydney on Sunday by meeting with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
Netanyahu and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week agreed to deepen business and travel links between the two countries.
About 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at Sydney's Town Hall on Thursday night and complained that Netanyahu was being treated like a celebrity in Australia when he should be tried for war crimes.
Netanyahu met political, business and Jewish community leaders during his stay. He was accompanied by a large security contingent as he traveled around Sydney.
Netanyahu has been to Australia twice before but never as prime minister.
As he wrapped up his five-day trip to Australia on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described his visit, a first for a serving Israeli prime minister, as "wonderful."
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"This has been a wonderful visit here. You people are amazing," Netanyahu told Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop before talks behind closed doors.
Netanyahu joked with Bishop, who had recently arrived home from a trip to the United States and Britain, that the pair had "shared more or less the same route."
Prime Minister Netanyahu, right, meets with Australian Foreign Minister Bishop (Photo: AP)
Netanyahu and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week agreed to deepen business and travel links between the two countries.
About 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters at Sydney's Town Hall on Thursday night complained that Netanyahu was being treated like a celebrity in Australia when he should be tried for war crimes.
He was also accused by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of frustrating negotiations with the US to create a two-state solution to Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu met political, business and Jewish community leaders during his stay. He was accompanied by a large security contingent as he traveled around Sydney.
Netanyahu had been to Australia twice before but never as prime minister.
"I'd stay longer if I could," he told Bishop.
HELENA Spurred in part by a spate of controversies over anti-Semitism in one of the state's towns, Montana lawmakers advanced a bill Saturday that pledges solidarity with Israel by refusing to do business with firms boycotting the Jewish state.
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Republican House Speaker Austin Knudsen of Culbertson said his bill allows Montana to stand in solidarity with Israel. The bill "sends the message that we will not send our taxpayer dollars to companies which chose to participate in the boycotting and sanctioning of one of our nation's strongest allies," Knudson said.
The bill would direct the Montana Board of Investments to sever ties with companies supporting a pro-Palestinian movement to boycott Israel. It would also bar public agenciesincluding counties, cities and townsfrom doing businesses with companies that don't agree to certify in writing that they are not engaged in a boycott of Israel.
Bus ad in California calling to boycott Israel
Opponents said the bill is well-intentioned but a potential infringement on free speech. Some argued Montana should stay out of global politics.
Nevertheless, the House endorsed the measure 59-41 on preliminary vote. In doing so, Montana is seeking to join other states that have passed similar bills.
Knudsen said his interest in Israel predates the recent focus on hate groups in Whitefish.
In recent weeks, a Jewish center in the tiny Montana community was the target of bomb threats. The town garnered widespread scrutiny in December when a neo-Nazi group began urging followers to "take action" against Whitefish residents who it believed were Jews.
"We're all aware of what happened in Whitefish late last year. Some of that controversy is still going on. We have white supremacists who want to march in Whitefish, Montana, in our own home state," Knudsen told members of the House chamber. He saw the bill as an opportunity, he said, to stand up for Israel and the Jewish people.
Rep. Denise Hayman, a Democrat from Bozeman, said the bill would create a political and ideological test for Montana's investments. She said her husband and children are Jewish, and that her in-laws escaped Germany's Nazi regime to move to the United States.
The proposal takes aim at the so-called BDS movementBoycott, Divestment and Sanctionsthat is seeking international support against Israel for its treatment of Palestinians.
"BDS is nothing less than modern-day anti-Semitism," said Rabbi Chaim Bruk, in a statement released by Knudsen's office. Bruk applauded the Montana House for "standing with the Jewish people in Montana and their eternal bond with Israel."
But not all Jewish leaders supported the proposal. Laurie Franklin, the congregational leader of Har Shalom in Missoula, acknowledged that the bill "was well-intentioned" but would place "unacceptable restraints on free trade and free speech."
Franklin, who advocates improving relations between Israelis and Palestinians, said the bill is an unnecessary foray by the state into global politics.
Yad Vashem has urged Amazon to remove books denying the Holocaust from its site after learning the online retailer continues offering them to readers despite making commitments to remove such titles.
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These books are available even in countries that have laws barring the distribution and sale of Nazi propaganda materials.
Upon receiving complaints about the matter, Dr. Robert Rozett, the Director of the Yad Vashem Libraries, sent an urgent email to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, requesting that he immediately remove the books from the site.
The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem has made similar appeals to Amazon when the site was first making its name, seemingly to no avail.
"Once again, given the presence of anti-Semitism around the globe, which has become more prevalent in recent years, we strongly urge you to remove books that deny, distort and trivialize the Holocaust from your store," Dr. Rozett wrote.
"Holocaust denial and other forms of hate speech indisputably nurture prejudice and hate crimes," he went on to say. "Open discussion of ideas is certainly essential to pluralistic and democratic systems, but facilitating the spread of such hate-filled ideas is irresponsible, to say the least. As a major agent for the dissemination of ideas, it is incumbent upon Amazon, as it is also incumbent upon internet providers in general, to act to curb the spread of hatred."
Amazon has yet to comment on the matter.
Former IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz rebuffed on Friday a series of expected findings about Operation Protective Edge, ahead of a publication by the state comptroller of a report into the 50-day military campaign.
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I dont accept what is written there, said Gantzwho presided over the 2014 operationat a closed event, according to reporter Isaac Dabush from Yedioth Ahronoth.
Benny Gantz stands behind PM Netanyahu and Moshe Ya'alon (Photo: Haim Zach/GPO)
Gantz insisted that contrary to apparent claims of failed intelligence, particularly pertaining to the tunnel threat from Gaza, the preparation was comprehensive and based on excellent information.
It is impossible to implement a deployment and succeed in wars without intelligence, he said. In Protective Edge, the intelligence was great, accessible and always complete."
So confident was Gantz in the information on which he based the waging of the war, he added: I am ready to go to the next round with the intelligence as it was in the last one.
Gantzs comments were made in a similar tone to Moshe Yaalon, who served as defense minister at the time of the operation.
Hamas tunnels in Gaza (Photo: Reuters)
In a video uploaded to his Facebook page, Yaalon said There are those who leak, and there are those who fight.
In the coming weeks you will hear an awful lot about Protective Edge. Whoever was playing politics in the cabinet then during the war, will continue to do so this week, Yaalon wrote on his Facebook page.
They will tell you they didnt know, that nobody told them, that nobody reported to them. And the biggest lie of all? They will say that we were not prepared and that we lost. This is nonsense.
However, the preemptive defense put up by Gantz and Yaalon has already found itself absorbing shots from big guns in the military establishment, including from the likes of Yoav Galant, the former head of the IDF's Southern Command.
IDF Chief Gadi Eisenkot (R) and Aviv Kohavi (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The soldiers of Protective Edge fought like heroes, he said, before going on the offensive against the two.
Gantz and Yaalon failed. (There was) negligence, contempt in the preparations, hesitation in deploying the force. At the moment they are hiding under the apron of the cabinet, Galant wrote in his Twitter page.
IDF soldier at the opening of a Hamas tunnel (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The report is expected to contain fierce criticism against how Gantz operated, along with a number of officials from the senior general staff, including the then head of intelligence Aviv Kohavi, who now serves in the northern command.
However, Gantz expressed his steadfast support for Kohavi, describing him as the best intelligence chief in the IDF in the last 40 years.
He made big reforms that (IDF Military Intelligence General Herzi Halevi) is continuing, I imagine. All the criticism that has been heard in the report on this, I dont accept.
Gantz also discussion the cooperation between the IDF and neighboring armies. The IDF is stronger than all the regular armies in the region put together, he continued, adding that We have wonderful cooperation with Egypt and that he supports reforms for shortening mandatory military service.
Transcripts from the cabinet meetings during the operation, which were obtained by Yedioth Ahronoth, show that the chief of staff cooperated with Netanyahu and Yaalons concept of Hamas containment.
Hamas doesnt want to act, Gantz was quoted as saying in one of the meetings. In a later session, Gantz said "I am against a ground operation. There have been big achievements up to this point. Hamas is beaten, the tunnels are a reasonable threat.
The comments on the tunnels were made before they became the central strategic target of the war.
According to the minutes, Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett appeared to be the most vociferous proponent of a more aggressive campaign.
I expect you all to come to the cabinet with an operational plan with an offensive spirit. It is not me that is supposed to bring a plan here for the destruction of the tunnels, he said during one meeting. Be galloping horses and not lazy bulls.
Along with Yaalon and Gantz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also expected to find himself the subject of censure, particularly over his handling of the security cabinet during the operation.
Three thousand people demonstrated in front of the Haifa District Court Sunday in an effort to bring about the closure of the citys ammonia tank, which was ruled by a separate court to be a serious danger to public health.
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Meanwhile, as the protestors called on the courts to act swiftly, inside the court judges were considering and were preparing to rule on the petition filed by Haifa Chemicals against closing it.
By 1:30pm, the court announced that a final decision would be taken on the matter in the coming days, and would be given no later than Wednesday.
Thousands march the streets of Haifa (Photo: Reuben Cohen)
Haifas Court for Local Affairs had previously cited the serious health hazards entailed in keeping the facility operational, and consequently ordered Haifa Chemicals to close the ammonia tank within 10 days, a time limit which expired last Tuesday.
However, the decision was scrapped after Haifas District Court permitted the company to keep the tank open and active until the petition was heard.
Photo: Haifa City Council
With the onset of the protests, which got underway in the morning, roads in the city were closed. Middle and high schools in Haifa and nearby cities were also closed until 12:00pm to allow students to participate in the demonstration.
Overall, more than 33,000 students will be affected by the disruptions. National Student Council Chairman Hanan Yazdi described the ammonia tank as "a ticking time bomb. We cannot allow for this immense danger to exist in the heart of a populated area."
The Haifa District Student Council Chairman Noy Krief added that "The ammonia tank endangers and threatens hundreds of thousands of citizens living in the Haifa district. I call on all teenagers to ask the hard questions, create a discourse, become actively involved and go and protest for the relocation of the ammonia tank."
"I too live in the blast radius" (Photo: Haifa City Council)
The ammonia tank made headlines recently after a report by experts from the Technion Institute of Technology claimed that it poses a severe risk in its continued activity since it has not been properly inspected since it was built 30 years ago.
The report also claimed that "the ammonia ship that enters the Haifa Bay every four weeks is akin to a ship carrying five primed atom bombs, each more deadly than the one dropped on Hiroshima," and therefore constitutes a major security weak point.
The report determined that any leakage, resulting from either a terror attack , an earthquake (the Carmel Mountain is an active seismic area), or even an accident could create a deadly cloud of highly poisonous gas that could kill over half a million people, depending on the prevailing wind conditions.
The Haifa ammonia tank (Photo: AFP)
The report was written by Prof. Ehud Keinan of the Technion Schulich Faculty of Chemistry (formerly the facultys dean). It has been in the hands of Haifas city council for over six months. The state objects to the conclusions of Keinans report.
Among other things, the report concluded that to take down the Twin Towers in New York the terrorists didnt need tens of tons of up-to-standard explosives, but realized the destructive potential in a large passenger plane that is filled with fuel and travelling at a high speed. Hezbollahs Secretary General was absolutely right about the destructive potential of the ammonia tank, and even more; of the ammonia ship"
Malaysia airport terminal declared safe after nerve agent attack
The airport terminal where the half-brother of North Korea's leader was killed with a nerve agent has been declared free of any "hazardous material" by Malaysian police.
An army does not have to wait for the political echelons to guide it on how to prepare for a for a defensive battle. Dealing with the threat of tunnels infiltrating Israeli territory should always have been part of the defense plan vis-a-vis the Gaza Strip.
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So how is it possible that the IDF, according to what has been quoted from the state comptrollers report on Operation Protective Edge, was unprepared to deal with the threat?
When the comptrollers report is released this Tuesday, we should look for the paragraphs dealing with the Southern Commands operative plans in the area of defense.
If it emerges that the comptroller discovered that dealing with the tunnels was not an integral part of the Southern Commands defense plan on the eve of Protective Edge, then it was a faulty plan which requires the army to provide explanations.
Hamas tunnel uncovered during Operation Protective Edge. What intelligence did the army have when it reached the fighting in the tunnels? (Photo: Reuters)
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon and the top military officials assumed that Israel could deal with the tunnel threat efficiently from within its own territory: in other words, through intelligence and close physical monitoring of the tunnels exits.
This assumption stemmed from, among other things, the evaluation that both Hamas and Israel had no interest in a comprehensive conflict. The army presented retrospective evidence to illustrate the point, stating that apart from one tunnel from which terrorists infiltrated Israel and killed five soldiers from the company commanders school, the rest of the breaches were ultimately uncovered, and not a single civilian was hurt.
This perception of the defense minister and top military echelons on the eve of Operation Protective Edge was reflected in the IDFs preparedness for the operation. Rather than preparing for a physical takeover of some 30 tunnels, they prepared to uncover the tunnels and deal with them from within Israeli territory.
In this case too, we should look carefully between the lines of the comptrollers report.
When the army received an order from the political echelon shortly before launching Protective Edge to change the plans and prepare for a comprehensive military operation, which entailed capturing the tunnels within the Gaza Strip, did any of the officers stand up and say: Gentlemen, we are not prepared for such an operation. We have neither the equipment nor the professionals, the training or the combat doctrine? Did the defense minister say that to the cabinet?
Another thing that has to be looked into carefully between the lines of the report pertains to what intelligence the army had when it reached the fighting in the tunnel.
Who was actually responsible for providing the intelligence? Was there an organized, structured and clear division of work regarding the person responsible for essential elements of information on the Gaza issue? Was it the Military Intelligence Directorate? The Shin Bet? The South Command intelligence? Did everyone deal with everything in an improvised fashion, without any coordination between them?
And in general, what was the extent of the intelligence effort dedicated to the tunnels? Did the Marmara story repeat itself, when the Military Intelligence Directorate, the Navy and the Mossad were not on the same page, and blamed each other in retrospect as a result?
When the army wants to thwart a plan, it knows how to do so very well. Officers have already faced the cabinet in the past and explained why Israel was not prepared to strike in Iran. The main argument at the time, on a side note, was not operational inability but rather the number of casualties which the State of Israel would not be able to endure. The cabinet was convinced.
In the case of the tunnelswhich was part of a much more certain conflict than the conflict with Iranthere was probably not a single military official who stood up and said: Gentlemen, not only are we not prepared, we cannot know just how many casualties there may be. The proof lies in the defense ministers initial version that taking over the tunnels would be a matter of a mere two days.
Was the National Security Council aware of the military echelons level of preparedness for dealing with the tunnels? I wonder what the state comptroller would have written about that. It seems that it was not only the cabinet which did not receive full reports and did not show an interest as it should have. The National Security Council, a passive player for years now, acted no differently either.
Knesset Member Ofer Shelah (Yesh Atid), who investigated Operation Protective Edge as part of the Knessets Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, determined that the IDF, as described in the Winograd Commissions report in 2006, was unprepared for the Second Lebanon War.
And the IDF, as described in the 2017 comptrollers report, was unprepared for the evolving conflict which led to Operation Protective Edge.
Eleven years have passed between the two reports, and the result is almost identical. Is this a coincidence?
The Pentagon wants to expand the military's ability to battle al-Qaida-linked militants in Somalia, potentially putting US forces closer to the fight against a stubborn extremist group that has plotted attacks against America, senior US officials said.
The recommendations sent to the White House would allow US special operations forces to increase assistance to the Somali National Army in the struggle against al-Shabab militants in the fragile Horn of Africa nation, the officials said. They said the proposal would give the military greater flexibility to launch airstrikes against extremists that appear to be a threat.
Beefing up the military effort in Somalia fits with President Donald Trump's broader request for a Pentagon plan to accelerate the US-led battle against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and defeat other extremist groups, including al-Qaida and its affiliates. US concerns about al-Shabab escalated in recent years as young Americans from Somali communities traveled to training camps in Somalia, raising fears they might return to the United States and conduct terror attacks.
Somalia was one of the seven predominantly Muslim countries included in Trump's travel ban last month. The executive order has since been suspended by federal courts.
Somalia is "our most perplexing challenge," Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the head of US Africa Command, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The United States is "trying to take a look at Somalia from a fresh perspective in the way ahead," he said, describing the need to weaken the decade-old al-Shabab insurgency so that the African nation's military forces can defeat it.
Iran launched naval drills at the mouth of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean on Sunday, a naval commander said, as tensions with the United States escalated after US President Donald Trump put Tehran "on notice.
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Since taking office last month, Trump has pledged to get tough with Iran, warning the Islamic Republic after its ballistic missile test on January 29 that it was playing with fire and all US options were on the table.
Iranian army hold naval drill (Photo: AP)
Iran's annual exercises will be held in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman, the Bab el-Mandab and northern parts of the Indian Ocean, to train in the fight against terrorism and piracy, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said, according to state media.
Millions of barrels of oil are transported daily to Europe, the United States and Asia through the Bab el-Mandab and the Strait of Hormuz, waterways that run along the coasts of Yemen and Iran.
Navy ships, submarines and helicopters will take part in the drills across an area of about 2 million square kilometres (772,000 square miles) and marines will showcase their skills along Iran's southeastern coast, the state news agency IRNA said.
The US Navy's Fifth Fleet is based in the region and protects shipping lanes in the Gulf and nearby waters.
Last month, a US Navy destroyer fired warning shots at four Iranian fast-attack vessels near the Strait of Hormuz after they closed in at high speed. The vessels belonged to Iran's Revolutionary Guards which are not participating in the current war games.
Trump said earlier this month that "Iran has been put formally put on notice" for firing a ballistic missile, and later imposed new sanctions on Tehran.
The US Navy's 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After he and his 17-year-old brother were attacked on Friday by a saw-wielding attacker and his friends in Bondy, France, the 29-year-old Jewish man relived the traumatic incident in his interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, revealing how angry he feels for not being able to defend himself.
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"We stopped at the traffic light, when we suddenly noticed the driver in the car next to us was taking a good look at us, to try and see if we are wearing a kippa. He recklessly tried to block us twice. The third time, I drove near him and asked why he was doing that. He then started cursing us, using anti-Semitic slurs. I asked him to step out of his car, but he kept tailing us and trying to ram us, he said.
Armand Azoulay, the father of the two, said in his interview with Yedioth Ahronoth that his sons were suffering from psychological shock, adding that the assailants tried to pass them several times, and then they tried to push them off the road so their car would drive onto the sidewalk and cause an accident. My son didn't understand what was happening.
The city of Bondy, where the assault took place (Photo: EPA)
According to the complaint the two brothers filed with the police, the driver answered their question with, I do what I want, dirty Jews. Youre going to die. And so, after attempting to ram them off the road, the driver forced the two to stop near a hookah lounge.
"When we approached the Hookah lounge, where a few of his Muslim friends sat, he called for them to come out, the victim recounted. Out of the lounge came five people. Additionally, in his car was also his dad trying to calm him down, saying Enough, enough. He then added that the assailant, aged 25-30, got out of his car with a hacksaw. When we saw it, we started running.
"He attacked me with it and I fell. His friends held me down to the floor while he punched me in the face and kicked me. My younger brother then got outside the car in shock to try and knock him down, and thats how the saw was dropped.
He yelled Ill kill you, you dirty Jew. My brother had to let him go because his friend came to his aid. The assailant grabbed the saw again, but two of his friends tried to calm him down and separate him and my brother. He still managed to cut my brothers hand.
"The assailant then ran to me again and continued to kick me. His father then tried stopping him again. If it wasnt for him, my brother and I would have been murdered. My brother dislocated his shoulder and had to get stitches for his hand. I have bruises and cuts all across my head, face and neck. Thank God Im slowly starting to feel better.
But the two brothers feel strengthened by the attack: What Im left with are images from the incident in my head, and I aim to find him. Since the experience Im no longer scared, adding, I feel hate and anger for not being able to defend myself. I know how to defend against a knife attack. The problem wasnt the number of assailants, but the hacksaw, which neither of us expected. We couldnt get near him to disarm him. I want to find him so I can face him again.
The police have opened an investigation but have not found any suspects yet. The problem in France is that you hear all the time about Jews being assaulted, the man claimed. We need to send a different message today. We need to hear about Jews defending themselves. Never in my life have I seen such hatred.
The last wish of Holocaust survivor Hilde Nathan, who passed away last Thursday in the Canary Islands, was to be buried next to her mother in Israel.
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But because she has no living relatives in Israel, the tiny Jewish community in the Canary Islands, numbering around 30 families, has asked Israelis to attend the funeral and accompany her to her final resting place.
The funeral will take place on Monday February 27, at 11am in the Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv.
Hilde Nathan was born on October 11, 1926, in Germany. Even before the outbreak of the war, her father tried to send his family to the Land of Israel, but the visas were hard to get. In 1933, only few had guessed what would happen within a decade.
Hilda Nathan (Photo: Courtesy)
In the first few years of the war, the Nathans kept trying to escape, but in 1942, when they were finally close to succeeding, they were transported to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp located 50 km north of Prague.
Hilde and her parents were among the few who survived the camp. They were released from Tarazinshtat by the Red Army on May 8, 1945, the day of Germanys defeat.
After the war, Hildes father passed away and was buried in Germany. Hilde and her mother continued to the Canary Islands, where they found some peace and quiet after the hardship they had suffered during the war.
Hildes mother passed away a few years ago, and Hilde hoped she could bury her in Germany, next to her father. But realizing she could not hold a Jewish ceremony there, she then decided to bury her in Israel.
Hilde passed away last week, leaving nothing but her memories. She had neither a husband nor children.
The Canary Island Jewish community, which numbers at around 20 people, was able to gather enough money to fly Hilde's body to Israel, and now all that is left is to bring her to rest.
"In her childhood she was humiliated. She had no name, but a number. Today, thanks to many anonymous people who made her last wish possible, our head is held high as we know we conquered our enemies. Today we stand strong and united than ever," said one of the organizers behind the initiative to bring Hilde to burial in Israel.
It was hardly a surprise when the following details were revealed: That the terrorist killed by police officers in the evacuation of the Bedouin community of Umm al-Hiran was not a terrorist, that he and his family have nothing to do with ISIS, that Yaqoub Abu al-Qiyan did not intentionally run over the police officers in the incident which left policeman Erez Amedi Levi dead, and that basically all the things that Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh said about him were as correct as the fact that the newspaper clips found in Abu al-Qiyans home indicated that he had been affiliated with a radical Islamic organization. By the way, the newspapers were likely used by him to cover an avocado in order to make it ripen faster.
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Its shocking to find out how a government minister can slander an Israeli citizen and drag his name through the mud without waiting for the investigation to be completed. But thats what happened, and ignoring it would be another step up towards becoming a state that we dont want to become. Imagine how Abu al-Qiyans family felt. Not only did an esteemed man of education lose his life, but his dignity and his familys dignity were also crushed under the law enforcers shoes.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and the Umm al-Hiran incident. There is no doubt that we are in the midst of the campaign to succeed Netanyahu (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Minister Erdan has no one to hide behind. He has no one to blame. He cant hide behind the statement that he is fed by reports he receives from the police, neither in the fires affairwhich he defined as nationalistically-motivated arsonnor in the Umm al-Hiran fiasco.
Erdan had to know, like everyone who lives here knows, that the polices automatic and immediate tendency in every case of a flop is to first of all to get in line and issue a version, even if its a false one. Whoever repeats these lies, claiming that he is backing his people, instead of stating the obvious and saying that the issue is being investigated and that no one should rush into any conclusions, is lying and inciting. And thats just what Erdan did.
The Abu al-Qiyan familys demand that the public security minister and the police commissioner resign is not groundless. Considering the failures which took place during and after the evacuation, that would have been required. The family members can only be informed that no one ever resign here, not over failures towards Jews and all the more so over failures related to Arabs. an apology from the minister and police commissionera sincere, real apology, and not just a rectification of the factsis definitely a reasonable demand.
The ministers new version when the facts became clear, changing Abu al-Qiyans status from a terrorist to a citizen, should embarrass every citizen in the country, both Jews and Arabs. This is not the way a minister should act, and definitely not the person who is responsible for the internal security and for the safety of all Israeli citizens, and who knows that every comment he makes could ignite a great fire.
What happened to Minister Erdan? Has he also adopted the culture of post-truth and alternative facts? Does he see before his eyes, like several other Likud ministers, the race for the Likud leadership, and is that the reason he is taking populist steps that will satisfy his voters?
The incident at Umm al-Hiran was grave and unfortunate, Erdan said on Thursday. When I am informed in the morning that Erez Levi was murdered in a vehicular attack, and that it was unequivocally determined by the police investigations, it is my duty as a minister to back the police. As a minister, I have no objective information, and up to this moment there is no other ruling regarding the police officers being run down.
As soon as the Police Investigations Unit launched a probe, I announced that I would wait for its conclusions and that if there were any lessonsthey would be learned. But what exactly do people expect? That every time there is a claim against the police, we will question the police officers operating on the ground? Naturally, if there is an objective examination after an incident, which proves that the police were wrong, it is my responsibility as a minister to ensure that the failures are being fixed. Its clear to me that if it is determined that Yaqoub Abu al-Qiyan did not intentionally run over Levi, then we must apologize to his family.
But why are the police and the police commissioner being attacked? Its their authority and its their job. They are the ones who were authorized by the state to conduct investigations and determine who murdered and who broke the law.
One thing is clear: There is a campaign here waged by the Arab list to try to deter the police and myself from continuing to enforce the law against the illegal construction. It wont help. I believe in coexistence and in equality, and I am the minister who invested the greatest amount of resources ever in improving the police services in the Arab communities. But I also believe that the law must be enforced in all parts of the country.
It has to be mentioned that the Likud is in the middle of a leadership race. Anyone who has listened recently to Erdan, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, and even exiled minister Gideon Saar, realizes that the race has already been kicked off. The number of interviews they are giving is insane.
Indeed, an examination reveals a dramatic rise in the Katz and Erdans appearances in the media. In December, Erdan gave 84 interviews. In January117, and in mid-February the number already reached 67. Katz gave 23 interviews in December, 50 in January, and as many as 55 by mid-February.
There is no doubt that we are in the midst of the campaign to succeed Netanyahu.
A series of shootings, stabbings and violent incidents in different towns in the Arab sector on Saturday led to the injury of nine people.
In Jisr az-Zarqa, an 18-year-old was wounded in a shooting and he is in light-to-moderate condition. Shortly thereafter, a masked man shot into the air and one of his stray bullets hit a 14-year-old teenage boy, who was lightly wounded.
In Yafa an-Naseriyye, one man was moderately wounded and two others lightly hurt in a shooting at a butcher shop.
During a fight in Tayibe, two young men were lightly wounded.
In a fight between two gangs in the town of Ar'ara, two suffered stab woundsone was moderately hurt and the other lightly.
Hospitals are warning that they will cease to admit wounded Syrian refugees for treatment starting next week, if the government does not help to provide assistance to allay the financial costs involved.
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Director of the Governments Medical Centers Division Dr. Orly Weinstein said in a letter sent Sunday to PMO Deputy Director Ehud Prawer that as we know, public medical centers up north have been admitting Syrian refugees transferred by the defense establishment for the past four years now. Most of these patients suffer from combat wounds, some very complex and require serious surgery.
IDF treats wounded Syrians (: ")
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Even though the state has ruled several times that the hospitals should be reimbursed for this treatment, they have so far done so only partially, she wrote.
Weinstein then delivered the warning. I intend to notify the defense establishment that, starting May 5 2017, and until this issue is resolved, Syrian refugees will no longer be transferred to public hospitals unless its a patient whose life is in immediate danger.
So far, the government has not paid the hospitals for the refugees' admission, despite the fact that to the present day, Israeli hospitals have treated 2,278 people who were wounded in the Syrian civil war.
While every day of treatment is estimated to cost about NIS 10,000, the state refunds the hospital only NIS 1,300 per Syrian patient.
Earlier this month, Health Minister Rabbi Yaakov Litzman threatened to stop taking in and treating Syrian refugees over the rising costs associated with such an open-door policy.
The warning came less than two months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his pride in the dedication of care hospitals in Israel to Syrian refugees.
Injured Syrians being treated by the IDF in Israel (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
"We've been treating Syrian patients for 4 years now. The wounds themselves tend to be very complicated and require complex surgeries with many teams," explained Director of the Galilee Medical Center Dr. Masad Barhoum.
"We suffer the costs of their treatment which means that we can't afford better technology, renovations or optimal treatment for the residents of the north because of the deficit. We have received NIS 54 million so far, but the total costs are estimated to be over NIS 300 million."
Deputy director of the Ziv Medical Center in Safed added that the cost of treating a Syrian patient is higher since they dont have medical facilities in their communities which means we have to run them through a lot of tests that an Israeli patient does at an HMO.
Additionally, we have to equip them with medicine and medical appliances since they wont have access to them after they are released from treatment.
Last week the budget committee held a discussion in the Knesset on the subject. A representative of the defense establishment was reproached in the deliberation after no representative of the defense establishment made an effort to show up to the last debate.
Moti Kahana, an Israeli-American businessman and chairman of the Syrian relief organization Amaliah, asked the government in the discussion to cooperate in helping his organization raise funds for treating the Syrian refugees, like he previously did with his own funds. "We need to raise money from people around the world so the Israeli tax payer won't have to carry the costs of the Syrian refugees' treatment," He said.
Beef and beans stew, meatballs baked in hummus and other dishes that are rather foreign to the common Israeli teenager are what's on offer at the cafeteria of the Tichonet High School in Tel Aviv, which recently joined Chef Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.
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The Cafeteria Project, led by the city's Innovation Team sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies, was launched in an effort to lower food costs at schools while at the same time offering healthier food to students.
The project seeks to create a new model for the cafeterias in Tel Aviv's high schools that would allow them to offer students healthy, nutritious and delicious food at affordable prices.
Students at Tichonet high school enjoy the new healthy meals (Photo: Amnon Hass)
"The Cafeteria Project is probably the most innovative trial ever held in an effort to learn about the different parts of a plan to selling high quality healthy food at affordable prices to school students," said Itai Eiges, the head of the Tel Aviv Innovation Team.
In the coming weeks, the school's cafeteria will try out several different models, making different culinary offers to the 1,000 students.
Three of the models include serving hot meals that are made-to-order and paid for in advance, while the third week of the trial will see a "more free" model in which students can pick from a selection of ready-made hot and cold meals, either large or small, at any time throughout the school day.
The cafeteria at Tichonet high school (Photo: Amnon Hass)
The meals, which cost between NIS 2 (for a fruit) to NIS 20 (for a hot meal with a side salad), were cooked up by Chef Itai Farkas, who was selected to represent the Food Revolution in Israel.
"Ahead of the trial, we had to reinvent the wheel and cook up meals that would meet the Education Ministry's regulations, while at the same time are delicious, affordable, and innovative," Chef Farkas said at the beginning of the trial's third week. "This week, we are working based on a model of a whole meal cooked in one pot. The students had a selection of stews that meet all of the ministry's regulations, while still delicious."
Healthy stews (Photo: Amnon Hass)
At the end of the trial period, a model will be formulated that will be financially feasible and include healthy and nutritious food that tested well with the students.
The project managers have already said that in light of the success of the pilot at Tichonet, they plan on expanding the project to other high schools in Tel Aviv.
The Cafeteria Project already received the blessing of Britain's Embassy in Israel. Deputy British Ambassador Tony Kay even visited Tichonetn during the trial, rolled up his sleeves, and helped Chef Farkas cook the food.
"I'm thrilled to be supporting such an important project to ensure school children in Israel receive proper food at school, continuing the pioneer work that Jamie Oliver started in Britain," Kay said.
Deputy British Ambassador Tony Kay, left, helps Chef Itai Farkas in the kitchen (Photo: Amnon Hass)
"As a father myself to two children who go to school in Israel, I want to be sure my children enjoy delicious, nutritious and healthy meals every day. I cook a lot and my family never eats ready-made food, only fresh food made with local, seasonal ingredients that are cooked right," Kay continued.
"After six months in Israel, I know how fantastic food here is. Healthy can be delicious too. Crunchy can be yummy. I want to support every effort to ensure children here would eat right. I wish this project great success."
Chef Jamie Oliver, right, leading the Food Revolution in Britain (Photo: GettyImages)
Among the meals offered to students as part of the new project are meatballs baked in hummus, red and black beans in tomato sauce, chicken curry with carrots and whole grain rice, wraps with Chili con carne and acorn squash, and beef stew with peppers and beans.
Starting next year, the sale of food full of trans fats and excessive sugar will be barred from schools, including sodas, burekas (filled pastry), melawach and Jachnun (two types of Yemenite pastries), hot dogs and processed meat, schnitzels, chocolate bars, cakes, Croissant, Rugelach and other sweet pastries, and candy.
The children, meanwhile, were impressed with the new offering.
"I didn't expect too much. I expected to have a few places to sit, a sandwich, maybe a cheese toast. But this is something completely different, there's delicious food. Food I'd have at home for lunch," said 11th grader Sean.
A hot meal with a side salad (Photo: Amnon Hass)
"It was really delicious, I had hummus meatballs," said 10th grader Yuli. "Most cafeterias have avocado or egg sandwiches. Here there are meals like veggie lasagna, it's better than what I have at home. We sometimes eat nearby at the college or in other places. The food there is not healthy, it's mostly cheese toasts and burkeas. Here, the food feels healthy but it's also delicious."
Jamie Oliver, the "Naked Chef," is internationally known for using fresh, organic ingredients in the food he cooks. He has been leading a years-long effort to change the eating habits of school children in Britain and elsewhere in the world, dubbed the Food Revolution.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Iran's former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter Sunday to President Donald Trump, striking a somewhat conciliatory tone while applauding immigration to America and saying it shows "the contemporary US belongs to all nations."
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It isn't the first dispatch sent by Ahmadinejad, who has counted US Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama among his pen pals.
But this letter, weighing in at over 3,500 words, comes as criticism of Trump over his travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries including Iran mounts in Tehran. It also may serve to burnish Ahmadinejad's image domestically after the nation's Supreme Leader warned him not to run in Iran's upcoming May presidential election.
In the letter, published by Iranian media outlets, Ahmadinejad noted Trump won the election while he "truthfully described the US political system and electoral structure as corrupt."
Ahmadinejad and Trump (Photos: MCT, EPA)
Ahmadinejad decried US "dominance" over the United Nations, as well as American meddling in the world that has brought "insecurity, war, division, killing and (the) displacement of nations."
He also acknowledged the some 1 million people of Iranian descent living in America, saying that US policies should "value respect toward the diversity of nations and races."
"In other words, the contemporary US belongs to all nations, including the natives of the land," he wrote. "No one may consider themselves the owner and view others as guests or immigrants."
A judge later blocked Trump's travel ban, and an appeals court refused to reinstate it. Trump has promised to issue a revised order soon, saying it's necessary to keep America safe.
Entirely missing from the letter was any reference to Iran's nuclear program. Under Ahmadinejad's presidency, Iran found itself heavily sanctioned over the program as Western governments feared it could lead to the Islamic Republic building atomic weapons. Iran has long maintained its program was for peaceful purposes.
Iran under current President Hassan Rouhani struck a nuclear deal with world powers, including the Obama administration, to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions. Trump campaigned promising to renegotiate the deal, without offering specifics.
Ahmadinejad gave the letter to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents US interests in Iran. The embassy declined to comment Sunday while American officials could not be immediately reached.
The letter comes ahead of Iran's presidential election, in which Rouhani is widely expected to seek a second four-year term. While allies of Ahmadinejad are expected to run, he himself won't after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned him in September his candidacy would bring about a "polarized situation" that would be "harmful for the county."
Ahmadinejad's popularity in Iran remains in question. During his tenure, he personally questioned the scale of the Holocaust and predicted the demise of Israel. His disputed 2009 re-election saw widespread protests and violence. Two of his former vice presidents went to prison for corruption.
But Ahmadinejad offered Trump his own warning about how quickly time passes for leaders.
"Four years is a long period, but it ends quickly," he wrote. "The opportunity needs to be valued, and all its moments need to be used in the best way."
Maoist leader Pun discharged from Grande, to fly to Bangkok
CPN (Maoist Center) leader Barsha Man Pun has been discharged from Grande Hospital on Sunday.
To celebrate Israel's Family Day on Sunday, the Israeli Air Force posted pictures and profiles on its Facebook page of select airmen and their families from diverse communities in Israel
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The IAF put up five pictures of families: the first is of Druze NCO Master Sgt. Chochmat Chir alongside his wife and daughter. The following profile is of Capt. Yossi Boaron, a Haredi man who enlisted at the age of 25, with his wife and five children. The pictures also include Maj. Shiri Gal, a single mother with her daughter, and Maj. Bezazao Mengistu with his wife and two children, who are all members of the Ethiopian community.
The picture that has received the most attention, garnishing the most likes and positive reactions (well over 80 times more than any of the others at the time of publication) is the photograph of Capt. Adir Gabbai with his husband Dean, whom he recently married after eight years together, with their dog.
Capt. Adir Gabbai with husband and dog
Having met each other whilst serving in the same IAF unit, the post states that "the Air Force family will always be for them 'the place where I met my family.'"
The comments were overwhelmingly positive. "I salute the Air Force on their openness," reads one. "Such pride that the Air Force is putting up a post like this against all prejudices!!! Happy Family Day!!" reads another.
One less positive user whose Facebook profile alleges that she works for the city of Rehovot and studies at Bar Ilan University wrote that she didn't understand, apologized if she was offending anyone, but believed that "there are things that some decency is appropriate."
Shortly afterwards, the official IAF page responded and explained their reasoning: "In honor of Family Day, which takes place today, we decided to carry out a project that would present all the types of family that serve in the Air Force, including a same-sex family. In our view, everyone is equal, and we are all one big family.
"We wish you a happy Family Day and a wonderful week."
Blue and White Pride Conference
On Thursday night, dozens of soldiers, including officers and combat soldiers, took part, some of them in uniform, in a conference for the Blue and White Pride movement. The group was founded in response to calls from rabbis against women serving as combat soldiers and against the IDF's cooperation with the LGBT community.
Nahmany addresses the conference (Photo: Yuval Weitzen)
The founder of the movement, Capt. (res.) Omer Nahmany, said, "Most of our work will be less with the solders and more with the LGBT persons who are about to enter the army: accompanying them on the draft process and preparing for the army, especially those who have a lot of questions about serving as gay in a combat unit.
Blue and White Pride IDF preparatory courses will be organized in conjunction with the organizations Aharai! and IGY (Israeli Gay Youth). In recent years, the IDF has become one of the most advanced armies as regards to accepting LGBT soldiers.
When Brig. Gen. (res.) Rachel Tevet-Weisel, one of the most senior religious female officers in the IDF, was serving as the Chief of Staff's Advisor on Gender Issues (a position that she held from 2012 to 2016), the support provided to LGBT soldiers, in particular trans soldiers was increased. Indeed, Tevet-Weisel even gave presentations to foreign armies on how to better integrate LGBT soldiers into their ranks in the Israeli model.
An Israeli military general is calling on a United Nations agency to fire a Palestinian staff member he claims has been elected to a leadership position with the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai of the Israeli defense body COGAT said Sunday he demanded the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, investigate the matter. Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organization.
Suhail al-Hindi is the chairman of the UNRWA Palestinian workers' union in Gaza. The Israeli defense body says he was elected to Hamas' politburo in a secret vote this month.
UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said al-Hindi has denied the accusation. The UN agency forbids staff from holding political office.
The agency temporarily suspended al-Hindi in 2011 for participating in events with Hamas officials.
CAIROHamas condemned Cairo's "dangerous ways of dealing with people in Gaza Strip" after the Egyptian army detonated another tunnel under the Rafah border Saturday.
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The explosion killed three and injured five others according to a statement issued by the movement's Gaza City office.
Egypt's continuing operations against Hamas tunneling and Hamas's condemnation of the Egyptian military both demonstrate that talks held last month between Cairo security figures and Hamas's leadership failed to resolve their disagreements.
Sinwar (Photo: AP, EPA)
The statement comes just weeks after the election of Yahya Sinwar, considered to be on the militant end of the spectrum, as Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip.
"This is the first time a military man is taking over the political bureau of Hamas since the organization was founded a quarter of a century ago," Mukhaimer Abusada, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University-Gaza told The Media Line. "Sinwar's election means that the military wingthe Izz ad-Din al-Qassam brigadesis taking over the movement."
Since his release from an Israeli prison in the 2011, Sinwar, 54, has organized the digging of smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian border and has been involved in re-arming the organization.
Before Sinwar's election, ordinary Gazans were hopeful about the economic benefits of a possible rapprochement between Hamas and Egypt.
Cairo was looking to Hamas for help in dealing with the Islamist terror groups in the Sinai Peninsula and Hamas leadersincluding Gaza-based leader Ismail Haniyyehhad successfully lobbied the Egyptians for more regular openings of the land border crossing at Rafah.
Just two weeks ago, Egypt's Intelligence Chief Khaled Fawzy hosted Hamas leaders Haniyyeh, Rawhi Mushtaha, and Moussa Abu Marzouk for several days of consultations aimed at burying the hatchet.
But in its condemnation of Saturday's anti-tunneling operation, Hamas renewed its call to permanently open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, portraying Cairo as complicit with "Israel's unfair siege on Gaza Strip."
Internal politics drives the deterioration in Egypt ties, and likelihood of war with Israel.
In addition to the day-to-day administration of the Gaza Strip, the Hamas political bureau decides policy and allocates funds raised by the group from Palestinian and foreign donorschief among them Qatar and Turkey, who identify with its ideological and historical roots in Egypt's now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
Sinwar replaces outgoing leader Ismail Haniyyeh who has worked in recent years to boost Qatari financial support and regain Saudi and Egyptian trust.
The Saudis and Qatarisstaunch Sunni Muslimshave expressed concerns with the group's ties to the Iranian military and to Hezbollah who are effectively governed by Shi'a clerics.
Haniyyeh has visited both Iran and Saudi Arabia over the course of the past year and his talks with princes in Riyadh were instrumental in getting Egypt to open the dialogue with Hamas.
But Haniyyeh, now running to succeed to Hamas's top leader Khaled Meshaalwho lives in a self-determined exile in the Gulfdismissed the distinction between the group's military and political activities at the Friday mosque dedication ceremony in Gaza City.
"The Zionist media are trying to distinguish 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," Haniyyeh said.
With Hamas leaders ramping up the militant rhetoric in advance of the Palestinian local elections now scheduled for Mayand with factions competing to prove their commitment to anti-Israel "resistance"political scientist Abu Sada says a renewed conflict with Israel seems more likely than ever.
"I hate to say it, but it seems to me that we need to start counting down the days to the next war," said Abusada.
Article written by Jacob Wirtschafter
Rautahat returns to normalcy following Morcha, police clash
Situation at BP Chowk in Rautahat has returned to normalcy following clash between police and cadres of Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha on Sunday.
This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~Elmer Davis In regard to the Kansas tragedy, Giridhardas drew parallels with a similar crime in Texas, where the shooter thought that he was targeting people of Middle Eastern nationality, and went on to slam the White House for denying and links between the shooting and President Trump's rhetoric on immigrants. "President Trump's administration has quickly leapt to say his talk and actions have nothing to do with this crime. I would like to explain why the president is dead wrong on this one. He has everything to do with this, and I can explain," Giridharadas said in a series of tweets and went on illuminate the impact of Trump's words on masses. Earlier, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that any loss of life is tragic but it would be absurd to link the attack to President Donald Trump's rhetoric. Spicer today told reporters it was too early to guess at the motive for the incident. The shooting has prompted concern that Trump's "America First" stance on immigration and jobs has fueled a climate of intolerance. (ANI) Two Kashmiri youths, who had separately strayed into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir from the Line of Control, were handed over to Indian authorities by Pakistan, officials said.Repatriation of 23-year old Bilal Ahmed and 24-year old Arfaz Yousuf was held yesterday at Kaman Bridge at the Chakothi-Uri crossing point, about 60 kms South of Muzaffarabad, in the presence of civilian and military officials from both sides, according to Pakistan daily Dawn.Ahmed, a resident of Gurez village, and Yousuf, a resident of Kupwara in Kashmir had crossed the LoC by mistake in July 2015 and January 2014 from Nikru and Chilyana sectors, respectively, according to officials.The youths were gifted articles including as clothes, sweaters, bags and shoes, apart from two baskets of sweets, by Pakistani officials.UNI XC RSA 0853 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0104-1165749.Xml US Senator Tim Scott faced a quandary today in hosting his town hall: he promised to meet with his South Carolina constituents, but he wanted to avoid the kind of adversarial free-for-all so many Republicans encountered this week.Scott decided to ban placards from his North Charlestown meeting in hopes of averting the raucousness that erupted at dozens of town halls during the first congressional recess of Donald Trump's month-old presidency.The senator also required the crowd submit questions in writing ahead of time after other Republican lawmakers faced a wave of anger on issues ranging from Trump's immigration and healthcare policies to the president's ties to Russia.Despite Scott's precautions, arguments broke out and constituents told one another to shut up, though many in the audience - mostly white and over the age of 50 - said the senator remained respectful and sincere. And it never degenerated into an all-out shouting match.Scott, the only African-American in the US Senate, began his town hall by pulling slips of paper from a box and reading the questions aloud. But the overflow audience of 300, evenly divided between Trump opponents and supporters, reacted with loud boos and cheers, even before he could begin to answer.To a question about a rise in hate crimes, Scott said the trend predates the president's campaign."We can blame Trump for a lot of things but I don't think we can blame him for this one," he said, following a pattern of distancing himself from Trump without directly criticizing him. "Some people have come to the conclusion that this president has already failed," Scott said. "I hope that most of us, whether you voted for him or not, hope that he succeeds." When asked about Trump's repeated denunciations of the media, Scott said he believed the press was more biased than in the past. Even so, he said, "I do not believe the press is an enemy to the American people," a phrase coined by the president.Still, the meeting's format started to break down almost from the outset, with the audience shouting asides, while others tried to silence them. Scott answered some of the comments, but if he was interrupted, he tried to talk over the offender."LET THE MAN ANSWER"The confrontational tone of this week's town halls is part of a tide of anti-Trump protests, marches and rallies that show little sign of abating just over a month 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.At Scott's town hall, the senator did allow a mother to stand up and tell her story. She said one of her two premature children died and the other was 6 years old with medical bills totaling more than $2 million, she said tearfully."The Affordable Care Act is imperfect but it is a good law. It saved my family," she said to a standing ovation, referring to the health care program known as Obamacare."That's a heartbreaking story," Scott said, pointing out that he chose ACA coverage for himself and his staff. Even so, "Obamacare is not sustainable."The session almost broke down when a man stood up and faced the crowd as audience members were peppering Scott with loud comments. "Let the man answer the question," the man said on the senator's behalf. "Sit down and shut up."Two men who wore red "Make America Great Again" hats clapped loudly. Arguments broke out in the crowd.Eventually, Scott threatened to walk out."I know we prefer to blame Trump for our incivility," he said. "Let me ask, if we want to continue this conversation, that we do so in a way that no one feels threatened."His admonitions appeared to work. Order was eventually restored, and Scott gave up on picking questions from the box and started calling on audience members if they raised their hands. The session ended on a relatively civil note. REUTERS PS 0444 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-1165728.Xml South Africa's Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas is being investigated by the Hawks elite police unit as part of a probe into allegations of corruption at state-owned South African Airways (SAA), the City Press newspaper reported today.As part of the probe into SAA, the unit is investigating allegations that Jonas used his political influence to secure US aircraft company AAR Corp contracts to supply components and tyres to the state airline, the newspaper cited three unidentified Hawks sources and one SAA source as saying.Treasury spokeswoman Yolisa Tyantsi declined to comment. Spokespeople for Jonas and the SAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Hawks spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi was quoted by City Press as saying there was an investigation into allegations of corruption at SAA but it was policy not reveal names of those being probed. Mulaudzi did not answer calls from Reuters.AAR Corp could not be reached for comment. The firm was quoted by City Press as denying any wrongdoing. "AAR conducts its business with the highest ethical and legal standards," a unidentified spokesman was quoted as saying.Jonas has been an outspoken critic of government corruption and he opened divides within the ruling African National Congress last year when he said businessmen friends of President Jacob Zuma said they could secure him the finance ministry job.Zuma and the Indian Gupta family deny any wrongdoing.An investigation last year by the Hawks into Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, which was later dropped, shook South Africa's financial markets. REUTERS JW RK1537 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1166091.Xml American actor Bill Paxton, who rose to stardom with roles in Hollywood blockbusters such as "Aliens" and "Titanic," has died at age 61 after complications from surgery, his family said in a statement today.Paxton, who appeared in dozens of films over some four decades, had recently starred in the HBO television series, "Big Love," about a polygamous Mormon family, and acted alongside Tom Cruise in the film, "Edge of Tomorrow."For his role in "Apollo 13," Paxton won a Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture in 1996.He was nominated for three Golden Globe Award in the best actor category for his work in "Big Love" and the 1990s miniseries, "A Bright Shining Lie."It was not immediately known what surgery Paxton, a Fort Worth, Texas, native had undergone."It is with heavy hearts we share the news that Bill Paxton has passed away due to complications from surgery," a family representative said in the statement."Bill's passion for the arts was felt by all who knew him, and his warmth and tireless energy were undeniable," it said.Paxton leaves behind his wife, Louise Newberry, and two children, James and Lydia. REUTERS PY AN2228 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-1166661.Xml DAMASCUS, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Foreign Ministry on Saturday urged the UN Security Council to condemn the deadly suicide bombings that rocked the country's central province of Homs and killed 42 people, state news agency SANA reported. The foreign ministry condemned as "barbaric" the bombings that rocked two intelligence headquarters in Homs, urging the UN to condemn it as well and to double the efforts to eradicate terrorism. It stressed that such terrorist acts would not dissuade the Syrian army from carrying on with its campaign against the terror groups in Syria, which, it said, poses a threat not only to Syria, but undermines the security and peace in the region and the world as well. Earlier in the day, six suicide bombers detonated themselves in two security headquarters in Homs, killing at least 42 people, mostly security personnel. Meanwhile, the state TV said that the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front claimed responsibility of the series of the deadly bombings that rocked Homs. ARUSHA, Tanzania, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in central Tanzania have embarked on a campaign to encourage farmers to raise more donkeys to tap the Asian market. Apart from meat, donkey skins are used to produce gelatin that is traded as a traditional medicine and beauty product in Asia nations like China. In Tanzania, the number of working donkey is estimated at about 250,000. "Time has come for Tanzanian farmers to view donkey as an economic venture, rather than viewing it as a working animal," said Osumo Kipisi, a legal officer in charge of livestock in Tanzania's capital Dodoma. Kipisi said the local farmers, who have been concentrating on rearing cattle and goat, were not well prepared in the face of the rising demands of donkeys. "Donkey meat was not something important in the past as people used to keep the animal for carrying cargoes and farming. But, now things have changed. Farmers need to start venturing into rearing the animals because the market is already there," the official said. He suggested the need for farmers to put in place better rearing environment that will increase the number of donkeys. Reports show that a Dodoma-based donkey abattoir slaughters between 150 and 200 donkeys per day and exports meat to China and Turkey. At the abattoir, the price can go up to 200 U.S. dollars per donkey. Hidaya Maheda, acting Dodoma Municipal Director, said they were carrying out a serious campaign to encourage people to chip-in and rear more donkeys. "Our role as authorities is show farmers opportunities. We're encouraging farmers to look donkey into economic perspective rather than looking it as an ordinary animal," Maheda said. "It is also high time for farmers to start providing the best welfare for fit healthy donkeys to meet their expectations," the official said. Johnson Lyimo, who works with the Arusha-based Meru Animal Welfare Organization (MAWO), said: "We have been using different platforms including community-based radios to tell community on the importance of keeping donkeys in secured places with all important animal welfare practices." "This is because a large number of the animals have been stolen from pastoralist communities of Maasai in Manyara and Arusha regions because people weren't taking the animals very serious as they do to cattle and goats," Lyimo said. In Tanzania, one of the most important problems in promoting donkeys is the lack of knowledge about their socio-economic status, husbandry and health needs. An estimated 39 million donkeys live in the developing world and 36 percent of this number is found in Africa including Tanzania. Enditem For around six years, the NGage economic development group has worked to support area businesses while drawing more employers to the area, with several success stories under its belt. NGage works toward business retention and expansion, providing resources and assistance to current businesses while also attracting new business to Gage County. This is accomplished by answering questions about the area, assisting in funding options such as LB840 funds and tax increment financing and other avenues. NGage is primarily funded by the city of Beatrice and Gage County. Since the groups inception, each governing body contributed up to $100,000 annually to NGage, though last spring each group increased its contribution to $150,000, which Mayor Stan Wirth said is an strong indication of the support the group has from area officials. I think the relationship (with Gage County) has been really good, he said. Obviously, I think they showed a really positive attitude when the city and county both invested an additional $50,000 to increase our level of support to $150,000 each on an annual basis to support the efforts of NGage and what theyre doing. Walker Zulkoski, Executive Director of NGage, said the group has experienced success across the board in the last year. We had a lot of highlights and success in everything," he said. "We had business expansion, small startups, recruitment and then on the housing side our housing study is paying dividends and will continue to. There have definitely been successes on all fronts. The DaVita dialysis center, future Cornerstone Church, Tall Tree Tastings, Rare Earth Salts and Scooters Coffee are all companies that either located to or announced plans to grow in Beatrice last year, and Wirth said he has high expectations for 2017 and beyond. I think the very positive, cooperative attitude that we have right now is first and foremost, Wirth said. It seems like we have people that are on the same wavelength, the same page of what is being accomplished and theyre taking ownership of that. Anytime you have that philosophy or end result, good things are going to happen. Zulkoski said one of the biggest gets for the area was the announcement that Hybrid Turkeys is building a location in Beatrice, a project for which Beatrice had competition. Most of the attention is on the recruitment of Hybrid Turkeys, he said. Its exciting for our area because that was a recruitment project where we were competing against other states and communities. It speaks volumes for or leadership and dedication we had as a team to land that. Hybrid Turkeys is part of Hendrix Genetics, a leading multi-species breeding company with primary activities in turkeys, layers, pigs, aquaculture and traditional poultry. Headquartered in Boxmeer, in the Netherlands, Hendrix Genetics provides expertise and resources to producers in more than 100 countries, with operations and joint ventures in 24 countries and more than 2,400 employees worldwide. Zulkoski said there were several factors that separated Beatrice from the competition, including the location in the Gage County Industrial Park. Number one was biosecurity in the poultry industry, he said. Theres not a hatchery close. Also, they needed just space in general. Our industrial park was really appealing and then for the city and everyone to step forward and get infrastructure was a competitive thing. Zulkoski, who has been the executive director of NGage since last April, went on a trade mission to China with Gov. Pete Ricketts and other Nebraskans. The group visited several businesses, with a highlight being a tour of a Beatrice businesss parent company. Worldlawn Power Equipment bought Encore Manufacturing five years ago, and Zulkoski visited the Beatrice manufacturers parent company on the trip. Worldlawn moved its operation from California to Beatrice, a move that ultimately brought jobs to Gage County. The company kept the Encore name but incorporated Worldlawns brand into it. Wirth said the trip to China, as well as the various trade shows NGage has a presence at, help to build relationships and results in more inquiries about the area. From that we have developed some contacts, Wirth said. Walker and (Glennis McClure, NGage small business director) both go to different trade shows. From that we have shown the Store Kraft building to a company from Minnesota interested in using a portion of that space. Moving forward, Zulkoski said one of Beatrices biggest assets is the success stories that have already been written in Gage County. The existing industry thats here, that sells the county and it sells the city, he said. People want to go where companies are successful. When you see giant manufacturing companies that employ hundreds of people, its that in itself. There are lots of cool things throughout the community. BAGHDAD, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi female reporter was killed on Saturday in a bomb explosion while covering the clashes between the Iraqi forces and Islamic State (IS) militants in the western side of Mosul, a Kurdish television reported. Shifa Gardi, who works for the Kurdish Rudaw TV, was killed and her cameraman Younis Mustafa was seriously injured in the afternoon when a roadside bomb detonated near them as they were covering the advance of the security forces to liberate the IS-held neighborhoods in southern Mosul, Rudaw channel said. The Iraqi Journalists' Syndicate said in its latest report that up to 14 Iraqi journalists were killed in 2016, and more than 455 journalists have been killed in the country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Iraq is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, who have been frequently targeted by the chaos and insecurity since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled former leader Saddam Hussein. LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25, (Xinhua) -- The Los Angeles Time, one of the most popular newspaper in the United States, released a statement early Saturday, pledging to continue to cover story of Trump administration with non-jaundiced view despite it was excluded from White House press briefing the day before. In a statement, LA Times editor Davan Maharaj said that it was "unfortunate that the Los Angeles Times has been excluded from a White House press briefing today." "The public has a right to know, and that means being informed by a variety of news sources, not just those filtered by the White House press office in hopes of getting friendly coverage," Maharaj said, emphasizing that regardless of access, LA Times will continue to report on the U.S. President "without fear or favor" . 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 news outlets hand-picked by the administration after Trump termed "fake news" as "the enemy of the people." According to the list, some of Trump's favor conservative outlets kept their seats, while some very famous media disliked by the president, including the New York Times, CNN and the LA Times, ware kicked out. Three major broadcast networks of the country and wire services, such as Bloomberg News, were still allowed in. The Associated Press and Time magazine were also invited but declined to participate in solidarity with other news organizations that were denied entry. To protest White House's ban, LA Times Saturday introduced two new products to it's online store, a T-shirt and a cup printed words in 13 different languages meaning "we will not shut up" . Davan Maharaj promoted the products via his Twitter account, saying "Today LA Times not allowed in WH press briefing. Our new T-shirt: You can shut us out, but you can't shut us up!" Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations and head of the government delegation Bashar al-Jaafari addresses media while arriving for a meeting of Intra-Syria peace talks with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura at Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 25, 2017. The UN-mediated latest round of intra-Syrian peace talks went into the third day in Geneva Saturday as UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura held a meeting with Syrian government delegation. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan) GENEVA, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- A top diplomat from Syrian government delegation Saturday called for taking combating terrorism as a top priority in the ongoing intra-Syrian negotiations. The words came after two suicide attacks took place in Syria's central province of Homs, killing at least 42 people on the same day. "Combating terrorism is a top priority, " UN Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic Bashar Jaafari, who led the Syrian government delegation, told reporters following a 2.5 hour meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura. "We request Mr. De Mistura to issue a statement condemning the suicide attacks," he said, adding that they will also request the special envoy to ask all the parties participating into the Geneva process to make the same statement condemning the attacks. He said the attacks aimed to "derail the Geneva talks" and cast a shadow in Geneva, adding that "any party who refuses to condemn the attacks, we will consider that party to be accomplice of terrorism." Mediated by the UN, Syrian government and opposition delegation joined the latest round of talks since Thursday which aimed at bringing Syria's six-year-old crisis to an end. Since the Syria conflict began in March 2011, an estimated 400,000 people have lost their lives, with millions more forced to flee their homes. By Xinhua Writer Mei Liu, Huang Heng LOS ANGELES, Feb.25, (Xinhua) -- After snagging all seven of the rewards it was nominated on Golden Global in January, it led 14 nominations for the 89th Oscar and tied the record of nomination numbers held by "All About Eve" and "Titanic". There was no doubt that "La La Land" would be a hot topic on the upcoming Sunday's 89th annual Academy Awards, the only suspense was how many awards it finally would bring home. The musical story happened in Hollywood, Where Mia (Played by Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Played by Ryan Gosling) meet each other and fall in love. Mia dropped out of college five years ago to pursue her actress dream. Sebastian, a jazz pianist, who had trouble emotionally playing music he didn't like just to get a paying gig, pursued a dream to open his own jazz club. They were attracted by each other for the passions they had, while the passions of pursuit their dreams also took all their energies and time, with nothing left for their relationship. "La La Land" was the winner of seven nominations for the 74th Golden Global Award, including Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy, Best Director and more other awards. With "La La Land", Emma Stone also won the Best Actress for the 23th Screen Actors Guild Awards in January. The 32 years old director of "La La Land" , Damien Chazelle, won the best feature prize at the Directors Guild of America Awards in February. "La La Land" also led 14 nominees for 89th Oscar Academy Awards, only two movies "All About Eve" in 1950 and "Titanic" in 1997 earned so many nominations. The nominations included Best Picture, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Original Song and several others. "Creating nostalgia for nostalgia's sake has resulted in success for films in recent years, but 'La La Land' took a different, more complex approach, choosing to honor the past while placing it in a contemporary environment", ABC News posted. Since the story happens in Hollywood, it might resonate with many Hollywood people. An article on Bloomberg pointed out, "for Hollywood, 'La La Land' represents a new script for success, and its legacy will be that precious currency: optimism." However, La La land was also controversial among the audience and critics. A report from Bloomberg showed that 36 percent audience of this movie were male while a quarter of the audience were under 25 and one quarter above 55. As a musical movie, the professional music critic Keith Harris felt bad about its original music, which had earned the nomination. She personally thought that the music did not achieve the expectation by music fans audience. Senior journalist John said, "I don't see any romantic or love story. It's all about the crucial reality, Mia and Sebastian's experiences are so Los Angeles." LONDON, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Four rare tortoises rescued in Hong Kong from illegal smugglers went on show for the first time Saturday in their new home at Britain's Chester Zoo. The ploughshare tortoises, regarded by conservationists as one of the world's most threatened species of tortoise, were handed to the zoo in 2012 after being confiscated by customs officials in Hong Kong in 2009. The quartet, part of a shipment of 13 being smuggled from their native Madagascar, form part of a European Breeding Program for the species. Experts from Chester said they want to help raise awareness of the plight of the species in the wild. A spokesman at the zoo said: "Ploughshare tortoises are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) having been poached to the point of extinction. They are highly prized for their distinctive gold and black shells and fetch exceptionally high prices on the international black market." "Efforts to steal the animals from Madagascar are so relentless that there may only be 500 left, making it one of the rarest animals in the world." Dr Gerardo Garcia, the zoo's curator of lower vertebrates and invertebrates, said: "The ploughshare tortoise is iconic because of its beautiful shell but the species is under huge pressure for its survival. There's a very real possibility the species could be lost forever due to illegal trafficking for the exotic pet trade. Most of these illegally exported tortoises are sold in markets in Southeast Asia." The zoo spokesman said the United Nations estimates the illegal trade is worth billions of U.S. dollars each year and, despite efforts to crack down on it, it continues to grow. "These tortoises are seen as the jewel in the crown of the reptile world. It's very possible that, within the next two years, there will be none left in the wild because of this trade. Our long-term ambition is to maintain a safety net population at the zoo," added the spokesman. Officials at Chester Zoo in northwest England said illegal wildlife trade is worth 19 billion U.S. dollars every year and is the fourth biggest international crime after drugs, arms and human trafficking. The only habitat where the ploughshare tortoises live in the wild, a remote stretch of sand, rock and bamboo in northwest Madagascar, has been turned into a national park to offer protection. Chester Zoo is fronting a global campaign which is fighting illegal animal trafficking. The campaign includes a smartphone app that allows people to submit images and data of suspicious items on sale, possibly helping enforcement agencies. Police officers stand guard near the attacked Christmas market in Berlin, capital of Germany, on Dec. 21, 2016. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi) BERLIN, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Three people were injured on Saturday in the scenic German city of Heidelberg when an unidentified man drove a car into a pedestrian area. "A man drove into pedestrians, three injured, the suspect arrested and wounded," police said on Twitter. The suspect, reportedly armed with a knife, fled the scene after the attack. But he was later shot and injured by police in a brief standoff. The motives for the attack remained unknown. Police did not indicate whether the attack was intentional or by accident. On Dec.19, 2016, an attacker drove a truck into a Christmas market near the iconic Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, leaving 12 killed and more than 50 others injured. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. The perpetrator, identified as Anis Amri, turned out to be a Tunisian failed asylum seeker and was killed four days later in a shootout with police near Milan in Italy. Heidelberg is a culture and university city and famous tourist destination situated on the river Neckar in southwest Germany. Located about 80 kilometers south of Frankfurt, Heidelberg is the fifth-largest city in the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg. The photo shows the newly designed LA Times "Speaking truth to Power" T-Shirt (Web/Pic) LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25, (Xua) -- The Los Angles Times, one of the most popular newspaper in the United States, released a statement early Saturday, pledging to continue to cover story of Trump administration with non-jaundiced view despite it was excluded from White House press briefing the day before. In a statement, LA Times editor Davan Maharaj said that it was "unfortunate that the Los Angeles Times has been excluded from a White House press briefing today." "The public has a right to know, and that means being informed by a variety of news sources, not just those filtered by the White House press office in hopes of getting friendly coverage," Maharaj said, emphasizing that regardless of access, LA Times will continue to report on the U.S. President "without fear or favor" . 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 news outlets hand-picked by the administration after Trump termed "fake news" as "the enemy of the people." According to the list, some of Trump's favor conservative outlets kept their seats, while some very famous media disliked by the president, including the New York Times, CNN and the LA Times, ware kicked out. Three major broadcast networks of the country and wire services, such as Bloomberg News, were still allowed in. The Associated Press and Time magazine were also invited but declined to participate in solidarity with other news organizations that were denied entry. To protest White House's ban, LA Times Saturday introduced two new products to it's online store, a T-shirt and a cup printed words in 13 different languages meaning "we will not shut up" . Davan Maharaj promoted the products via his Twitter account, saying "Today LA Times not allowed in WH press briefing. Our new T-shirt: You can shut us out, but you can't shut us up!" DAMASCUS, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- It's been a long while since suicide bombers carried out a planned bombing inside fortified government compounds in Syria, in what was perceived to be due to the military progress on ground, but Saturday's bombing in Syria's Homs gave another message. Six suicide bombers believed to have been wearing bomb vests infiltrated two intelligence headquarters in Homs city in central Syria on Saturday, three into the military intelligence headquarters, and another three into the state intelligence center in that city. Using silent weapons, the assailants went on a shooting spree inside the intelligence centers at the early hours Saturday, clashing with the guards and agents inside, before setting off their explosives, killing at least 42 security personnel, including top commanders. Speaking of commanders, the bombers reached the head of the military intelligence branch in Homs, Colonel Sharaf Hasan Daboul, as well as the chief of the state security branch of Colonel Darwish. Both were killed, as the bombers detonated their bomb vests near them. Reports said the officers fought alongside other security officers in the targeted centers against the attackers. One of the bombers also detonated himself while the wounded from the first bombing were being transported out for treatment. Observers believe that the size of the bombings, the number of the attackers, and the way they snuck into the headquarters indicate a sophisticated planning by the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, which claimed responsibility for the bombings. "I think that the bombings is a message that the ultra-radical rebels are still capable of making a breakthrough in their attacks, unlike what was thought to be that they are unable to carry out such a complicated tactic," Ahmad Ashkar, a journalist and analyst, told Xinhua. He said that the bombings are not the first and may not be the last, but noted that the time and place of the bombings are sensitive. He said the Nusra action means that foreign intelligence could be behind the attacks, such as those in the Gulf states as some of them known of backing the Nusra. On top of that, such foreign intelligence was said to be the reasons why the Nusra Front changed its name recently to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, or the Front for Conquering the Levant, after claiming it had cut ties with al-Qaida. Observers said the Nusra was urged to do so, in an attempt to clear its name from any affiliation to the al-Qaida terror network. Still, the move didn't work out and the group, with all its names, remained recognized by the international community as a terrorist group. The Nusra is also excluded from any settlement or political solution, and was recently kept out of a ceasefire that went into force in Syria last December. Ashkar and other analysts said the Nusra is now trying to prove that it still exists and capable, and what nurtured this conviction are the attacks the group unleashed on other rebel groups, which were included in the ceasefire and possibly the political settlement. The attacks are also considered as a message to the Syrian delegations of the opposition and government who are meeting in Geneva to figure out a solution to the Syrian crisis. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura called Saturday's terrorist attack in Homs a "tragic event" and a "spoiler" to the peace process in Geneva. "It was a tragic event. I'm expecting during the talks unfortunately spoilers. Every time we had talks there were always been spoilers," de Mistura told reporters. At a press conference following the talks with de Mistura, al-Jaafari said that the two-and-a-half-hours session focused on one point only which is prioritizing fighting terrorism, and the delegation asked de Mistrua to issue a statement condemning the terrorist suicide bombings carried out by Jabhat al-Nusra terror organization and its partners in Homs city. "I said before the session that what happened today will not go unnoticed, and what happened is a terrorist message for the Geneva talks, a message directed at the special envoy, the UN, the so-called international community, and all participants in the Geneva talks. What happened cast a shadow over Geneva, therefore the terrorist act in Homs isn't just a military terrorist act, but also a political terrorist act," al-Jaafari said. by Valentini Anagnostopoulou ATHENS, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Inspired by a growing global rage, hundreds of "zombies" and all sorts of bizarre creatures took over the centre of Athens on Saturday afternoon, spreading horror, shock and awe to locals and tourists. The seventh Athens Zombie Walk invited youngsters to meet at Syntagma, the capital's central square, and join the different sort of carnival parade. "The last two years the turnout of these events is very big, so it looks like there is a trend" Yolanda Koliou, coordinator of the event, told Xinhua. "Zombie Walk" started in 2001 from Sacramento, California, only to quickly branch out to the rest of the world. It is a parade of the "living dead", where people are expected to dress up as zombies and crawl around the city, creeping out and poking passers-by. "It is the second time we come here. Last year was good, we scared a lot of people, but this year we are looking forward to scaring many more, having more fun ..." 19-year-old Io told Xinhua right before the parade started, covered in artificial blood and fake scars made of liquid latex. A lot of zombies' costumes stood out for their originality, wild imagination and impressive special effects, as the target audience of such events is usually fans of horror movies and TV series and devoted cosplayers. "My interest for this whole thing stems from my make-up studies and my passion for special effects: that's what I want to work on. But I also like the zombies, the 80s and all that..." Ioanna, yet another bloodstained teenager, explained. For this year's meeting, the organizers encouraged participants to draw inspiration from TV series as well as from iconic films. MEXICO CITY, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The five centers of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in the U.S. will seek to defend Mexican migrants in that country, including helping them to get citizenship, the university announced Saturday. In a statement, UNAM said that its centers in the cities of Los Angeles, Tucson, Chicago, San Antonio and Seattle would carry out a joint action plan with educational institutions, lawyers and human rights organizations. A six-point strategy was agreed on during a summit in Seattle on Friday, organized between UNAM and Northwest University. The director of UNAM's Mexican Studies Center in Seattle, Jorge Madrazo, explained during the summit that the five campuses would also work with the Mexican government to agree on the most urgent actions to be taken. Since becoming president on Jan. 20, Donald Trump has hardened migration policies by ordering large-scale raids to round up and deport undocumented migrants. According to the Mexican government, of the 11.8 million undocumented migrants in the U.S., 5.8 million are Mexican. UNAM also indicated that it had also signed an agreement with the Slim Foundation, headed by Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, and the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH), to further protect migrants. The strategy has several key areas of action, including teaching migrants about their legal rights to fight racial discrimination, helping to improve community organization through best practices, and boosting participatory citizenship. Furthermore, UNAM's plan will seek to lend legal aid to young Mexicans in the U.S. who benefit from the Dream Act, granting them legal status and temporary work permits. RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian police arrested two financial operators linked to the ruling Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) on Saturday, who are suspected of paying large amount of bribes to politicians and executives of the national oil company, Petrobras. In a statement, the police said the two men, Jorge Luz and his son Bruno, were arrested once they landed in Brasilia after being detained by migration agents in the U.S. on Friday. The two men were on an Interpol watch list. The two men will be taken to Curitiba, the capital of the southern state of Parana, where the investigations into the gigantic Petrobras corruption ring are being led from. According to Brazil's prosecutor-general, the father and son paid close to 40 million U.S. dollars in bribes to politicians and executives of Petrobras. They will be charged for the crimes of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. A number of former Petrobras executives have confessed that Jorge Luz was the intermediary for bribes paid until late 2016 to Renan Calheiros from PMDB, the current President of the Senate of Brazil and a close ally of President Michel Temer. Actress Emma Stone poses during a photocall for the opening movie "La La Land" presented in competition before the opening ceremony of the 73rd Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Aug. 31, 2016. The annual Venice Film Festival lasts from Aug. 31 to Sept. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Jin Yu) by Mei Liu, Huang Heng LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- After snagging all seven of the rewards it was nominated on Golden Global in January, it led 14 nominations for the 89th Oscar and tied the record of nomination numbers held by "All About Eve" and "Titanic." There was no doubt that "La La Land" would be a hot topic on the upcoming Sunday's 89th annual Academy Awards, the only suspense was how many awards it finally would bring home. (From L to R) Producer Jordan Horowitz, director Damien Chazelle, actress Emma Stone, producers Fred Berger and Marc Platt pose during a photocall for the opening movie "La La Land" presented in competition before the opening ceremony of the 73rd Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Aug. 31, 2016. The annual Venice Film Festival lasts from Aug. 31 to Sept. 10 this year. (Xinhua/Jin Yu) The musical story happened in Hollywood, Where Mia (Played by Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Played by Ryan Gosling) meet each other and fall in love. Mia dropped out of college five years ago to pursue her actress dream. Sebastian, a jazz pianist, who had trouble emotionally playing music he didn't like just to get a paying gig, pursued a dream to open his own jazz club. They were attracted by each other for the passions they had, while the passions of pursuit their dreams also took all their energies and time, with nothing left for their relationship. "La La Land" was the winner of seven nominations for the 74th Golden Global Award, including Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy, Best Director and more other awards. With "La La Land," Emma Stone also won the Best Actress for the 23th Screen Actors Guild Awards in January. The 32 years old director of "La La Land," Damien Chazelle, won the best feature prize at the Directors Guild of America Awards in February. "La La Land" also led 14 nominees for 89th Oscar Academy Awards, only two movies "All About Eve" in 1950 and "Titanic" in 1997 earned so many nominations. The nominations included Best Picture, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Original Song and several others. "Creating nostalgia for nostalgia's sake has resulted in success for films in recent years, but 'La La Land' took a different, more complex approach, choosing to honor the past while placing it in a contemporary environment," ABC News posted. Since the story happens in Hollywood, it might resonate with many Hollywood people. An article on Bloomberg pointed out, "for Hollywood, 'La La Land' represents a new script for success, and its legacy will be that precious currency: optimism." However, La La land was also controversial among the audience and critics. A report from Bloomberg showed that 36 percent audience of this movie were male while a quarter of the audience were under 25 and one quarter above 55. As a musical movie, the professional music critic Keith Harris felt bad about its original music, which had earned the nomination. She personally thought that the music did not achieve the expectation by music fans audience. Senior journalist John said, "I don't see any romantic or love story. It's all about the crucial reality, Mia and Sebastian's experiences are so Los Angeles." UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday said that he was "deeply concerned about the increased tensions" in southern Western Sahara between the Moroccan berm and the Mauritanian border, and called on relevant parties to "exercise maximum restraint and take all necessary steps to avoid escalating tensions." "The secretary-general is deeply concerned about the increased tensions in the vicinity of Guerguerat in the Buffer Strip in southern Western Sahara," said a statement issued here by Guterres' spokesman. Armed elements of both Morocco and Frente Polisario remain in close proximity to each other, a position they have been in since August 2016, monitored during daylight hours by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), the statement noted. "The secretary-general calls on both of the parties to exercise maximum restraint and take all necessary steps to avoid escalating tensions, be that through the actions of military or civilian actors," the statement added. UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday said that he was "deeply concerned about the increased tensions" in southern Western Sahara between the Moroccan berm and the Mauritanian border, and called on relevant parties to "exercise maximum restraint and take all necessary steps to avoid escalating tensions." "The secretary-general is deeply concerned about the increased tensions in the vicinity of Guerguerat in the Buffer Strip in southern Western Sahara," said a statement issued here by Guterres' spokesman. Armed elements of both Morocco and Frente Polisario remain in close proximity to each other, a position they have been in since August 2016, monitored during daylight hours by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), the statement noted. "The secretary-general calls on both of the parties to exercise maximum restraint and take all necessary steps to avoid escalating tensions, be that through the actions of military or civilian actors," the statement said. "He also underlines that regular commercial traffic should not be obstructed and that no action should be taken, which may constitute a change to the status quo of the Buffer Strip," the statement said. "The secretary-general strongly urges the parties to unconditionally withdraw all armed elements from the Buffer Strip as soon as possible, to create an environment conducive to a resumption of the dialogue in the context of the political process led by the United Nations," said the statement. "He further calls on the parties to adhere to their obligations under the ceasefire agreement and to respect both the letter and the spirit of it," the statement added. The situation in the Guerguerat area of Western Sahara, inside the Buffer Strip, remained tense in early September last year, with road construction activity initiated by Morocco in the area south of the Berm being opposed by Frente Polisario, reports said. Western Sahara is located on the northwest coast of Africa bordered by Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria. The colonial administration of Western Sahara by Spain ended in 1976. Fighting later broke out between Morocco and the Polisario Front. A ceasefire was signed in September 1991. MINURSO was deployed that year to monitor the ceasefire between the government of Morocco and the Polisario Front and organizing, if the parties agree, a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara. A revised settlement plan was proposed by the United Nations after seven years of diplomatic consultations was rejected by one of the parties in 2004. In approving the current phase of direct negotiations in 2007, the UN Security Council called for "a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political settlement which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara." Enditem Final preparations for the 2017 Oscars on underway at the red carpet arrivals area, February 25, 2017 one day before the 89th annualOscars, outside the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California. (Xinhua/AFP) by Shen Chenchen, Gao Shan LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The countdown has started for the final grand ceremony of this Hollywood's awards season in the era of new U.S. President Donald Trump. The 89th Academy Awards, which is to be presented on Sunday, will attract millions of audience worldwide. Given the tone set by Hollywood stars at the previous shows, speeches against Trump were widely expected, while Trump's supports were also ready to defend their leader. During the presidential campaign last year, the Democratic-leaning Hollywood tried its best to help Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Many celebrities, including Madonna, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, have campaigned for Clinton. U.S. actress Meryl Streep poses upon arrival at the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on February 12, 2017. (Xinhua/AFP PHOTO) After Trump's winning of the election, Hollywood's anti-Trump sentiments have not quieted down. Meryl Streep, a three-time Oscar winner, rebuked the new president while giving a lifetime achievement acceptance speech at the Golden Globe awards in January. "Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. And when the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose," the veteran actress said. Trump fought back the next day on Twitter by calling Streep "one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood." On Jan. 29, days after Trump's inauguration, some winners of the 23rd Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards criticized Trump's executive orders regarding immigration, climate change and other issues, at the award ceremony in Los Angeles. Emma Stone holds the award for leading Actress, 'La La Land' at the British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Britain, February 12, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS) "We're in a really tricky time in our country, and things are very inexcusable and scary and need action," said Emma Stone, who won the best leading actress award at the SAG for her performance in "La La Land". As both Streep and Stone were Oscar nominees this year, some daring speeches might be expected at the award ceremony. Soon after taking office, Trump issued an executive order temporarily banning all entry to the United States from seven Muslim-majority nations. The order, which was blocked by an appeals court later, has sparked protest at home and abroad. Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, whose film "The Salesman" has been nominated for the best foreign-language film, said last month that he would not travel to Los Angeles to represent the film because of Trump's ban, even if he was exempted. Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences, said that barriers to artistic freedom have "made Academy artists activists." A Jimmy Kimmel poster is seen outside the Dolby Theatre as preparations continue for the 89th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. February 23, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS) Jimmy Kimmel, who will preside over the Oscar this year, pointed out that some of the best Oscar speeches were political, while sometimes they were just annoying. "I think it depends on what's said, and who's saying it," the Hollywood Comedian told USA Today. Although the White House has already said that Trump will likely be too busy to watch the Oscar ceremony, there's still a chance that the former producer and host of a popular reality show will have some sort of reaction to it. The Hollywood Reporter has found out that Trump tweeted many times about the Oscars since 2012, with very strong opinions. He called the 2014 Oscars "terrible", tweeting "Was President Obama in charge of this years Academy Awards?""I should host the Oscars just to shake things up." U.S. President Donald Trump attends a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May(not in the picture) at the White House in Washington D.C.,the United States, Jan. 27, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) Meanwhile, Trump also has supporters among Hollywood celebrities. Clint Eastwood, the 86-year-old four-time Oscar winner, was one of them. "He (Trump) is onto something because secretly everybody's getting tired of political correctness," the actor said. Many audiences also showed their loyalty to the new U.S. leader. Members of the Association of Mature American Citizens, a group that represents conservative seniors, even threatened a theater boycott if the Oscars "turn into a Trump bashing affair." "The Oscars are an international show," Richard Anderson, an Oscar winner and member of the Academy, told Xinhua, "it is supposed to be about art." SAPPORO, Japan, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Wang Wenqiang took China's third biathlon silver after finishing second in the men's 15km mass start at the Asian Winter Games here on Sunday. Wang missed only one targets before grabbing the silver in a time of 44 minutes and 54.1 seconds, while Savitskiy Yan of Kazakhstan snatched the gold in 44:12.2. "I felt I performed better and better during the past several days. I got 19 out of the 20 targets, which is a pretty good result," said Wang, who settled for the eighth place in the men's 12.5km pursuit on Friday. "Winning the silver gave me much confidence in competing with other athletes. Off course, I hope I can get the chance to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games," he added. The brozne medal went to Ozaki Kosuke of Japan who clocked 45:11.5. Zhang Yan collected two silvers for Chinesse delegation earlier, after taking the second place in the women's 10km pursuit and 7.5km sprint. HO CHI MINH CITY, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- A fire broke out early Sunday morning at a house in Vietnam's southern Binh Duong province, killing a couple and their two kids. The fire after midnight in Thu Dau Mot city killed the house's owner, his wife and their children aged three and nine, the municipal police said. Many local people rushed to help when they saw the fire, but the house's two doors were locked. After fight-fighters managed to get inside the house, they found the four already dead, with the woman embracing her daughter. A total of 3,256 fires and explosions broke out across Vietnam last year, killing 135 people and injuring 278 others, while leaving losses of some 1,474 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 66.1 million U.S. dollars), said the country's Fire Prevention and Fight Department. CANBERRA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Australia and Indonesia have agreed to resume all military cooperation, following a fracture in the defence relationship earlier this year, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on Sunday. Following a series of meetings with visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo, a joint statement released on Sunday said both leaders had agreed to "the full restoration of defence cooperation, training exchanges, and activities." "Our common interests mean we will be much stronger if we work together in our rapidly changing region," the joint statement said. "Risks and uncertainties only make it more critical we have a strong partnership that enables us to tackle challenges and seize opportunities together." The announcement comes following revelations in January that Indonesia had decided to suspend all military cooperation with Australia, after a senior Indonesian officer reported seeing "insulting" training material at a Special Air Services (SAS) base near Perth. At a press conference, Turnbull said it was important that Australia and Indonesia maintain a strong relationship as they are close not only geographically, but in sharing similar social values as well. "We are both vibrant democracies that stand for mutual respect and diversity," Turnbull said of the Australia-Indonesia relationship. Meanwhile Australia's prime minister also announced that a consulate would open in Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya. Australian sugar exporters also received good news, as Indonesia has announced it would lower the tariff rate to 5 percent. by Levi Parsons SYDNEY, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull held talks with visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Sunday, discussing trade, maritime cooperation and counter-terrorism, among others. The two countries also agreed to re-establish military training exercises. After a rocky relationship between the two countries in the last few years, President Widodo's two-day visit has helped to reaffirm bilateral ties. Indonesia suspended its military exercises with Australia in January after it was reported that culturally offensive material at a special forces base in Perth angered Indonesian troops. "President Widodo and I have agreed to the full restoration of defence cooperation, training exchanges and activities," Turnbull said. Maritime affairs were also high on the agenda during official talks, with plans to further cooperation. "Australia and Indonesia are natural maritime partners with common interests, so we've agreed on a joint declaration on enhancing maritime cooperation which will be underpinned by a plan of action to increase the benefits of our maritime partnership," Turnbull said. The two leaders also announced a scheme to combat terrorism and human trafficking by boosting the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Justice with 40 million Australian dollars (31 million U.S dollars) of funding. President Widodo said he would be working with Australia to create more Indonesian language facilities in major Australian cities and that they would be "coming soon," with over a million Australians learning the language at school. Due to the huge number of tourists visiting Indonesia, Prime Minister Turnbull said the Australian government will open a new consulate general in Indonesia's second largest city and commercial hub Surabaya. Australian exporters were told Indonesia would lower their sugar tariff to 5 percent, in line with the rest of Asia and in return Australian would wave import taxes on pesticides and herbicides. Meanwhile, the technology sector was given a boost by the news that more would be done to facilitate digital exchange. "As we are both passionate enthusiasts for things digital we have agreed to enhance our agreement on the digital and creative economy," Turnbull said. "Our meeting clearly demonstrates our profound commitment for bilateral cooperation," President Widodo said. "A robust relationship can be established when both countries have mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity, non interference into the domestic affairs of each other and the ability to develop mutual beneficial partnership," he said. HOUSTON, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- More than 20 people were injured Saturday night when a pickup truck plowed into a parade crowd in New Orleans, the largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The truck slammed into a crowd and other vehicles at the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans. It came to a stop against a dump truck, causing more than 20 injuries, five of them in critical condition, said the police. Dozens of ambulances rushed to the scene and the injured have been sent to nearby hospitals. A male witness said that he heard screaming when the truck was steered into the crowd. Its driver had intended to push another vehicle out of his way. He turned the truck into the crowd after failing to do so. A female witness said that the driver seemed unaware of what he had done. The police had ruled out terrorism. State remains in 'gray area' over relative powers of local governments versus legislature, legal experts say Gov. Roy Cooper discussed his House Bill 2 compromise earlier in February as Rep. Darren Jackson (left) and Sen. Dan Blue look on. (CJ photo by Barry Smith) RALEIGH Campbell University law Professor Greg Wallace says a simple repeal of House Bill 2 being pushed by Gov. Roy Cooper would put the state back in a "gray area" regarding municipal authority over nondiscrimination ordinances. Cooper and other Democratic leaders advocated a straight-up repeal of H.B. 2 but, failing that, earlier this month they offered a compromise. That compromise seems to be at odds with the position Democrats held on the controversial state legislation several weeks ago. And it doesn't address an unsettled question about H.B 2 and the Charlotte anti-discrimination ordinance that inspired it: How much power do cities have to enact local ordinances that are tougher than state laws?The recent plan by the governor and fellow Democrats would increase criminal penalties for people who commit assaults in bathrooms and changing areas. In addition, it would require local governments to provide 30 days notice to the public and the General Assembly if they planned to adopt an anti-discrimination ordinance that transcends state law.Cooper and Democrats considered a somewhat similar arrangement proposed by Republicans in December a non-starter. During a special session, Senate Republicans floated a proposal that would have prevented local governments from adopting anti-discrimination ordinances until 30 days after the General Assembly adjourned its long session in 2017.Cooper's office failed to respond to a query about why his 30-day notice proposal was acceptable yet the cooling-off period proposed by Senate Republicans was not.The LGBT activist group Equality North Carolina also failed to respond to a request for an interview.Meanwhile, the aforementioned gray area existed before the General Assembly adopted H.B. 2 - negating a Charlotte anti-discrimination and bathroom ordinance - on March 23, 2016. Some lawmakers and analysts said H.B. 2 was unnecessary because North Carolina is not a home-rule state and cities didn't have the authority to adopt ordinances like Charlotte's. Others, citing the need for the bill, said they needed to make sure such an ordinance could not be enforced. Yet others who backed the Charlotte ordinance said H.B. 2 was unnecessary because opposition to the city's protections was primarily based on unwarranted fear.North Carolina is not a home-rule state. But it isn't a "Dillon's rule" state either, under which local governments can adopt only those ordinances specifically outlined by the state legislature, said Frayda Bluestein , a professor of public law and government at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Government Bluestein said the state's statutes governing cities and counties say the authority given local governments should be broadly construed.Bluestein said.Bluestein said the "police powers statute" gives cities more flexibility than they would have if North Carolina were a strict Dillon's rule state..she said.she said.Bluestein also said an aspect of criminal law regarding trespassing in public bathrooms could come into play.Bluestein asked.Meantime, other professors at the School of Government have concluded that, absent House Bill 2, a transgender person using a bathroom not consistent with his or her biological sex would not be trespassing.she said. PARIS, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Frederic Chatillon, an adviser to French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, on Saturday was put under formal investigation for allegedly making an illegal loan to Le Pen's National Front party. The latest news is expected to deepen the uncertainty of the race as presidential hopeful Francois Fillo faces a troublesome scandal, with frontrunner Emmanueal Macron being criticised for his policies. LE PEN'S PROBLEMS Chatillon, a 49-year-old businessman and communication adviser, faces charges of fraud and misappropriation of social assets to illegally finance the National Front party regional and European campaigns in 2014 and 2015. Chatillon has already been charged with illegal campaign financing in 2012 presidential and legislative elections through his media company Riwal. As the election comes closer, Le Pen's campaign has already been tainted with allegations that she used European parliament funds to pay her France-based party staff. Her chief of staff was put under formal investigation earlier this week. Le Pen rejected the accusation when responding to investigators' questions over European fund misuse claims. She still remains one of the election's frontrunners. Styling herself as "the candidate of people," Le Pen pledged to slash migration, repatriate all illegal migrants and impose taxes on the jobs being done by foreigners. "PENELOPEGATE" The situation is also not optimistic for Le Pen's conservative opponent Fillon. French prosecutors on Friday decided to launch a full judicial inquiry into claim that Fillon paid his wife Penelope Fillon for fake jobs. The scandal has put the former prime minister into a "perilous period, both legally and politically," the Liberation daily commented in a report. On Jan. 25, the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine broke "Penelopegate" 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. Fillon, who was previously leading the race, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying his wife's job as his parliamentary assistant is "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. Macron, a former economy minister, has surged from an outsider to a frontrunner. However, the centrist presidential candidate faces constant criticism from rivals that his policy platform is too vague, the AFP reported. Currently, Le Pen is forecast to win the most votes in the first round, but polls show she would be beaten by either Fillon or Macron in the decisive runoff on May 7. The AFP also links the unpredictability of the election to an "unstable international picture -- from Donald Trump and Brexit to the surge of rightwing nationalism in countries such as the Netherlands -- being mirrored by an anti-establishment mood in France." NANCHANG, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Jinggangshan, the heartland of the early revolutionary activities of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in east China's Jiangxi Province, announced Sunday that it has been officially taken off the list of impoverished areas. Jinggangshan was home to the CPC's first rural revolutionary base established in 1927. Today, people who live under the poverty line account for 1.6 percent of the total population, lower than the national standard of 2 percent, according to the city government. The local government contributed the precision poverty relief campaign, which is in full swing across the country. Precision means that money should be spent exactly where it is needed, and no more than is needed. Jinggangshan helped people start businesses or find jobs, while provided a safety net for those who were unable. In addition, it also helped poor people move into quality homes and improved infrastructure in rural areas. The Chinese government has decided to eradicate poverty by 2020, the target year for China to become a "moderately prosperous" society. Malaysia's Deputy Inspector-General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim (L) releases the information of a female suspect Siti Aisyah, at a press conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Feb. 19, 2017. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung) KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian woman suspect believed to be the one carrying out the deadly attack on a man from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) at the Kuala Lumpur airport told Indonesian officials Saturday that she thought she was doing a prank using "baby oil". Siti Aisyah, a 25-year-old girl from Indonesia's Serang, was allowed to meet Indonesian diplomats for the first time on Saturday at a detention center in Cyberjaya. Andriano Erwin, Indonesia's deputy ambassador to Malaysia, told reporters after the meeting that Siti said she did not know any kind of plans involving an attack or an assassination of the DPRK man. Siti also said she was paid 400 ringgit (90 U.S. dollars) to join a reality show, Andriano told the press. The Indonesian deputy ambassador said Siti did not know the Vietnamese suspect, and was only introduced by someone to some Korean or Japanese guys by the name of "James" and "Chang". Andriano said the date of March 1 should be the last day when the police will decide to prosecute her or release her if no evidence proves her involvement, noting the Indonesian side has arranged a team of lawyers to help its citizen. According to a statement from the Indonesian embassy, embassy staff used a mobile device to scan Siti's fingerprints before they can verify the passport information. They also checked Siti's health status which seemed fine as "she can answer all questions well". Malaysian police said on Friday they had found on the body of the DPRK man VX nerve agents, a lethal chemical weapon banned by the United Nations. The police also said one of the two female suspects had shown symptoms like "vomiting". As a highly stable substance, VX nerve agents is very difficult to evaporate, causing concerns that the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 2, where the attack was carried out, could pose dangers to passengers and tourists. In a statement, the Malaysia Airports said there had been no anomalies on the medical cases reported at the clinic since the incident. It said the customer service staff who attended the DPRK man had been sent for a medical check-up and she was fine. Malaysian police are now holding three suspects in custody, the Indonesian Siti Aisyah, a woman from Vietnam and a DPRK man who holds a Malaysian working permit at a local anti-cancer company. They also want to interview seven others, four of them are believed to have arrived in Pyongyang. Abdul Samah Mat, the Selangor police chief, told reporters on Saturday that they are still tracing the suspect nicknamed "James" to help with the investigation. He said no next-of-kin has come to claim the body. MANILA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen detainees facing illegal drug cases bolted from their detention cell in northern Philippine province of Pampanga early Sunday. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) public information chief Derrick Arnold Carreon said the detainees escaped from PDEA 3 Detention Facility in Camp Olivas, San Fernando City at around 1:30 a.m. local time. Carreon said manhunt operation has been launched to recapture the escapees. The detainees managed to escape despite the all-out war declared by the Duterte administration against illegal drugs. BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's recent nuclear wake-up call has aroused alert and vigilance on the Russian side and could risk setting off a new Cold War-style nuclear arms race between Washington and Moscow, observers say. Trump, in an interview with the Reuters news agency in the Oval Office on Thursday, expressed his dissatisfaction with the New START Treaty and declared the aim of ensuring the U.S. nuclear arsenal "at the top of the pack". Analysts believe that if the United States gives up the nuclear balance of power adopted by past U.S. administrations and resorts to unilateral advantages, U.S. nuclear arsenal expansion would make U.S.-Russian relations more complicated and take the bilateral relationship toward a dead end. RUSSIA FEARS "RETURN TO COLD WAR" In the Reuters interview, Trump called the New START Treaty, or the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, "one-sided" and "a bad deal" for Washington. The pact was signed by the United States and Russia in 2010. Following ratification by the U.S. Senate and the Federal Assembly of Russia, the treaty went into force in 2011. Under the treaty, the two nations agreed to cut the number of deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550 and the number of deployed missiles and bombers to 700. The treaty is expected to last until 2021 and it may be extended for a period of no more than five years. Trump said the United States was going to be "at the top of the pack" in terms of nuclear capacities and would never "fall behind on nuclear power". He also complained that the Russian deployment of a ground-based cruise missile is in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), an agreement signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987. Asked if he would raise the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said he would do so "if and when we meet." But he had no meetings scheduled as of yet with Putin. Trump's words have made a big splash in Russia. Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Russian lower house of parliament's international affairs committee, said if Washington seriously aims for the dominance in nuclear sphere, a return to cold war and arms race will be inevitable. Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the international affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, said Trump's words are arguably the "most alarming statement" on the subject of relations with Russia. TRUMP'S REAL PURPOSE Trump's attitude towards Russia has shifted greatly after taking office on January 20. Affected by the incident of Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security advisor who got fired for not being truthful with the vice president about his communications with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Trump has felt the immense resistance among the American political elites on improving U.S.-Russia ties. If not adjusting his position, his reign might be seriously challenged. Liang Yabin, senior researcher of Pangoal Institution, said that since Trump took office, his policies have been continuously boycotted both inside and outside the United States, giving way to exaggeration that external threats could be an effective means for him to consolidate power. The statement is also viewed as the implementation of his campaign slogan "Make America Great Again." From a broader perspective, the statement reflected America's strategic shift from a balance of power to unilateral strategic advantage as the U.S. hawkish worries that its limitation of nuclear capabilities will connive at Russia's nuclear ambitions. U.S.-RUSSIA RELATIONSHIP IN JEOPARDY Some international media believe Trump's new statement could mean restart of a nuclear arms race between the two big powers, further complicating bilateral relations. According to Liang, the two nations have already begun playing the dangerous game with military build-up in Eastern Europe, including NATO's moving troops to Poland and Lithuania. Li Yonghui, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that Trump's policy on Russia is still a work on progress. In face of strong resistance, Trump may contact with Russia progressively. If the two leaders could meet as reports have said, the United States' policy on Russia could surface by then. The Russian side has so far maintained restraint and avoided directly attacking Trump. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently said it's still too early to say what course bilateral relations would take. "We never wore rose-tinted glasses, never had any illusions, so there is nothing to be disappointed with," Peskov said. Observers said there is room to maneuver on U.S-Russia ties, but it is difficult to make substantial improvement, adding that structural contradiction will make U.S.-Russia conflicts on nuclear weapons, missile defense and the issue of Ukraine continue. Related: Spotlight: Russia-West relations hard to improve after U.S. policy re-calibration by Xinhua writers Gui Tao, Liu Xiang, Shen Zhonghao MUNICH, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The possibility of improving the strained Russia-West relations during the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump dimmed after the United States re-calibrated its NATO policy this week. The latest move came amid a flurry of mixed, if not self-contradicting, messages about the prospect for the improvement in the soured U.S.-Russia relations as Trump showed willingness to normalize the bilateral relations and bombarded NATO as "outdated." Full story Russia deploys new cruise missiles in violation of treaty, U.S. paper claims WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Russia has secretly deployed a new type of cruise missile in violation of an arms control treaty with the U.S., the New York Times reported Tuesday. NANCHANG, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Jinggangshan, the heartland of the early revolutionary activities of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in east China's Jiangxi Province, announced Sunday that it has been officially taken off the list of impoverished areas. Jinggangshan was home to the CPC's first rural revolutionary base established in 1927. Today, people who live under the poverty line account for 1.6 percent of the total population, lower than the national standard of 2 percent, according to the city government. The local government attributed the success to the precision poverty relief campaign in full swing across the country. Precision means that money should be spent exactly where it is needed, and no more than is needed. Jinggangshan's poor population stood at 16,934 in 2014. That figure has fallen to 1,417 today. The average net income of poor families has grown from 2,600 yuan (378 U.S. dollars) to over 4,500 yuan. Jinggangshan helped people to start their own businesses or find jobs, while providing a safety net for those who were unable. In addition, it helped poor people move into quality homes and improved rural infrastructure in rural areas. The government has encouraged the poor people to be part of the city's most successful industries, such as tea, bamboo and fruit plantations and processing, as well as aquaculture. Zhong Wanyin has stopped worrying about money since he started work in his village fish farm and earns more than 20,000 yuan a year. He is also a shareholder in the farm with an investment of 5,000 yuan funded by the government, which has brings him a 20 percent annual dividend. E-commerce has helped produce from Jinggangshan's 18 townships reach buyers beyond the mountains, benefiting more than 2,400 people. "Over 17,000 parcels, worth some 1.6 million yuan, have been sent since this e-commerce service center opened over a year ago," said Huang Xiaohua, head of the e-commerce service station center in Huang'ao Township. Jinggangshan has also capitalized on its fame as the revolutionary heartland. For example, Bashang Village offers a one-day training program to experience the life of the Red Army and attracted more than 40,000 participants in 2016. "My family hosted 850 people attending the program last year, and earned more than 10,000 yuan by providing room and board," said villager Xiao Fumin. The Chinese government has decided to eradicate poverty by 2020, the target year for China to become a "moderately prosperous" society. According to official figures, China still had 55.75 million people living under the poverty line at the end of 2015. The government said 10 million people were lifted out of poverty in 2016 and another 10 million will be this year. WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Democratic Party on Saturday voted Tom Perez as its new national committee chairman, as the party struggled to overcome the deep rift among its members. "They're going to ask the question of all of us: Where were you in 2017 when we had the worst president in the history of the United States? We will be able to say that the Democratic Party led the resistance and made sure this was a one-term president," Perez said after his win. Perez, the first Latino American to hold the position, won 235 votes after two rounds of balloting, just slightly higher than his main opposition Keith Ellison, a congressman from Minnesota who garnered 200 votes. The close contest was testament to a fractured Democratic party that is reeling from its sore defeat to Republican Party's Donald Trump in the presidential race. Its members polarized over which direction to take in order to present a convincing opposition in future national and local elections. Perez, who served as the labor secretary under Barack Obama, represented the establishment of the party and won the backing of many of the most prominent figures of the party, including Obama and his vice president Joe Biden. Ellison, on the other hand, was often portrayed as the "disrupter" who ran on a platform calling for drastic changes in the party. He was notably endorsed by Bernie Sanders, a liberal Senator that fought with Hillary Clinton for the party nomination last year. WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he would not be attending the annual White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner, one day after his press team blocked several mainstream media from attending a press gaggle at the White House. "I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!" Trump tweeted. The remark broke away from a long running tradition of the participation of the president and the first lady at the event where politicians, journalists and celebrities gather to toast one another. In a statement released after Trump's twitter, the WHCA said it had taken note of Trump's position. Trump attended the event in the past, which became the subject of many jokes made by former U.S. President Barack Obama in last year's gala. The Trump administration is locked with an ongoing feud with many major U.S. news outlets. Trump has openly criticized the Cable News Network and the New York Times, among others, of fabricating "fake news" regarding his administration, and has labeled them "the enemy of the American people" in a previous tweet. The animosity between the White House and the press reached a new height Friday, because nearly 10 U.S. and British news outlets were barred from an informing press briefing given by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer at the White House, raising condemnation from many news outlets as well as the WHCA. A woman sells mangoes at a market in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, March 8, 2014. (Xinhua/Simbi Kusimba) by Ben Ochieng NAIROBI, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's mango farmers will soon be able to export their produce to China to prevent a price slump amid abundant harvest, a chamber of commerce official said Saturday. Chairman of Kenya Chinese Chamber of Commerce Zhuo Wu said during the Chinese Mango Festival held in Nairobi that they will soon start exporting Kenyan-grown mangoes to China in order to boost local farmers' income. "We will work together with Kenyan mango growers to assist them to source for market for their products in order to absorb their bumper harvest," Zhuo said. Zhuo said the Kenyan farmers from Machakos County, one of Kenya's drought-stricken areas, approached the trade federation to help find market for their produce to prevent the perishable fruits from going bad and hence incurring losses. "We responded to their appeal and were able to purchase 15 tonnes of mangoes and in the process putting money in their pockets," Zhuo said. East African Legislative Assembly Member Of Parliament Peter Mathuki said the event created awareness and visibility for the products and expanded the farmers' pool of potential buyers. "The Chinese have shown true friendship especially by buying the mangoes at almost three times the market price in order to assist their Kenyan brothers so that their farm products do not go bad," the lawmaker said. He welcomed Chinese investors to build factories in the area to take advantage of the abundant mangoes grown in the county. The region is more densely populated with mango trees than anywhere in the country. However, farmers have found it difficult to profit from the local mangoes, which fruit at the same time of the year, resulting in lower prices and wastage, with so many unsold mangoes left to rot. SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye has decided not to attend a final hearing of the constitutional court, which is deliberating Park's impeachment motion, local media reported on Sunday. The final hearing is scheduled to be held Monday. The court had asked the impeached leader to decide whether to appear at the last pleading session by Sunday to argue her case as a defendant. The court's ruling on the impeachment bill, which was passed in the parliament on Dec. 9, is widely forecast to be made around March 13, the date when the acting chief justice is set to retire. It takes 10-14 days for the court to reach a final conclusion. To uphold the motion, at least six of the remaining eight justices are required to approve it. The retirement of one more judge can danger the legitimacy of the court's decision. Even if Trump administration abandons federal lawsuit, private litigation by ACLU and others about transgender rights and facility accommodations will continue U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, pictured here, and attorneys for the U.S. Department of Education, issued a letter Feb. 22 withdrawing support for an Obama administration opinion that sex-discrimination laws should cover gender identity. Experts say that letter could make the federal government's lawsuit involving House Bill 2 go away. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice) "I do not know what the Trump administration's plans are for that lawsuit, but if they were to walk away from that lawsuit, then that has no impact on the constitutional and statutory claims that we've made in the Middle District." A reversal of an Obama administration directive on transgender rights could spell the end of a House Bill 2 related lawsuit between the state and the federal government, but another lawsuit, brought by private parties, will keep the issue in flux.Obama's guidance formed much of the basis for the legal action related to the feds challenge of H.B. 2, so reversing that guidance could result in a dismissal of the lawsuit. In May 2016, the federal Justice and Education departments issued a "dear colleague" letter , which says the Title IX prohibition against sex discrimination in educational programsWednesday, the two departments, now under President Trump, issued their own "dear colleague" letter withdrawing support for the May 2016 position, saying the previous administration failed to explain how the directive is consistent with the express language of Title IX, a federal law which bars discrimination in education based on sex.Obama's guidance came two months after the N.C. General Assembly adopted the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, more commonly called H.B. 2. Among other things, the law negated a Charlotte ordinance expanding transgender rights and placed a requirement allowing people to use the bathroom or changing room that was consistent with their gender identity.The U.S. Justice Department brought the aforementioned lawsuit challenging H.B. 2. The Private plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU of North Carolina , brought a separate lawsuit challenging the law's constitutionality.In August 2016, U.S. Middle District Judge Thomas Schroeder, in the case brought by the ACLU, issued an order barring the UNC system from enforcing provisions of H.B. 2 in the state's university system. Schroeder based his order on a ruling by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in which a Gloucester County, Virginia, transgender student won a lawsuit against the school system's policy requiring students to use the bathroom of their biological gender. Greg Wallace , a professor of law at the Campbell University School of Law , said the action by Trump's Justice Department could make the state's legal battle with the federal government over transgender policy go away. In fact, he predicted the federal government's lawsuit would be dismissed.But Wallace and the ACLU say that the private plaintiffs' lawsuit won't go away so easily, but it could become more difficult for the plaintiffs to win.Wallace said.Still, the administration's reversal means leaving the plaintiffs withWallace said. Chris Brook , legal director of the ACLU of North Carolina, said the plaintiffs' lawsuit doesn't rest solely on the now reversed Obama administration's guidance.Brook said.Wallace said he thinks the ACLU will continue its lawsuit, hoping to find sympathetic judges on appeal.Wallace said.Reaction to the Trump administration's reversal was predictable. Social conservatives praised the move, and social liberals condemned it.said Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the N.C. Values Coalition , which supports H.B. 2.Ames Simmons, director of transgender policy for Equality NC , which supports gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights, said the move by the Trump administration was terrible.Simmons said.Bill Cobey, chairman of the State Board of Education, said Trump's reversal will have little or no effect on the state's public schools.Cobey said of the Obama administration's position.UNC President Margaret Spellings issued a statement on the system's equal access policy.Spellings said. BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The annual sessions of China's top legislative and advisory bodies, scheduled to be convened in early March, are expected to discuss and approve a national development framework with some new elements. The fifth sessions of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) and the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), also known as the "two sessions," will be the first national assembly following a major political meeting in October last year, at which Xi Jinping was endorsed as "the core" of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Following is a list of key words and phrases that will be important during the forthcoming two sessions. -- "The CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the core" The NPC deputies and political advisors will discuss state policies essential to the development goals set by the central government, as well as Xi Jinping's thoughts on governance. Xi's role as the core of the CPC Central Committee is expected to be stressed at the sessions. -- "Fulfill the 13th Five-year Plan in time" China is striving for full implementation of its 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), a fundamental guide to ensuring China becomes a well-off society, after achieving a good start last year. The strategic plan outlines policy framework and priorities, with emphasis on innovation strategy, poverty reduction, and environmental protection. -- "Growth target" As the world's second-largest economy, China's GDP growth rate is always highlighted during the two sessions. The country reported 6.7-percent GDP growth in 2016, the lowest level in nearly three decades, but likely to top all other major economies. China has aimed for average annual growth of more than 6.5 percent from 2016 to 2020. -- "Supply-side structural reform" Thanks to the reform, China's economic structure has been improved with new momentum. The country will comprehensively deepen supply-side structural reform and make it a key task in agriculture in 2017. China aims for tangible progress in key reform tasks such as cutting overcapacity. -- "The 19th National Congress of the CPC" The 19th CPC National Congress to be held late this year will elect new Party leadership and draw a blueprint for the future socialist construction cause, and is vital to realizing the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020. The two sessions will be eyed as a platform for preparation for the congress. -- "Draft General Provisions of Civil Law" NPC deputies will review the draft general provisions of civil law of China. The general provisions will be guiding principles of the civil law and of great significance for protecting civil rights. -- "Globalization" At a time when certain Western powers are retreating into protectionism and isolation, China has been promoting the globalization of the economy in a spirit of openness and inclusiveness. China will unswervingly continue to open up and push globalization with Chinese wisdom. -- "Belt and Road Initiative" The Belt and Road Initiative, put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, has won the active participation of people across China and dozens of countries and regions. China plans to host a Belt and Road forum for international cooperation this year to brainstorm about interconnected development. -- "Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao" People also expect signals on cross-Strait ties and the development of Hong Kong and Macao. Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen's refusal to recognize the 1992 Consensus, which stresses the one-China principle, has hampered cross-Strait communication. In 2017, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will elect a new chief executive and celebrate the 20th anniversary of its return to the motherland. -- "Diplomacy" After hosting the G20 Summit last year, China will host the Belt and Road forum for international cooperation and the ninth BRICS leaders' summit this year. China's diplomacy in 2017 will face various tests, including how to maintain good, win-win relations with the United States under the Trump administration. -- "National Defense" This year marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Information on China's defense budget will be released during the two sessions. SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye has decided not to attend a final hearing of the constitutional court, which is deliberating Park's impeachment motion, local media reported on Sunday. The final hearing is scheduled to be held Monday. The court had asked the impeached leader to decide whether to appear at the last pleading session by Sunday to testify in court as a defendant. During the first pleading session on Jan 3, the impeached president refused to appear in court. Under the constitution, the defendant is not obliged to appear at the hearing, but possibility had been raised for Park to testify as the previous sessions were not favorable to her. Instead, Park's legal team was quoted as saying that her written statement would be submitted to the court. They haven't given any detail on the reason for nonattendance. The court's ruling on the impeachment bill, which was passed in the parliament on Dec. 9, is widely forecast to be made around March 13, the date when the acting chief justice is set to retire. It takes 10-14 days for the court to reach a final conclusion following the final session. To uphold the motion, at least six of the remaining eight justices are required to approve it. The retirement of one more judge can danger the legitimacy of the court's decision. The former chief judge resigned in late January as his tenure ended. President Park is suspected of allowing her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is a private citizen and has no public position, to meddle in state affairs behind the scenes and take bribes from business conglomerates. Park has been identified by prosecutors as an accomplice to Choi, who is at the center of the corruption scandal that led to Park's impeachment. Related: S.Korean parliament fails to table bill to extend probe into presidential scandal SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's parliament on Thursday failed to table a revised bill to extend the probe by special prosecutors into a scandal embroiling impeached President Park Geun-hye as Park's party opposed the extension. The National Assembly held a plenary session, but the revision of the bill, which enabled the independent counsel team to investigate the corruption scandal, was not put to a vote as the Liberty Korea Party objected to it. Full story S. Korean court rejects arrest warrant for ex-presidential aide tasked with inspection SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean court rejected an arrest warrant early Wednesday for a former senior aide to impeached President Park Geun-hye who is suspected of assisting, or at least conniving at, intervention by Park's longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil into state affairs. ABUJA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Three people, including an army personnel, were killed by a handheld grenade that exploded during a demonstration in a village in Nigeria's central state of Niger, a police spokesman said Sunday. The army personnel was holding the grenade late Saturday in his Bari village of Bangi district, demonstrating to his kinsmen how the Nigerian military used grenades on terrorists in the country's northeast region when it exploded, Bala Elkalla, the spokesman of Niger State police told Xinhua. The grenade killed two villagers and injured four others who were onlookers at the scene, Elkalla said. The police spokesman said the army personnel who was serving in Maiduguri, the capital of the restive northeastern state of Borno, had obtained permission to travel to his village. Normalcy has returned to the village following the incident which brought panic to the locals, a Xinhua correspondent said. Local police had drafted personnel of the anti-bomb unit to the village and the residence of the late soldier to conduct a search "just in case there are more explosives", said Elkalla. ISLAMABAD, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan army said Sunday that two girls and two women were injured by "Indian unprovoked firing on civilian house" along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region. An army statement said that Indian forces fired in Khui Ratta area along the LoC, the de facto border between the two countries. "Two girls and two women got injured, evacuated by Army troops to nearby hospital," the statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations said, adding that Pakistani forces responded to the Indian firing. Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire along the LoC and working boundary in 2003. There has been an escalation along the LoC and the working boundary since suspected militants attacked an army base in the Indian-controlled Kashmir on Sept. 18 last year. India blamed the Pakistan-based "Jaish-e-Mohammad" group. But Islamabad rejected the charges and suggested independent investigation into the attack. A survivor of a sunken fishing boat gets off a helicopter with the assistance at Putuoshan airport in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 25, 2017. A boat sank 130 sea miles to the east of Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, on Friday. (Xinhua/Hua Zhibo) HANGZHOU, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 40 rescue and fishing vessels are searching for 13 sailors lost when a fishing boat sank in the sea off east China's Zhejiang Province two days ago. The local maritime authorities were informed about the sinking of "Jihuangyu 02698" Friday morning. Seven crew members were saved by nearby fishing boats that morning, transferred to a rescue vessel on Friday afternoon and taken to a nearby airport by helicopter on Saturday afternoon. They are in good health, according to the Ministry of Transport. The 42.6 meter boat sank 130 sea miles to the east of Zhoushan City. It was registered in north China's Hebei Province. TRIPOLI, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- A car bomb explosion hit a security check point in eastern Libyan city Benghazi on Sunday, killing two soldiers and injuring four others. The explosion severely injured Mahmoud Al-Warfalli, the special forces commander, according to media reports. The attack took place in Al-Gwarsha area in western Benghazi. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Benghazi, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime, has been witnessing a violent war between the armed forces, led by Maj. Gen. Khalifa Haftar, and militant groups for more than two years. NEW DELHI, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were killed and 62 others injured Sunday after a speeding truck overturned in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya, police said. MOSUL, Iraq, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi forces on Sunday liberated al-Mamoun neighborhood in the western side of Mosul, to be the first neighborhood completely freed from the extremist militants of Islamic State (IS) group, the official television reported. MOSUL, Iraq, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi forces on Sunday liberated al-Mamoun neighborhood in western side of Mosul, the first neighborhood completely freed from the extremist militants of Islamic State (IS) group, the official television reported. "The Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) forces completely liberated al-Mamoun neighborhood and raised the Iraqi flag over some of its buildings," the state-run Iraqiya channel quoted Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, from the Joint Operations Command (JOC), as saying. The CTS forces entered the neighborhood on Friday and seized 50 percent of the area, and continued the fighting until they liberated the whole neighborhood earlier on Sunday. The CTS special forces entered in the adjacent neighborhood of Wadi Hajar and are fighting fierce clashes with the IS militants inside the neighborhood, the JOC said earlier in a statement. Meanwhile, the federal police and elite interior ministry units, known as Rapid Response, are still fighting street-to-street battles to liberate southern neighborhood of Jawsaq and Tayaran from the extremist militants, the JOC said. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, announced on Feb. 19 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 street 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 the 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. NEW DELHI, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were killed and 62 others injured Sunday, some of them critically, after a speeding truck overturned in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya, police said. The accident took place at Jdohkroh village near Nongstoin in West Khasi Hills district, about 95 km west of Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya. The victims belonging to Christian community were going to attend a religious function. "This morning a speeding truck overcrowded with villagers was going to church at Nonglang village to attend some religious function. However the truck overturned after the driver lost control of the vehicle and hit a concrete railing," Bijay Chetri, a police officer told Xinhua over telephone from West Khasi Hills. "So far 17 people have been killed and 62 others are injured." The injured according to Chetri were immediately removed to different hospitals. "All the injured have been hospitalised and condition of some is stated to be critical," Chetri said. Police officials said preliminary investigation revealed the truck was being driven negligently at a high speed. Deadly road accidents are common in India often caused due to overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving. India's ministry of road transport in 2015 said 146,133 people were killed and 500,279 others injured in 501,423 road accidents across the country. Vehicle Sales, Inspection and Driving Courses at BCCC Contact: Attila Nemecz Attila Nemecz Attila.Nemecz@beaufortccc.edu These courses at Beaufort County Community College can help your vehicle-based business maintain or gain a required license to operate. To register, call 252-940-6375 or email continuingeducation@beaufortccc.edu.This course will prepare auto technicians as safety inspectors for motor vehicles. Course topics include regulations and test inspection procedures required by the NC DMV Enforcement Section for safety inspectors. Upon completion a student should understand the rules, regulations and procedures for safety inspections and be able to inspect a vehicle properly. This class will take place on March 13-14 from 5:00-9:00 p.m. and costs $70.The annual renewal course satisfies the continuing education requirement for non-franchised auto dealers to retain their dealer's license. This class will take place on Friday, March 10 from 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. and costs $75.This course is required for those who want to become auto dealers. Students will review the Dealer Regulations Manual, Title Manual and FTC Codes. This course will take place on March 8-9 from 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. and cost $75.This course is required for those who wish to escort large vehicles and have an escort vehicle endorsement added to their driver's license. Students must be either 21 years of age or 18 to 21 years of age with a current Class-A license to attend. All students must have a driver's license that has been valid for at least 12 months. It will take place from 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. on April 11 and costs $70. LONDON, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Five people were injured as a car crashed into pedestrians in south-east London Sunday morning. The incident prompted speculations that it might be a terrorist attack following a similar case on Saturday in Heidelbergy, Germany, where a man drove into a pedestrian area, killing one and injuring two. The attacker was shot and arrested by police in a brief standoff after fleeing the scene on foot. BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- China will tighten supervision of stock markets to prevent systematic financial risks, said an official with the country's securities regulator on Sunday. "We will fully implement compliance risk management, standardize investment banking business and keep enriching financial products," said Li Chao, deputy head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) at a press conference. Li noted that stock markets fluctuations in 2015 were a painful lesson for regulators. In 2016, regulators stopped the expansion of some financial companies and dealt with illegal acts, Li said. Regulators imposed more than 200 administrative measures against securities firms, fund managers and others who were found to be acting improperly, he added. The insurance regulator said Saturday that it had restricted stock trading by Evergrande Life, a unit of property conglomerate Evergrande Group, for one year due to irregular operations. On Friday, the insurance regulator barred Yao Zhenhua, chairman of Foresea Life Insurance, from the insurance industry for 10 years for irregular market operations. KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) man died a painful death minutes after being swabbed with a high dosage of lethal VX nerve agent, Malaysia's Health Minister S. Subramaniam said Sunday. "He died in the ambulance. He fainted in the clinic. I would say from the time of onsite (treatment), about 15 to 20 minutes," the minister told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. He said autopsy findings were very much in line with the VX nerve agent found by the Chemistry Department earlier. "The doses were so high that it did it so fast and all over the body, so it affected the heart and lungs and affected everything," he said, adding the dosage in this case is more than the normal lethal volume of 10 milligram. According to the minister, doctors at the beginning suspected the DPRK man, with a passport name of "Kim Chol," died from organophosphate poisoning, but found out it was "much much much more poisoning than the type we kill normal insects." He said the full autopsy report will be given to the police while the next challenge for health authorities would be identification of the deceased. The best option, said the minister, would still be to have the next-of-kin to do DNA profiling, but multiple methods also suffice but with different sensitivity, such as dental profiling. "We could use dental profiling as well as comparing him to his pictures where we could identify him by the identification marks such as moles," he said. The DPRK man was attacked on Feb. 13 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 2. After seeking help from the airport staff, he died en route to hospital. The Malaysian police are holding three suspects in custody, an Indonesian woman, a Vietnamese woman and a DPRK man. They still want to question seven others, including a second secretary of the DPRK embassy in Malaysia. Four of the seven are believed to have fled the country. NANCHANG, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Jinggangshan, the heartland of the early revolutionary activities of the Communist Party of China (CPC) announced Sunday that it has been officially taken off the list of impoverished areas. Jinggangshan, east China's Jiangxi Province, was home to the CPC's first rural revolutionary base established in 1927. Today, people who live under the poverty line account for 1.6 percent of the total population, lower than the national standard of 2 percent, according to the city government. The local government attributed the success to the precision poverty relief campaign in full swing across the country. Precision means that money should be spent exactly where it is needed, and no more than is needed. Jinggangshan's poor population stood at 16,934 in 2014. That figure has fallen to 1,417 today. The average net income of poor families has grown from 2,600 yuan (378 U.S. dollars) to over 4,500 yuan. Jinggangshan helped people to start their own businesses or find jobs, while providing a safety net for those who were unable. In addition, it helped poor people move into quality homes and improved rural infrastructure in rural areas. The government has encouraged the poor people to be part of the city's most successful industries, such as tea, bamboo and fruit plantations and processing, as well as aquaculture. Zhong Wanyin has stopped worrying about money since he started work in his village fish farm and earns more than 20,000 yuan a year. He is also a shareholder in the farm with an investment of 5,000 yuan funded by the government, which has brought him a 20 percent annual dividend. E-COMMERCE AND TOURISM CUTS POVERTY E-commerce has helped produce from Jinggangshan's 18 townships reach buyers beyond the mountains, benefiting more than 2,400 people. "Over 17,000 parcels, worth some 1.6 million yuan, have been sent since this e-commerce service center opened over a year ago," said Huang Xiaohua, head of the e-commerce service center in Huang'ao Township. Jinggangshan has also capitalized on its fame as the revolutionary heartland. More than 13 million people visited Jinggangshan last year. Bashang Village offers a one-day training program to experience the life of the Red Army and attracted more than 40,000 participants in 2016. Lai Puxiu, a villager from Bashang Village, prepares lunch for her visitors every day. "I charge each person 33 yuan for their meal," Lai, 58, said. "The food is simple and similar to that eaten by Red Army soldiers." "In the past, we grew crops in a few fields and life was hard," Lai said. "But these days so many visitors come to our village that we started a catering business." Bashang is home to more than 630 registered residents, but about 400 of them are off seeking their fortunes in the big cities. The village's reinvention of itself with the catering business has brought more than 100 of them back. Lai Puxiu gets up early to buy ingredients from the nearest town, but also grows vegetables in her backyard. "My husband and I usually prepare bamboo shoots, pumpkin, eggplant, fish and braised pork in soy sauce," Lai said. While Lai prepares lunch, she has her visitors pound cooked glutinous rice into paste, a traditional way to make a local snack called "ciba." She charges each visitor 100 yuan for the privilege of making ciba and provides all the ingredients as well as the equipment for making it. To add some razzmatazz to the visitor experience, Lai has decorated her house "Red style." Inside stands an old stove and a few rickety wooden tables. Outside, flutter a pair of duilian, hanging scrolls of inspirational couplets. In peak season, she can receive 40 visitors a day. This year, she has catered for about 900 visitors. Other families in Bashang have seen their income increase by an average of 18,000 yuan this year. "My family hosted 850 people attending the program last year, and earned more than 10,000 yuan by providing room and board," said villager Xiao Fumin. PRESSING TASK Poverty alleviation remains a pressing task. The Chinese government has decided to eradicate poverty by 2020, the target year for China to become a "moderately prosperous" society. According to official figures, China still had 55.75 million people living under the poverty line at the end of 2015. The government has said 10 million people were lifted out of poverty in 2016 and another 10 million will be this year. A national coordinated development strategy has contributed to poverty reduction in Hebei Province, whose counties bordering on Beijing and Tianjin were once described as a "poverty belt." One million people emerged from poverty last year in Hebei, but about 2 million remain in miserable conditions. Another 700,000 should be freed from their shackles this year in Hebei through supplying agricultural products to those two rich neighbors. There are plans for a number of resorts in the province to accommodate city residents keen to spend their weekends in the mountains. Southwest China's Yunnan Province plans to bring 1 million of its 3.5 million poor people above the poverty line in 2017. ANKARA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- More than half of construction of a concrete wall along the Turkish-Syrian border was completed, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Sunday. According to Ergun Turan, the president of Turkey's state-owned housing agency (TOKI), 290 km of the wall has finished along the Syrian border. Turkey planned to build 511 km concrete wall along Turkey's border provinces. The construction is ongoing in cooperation of TOKI and the ministries of defense and finance. Seven tons of mobile blocks, which are 2-meter wide and 3-meter high, have been topped with one-meter high razor wire, the report said. The Defense Minister Fikri Isik said in November that the construction of a concrete wall along the Turkish-Syrian border will be completed in the first half of 2017. Turkey says the separation wall will help enhance border security against the Kurdish military and other terrorists. Turkey shares a 900-kilometer border with Syria, which has been locked in a civil war since 2011. by Diao Ze MILAN, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Every year, extravaganza like Milan fashion week features legendary Italian brands, and Diesel, a leading denim jean pioneer, is one of the highlights. During Milan Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2017/2018, Diesel presented its luxury ready-to-wear line Diesel Black Gold Fall/Winter 2017 collection with a "new urban attitude" generated from nostalgia to fashion past in early 1990s. Authentic familiar codes are deconstructed and reconstructed for a new repurposed look. Proportions are altered and functions are changed. A biker jacket becomes an elongated shearling coat, turns into a leather trench or into a front zipper maxi skirt. Sartorial staples become a trouser skirt, as well as a pinafore dress. "It is all about the silhouettes, so we decide to go everything long," said Andreas Melbostad, the designer and the creative director of Diesel Black Gold. Andreas told Xinhua that the main look of the collection is the long silhouettes, which can reflect both the toughness and tenderness of an urban girl. Maxi-knitted turtleneck dresses define the overall elongated silhouette. They are layered under revisited urban icons. Deconstructed sweater elements run through the collection as rib knit detachable collars, sleeves, cuffs, shrugs and gloves. Fabrics are borrowed from a man's wardrobe. Leather and suede sneakers keep the girls grounded on the earth, while skinny belts put the focus on the waist. "Diesel girl is strong, independent, and a little bit rebellious, which I think represent the urban girls today in every city." Melbostad said. In the backstage, Renzo Rosso, the founder of Diesel, said Diesel Black gold collection represents the highest quality and interpretation about fashion, it can also inspire other commercial lines of Diesel. Born in a northeastern village in Italy, Rosso made up his mind to do something different from his parents and he created Diesel in 1978. Fourteen years later, he paid the first visit to China and then introduced Diesel jeans to the Chinese market. "My cooperation with China has been always fantastic," Rosso said, describing China as today's "dream market". Ihe Italian entrepreneur proved his judgement -- The company now runs 36 stores throughout China. "I have so many great experience and stories in China, and these memories built up my inspiration. And I see myself in Chinese people too. We have so much in common," Renzo said, stressing the earnest attitude in work shown by Chinese people resonates his working philosophy. For Wen Ya, the Chinese hostess and actress, it was the first time at a Diesel Black Gold show. "I do like this brand, because it is always confident in itself, and constantly, it insists to do the styles they like," she said. The Milan Fashion Week is one of the "Big 4" fashion week series, along with New York, London, and Paris. Renowned Italian brands are regularly showcased in conjunction with the Italian Chamber of Fashion. KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Taliban shadow governor for the northern Afghan province of Kunduz along with two of his men were killed in a drone attack on Sunday, provincial governor Assadullah Omarkhil said. "Acting upon intelligence report, a drone strike was conducted against a Taliban hideout early today," Governor Omarkhil told reporters. "As a result, the Taliban governor for Kunduz province, Mullah Abdul Salam, and two of his men were killed," he added. The Taliban group has not yet made any comment. Taliban militants have been in control of parts of Kunduz Province over the past few years and the government forces have recently launched attacks in efforts to evict militants from their positions. AMMAN, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Jordan's minister of planning and international cooperation, Imad Fakhoury, on Sunday called on Canadian companies to invest in Jordan's projects. Fakhoury made the remarks at a meeting with Canadian visiting Minister of International Development La Francophonie Marie-Claude Bibeau, according to a statement by the ministry obtained by Xinhua. According to the statement, Fakhoury urged the Canadian side to support Jordan's Response Plan to the Syrian Crisis (2017-2019). The Jordanian official voiced Jordan's keenness to boost relations with Canada and thanked the Canadian government for the 10 million Canadian dollar grant (about 7.6 million U.S. dollars) that will be used to support the educational sector. The Canadian minister expressed appreciation of efforts exerted by Jordan under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II to address regional crises as well as His Majesty's efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region. She also voiced her country's commitment to continue its support to Jordan to enable the Kingdom to address challenges facing it. BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police seized more than 800 suspects in 380 major cases worth 900 billion yuan (131 billion U.S. dollars) related to underground banks in 2016, said the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) on Sunday. A campaign against underground banks to maintain financial order and security, is helping the country's anti-corruption drive recover the assets of fugitive officials, said the ministry. In 2016, the ministry worked with the central bank and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange to crack down on the transfer of illicit money via offshore companies and underground banks. Officials with the MPS said that the ministry will continue action against illegal private banks in cooperation with the central bank and the foreign exchanges regulator in 2017. by Robert Manyara KAKAMEGA, Kenya, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government said Sunday that it had doubled up relief food rations to feed 3 million people, up from an initial 1.3 million Kenyans under the feeding program. State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu said the government also enhanced water trucking across the country, especially in the 23 arid and semi-arid counties that have adversely been affected by drought. "We are tackling the drought situation with all efforts available to us, especially under the authority of the National Disaster Response that the president has committed to in terms of how we address the situation," Esipisu told journalists in Kakamega town in Western Kenya. The government on Feb. 10 declared the current drought, which affected 23 arid and semi-arid counties and pockets of other areas, a national disaster. It called on all stakeholders to support the government by upscaling drought mitigation programs as the severe drought that is ravaging the East African nation has left over 3 million people in urgent need of food assistance. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that Kenya was facing a severe drought and with it a rise in food insecurity. Current estimates show over 2 million people are food insecure. FAO said poor rains in 2016 and drought in 2017 has threatened the food security of some of the country's most vulnerable people. Esipisu disclosed that the livestock offtake has also been enhanced in all the 23 counties. "We are buying the cattle as well as procuring goats and sheep. Since body conditions of most of them is not good, the government is slaughtering and giving locals for consumption, and for them to store in traditional ways as dried up meat. We are also supplying this meat to schools in those areas," he said. Esipisu also assured that development partners such as the Red Cross and UN agencies have continued to support the government in targeting specific vulnerable groups, like the elderly, women and children under five. "These are being provided with fortified foods. Lactating mothers are also getting fortified foods, including vitamins and energy complements," he said. WASHINGTON, DC Last week, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) and 37 of his colleagues wrote to President Donald Trump expressing concerns over the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan (CPP), Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS), and Ozone Standard of 70 parts per billion (ppb) Rules. After receiving frequent complaints, the representatives hope to overturn or revise the onerous rules, which were promulgated outside of congressional authorization and/or intent. Now that the 60 day period for Congressional Review Act (CRA) has passed to reverse the rules, the members are asking that the Trump Administration look into the matter further.said Congressman Jones. Click here for the full letter. MANILA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine military has been verifying reports that Islamic militants have killed a male German hostage after authorities failed to pay ransom before Sunday. The Abu Sayyaf group abducted Juergen Kantner, 70, in November last year when he was sailing with his wife Sabine Merz on a yacht on Malaysian waters. Merz was shot dead by the abductors, according to the military. The Abu Sayyaf group has demanded a 30-million-pesos (600,000-U.S.-dollar) ransom for Kantner's release. The kidnappers set 3 p.m. Sunday as the deadline for the payment of the ransom. A military official, who declined to be named, said that an informant has told the military that Kantner was beheaded somewhere in Indanan town in the southern province of Sulu. "We are validating the information. Our troops remain in the area of operation," the military official said. Government authorities want to see the victim's body before confirming the reports that the captive has been beheaded. Like the IS terrorists, the Abu Sayyaf group also uses beheading as the means of murdering their captives. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said that the Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf group has links with the IS militants in the Middle East. SHENYANG, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai has urged more efforts to make the country's manufacturing industry smarter and more competitive. China has made headway in smart manufacturing development since "Made in China 2025" was unveiled, but the country still had a long way to go to reach international advanced levels, Ma said during an inspection tour in northeast China's Liaoning Province from Thursday to Friday. "Made in China 2025" was a plan released by the government in 2015 to transform China from a manufacturing giant into a world manufacturing power. Authorities and companies should give priority to smart manufacturing in their efforts to upgrade the manufacturing industry, said Ma. He demanded more work to achieve breakthrough in key technologies and core equipment in several fields, including numerically-controlled machine tools, robots, smart sensors and smart logistics. Key supporting software should be developed faster and the standards for smart manufacturing should be improved, Ma said. He also called for efforts to develop new business models such as customized production, and smart transformation of traditional industries and small firms. ISTANBUL, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has been engaging in a war of words with Iran lately, as the United States and others are hardening their stance on Tehran, in a development that analysts say is not beneficial to Ankara. "It is obvious that is connected with the new Middle East and Syria strategy of the Trump administration," said Cahit Armagan Dilek, director of the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute. Tension with Tehran arose after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Iran days ago of pursuing Persian nationalism and sectarianism in the region, starting a salvo of accusations by Turkish officials following talks with their U.S. counterparts earlier in the month. During his visit to Bahrain, Erdogan claimed that Iran, without mentioning its name, is trying to disintegrate Syria and Iraq, and that Persian nationalism and sectarianism are at work in the two war-torn countries. "We need to block that," he added. Turkey and Iran, regional powers dominated respectively by Sunnis and Shiites, have conflicting positions on Iraq and Syria. Iran supports the Shiite-led Iraqi government as well as the Syrian regime, while Turkey only gave up last summer pushing for the downfall of the Syrian regime by means of supporting rebel groups. Ankara has also strained its ties with Baghad which it criticizes for excluding the Sunnis from the government. "Ankara's desire to win the good graces of (U.S.) President (Donald) Trump who appears determined to treat Iran as a hostile power is one of the primary reasons for the Turkish government's attitude," remarked Faruk Logoglu, a former diplomat who held top posts in the Turkish Foreign Ministry. The second reason, according to Logoglu, is Turkey's assumption, for political and economic reasons, of the role of protector for the Gulf states including Saudi Arabia against Iran. Both Turkey and the Gulf countries are concerned that Iran is seeking to carve out a Shiite crescent from Iran to Lebanon via Iraq and Syria, a charge dismissed by Tehran as untrue. In a show of support against Iran, Turkey deployed troops in Qatar last year. The new U.S. administration sees Iran as a threat to the region and the world and placed new sanctions on it after Tehran tested a new ballistic missile at the end of January. Dilek, a former staff officer, did not think it makes much sense to accuse Iran of trying to create a Shiite crescent. Maintaining it is the U.S. and the Gulf countries that created the Islamic State (IS) with a view to designing the region, he said, "The current attitude of Turkey and the U.S. is a move aimed at cutting off Iran's link with Bagdad and Damascus in an operation to be carried out under the guise of cleaning Raqqa of IS." Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and new CIA chief Michael Pompeo were recently in Turkey to discuss details of a military cooperation against IS in Syria as well as possible regional scenarios. Turkey says it is ready to join the U.S.-led coalition to drive IS from its stronghold of Raqqa if Washington agrees to exclude the Kurdish fighters, whom Ankara sees as terrorists, from the Raqqa campaign. About a week before leaving for a tour of three Gulf countries -- Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar -- President Erdogan had his first phone call with U.S. President Trump. While Pompeo was in Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim had a phone call with U.S. Vice President Michael Pence. "We are opening a new page with the U.S. administration," the premier told reporters days later. The Turkish government had some serious divergences of opinion on Syria as well as some other issues with the previous U.S. administration headed by Barack Obama. It is significant that Turkey leveled its criticism against Iran after talks with U.S. officials and during a presidential visit to Gulf countries, Dilek stated. Noting President Trump takes a harsh stance against Iran, he said, "This attitude of Turkey is indicative of the new U.S. policy and demonstrates that Turkey will again act together with the U.S. (in the region)." In its initial response, Iran dismissed Erdogan's criticism, underlining that its forces are in Iraq upon the request of the Iraqi government to fight against terrorist groups. The statement issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry also said, in an apparent veiled criticism of the Turkish position on Syria and Iraq, that support offered to terrorist groups in the region irrespective of neighboring countries' sovereignty is a cause of concern. Turkey has been militarily involved in Syria since August last year based on an understanding with Russia, a staunch ally of the Syrian government. Turkey's ruling party, the Islamist Justice and Development Party, has refused, however, to cooperate with the Syrian government as it does not see the regime as legitimate. The Turkish government recently announced that the towns captured by its troops, backed by some rebels, on the Syrian soil will be handed over to local people rather than the Syrian government forces. Yasar Yakis, a former foreign minister of Turkey, also felt the agreement reached during the phone conversation between Erdogan and Trump may have played a role in the Turkish government's hardening attitude toward Iran. Noting Ankara and Tehran have been rivals for centuries, he stated, "The present war of words is a part of the regional power struggle, but this war has to be managed with tools of silent diplomacy." Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey's current top diplomat, took where Erdogan left off and accused Iran of undermining stability by pushing for a Shiite-dominated region while speaking at the recently-held Munich Security Conference. On the same occasion, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir described Iran as the "biggest supporter of terrorism." What is unprecedented in Turkey's attitude is that Ankara is now openly accusing Iran of pursuing expansionist aims, observed Logoglu. "In any case, the anti-Iranian stance of President Trump will override all other factors in shaping the flow of events in the Middle East," he added. Cavusoglu's remarks drew harsh reaction from Tehran, which claimed that Turkey's attitude is an expression of frustration resulting from the failure of its regional policies. Ali Akbar Velayeti, a top advisor to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Turkish troops in Syria and Iraq will either get out of their own accord or would be kicked out. Both Syria and Iraq have already made clear that they are unhappy with the presence of Turkish troops on their territory, while Turkey apparently feels a Shiite belt would cut it off from the Sunni Arab world. Retaking Raqqa, which is already surrounded by Kurds-dominated forces, could pave the way for physically separating the Shiite Iraqi government from Syria. Turkey has also troops near Mosul in northern Iraq, where they have trained some Sunni Iraqis and Kurdish Peshmerga forces to fight IS. Ankara wanted its troops to be part of the campaign launched by the U.S.-led coalition against IS in Mosul last fall, but was rejected by Baghdad. Turkey's ruling party was much criticized at home for offering support until last year to rebel groups, including radical ones, in the Syrian civil war. It is widely argued the Turkish government had hoped to put in place in Syria a government dominated by the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood. The current Syrian regime is known for its mainly Alawite character. Alawism, estimated to represent around 12 percent of the population in Sunni-dominated Syria, shares some common traits with Shiism. Turkey cannot ignore Iran's efforts to increase its sway in the region, Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said last week, while noting Turkey does not want any escalation with its neighbor. In a latest salvo from Iran, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused Turkey of making a fuss in a bid to influence U.S. policies after having failed in its plans regarding the region. All the analysts, while speaking to Xinhua, advised against an escalation of tension between the two regional powers, stressing that such an eventuality would serve the interest of neither. "Turkey cannot benefit from a policy of tension with Iran or with any other country," said Yakis. "Now that Turkey is isolated in the international arena, it needs friends more than ever." "The refined art that is called diplomacy is more necessary in such circumstances," he stressed. Turkey, whose economy has been showing signs of deterioration for some time, would suffer economically as well in case of a strained relationship with its eastern neighbor. Turkey is highly dependent on Iran as far as energy is concerned. The country buys nearly 20 percent of its natural gas and around 30 percent of its oil from Tehran. After the Obama administration softened economic sanctions against Iran in early 2016, Ankaran and Tehran had expected to triple their yearly trade volume to 30 billion U.S. dollars. Dilek was worried that the U.S. plan is to pit Sunnis against Shiites in a regional confrontation. "Such a sectarian-based move would result in a war between the Shiites and Sunnis," he warned. Both Yakis and Lologlu seemed to be somewhat optimistic about the prospect of Turkey and Iran settling their differences without heightening the tension. Noting the rivalry between the two countries had its highs and lows throughout history, Yakis said, "Sometimes it becomes sharper, then it goes down and stabilise at some level and a new modus vivendi settles in. The present altercation is one of them." "Further escalation could have dire unintended consequences in the region and beyond," warned Lologlu. ARUSHA, Tanzania, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The African swine fever (ASF) has broken out in the western Tanzania's district of Kalambo District, killing nearly 200 pigs, an official said Sunday. Julieth Binyura, Kalambo District Commissioner, confirmed the outbreak of the deadly disease, saying villagers had been informed on the viral disease. The disease, which has a high mortality rate in pigs, has caused panic in the area where pig farming has been a booming business. Binyura said her office had banned pork business as well as transportation of live pigs in the district to contain the disease in the area, which is part of Rukwa Region bordering Zambia and Lake Tanganyika on its western side. "We're now seizing all pigs, which are found roaming around streets as well as ensuring that all dead pigs are carefully buried," said Wilbrod Kansapa, livestock officer in Kalambo District. Kansapa added that nearly 200 pigs died since the outbreak of the disease early this month and local communities had been informed of the dangers of eating pork from the infected animal. Pig farming is a booming business in regions located in western Tanzania presently due to the high demand for pork in major cities like Dar es Salaam. SKOPJE, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Macedonia's President is urged by the European Commission to give the mandate for the formation of a new government to the leader of Social Democratic party (SDSM) Zoran Zaev, local media reported on Sunday. "As enough signatures of MPs have been collected, we look forward to the next steps," European Union (EU) commissioner for enlargement negotiations Johannes Hahn said Saturday in a statement. "We now expect Macedonia's President to give the mandate to form the next government to the candidate from the parties which have the majority in the parliament, in line with the Constitution," he said. Zoran Zaev had announced that he had secured the necessary signatures for the formation of a new government in Macedonia, following the agreement reached with the ethnic Albanian party, DUI. Hahn called on all relevant actors, including the President and Parliament, to act in line with the Constitution's letter and spirit and in a responsible manner to enable a swift formation of a government, according to the statement. On Friday night, the spokesperson of DUI Bujar Osmani told reporters that the party supported the formation of a SDSM-led government although DUI might not be part of it. Earlier, SDSM and DUI had agreed on a law guaranteeing broader use of the Albanian language across Macedonia. During the past 10 days, Zoran Zaev of SDSM has been trying to secure the signatures of the majority of parliamentary seats. SDSM garnered 49 seats in the snap general elections of Dec. 11, 2016 while the party needed 61 votes to be mandated for the creation of a new government. BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi will visit the United States from Monday to Tuesday at the invitation of the U.S. government, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang announced on Sunday. Yang will exchange views with senior U.S. officials on bilateral ties and issues of common concern, Lu said. NEW DELHI, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Two three-year-old twins left alone for minutes at their home in the Indian capital city of New Delhi drowned in a washing machine, police said Sunday. The accident took place at Rohini locality of New Delhi on Saturday. "This afternoon we came to know that two children drowned inside their home in a washing machine at Avantika Apartment in sector-1 of Rohini," a police official said. "The children were left alone at home by their mother who stepped out briefly to purchase washing power from a nearby shop." Mother of the duo told police that she went to buy washing powder at the nearby store leaving behind her children playing at the flat unattended. "After returning from market when the mother couldn't find their children, she raised alarm and called her husband, who returned immediately from office and found them inside the washing machine," said a police official quoting witnesses. "The children were rushed to a local hospital where doctors declared them brought dead." Police officials told media they were investigating how the children fell inside the washing machine's chamber filled with water. BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police seized more than 800 suspects in 380 major cases worth 900 billion yuan (131 billion U.S. dollars) related to underground banks in 2016, said the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) on Sunday. A campaign against underground banks to maintain financial order and security is helping the country's anti-corruption drive recover the assets of fugitive officials, said the ministry. In 2016, the ministry worked with the central bank and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange to crack down on the transfer of illicit money via offshore companies and underground banks. Officials with the MPS said that the ministry will continue action against illegal private banks in cooperation with the central bank and the foreign exchanges regulator in 2017. "For a long time, underground banks have become a fast channel to transfer money, for they are anonymous and hidden. Many criminals have taken advantage of the channel to transfer their illegal gains to the overseas," said Zhang Niannian, an official with the central bank. Underground banks have also offered a quick passageway for corrupt officials to transfer their properties, Zhang added. The central bank will track and analyze new methods of crimes, especially in special non-financial institutions and sector, and improve measures of anti-money laundering, Zhang said. Shu Jianping, head of the anti-money laundering office of the economic crime investigation division of the MPS, said that cases related to underground banks covered several industries, including foreign trade and real estates. Harms of underground banks are increasing, Shu said, adding that local public security organs were urged to continue the campaign against underground banks. DAMASCUS, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Syrian army captured a key town in northern countryside of Aleppo province on Sunday, following battles with Islamic State (IS) group, according to state news agency SANA. Capturing the town of Tadef enables the Syrian army to secure transportation routes in eastern Aleppo, and constitute a base for launching attacks and undermining the presence of the IS militants in that part of the province, a general-command of the Syrian army said in a statement. The town is also located southeast of city al-Bab, which has recently been captured by Turkish forces and allied rebel fighters. The Syrian army unleashed a wide-scale offensive in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, after succeeding to wrest control over the city of Aleppo last December. The offensive enabled the military forces to become in control of 600 km east of Aleppo. Also, the army has laid a siege on the southern rim of al-Bab city, to secure the eastern part of Aleppo city from the IS attacks, or the possible advance of the Turkish-backed rebels. Observers believe that there was a Russian-Turkish understanding for splitting the battles in al-Bab. For the Turks, capturing al-Bab cuts the way in the face of the growing Kurdish influence in northern Syria, a red line drawn by Turkey. For the Syrian army, laying a siege to al-Bab from its southern edge prevents IS fighters to withdraw toward other stronghold in eastern province of Deir al-Zour, or northern city of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terror-designated group. The Syrian government has always looked to the Turkish moves in northern Syria as an encroachment upon the sovereignty of the country, claiming that Ankara is capturing areas in northern Syria to build a wall, which could be a prelude to setting Ankara's long-demanded safe zones in northern Syria, near the Turkish borders. by Birhanu Fikade ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan media outlets have it well covered recently that Ethiopia is about to overtake Kenya and become the leading economy in East Africa. Building on decade-long double-digit growth catalyzed by enormous government spending on infrastructure, the size of the Ethiopian economy, in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measurements, will reach 69.2 billion U.S. dollars, according to projections the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made for 2016. In 2015, its GDP stood at 61.6 billion dollars. Kenya's GDP, on the other hand, is expected to rise to 69.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, up from 63.4 billion dollars in 2015. If the projections turn out to be true, Ethiopia, hailed by pundits as an "African lion", will surpass Kenya. Though the possible win would be by a small margin, Kenyans have echoed that Ethiopia is surely becoming a new superpower in the region. It is not hard to understand why the possibility of Ethiopia coming at the forefront has caused a stir among Kenyans. Back in 2000, Kenya had a 70 percent lead over Ethiopia. Kenya's GDP then stood at 14 billion U.S. dollars while Ethiopia's output was somewhere around 8 billion dollars. Following the vigorous economic progress the government of Ethiopia has been able to spin over the years, however, the country has managed to catch up with Kenya and close the gap. BOOMING FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT An important contributing factor behind Ethiopia's quick ascension both the IMF and the African Development Bank (AfDB) suggest is the robust foreign direct investment (FDI), complementary to the government's huge investment. According to the Ethiopian Investment Commission, China leads the foreign investment pack followed by Turkey and others. David Shinn, former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, who actively follows events about the relationship of China and Ethiopia, wrote on his blog that in 2014 China's investment in Ethiopia reached a cumulative one billion U.S. dollars. The diplomat went on to point out that the trade and investment relations the two countries have established over the course of the years registered a booming growth. For instance, Shinn said "in 2000, China-Ethiopia trade was only 88 million U.S. dollars. Since 2006, China has been Ethiopia's largest trading partner. Trade exceeded 2 billion U.S. dollars in 2013, although the trade balance heavily favours China. One of China's six special economic zones in Africa has been established in Ethiopia." The diplomat also noted that Chinese companies are building most of the roads in Ethiopia. For example, the first phase of the Ethio-Djibouti railway project, the telecommunications infrastructure, and the light rail system in Addis Ababa. By 2014, the cumulative value of Chinese contracted projects exceeded 22 billion U.S. dollars, Shinn said. DAUNTING CHALLENGES Though steady FDI inflows have enabled Ethiopian economy to develop in a progressive manner, there are doubts over whether the country can sustain growth for long, what with the country's political, social and climate challenges. The buildup of the political discontent has led to clashes and deaths. Despite a six-month state of emergency announced last October, worries over whether the government can properly address anger over land and other rights still linger. The incidents have affected foreign businesses as many companies were looted and set alight. The country's FDI is expected to suffer a blow if the situation drags on. In addition to the political frictions, the ongoing droughts and harsh climate conditions have significantly burdened the economy, forcing the government to shift considerable resources from economic activities to emergency aids. Back in 2015 to 2016, some 10 million people in Ethiopia, 10 percent of the population, was in need of emergency food aid. The country was forced to import 1.6 million tonnes of wheat and lifesaving supplements. This year again, some five million people have fallen short of food and require 950 million U.S. dollars emergency food aid. The government of Ethiopia has been looking for donors and calling the international community for assistance, which, in many instances of the drought season, ended up short of expectations. Also, the country has to do more in reducing the prevalence of poverty in absolute terms. According to the World Bank, some 22 million people in Ethiopia are believed to be currently living under absolute poverty level. GROWTH POTENTIAL Despite these challenges, the Ethiopian economy remains buoyant and growth projections of the World Bank and the IMF indicate more positive outcomes for the years to come. Both institutions agree that Ethiopia will maintain fast economic growth, with a projected annual rate at seven to nine percent. Though Ethiopia may grow faster, it is not the richer of the two, as its per capita GDP remains way below that of Kenya. The current GDP per capita stands at 686 U.S. dollars, with a possibility of reaching 759 dollars this year, whereas Kenya's GDP per capita hangs around 1,434 dollars and is expected to increase to 1,500 dollars by the end of 2017. One of the reasons is the growing demographic pressure Ethiopia has to live with. Ethiopia, the second most populous nation on the African continent, has an estimated population of 100 million, doubling that of Kenya. Ethiopia's big population, however, is considered a blessing in disguise. Many investors see huge consumer base and market potential, which can shore up Ethiopia's future growth. Contact: Emily Weeks Emily Weeks Emily.Weeks@ncgop.org Raleigh, N.C. Legislative leaders on Tuesday responded to Gov. Roy Cooper's and Attorney General Josh Stein's attempt to fire attorneys retained by the General Assembly to defend North Carolina's hugely popular voter ID law and withdraw the case before the U.S. Supreme Court.said Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland.) State law specifically exempts the General Assembly from the statute erroneously cited by Cooper and Stein and gives lawmakers the authority to hire outside counsel to defend the state's interests.As attorney general and a gubernatorial candidate, Cooper publicly and repeatedly disparaged the state's voter ID law, even as he claimed to be defending it in court. Legislative leaders were compelled to hire outside counsel to defend the law. Roy Cooper's office approved this arrangement. After a three-judge panel of partisan Democrats struck down the law, Cooper immediately refused to appeal , claiming at the time that outside counsel "can handle any appeals." Stein testified against the law in court while he had publicly announced his interest in running for attorney general, making exaggerated claims that the law was 'abusive' and an 'assault,' many of which he later published on his campaign fundraising site Stein's father, an attorney, represented the plaintiffs in the voter ID case for years and has benefitted from past attempts to undermine the state's case.Click HERE for the original press release. by Peter Mutai NAIROBI, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Small-scale farmers across the East African region are likely to grapple with severe food insecurity due to the recent fall armyworm invasion on key staples, scientists warned on Sunday. Prasanna Boddupalli, director of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center's (CIMMYT) Global Maize Program, said the virulent pest has so far damaged an estimated 287,000 hectares of maize in the region since last year. "Surveys conducted last year in farmers' fields confirmed the pest is spreading fast in Kenya and Uganda. It poses a significant risk to the two countries' quest to tackle food insecurity against a backdrop of drought," Boddupalli said during an interview with Xinhua in Nairobi. He disclosed that the armyworm infestation was discovered in three Kenyan counties namely Embu, Kisii and Machakos as well as Namulonge, Kasese and Gulu regions of Uganda. The fall armyworm whose botanical name is Spodoptera frugiperda can cause an estimated 73-percent crop failure and resist pesticides if its larvae develop into advanced stages. Boddupalli said that CIMMYT and national agricultural research partners have been monitoring the spread of the fall armyworm in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. He urged national agricultural research organizations in the region to develop a robust integrated pest management system that include early warning to help farmers combat armyworm invasion effectively. Boddupalli revealed that scientists at CIMMYT are currently researching on improved maize varieties that can resist the pest's attack. "We must explore a range of options like use of pesticides and biological pest control methods to limit the damage of army worms on staple crops," said Boddupalli He noted biological pest control methods alone can reduce armyworm infestation by 30 percent. Originated from the Americas, the fall armyworm is a new pest to Africa, first discovered in Nigeria before spreading to central, southern and now eastern African region late last year. ATHENS, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Greece will likely need a fourth bailout program, according to Cypriot economist and 2010 Nobel laureate Christoforos Pissarides. "I am afraid there will be a fourth memorandum," 69-year-old Pissarides said in an interview with local SKAI television's program "Weekend with Action". "The crisis and austerity will end when Greece will be able to return to international financial markets," Pissarides said, adding that in his view it was rather unlikely to happen before the end of the current bailout in August 2018. The expert called for more reforms with no delays to attract investment in order to exit the seven-year debt crisis. Pissarides referred to political instability and shortage of political willingness to carry out reforms as the main factors behind Greece's problems in the implementation of the bailouts. Greece had signed three bailout programs with international lenders since May 2010 to address the debt crisis. JAKARTA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Heavy downpours have triggered flash floods in Central Java province in western Indonesia on Sunday, leaving at least two people missing, Sutopo PUrwo Nugroho, spokesman of the national disaster agency, told Xinhua over phone. Huge amount of water carrying mud started hitting Purwosari village of Kendal district at 4 p.m. Jakarta time, Nugroho said. Eight houses were swept away by the current while three others were destroyed by the floods, he added. Meanwhile, a total of 300 villagers were forced to be evacuated and take shelters at a mosque, Nugroho said. Indonesia is frequently hit by flash floods and landslides during heavy rain. (Xinhua file photo) BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese regulator lashed out at "financial crocodiles" that gobbled up retail investors' interests on the stock market on Sunday, vowing stricter regulation. Some "barbarians" and "crocodiles" hurt retail investors by plundering the stock market under the cloak of legality, said Liu Shiyu, chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), at a press conference. Liu said he was "astonished at the chaos" of the stock market after he assumed office last year. "The lure of money is huge.... On the capital market, financiers are just half a step away from 'financial crocodiles'," Liu told reporters. He said the CSRC's top priority is market regulation, which "allows no ambiguity or wavering". His remarks came after "barbaric" behaviors of some Chinese insurers that used leveraged money to buy shares in listed companies, arousing wide public concern late last year. Triggering sharp volatility in the market, such moves annoyed corporate executives and caused individual investors to suffer. China's insurance regulator said Saturday it had restricted stock trading by Evergrande Life, a unit of property conglomerate Evergrande Group, for one year due to the insurer's irregular investment operations. On Friday, the insurance regulator barred Yao Zhenhua, chairman of Foresea Life Insurance, from the insurance industry for 10 years for irregular market operations. Related: Economic Watch: Securities watchdog stresses strict supervision BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's securities watchdog has said it will attach greater importance to supervision in the capital market to guard against risks and protect the rights of investors. Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said the CSRC would be strict in market supervision in 2017 in order to maintain market stability. Full story CSRC stresses risk prevention in steadier market BEIJING, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's securities watchdog said it will attach greater importance to risk prevention in the stock market in 2017. KHARTOUM, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir pardoned Czech journalist Petr Jasek on Sunday after a Sudanese court sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment over espionage charges against Sudan. "In honor of the historical ties between Sudan and the Czech Republic, President al-Bashir released the Czech journalist on Sunday," said Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour during a joint press conference with his Czech counterpart Lubomir Zaoralek who arrived in Khartoum on Sunday. "The president has carefully considered bilateral relations between both countries, based on which the tolerant president issued this pardon. The Czech foreign minister will receive the journalist who will then be returning to his country today," declared Ghandour. Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek expressed his "content" over the case's happy ending. Zaoralek said his visit to Sudan is the start of a new page in bilateral ties between the two countries, remarking that during his talks with Sudanese officials, he reiterated his country's readiness to augment relations with Sudan in all sectors. Last January, a Sudanese court sentenced Czech journalist Petr Jasek to a 20-year life sentence over espionage charges against Sudan. Furthermore, it was discovered that Jasek disseminated reports through an American organisation antagonistic toward Sudan, implying that Sudan allegedly persecuted Christians in Sudan and attacked civilian areas in South Kordofan State's Nuba Mountains. In October 2015, Sudanese authorities arrested the Czech journalist four days after his entry into the country. BISHKEK, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Leader of the Kyrgyz opposition party Ata-Meken Omurbek Tekebayev was detained on charge of corruption and fraud, the press service of the State Committee for National Security announced on Sunday. Tekebayev, 58, was detained early Sunday at Manas international airport upon his arrival from Istanbul of Turkey and was taken into custody for 48 hours. After 48 hours, the court will adopt a preventive measure against the detainee. The Public Prosecutor's Office initiated a criminal case against Tekebayev on Saturday for corruption and fraud. He was accused of accepting a 1 million U.S. dollar bribe from a Russian investor in 2010 in a take-over deal concerning a local telecommunications company. Meanwhile, secretariat of the Ata-Meken party released a statement, saying that the lawyer was not allowed to see the detainee in the first two hours. Local media reported that hundreds of people gathered near the building of the State Committee for National Security, demanding release of Tekebayev. Bishkek police said that Tekebayev's supporters blocked the highway from Bishkek to Manas airport. Fifteen people were detained. BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi will visit the United States from Monday to Tuesday at the invitation of the U.S. government, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang announced on Sunday. Yang will exchange views with senior U.S. officials on bilateral ties and issues of common concern, Lu said. Yang is the first senior Chinese official to visit the U.S. since President Donald Trump took office on January 20. President Xi Jinping and Trump had spoken over the phone earlier this month. Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson met in the sidelines of the foreign ministers meeting of the G20 last week. Yang will have an extensive range of topics to discuss with the U.S. officials but the foremost would be to reaffirm the tone of bilateral relations set by the two heads of state in their phone conversation, said Jia Xiudong, a research fellow with the China Institute of International Studies. Xi told Trump that building a sound China-U.S. relationship is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples, and it is also the responsibility China and the U.S. need to assume as the world's major countries. Yang's visit will coincide with the 45th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's ice-breaking visit to China in 1972, which paved the way for Beijing and Washington to officially establish diplomatic ties in 1979. Despite twists and turns over the past four decades, China-U.S. relations have progressed ahead as both the Republican and Democratic parties understand the importance of the relationship, Jia said. During Yang's tour, China and U.S. will have exchanges on trade, security and international issues, on which Trump may take policies different from the Obama administration, according to Jia. Jia said Yang would be the point man to be sent to the U.S.. He was a former Chinese ambassador to Washington and former foreign minister, a respectable diplomat in the U.S. and has rich experience in dealing with the country. Xi-Trump meeting will be on top agenda of Yang and U.S. officials, who are to discuss when and where the two heads of state will meet as they looked forward to a meeting at an early date in their phone conversation, according to Jia. Nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, climate change, energy and Syria are also possible to be on the agenda, Jia said. SHANGHAI, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- China will push international cooperation in the cartoon and game industry in countries along the Belt and Road, said authorities on Sunday. A cooperation and exchange program in the sector was launched on Sunday, said organizers of the China International Cartoon and Game Expo scheduled for July in Shanghai. The event will have a special Belt and Road hall to exhibit cartoon works from participating countries and boost commercial cooperation. China's Ministry of Culture has made it a key task this year to strengthen cooperation in the cartoon and game sector along the Belt and Road. The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road trade routes. The expo, which has been held annually in Shanghai since 2005, is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Shanghai municipal government. HELSINKI, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Finns Party, part of Finland's current government coalition, has decided to dismiss Terhi Kiemunki, party chairman of the Tampere branch, mainly for her anti-Muslim agitation, local media reported Sunday. Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo, secretary of the Finns Party, told the Finnish national broadcaster Yle that the decision was made unanimously at the party's meeting last Friday. Kiemunki earlier published a blog post on the online Finnish publication Uusi Suomi, in which she claimed that "not all Muslims are terrorists but at this time all European terrorists are Muslim". The 50-year-old Finns Party politician also attacked Islam for being an extremist religion. "Let's just say that we found ourselves in a situation where this was the only way out," Slunga-Poutsalo was quoted as saying. In December 2016, the Pirkanmaa District Court found Kiemunki guilty of agitation against an ethnic group and ordered her to pay a fine of 450 euros (475 U.S. dollars). In addition to the hate speech she posted on social media, the Finns Party also found that Kiemunki used public funds for her private trips for several times, Slunga-Poutsalo said. Kiemunki will still be listed as a candidate for the upcoming municipal elections held in April this year, according to Yle.Why hate speech isn't funny. Language has consequences.
J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 25, 2017
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